Passing on the Gift

The end of the academic year is approaching

by Alexandra Palmer

Suitable for Key Stage 2 - Church Schools

Aims

To consider what we mean by ‘passing something on’.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Passing on the Gift) and the means to display them.
• Have available the YouTube video ‘Elijah taken to heaven’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 6.13 minutes long, but you only need to show it from 0.52 to 4.53 minutes. It is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxlSwGqqkK8
• You will also need to be familiar with the Bible story of Elijah and Elisha.
• Optional: you may wish to use the extension activity (available at: Passing on the Gift - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.

Assembly

1. Have Slide 1 showing as the children enter.
   
   Tell the children that you are going to show them some pictures of people passing things on, and you want them to tell you what is being passed on in each picture.
   
   You may wish to ask the children to discuss the question with a partner or in small groups.
   
   
2. Show Slides 2 to 9.
   
   - Slide 2 shows children passing on a football.
   - Slide 3 shows some children whispering - perhaps they are passing on a secret!
   - Slide 4 shows a teacher reading a story to some children; she is passing on the enjoyment of reading or teaching the children how to read. Teachers also pass on knowledge of how to write, work out maths sums and all sorts of other skills. See if the children can think of any others!
   - Slide 5 shows someone passing on a funny joke.
   - Slide 6 shows a boy sorting through some old toys to pass on.
   - Slide 7 shows some children passing on, or sharing, some food.
   - Slide 8 shows some girls passing on a baton in a relay race.
   - Slide 9 shows some children passing on the ball in a game of netball.
   
   
3. Ask the children what they think the word ‘gift’ means. You may wish to encourage them to discuss their answers with a partner or in small groups.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   Suggestions might include something given at a celebration such as a birthday or Christmas present, or a natural gift such as playing a sport or musical instrument, helping others, cooking and so on.
   
   
4. Tell the children that they are going to hear about the story of Elijah and Elisha today. Explain that the story takes place hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Elijah was a prophet, which means that he was a person who obeyed God, even when a lot of people around him were doing bad things. He also passed on messages from God to other people.
   
   With God’s help, Elijah did amazing things. As he got older, he taught another prophet, Elisha, about serving and obeying God. Elisha wanted the gifts that Elijah had and wondered if they would get passed on to him.
   
   Show the YouTube video ‘Elijah taken to heaven’ from 0.52 to 4.53 minutes.
   
   
5. Ask the following questions about the story.
   
   - Why didn’t Elisha listen to Elijah and stay at Bethel and Jericho? (Answer: Elisha didn’t want to leave Elijah’s side because he felt sad that soon he would not be able to see his friend any more.)
   - What did Elisha ask for before Elijah got taken away in a chariot? (Answer: Elisha asked to become Elijah’s successor. This means that he wanted to become a prophet like Elijah and have the same gifts as him, like listening to God and carrying out his work.)
   - How did Elisha know that he had been given Elijah’s gifts? (Answer: Elisha did what Elijah told him and watched Elijah being taken away to heaven in a fiery chariot.)
   - Who gave Elisha the same gifts as Elijah? (Answer: God passed Elijah’s gifts on to Elisha.)
   - What was the first miracle that Elisha performed? (Answer: he used Elijah’s cloak to part the River Jordan so that he could walk across the riverbed.)
   
   
6. Ask the children what sort of gifts they would like to pass on.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
7. Explain that we are at the end of the academic year. In September, we will move into another classroom and another group of children will move into our old one. Remind the children that everyone in the class has amazing gifts. Give a few examples of academic and non-academic gifts such as being good at maths, writing stories, reading and drawing, and being a great friend, helpful, good at sport, organized and cheerful.
   
   
8. Ask the children, ‘If we could pass on our gifts to the next class moving up, what gifts do we think are the most important to pass on?’
   
   Pause to allow time for discussion.

Time for reflection

Elijah and Elisha both had amazing gifts of listening to God and passing on his messages to other people.

Ask the children to think quietly about what they think their special gifts are.

Pause to allow time for thought.

Ask the children to think quietly about what they would like to pass on to one of their friends that would help them.

Pause to allow time for thought.

Ask the children to think quietly about what they think one of their friends might pass on to them.

Pause to allow time for thought.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the gifts that you gave to Elijah and Elisha.
Thank you for all the different gifts that each of us has been given.
Thank you that we can use our gifts to help others.
Please help us to use our gifts in the right way and pass them on for the good of others.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Our God is a great big God’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaXPXWBcE3I (3 minutes long)

Extension activities

1. In line with the current restrictions, make sure that children wash their hands before and after this activity.
   
   Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (Passing on the Gift - Extension Activity) and ask them to write their name on the line at the top. These sheets will then be passed round the whole class so that everyone can write down what they think their classmates’ gifts are. When the sheets are completed, the children can keep their own sheet to remind themselves of all their gifts.