Being Thoughtful
An assembly for Mother’s Day
by Philippa Rae
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To celebrate those who care for us, with reference to Mother’s Day.
Preparation and materials
- Note: this assembly could be sensitive for children in particular family situations. Encourage the children to think about other role models in their lives as well as mothers.
- Optional: you may wish to have available the PowerPoint slide that accompanies this assembly (Being Thoughtful), in which case you will also need the means to display it.
Alternatively, you may wish to have available your own selection of images that depict different family groups, in which case you will also need the means to display them.
Assembly
- Ask the children what they understand by Mother’s Day, or Mothering Sunday.
Explain that each year, Mother’s Day is celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In 2019, it will be celebrated on Sunday 31 March. Many other countries also assign a day to celebrate Mother’s Day, but the dates vary. - Mother’s Day is a time when people show their appreciation for their mothers or people who care for them. Flowers are a traditional Mother’s Day gift, but nowadays, many people are far more creative with their gift ideas.
- Point out that people have very different families. However, we all have people who care for us in some way.
- Optional: you may wish to show the PowerPoint slide or your own selection of images that depict different family groups.
Point out that there are many different types of family. The most important thing about a family is that it is a place where we are loved, valued and cared for, and where we demonstrate these characteristics to others. - Point out that people who care for us have different qualities. No two mums are the same: each mum/carer will have his/her own likes and dislikes.
You may wish to ask the children what their mum/carer likes or dislikes doing most. For example, they may like playing sport, but dislike washing up. They may like having coffee with friends, but dislike mowing the lawn.
Point out that it can be helpful to understand people’s likes and dislikes when you are choosing them a present. - Ask the children to imagine that they have special powers. Ask them to imagine what they would conjure up as a special present for their mum/carer; something that money can’t buy. Encourage them to be as creative as possible!
Read out a selection of the following ideas.
- Mum takes me to swimming twice a week and it takes half an hour to drive there each time. I would like to have a flying car that got us there more quickly so that she had more time.
- My mum’s mum and family live in another part of the world and she would love to see them more often. I would invent a Tardis for each of them so that the family members could visit each other easily.
- My dad dislikes washing my muddy football kit. I would like to invent material that ate dirt as soon as it came into contact with it so that washing the kit would be less messy.
- My aunt wants to pass her Gold Tap Award exam at her adult tap dance class. I would like to create some magic dancing shoes that make tap dancing easier so that she can perform all the steps well and get top marks.
- I would like the bush in my front garden to grow flowers. It hardly ever blooms and my grandad loves roses.
- I would like to find Grandma’s wedding ring because she lost the first one. We bought a replacement for it, but it isn’t the same as the original because it was Grandad’s grandmother’s ring and had been in the family for a long time. - Ask the children to come up with their own examples.
Listen to a range of responses.
Time for reflection
Explain that although most of the examples we’ve just heard are so creative that they are unlikely to happen, we can still do some special things for our mums and those who care for us. For example, some children will have created home-made cards and gifts. These don’t cost much money, but they are special because they have taken time and effort to create.
There are also alternatives to the examples above that would still be very special to our mums/carers.
- Instead of a flying car, we could save Mum a lot of time by getting ready more quickly.
- Maybe we could arrange a special time for Mum to FaceTime or Skype the family members who live in a different country. We could get her a drink and her favourite biscuit and look after our little brother or sister so that she could have a good chat with her family abroad.
- We could help put the washing in the washing machine.
- We could make a good luck card for our aunt.
- We could save up our pocket money and buy some roses or paint a picture of roses for our grandad.
- We could write a short story or draw a picture about the missing ring to remind Grandma that even though the special ring is lost, everyone still remembers it and the people it belonged to.
Ask the children to think about the things that their mum/carer does for them.
Ask the children to think about the things that make their mum/carer unique.
Ask the children to think about what their mum/carer doesn’t like, and how they might make their life easier.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for all the mums and carers in the world who look after us and keep us safe.
Please help us to show our love and appreciation.
Thank you that we all have our part to play in caring for the world and the people in it.
Please help us always to say thank you to those who care for us, and to show that we appreciate them by our actions.
Amen.
Song/music
‘I am amazing’ by Philippa Hanna, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVNKj0fbMiU (4.21 minutes long)
