Pause for Thought: a Beautiful World
All things bright and beautiful
by Rebecca Parkinson (video recording by Vita)
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider the beauty of the world.
Preparation and materials
- You will need to have the means available to play the videos below. The first is 3.12 minutes long, the second is 2.10 minutes long and the third is 4.28 minutes long.
- The picture book All Things Bright and Beautiful by SPCK is available from: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/all-things-bright-and-beautiful-pb
Assembly
Ask the children whether they have heard of the song ‘All things bright and beautiful’.
Play the following video.
The following video shows the song made into a book.
The person who wrote this song was called Cecil Frances Alexander. The following BBC video tells us about her life.
Time for reflection
We live in a beautiful world! Maybe today we could look in the garden or around us when we are out for a walk and see how many beautiful things there are in the world. Maybe we could simply stop and listen.
Think of the world without all the things that make it special: the plants and the trees, the sky and the birds, the animals, the buildings and the people.
Think about how lucky we are to have all of these things.
You may wish to use the following prayer.
Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for flowers and trees and sunshine,
And for all the living creatures.
We thank you for families and friendships,
And for our homes and our school.
We thank you for giving us food to eat.
We thank you for everything wonderful in the world.
Amen.
Song/music
‘What a wonderful world’ by Louis Armstrong, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWzrABouyeE (2.29 minutes long)
Extension activities
- It is important to look after the beautiful world we live in. For ten tips on how to live in an eco-friendly way, see: https://www.iamgreenwise.com/environment-and-kids/
- If you’d like to create something beautiful, and possibly reuse some of the items in your recycling bin, there are plenty of ideas available at: https://www.freekidscrafts.com/?s=recycling
