Pop Idol
To recognize and celebrate the fact that we all have God-given talents.
by Tessa Mann
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To recognize and celebrate the fact that we all have God-given talents.
Preparation and materials
- Optional for 2. below: Collect together some newspaper/magazine cuttings about the Pop Idol programme and the subsequent careers of Will and Gareth and any other finalists.
- Prepare some children to read out short extracts.
Assembly
- Ask the children to cast their minds back to the Pop Idol programmes and particularly the final voting in February. How many contestants can they remember? What do they think of the subsequent careers of Will and Gareth - and/or stories about them in newspapers, or TV and radio?
- You could show some of your newspaper cuttings with children reading out extracts.
- What do they think about the result - was the correct winner chosen? Ask two children to come up to the front, and tell everyone who their favourite was and why they should have won. Have a school straw poll.
Note: Proceed with caution here and omit this section if it is likely to lead to an over-enthusiastic response. - Why was Pop Idol so popular? Explain that people were very excited about discovering a new star, discovering someone with great talent. We enjoy seeing people use and develop their talents.
Time for reflection
Ask the children to sit quietly and think about these words:
Everyone has special talents and gifts. They don't always attract as much attention as Pop Idol. Some gifts or talents are quiet, and don't get you noticed.
Part of growing up is finding out what our talents are - the gifts God gives us. Some people discover those talents very young, for others it sometimes takes a long time. We find out in different ways:
Perhaps it's other people telling us, encouraging us. Perhaps it's the feeling we get when we do something like singing, or painting, or running: it makes us feel good about ourselves and fills us with enthusiasm.
There will always be people who are better, and worse, than us, at doing a particular thing. Only one person won Pop Idol; but whatever your gift is, no one can do it quite like you, because you are special.
If there is someone in your class who is good at something - tell them! If you think you haven't got any talents, you are wrong!
Thank you, God, for giving us gifts.
Help us each to discover what makes us special
and to use our gifts in the best way that we can.
Amen.
Song/music
'The best gift' (Come and Praise, 59)
