'Hello Scruff!' Choices - right and wrong

To show that, every day, we have to make choices, using a new puppet friend to help get the message across.

by The Revd Sylvia Burgoyne

Suitable for Key Stage 1

Aims

To show that, every day, we have to make choices, using a new puppet friend to help get the message across.

Preparation and materials

• You will need a donkey glove or sock puppet.
• As the assembly begins, ensure that you already have the puppet on your hand.  

Assembly

1. Scruff waves to the children. Encourage them to wave back.
   
   Lucy Jane lives on a farm with her mum, Mrs B, and her dad, Farmer Brown. Lucy Jane loves Scruff. She looks after him. She plays with him and she talks to him – when she’s happy and when she’s sad. Scruff is her best friend!
   
2. Sometimes Scruff wishes that he could talk, then he could stop Lucy Jane from getting into trouble. On Friday, when she came home from school, the farmhouse kitchen was full of the delicious aroma of baking. Mrs B had just taken a tray of chocolate buns out of the oven. ‘I’ll leave these to cool on the table while I pop to the shop. Mind you don’t touch them, Lucy Jane. If you’re hungry, you can have a biscuit out of the tin. Your dad is in the field if you need him.’ She put Tom in his pram and off they went.
3. Lucy Jane helped herself to a biscuit and a glass of milk, but the aroma of the buns was very tempting. ‘Mum’s made lots, she won’t miss one!’ Lucy Jane quickly ate one from the side of the rack. Still licking her lips, she ran over to the stable to see Scruff.
4. ‘Mum’s made lots of chocolate buns,’ she told him. Then she whispered in his ear, ‘I’ll tell you a secret, I ate one. Mum won’t miss one, will she?’ She gave Scruff a big hug and brushed his coat. All the time, the lovely aroma wafted across the farmyard. ‘I forgot to bring you a carrot, Scruff. I’ll run back and get you one!’ Scruff shook his head vigorously, but Lucy Jane had already run through the kitchen door.
   
   Ask the children why Scruff shook his head. Did he know what Lucy Jane was going to do?
5. She did bring him a lovely carrot, but Scruff noticed the chocolate crumbs round her mouth. ‘Hee-haw. Hee-haw’, he neighed quietly. ‘Oh Scruff, you know don’t you? Mum said I wasn’t to touch the buns and now I’ve eaten three more! She’ll be back soon and she’s sure to notice. What am I going to tell her?’
6. Just then, Mrs B came across the farmyard and she waved at Lucy Jane who was standing in the stable doorway. Scruff gently pushed her forwards. ‘You’re right, Scruff. I’ve got to tell Mum the buns smelled so delicious that, even though she told me not to touch, I ate four. I’ll have to say I’m sorry.’
   
   Ask the children what they think Lucy Jane’s mum said. Ask if they sometimes take something they like, even though they know it’s wrong. Then, take off Scruff.
7. In the Bible, we hear how Jesus went to a desert place on his own. He did a lot of thinking and listening. What was the special work God wanted him to do?
8. All kinds of ideas came into his head and they weren’t all good ones! So, when his tummy started rumbling and he knew he had no food, he thought, ‘If I’m God’s son, why can’t I pick up a stone and turn it into bread? What’s to stop me from ruling the whole world? I could do something really spectacular, like jumping off the top of the temple and landing safely in the middle of a huge crowd of people. I could be a superhero and have anything I want!’
9. The more he thought and listened, though, Jesus knew that only God is great. He knew, too, that he must teach everyone to love and serve his heavenly Father. So, he pushed the bad thoughts out of his head and left the desert place, ready for action.

Time for reflection

Lucy Jane’s mum still loved her, even though she had helped herself to lots of chocolate buns! She was pleased that Lucy Jane said ‘Sorry.’

It’s not always easy to choose what’s right. Can we be brave enough to say ‘Sorry’ when we make mistakes?

Prayer
Dear Lord,
thank you for loving us even when we make mistakes.
Help us to choose what is right.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Kum ba yah’ (Come and Praise, 68)