Have you ever worried about dreaming up another creative twist on a tried and true Bible story like the prodigal?
If so, you’ll love the way this parable of Jesus is presented in dancing, singing and story telling by Australia’s leading Christian music group for children, Rocfish.
Music Video Summary
Prodigal child: In this entertaining remake of the story of the prodigal son, we find the prodigal daughter and her hard working sister toiling away on the family farm.
Leaving home: However, Rosie decides she’s had enough of living the placid country life and wants to head for the city to find fame and fortune.
Lessons learned: Against his better judgment, her father gives her inheritance to her and she heads off in her bright pink car to become a star. Predictably, what she finds is a group of unsavory friends who help her spend all of her money and then desert her. Destitute and depressed, she heads for home with a repentant heart to find a forgiving father and true love.
What You Will Like
The story is biblically sound and Rocfish does not take too much artistic license in the retelling. There is plenty of high impact dancing and singing, and you can see the kids in the audience dancing and singing along with the group.
Because the story is interspersed with the musical numbers, even the youngest viewers with the shortest attention spans will stay focused. (You can always let them hop up and dance along to work off some of that pent up energy.)
The set is decorated like a 50’s diner, which reminded me of both the movie “Grease” and the television show “Happy Days”. In fact, one of the characters is a black leather jacketed male whose moves resemble those of Henry Winkler’s “Fonzi” character!
How to Use This Children’s Music Video
Teachable moments: There is wealth of teachable material and it goes much deeper than just the parable. Of course, you can show the video and do tie-ins such as crafts, worksheets and coloring pages to extend the lesson.
Missions focus: In addition, a brief segment on other countries and missions shows the Rocfish team organizing a jumble sale to raise money to buy a rickshaw for charity. If you do any sort of fundraising efforts at your organization, this is a good way to help the kids understand what fundraising is and how it is done.
Bonus features: In the bonus features section, you can use the dance segment to teach the kids the moves so they can dance along with the Rocfish team or watch studio snippets of what goes on behind the scenes of filming a show like this. For older students, you could discuss what they observed and learned.
Meet the team: The team profiles let you learn interesting facts about the members of Rocfish such as their birthdates, favorite foods, and favorite Bible verses. The Rocfish team consists of six humans and one fish-costumed mascot named Roxi. The team members are Tenielle, Ollie, Brie, Jules, Joey and Emily.
Thumbs up: This is one of the better children’s music videos on the market. The gospel message is there but it is not “in your face.” You can purchase the DVD on Amazon.
Bibleman DVD Movies
If you are looking for Christian videos that provide lots of scripture and crazy fun for kids, consider the Bibleman series. I’ve reviewed Blasting the Big Gamemaster Bully, The Six Lies of the Fibbler, and Combating the Commandant of Confusion so far. I’ll be adding more reviews on Bibleman as we work our way back through our video library, so be sure to check back often to see what’s new with Bibleman and the Bible Adventure Team.