Thursday, August 12, 2010

Review: See the Light Drawing Children to Him

It's not often that you're really blown away by a review product.
I recently saw a call for reviewers of the See the Light-Drawing Children to Him DVD on Twitter. It sounded interesting, so I chimed in saying I'd like to check it out. I was expecting some sort of Christian art lesson.
It turns out that while there are art lessons on the DVD, there's also a lot more to it. The first portion of the DVD consists of two Bible stories, "The Crossmaker," and "Jesus Loves the Children."  The stories are beautifully illustrated with chalk drawings, in a style that's wholly different from the computer generated animation that makes up most children's programs today.
The stories themselves are adaptations of Bible stories, told from unusual points of view, like the boy who built Jesus's cross, and the children the disciples tried to turn away. I found nothing in the telling of the stories that I could imagine being divisive or offensive to any Christian denomination. In short, they were fantastically done.
The next portion of the video is the Plan of Salvation, narrated by a group of children, and again illustrated with the same gorgeous chalk drawings. This would be an amazing outreach tool for VBS, or other church functions. This portion of the DVD alone would be worth purchasing it for.
Finally, there is the art portion of the DVD. You can either watch the artist, Gloria Kohlman draw while listening to worship music, or you can opt to listen to her commentary and bits of instruction as she draws. It's pretty amazing to watch what initially looks like scribbles emerge as a moving piece of art.
There's also an actual traditional drawing lesson  in a classroom setting with children. I enjoyed watching the kids put their own spin on the drawings. The lesson itself actually looked very doable. I'm going to try it with my son as soon as I can get some appropriate chalk.
Altogether, the DVD offers 115 minutes of education and ministry. The DVD retails for $14.99, and is available at http://seethelightshine.com/. There is an in depth lesson plan on the website to go along with the DVD. It's free! There is also an art club on the site, for which a free trial is available, and you can "like" See the Light on FB, or follow them on Twitter, to keep up with the company.
I'm hoping they'll be coming out with some follow up DVDs soon. I'll buy them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or sevices mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally, and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Comsission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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