Beautiful Spring
Springtime is amazing!
by Jan Edmunds (revised, originally published in 2006)
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider the beauty of spring and to give thanks for the newness of nature.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Beautiful Spring) and the means to display them.
- Note: in the ‘Assembly’, you could treat all of the children as detectives or select small groups or individual children as detectives.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Welcome the children and ask them how good they are at playing detectives. There are already clues in our gardens and in the fields around us that something wonderful is happening. - Tell the children that you’re going to read out the first verse of a poem.
Show Slide 2.
Now is the season of promise,
When new life’s beginning to grow.
The time for rebirth and awakening,
When blossom and buds start to show. - Ask your detectives whether any of them can tell you what is happening to trees at the moment.
Listen to a range of responses.
Show Slides 3-5. - Ask the children to listen for some more clues as you read out the second verse of the poem.
Show Slide 6.
The newborn appear in the meadow,
On farm and in hedgerow and pond.
There’s a chorus of birds sweetly singing
In field and in forest beyond. - Ask your detectives the following questions.
- What do we mean by ‘the newborn’?
- What are the birds doing?
- What’s happening in the ponds?
Listen to a range of responses.
Show Slides 7-10.
- Explain that the last verse of the poem tells us the names of some flowers. Ask the children to see whether they can remember them.
Show Slide 11.
Daffodils brighten our gardens,
Showing that winter has passed.
The snowdrop and crocus still blooming
Tell us that spring’s here at last.
Ask your detectives whether they can remember the names of the flowers in the last verse of the poem.
Listen to a range of responses.
Show Slides 12-15 and discuss the colours of the flowers.
Time for reflection
After the grey days of winter, colour is appearing in our gardens once again. Easter comes at this time of year. A time when Christians remember that Jesus died on the cross and, like the trees and flowers now waking from their winter sleep, he rose again from the dead.
Optional: if time allows, this can be linked to the Easter story and the Resurrection (see Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 or John 20).
Christians believe that after life, death is a new beginning. Most religions in the world look on the season of spring as a message of hope and promise.
Spring is an exciting time that lifts us from the gloom of winter to the hope of a new beginning. Can you see signs of spring in nature at the moment? And what about in your own life – can you see signs of new beginnings there, too?
Let’s listen to this Easter poem.
Easter buds are springing,
Praise him, praise him.
The Lord of all things lives anew
And all his works are rising, too.
(Anonymous)
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the beauty and wonders of your world
And for the signs of spring that show us that life goes on.
Help us to take the time to stop and look for the beauty that is all around us.
Help us to be grateful and to do all that we can to protect our world.
Amen.
