ROOTS publishes lectionary-based resources in two magazines, Children & Young People and Adult & All Age, plus a supporting website rootsontheweb.com. Each issue is published bi-monthly, and covers two months worth of weekly material.
£47 for the year, or £9 for nine sessions.
Worth your time - a solid resource
I have used Roots a few times but never every week and in succession. After a brief moment of panic when I was staring at four pages of information and deciding which activities were going to be most appropriate for my group, the sense of direction, order and theme materialised. Over the four pages there were options and alternatives to allow you to adapt and create your own specialised and tailored session for your own group and teaching style, far from a one-size-fits-all approach.
Yet while the design does seem to give you a complete session with very clearly defined starts, middles and ends, I was unable to follow a complete guide due to the timings of our session, but could piece together a lesson.
The sections I found most useful were the ‘gather’ section which included ‘gathering prayer’, ‘send out’, and ‘make connections’. The ‘gathering prayer’ helped to create a space and bring the group together, as the theme is woven into it so I thought it worked as a nice introduction. The ‘send out’, was a great focus to close and tie all the threads and activities together.
I thought the options of craft, games and activities were particularly useful to those who are new to teaching a group and needing inspiration for practical teaching methods. The ‘making connections’ section is great especially if non-theologians are volunteering, like myself! Other volunteers who use Roots have said they find it easy to understand, and it gives them confidence and a grasp of the subject matter before exploring it with the group.
The ‘making connections’ section is great especially if non-theologians are volunteering, like myself!
I didn’t feel the sessions diluted the biblical truths to make them accessible for children. I did however question a couple of the activity ideas and whether they were grasping at straws in order to bring home the theme. Some of the activities allow for children to think about God for themselves and these are quite useful. The prayer ideas are great for creating and giving room for calm, quiet and peace.
Main strength:
Great for ideas and getting started. It also gives clear meanings and understandings. It’s great for anyone who might be new to volunteering or lacking in confidence.
Main weakness:
The appearance can sometimes seem overwhelming over four sides of A4. It also relies a little on volunteers knowing their group to be able to make a suitable selection of activities. This is not always practical or useful if the group changes each week or if a volunteer is new to the role.
Feedback from the group
They thoroughly enjoyed the painting activity. Children from ages 3-12 took part and the mums present joined in too. The parents enjoyed it and acknowledged the connection of getting our hands dirty and digging into God’s word itself. One mum was amazed how much the older children in the group got into the discussion and came up with knowledgeable answers - both her and her son enjoyed the hand print painting. Another mum said she thought the hand print painting was the best activity to date in Sunday school, and all of her four children thoroughly enjoyed it. One of her children has cerebral palsy.
