Look Inside
An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive
Suitable for Whole School (Pri) - Church Schools
Aims
To consider how people’s outward behaviour can reveal what they are like on the inside.
Preparation and materials
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Arrange for two or three children to sit in the assembly wearing their jumpers inside out.
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You will need a parcel containing a small object, a box with something placed inside and a book.
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Familiarize yourself with the story in Luke 6.43-45.
Assembly
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Ask the children who are wearing their jumpers inside out to move to the front. Ask the other children what is unusual about these particular children today. Point out that when clothes are inside out, we can discover a lot of information. Have a look at the labels of the jumpers and read out some facts such as where the jumpers were bought, what the jumpers are made of and the washing instructions.
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Show the parcel to the children.
Ask the children how you could find out what is inside the parcel. Ask a volunteer to open it.
Repeat this process with the box and the book.
Point out that in each case, an object must be opened to see what can be found inside. -
Invite two volunteers forward and ask if there is any way that we could see what these people are like on the inside. Suggestions might include using X-rays, scanners and other medical-type equipment or simply looking in the mouth.
Explain that although all of these methods are helpful for looking inside a person, they do not give any clues as to what each person is really like on the inside - what they feel, how they think, whether they are happy or sad or whether they are kind or unkind. -
Read from Luke 6.43-45 or paraphrase as follows.
‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. Just like trees, good people are recognized by the good things they do from the goodness inside their hearts, and bad people do bad things because they think bad thoughts inside their hearts.’
Time for reflection
Explain that although we can’t see inside people, we can tell what they are like on the inside by looking at the things that they say and do. People who do good deeds such as helping or saying kind things to others do so because they have kind hearts on the inside.
Ask the children to listen to the words of this well-known Christian prayer.
Prayer
God be in my head, and in my understanding.
God be in my eyes, and in my looking.
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking.
God be in my heart, and in my thinking.
Amen.
Song/music
‘He made me’ (Come and Praise, 18)
Follow-up ideas
Art: Use the theme of ‘inside and out’ to identify and discuss paintings that depict feelings.
