Thoughts For Harvest
To provide material for a traditional Harvest festival celebration.
by Jan Edmunds
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To provide material for a traditional Harvest festival celebration.
Preparation and materials
- This assembly is designed to be delivered by the children, so some rehearsal will be necessary.
- Write the first letter of each line of the acrostic poem very boldly and as large as possible on individual pieces of card. (The children could be asked to colour them.) On the reverse side write the relevant line to be read. As the cards are held up and read aloud the children can line up to form the word HARVEST.
- Other individuals or groups could display the actual items mentioned or show pictures they have found or painted. These can be arranged to form a display.
- Five other speakers will be needed.
Assembly
- 1st Speaker: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our assembly. We would like you to join us as we celebrate Harvest time.
- Each of the readers holds up their card and speaks their part of the poem in turn. They should be arranged so that the letters spell out HARVEST. To involve more children you could split each line between two. To avoid too much arm-ache you could prop each card against a chair once the lines have been read.
H is for the Harvest.
Farmers work hard, hour by hour,
to cut and store the golden grain that's then made into flour.A is for apples, pears and plums,
all hanging from the tree.
They're fresh and sweet and juicy - a treat for you and me.R is for red and yellow, orange, gold and green,
the trees so full of colour as nature paints the scene.V is for vegetables, gathered and safely stored away.
Potatoes, carrots, sprouts and peas, so there's some for every day.E is for the earth, providing all our food,
with sun and rain to make things grow to give us all that's good.S is for seeds, so gently twirling to the ground,
settling deep within the soil where new growth will be found.
T - So it's a big Thank You we must not forget to say
To God above who shows his love in caring day by day. -
2nd Speaker: God made a promise to his people: ‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease’ (Genesis 8.22).
Time for reflection
Reflection
3rd Speaker: We are so fortunate in this country
because we have plenty of food to eat.
Let us today think of those people who live in countries
where many are starving because of famine and war.
4th Speaker: Let us hope that they can live in peace
and that the richer countries of the world
will unite to send them help.
Prayer
5th Speaker: Let us pray.
Dear God,
We thank you for all the gifts of ripened fruit and vegetables
you give to us at Harvest time.
For the bread and the cereals on our table every day
and for all the other good things we have to eat.
Help those who are less fortunate
and grant us all your peace this day and for evermore.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Lord of the Harvest’ (Come and Praise, 133).
