Gentleness: Fruits of the Spirit
by Manon Ceridwen James
Suitable for Key Stage 1 - Church Schools
Aims
To explore gentleness as a fruit of the spirit.
Preparation and materials
- You will need a cuddly toy, hidden in a bag.
- Refamiliarize yourself with some of the class and school rules.
Assembly
- Explain that today you are going to be thinking about gentleness and, in order to help you think about gentleness, you have brought with you a special friend.
- Take the toy out of the bag. Explain who it is, what its name is, what sort of toy it is (teddy, duck, dog and so on) and its significance to you.
- Ask the children to tell you about their own cuddly toys. Do they have a favourite? What do they like about their favourite toys?
- Explain how you like yours because it is soft and cuddly. Ask the children how they handle their toys?
Ask them, ‘How do we treat a toy like this that is soft and cuddly?’ Discuss how we are careful with them. We don’t throw them around or drop them. In other words, we are gentle. - Discuss how it is good to be gentle and not just with toys. If we have baby brothers or sisters or pets, we have to be gentle with them, too. Ask the children why that is? For example, it is because they can become scared or scratch if we are rough with them.
- This goes for people of all ages. It’s great to play games, laugh and b loud sometimes. They may like playing football or tag or other games that involve running around. Even so, it is also important to be gentle.
- Explore with the children whether or not they have rules in class. For example, do they have to remember to keep their arms, hands and legs to themselves? There are times when they have to be quiet and listen. We can use gentle voices as well as being gentle with our arms and legs.
Say how gentleness is a good thing and helps other people to not be scared or feel bad.
Time for reflection
Encourage the children to think about when they like other people to be gentle with them. For example, when they have a cuddle with their mums, dads, grandparents and so on or when they are tucked up in bed with their favourite cuddly toy. Gentleness makes us feel peaceful and special. Gentleness is good.
Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for the people in our lives who are gentle with us.
Help us to be gentle and help other people feel warm and special.
We thank you for our toys and pets.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Spirit of God, as strong as the wind’ (Come and Praise, 63)
Publication date: December 2014 (Vol.16 No.12) Published by SPCK, London, UK.