Barbie and Action Man take on a serious role

Barbie and Action Man have been turned into biblical characters by a school teacher in an innovative way through which De La Salle College is teaching religion.

The man behind it all is Anthony West, who has put a lot of his free time into the initiative, hand-stitching all the costumes and converting these once fantasy toys into gospel characters.

Over 90 dolls have been used in different settings, which have been given a middle-Eastern flavour to render life at the time of Christ more real. The Form I religion syllabus focuses on Jesus as a human being with an emphasis on his teachings.

The idea, Mr West explained, is to help 11-year-olds understand the importance and purpose of Christ's teachings by providing them with a clear vision of the socio-political situation in Palestine at the time.

Headmaster Norbert Zahra said religion has become an increasingly difficult subject to teach and bringing the stories to life is one way through which the children can visualise what they are being taught.

Students brought in unwanted used toys and wrote prayers to accompany each of the scenes. Mini classroom productions are held to stimulate the students' interests in Christ's life including biblical background.

Bringing the "lessons can be fun" attitude into the classroom, the children can build an episode from the Bible in no time, giving them a hands-on experience of the Sunday Liturgy, Mr West said.