Try Something New!
The value of new experiences
by Becky May
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To encourage us to take advantage of new opportunities and consider how we can grow through them.
Preparation and materials
- Have available a selection of unusual fruits. If possible, have a whole fruit to show the children and some small samples of fruit for volunteers to taste.
Note: you will need to check the school policy for food allergies prior to this assembly and gain permission for the children to taste the foods.
Assembly
- Show the selection of unusual fruits.
Invite the children to share the names of any fruits they can identify.
Discuss each of the fruits in turn, explaining where and how it is grown and what it is called. Ask the children if they think it appears attractive to eat. - Ask the children if any of them have tried the fruits before.
Invite some volunteers to taste the fruits, ensuring that the school has agreed this beforehand and that any allergies have been considered.
Ask the volunteers to describe the taste of the fruits and what they like best about them. Ask if the taste is what they expected from how the fruit looked. - Point out that some children have tried something for the first time in their lives today. When they walked into the assembly, they didn’t know what a ‘dragon fruit’ (insert the name of the relevant fruit) was or what it tasted like, but now they do!
- Ask the children if they can think of any other examples where they have tried something new recently. For example, perhaps they have joined a new sports club, started a new hobby or even joined a new school.
Point out that trying something new can be interesting, and even exciting. It can help us to learn new things and grow in confidence. - Ask the children how they have felt when they have tried something new. It may be that they remember their first day at school, their first swimming lesson or their first school dinner.
Encourage the children to think about the feelings they had. - Explain that trying new things can sometimes be scary. However, if we don’t try something new, we will never find out if we like it or not.
- January marks the start of a new year. In this year, there will be many opportunities to try something new. Encourage the children to have a go at any opportunity that comes their way. If they don’t like it, at least they’ll have tried it.
Time for reflection
Sometimes, trying something for the first time can seem a bit scary. We need to have courage to try something new. However, most days present opportunities to try something new. It could be the chance to play a different instrument in school, try a new food, play a different game, make a new friend, offer to help at home: the list is endless.
Sometimes, we have a go at something and find that we really don’t like it. But sometimes, we discover something we really love and it can become a fantastic part of our lives. We would never have encountered that enjoyment if we had refused to try it in the first place.
Christians believe that God made everything in the heavens and on earth. They believe that as well as making people, God also wants to help people change and have fresh starts in life. Christians believe that God wants us to have an amazing and wonderful life, full of new excitements and new experiences.
They believe that God has created this beautiful world and placed people in it both to enjoy it and to look after it. When we try new experiences, we grow, enjoying all that is around us in our world.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the wonderful world that you have created.
Thank you for your creativity with all the exciting things that live in the world around us.
Thank you for new opportunities: things that we can try for the first time ever.
Help us to have courage, even when we feel a little scared or intimidated to try new things,
So that we can grow in new ways.
Amen.
Song/music
‘He’s got the whole world’ (Come and Praise, 19)
‘Signs & wonders’ by the Watoto Children’s Choir, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nPAPfHNrvg (3.29 minutes long)
