How to use this site    About Us    Submissions    Feedback    Donate    Links   

Assemblies.org.uk - School Assemblies for every season for everyone

Decorative image - Primary

Email Twitter Facebook

-
X
-

Discovering Treasure

An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive

Suitable for Whole School (Pri) - Church Schools

Aims

To consider the importance of a relationship with God.

Preparation and materials

  • Have available a lucky dip with some small toys and treats hidden inside it.

  • You will need four children to play the parts of a farm worker, a jewellery buyer and two jewellery sellers in the stories in the assembly. You will act as the narrator.

  • Note: the stories in the assembly are inspired by Matthew 13.44-46.

  • Optional: if one is available, a hand-held toy metal detector would be useful as a prop for the farm worker at the beginning of the first story.

Assembly

  1. Ask the children what they understand by the term ‘discovery’.

    Listen to a range of responses.

  2. Explain that to discover something means to find it. You can discover something after a long search or you can discover something accidentally. This assembly will consider both types of discovery.

  3. Ask the children if they have ever found anything, such as money dropped in the street, a lost pet or a missing TV remote control. Allow a selection of volunteers to share their discoveries with the rest of the children.

  4. After hearing about the childrens discoveries, reveal the lucky dip and invite a volunteer to have a go at discovering some treasure.  

  5. Tell the children that in the Bible, Jesus told two stories about two different people who both made a discovery. Ask the four children who will be playing parts in the stories to come forward.

  6. The Story of the Farm Worker

    (The child who is playing the farm worker should mime digging and make some grunts and groans to indicate that the digging is hard work.)

    Narrator: One day, when the farm worker was out digging in the field, his/her spade hit a solid object. Clang! At first, he/she thought it must be a rock, but when he/she knelt down to pull the object out of the hole, he/she discovered a box. On opening the box, to his/her great surprise, he/she found a huge haul of gold coins and priceless jewels. Immediately, he/she replaced the box in the hole, covered it with soil again, picked up the spade and ran home.

  7. The Story of the Jewellery Buyer

    Narrator: The jewellery buyer’s discovery was a bit different from that of the farm worker. For many years, he/she had been trying to find the perfect pearl to make into a pearl pendant. He/she went to a thousand different pearl shops to inspect the pearls on display.

    Jewellery buyer (to Jewellery seller 1): Excuse me, do you have any pearls for sale?

    Jewellery seller 1: Oh yes, beautiful pearls. Look for yourself (shows handful of imaginary pearls). What do you think?

    Jewellery buyer: Theyre very nice, but theyre not perfect.

    Narrator: It was the same story wherever he/she went. The pearls that were available were beautiful, but they werent perfect. On the day that he/she had decided to give up his/her search for the perfect pearl, he/she visited the only pearl shop in the world that he/she had never visited before.

    Jewellery buyer (to Jewellery seller 2): Excuse me, do you have any pearls for sale?

    Jewellery seller 2: I have only one pearl for sale, and I think it is the finest pearl in the whole world. (Holds out a single, imaginary pearl.) It is perfect, dont you think?

    Jewellery buyer (overjoyed): Youre right! It is perfect. How much does it cost?

    Jewellery seller: Ah. That might be a problem. To buy this pearl, you will have to sell everything you own.

    Narrator: Telling the jewellery seller not to sell the pearl to anyone else, the jewellery buyer ran straight home. Then, back at home, the jewellery buyer and the farm worker set about selling everything they owned.

    Jewellery buyer (to the audience): Who wants to buy this PlayStation 4?

    Farm worker (to the audience): How much will anyone give me for this old pair of welly boots?

    Narrator: When the jewellery buyer and the farm worker had sold everything they owned, they used the money to buy what they had discovered. The farm worker bought the field and, with it, the box of treasure. The jewellery buyer bought the perfect pearl. They were both very, very happy.

  8. Invite the children to applaud the performances of the farm worker, the jewellery buyer and the two jewellery sellers, before asking them to return to their seats.

Time for reflection

Explain that Jesus told these stories to help people understand that knowing God is the most important discovery that anyone can ever make. A person might come to know God after a very long search, like the jewellery buyer and the pearl, or it might come as a big surprise, like the farm worker and the box of treasure. Christians believe that knowing God is worth more than all of the possessions that they own. To know God is worth more than a box of treasure or a perfect pearl.

Prayer
Dear God,
Help us to keep searching in our discoveries of you.
Thank you for all that you have given us.

Help us to realize which things matter most in our lives.
Amen.

Song/music

For the measure of the treasure (Kidsource 2)

Follow-up ideas

  1. Use this story as the basis for a class assembly.

  2. Explore Jesus other parables in Matthew 13.

  3. Discuss with the children the things that they treasure.

  4. Read and discuss Matthew 6.19-24. What is treasure in heaven?

  5. Invite a Christian into school to talk about his/her discovery of God.
Publication date: July 2023   (Vol.25 No.7)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
Print this page