Holy Moly is a new DVD series for children from We Are Sparkhouse, the Lutheran-affiliated publisher in Minnesota, USA. It is accompanied by a printed curriculum, which they say is suitable for Kindergarten to Grade 4.
Having seen some samples on Youtube, I then trialled them at my church’s all-age worship and learning event, Alive@5. The response was very positive so we’ve since purchased 4 DVDs for about $100 (direct from the US) and will use them throughout the coming year across our various education activities. We haven’t purchased the print curriculum.
The style of the videos consists of animated figures that look cut from paper. They are mainly in black and white, but colour appears at significant moments in each story. Each clip is only a few minutes long.
Interestingly, any speech in the clips is not a particular language, but more a series of inflected vocal sounds designed to convey emotion and meaning. This works quite well and makes the material independent of language issues. However it does mean that the story needs to be re-told afterwards, or inductively reflected on with the group.
The four DVDs consist of 12 Old Testament stories, 12 New Testament stories, 4 for Holy Week and Easter and 4 for Advent and Christmas.
Here’s a Youtube sample:
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