Winnie the Pooh Day
Winnie the Pooh Day is on 18 January 2023
by Becky May
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day and the benefits of having friends who are different from us.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Winnie the Pooh Day) and the means to show them.
Assembly
- Welcome the children to the assembly and ask them how they are feeling. Are they having a good day? Perhaps they’re feeling a bit sad today. Or maybe they’re excited about something.
Give a few children the opportunity to share how they’re feeling. - Show Slide 1.
Tell the children that every year, Winnie the Pooh Day is celebrated on 18 January. It’s the day in 1882 when A. A. Milne, the author of the Winnie the Pooh stories, was born. At first, he wrote the stories for his son, using his cuddly toys as his inspiration. - Ask the children whether they have ever heard any of the Winnie the Pooh stories, or watched any films or cartoons about them.
Invite the children to recall the characters and stories that they can remember.
Listen to a range of responses. - Explain to the children that each character in the stories has his or her own personality. They are all different, but they are good friends and look out for each other.
- Show Slide 2.
Christopher Robin is the only human character; he is named after A. A. Milne’s son.
Show Slide 3.
Winnie the Pooh is kind, caring and friendly to everyone.
Show Slide 4.
Tigger is always on the go and easily excited - he just can’t keep still! He is full of confidence, but often overestimates his abilities. Whatever he has to do, he says it’s ‘what Tiggers do best!’
Show Slide 5.
Piglet is shy and lacks confidence, but Pooh encourages him to be brave and have a go at things.
Show Slide 6.
Eeyore struggles to feel happy about things; he always seems sad and grumpy. However, his friends accept him as he is, and care for him.
Show Slide 7.
Rabbit is friendly, but also bossy and irritable. He much prefers doing things his own way.
Show Slide 8.
Owl is very clever and knows a lot . . . well, he thinks he does. It isn’t always the case!
Show Slide 9.
Kanga is kind and caring and looks after the other characters, especially her son, Roo. - Explain how interesting the differences between each of these characters are. They’re not perfect, but individual characters, with things that we like about them and things that we may not.
As a group of friends, they accept and care for each other, even when it isn’t easy to do so, such as when they’re annoying each other, or making it harder to be included in what the others are doing. - Ask the children to think for a moment about their own friends. Perhaps they can think of someone who is bouncy like Tigger, or caring like Kanga. Maybe they sometimes find their friends a bit bossy like Rabbit, or perhaps they find it hard to cheer up their friend, like Eeyore.
The thing is, we all have differences and that isn’t a bad thing. We don’t need to try to change our friends. Our unique characteristics are the things that make us who we are. Tolerating things that we may find hard and celebrating our differences are what make our friendships so special!
Time for reflection
Encourage the children to make themselves really quiet and to think for a moment about the different characters that make up their friendship group.
Jesus had some close friends too. His disciples were the 12 men who followed him most closely. Some of them were noisy and excitable; others were quieter and more serious. Sometimes, they had a wonderful time with Jesus, but at other times, they found it really hard. Jesus helped this group of people to grow together. The Bible tells us that Jesus accepted them as they were, and that he accepts us too.
Optional: the Bible has a lot to say about how we are all created to be unique and different. In one of his letters, Paul explained that we all have different gifts and skills, and they all work together.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that we are each uniquely and wonderfully made, and that you know all about us.
Thank you for our friends: the noisy, bouncy ones; the quiet, gentle ones; the kind, caring ones; and the funny ones.
Please help us to be a good friend to others.
Amen.
Song/music
Disney’s Winnie The Pooh theme song, available at: https://youtu.be/xHYvpXe75b8 (2.18 minutes long)
‘Big family of God’ by Nick and Becky Drake, available at: https://youtu.be/_F5pr6gEkBU (2.19 minutes long)
Extension activities
- Read one of the Winnie the Pooh stories together. You could also watch a clip from one of the films or cartoons about Winnie the Pooh and talk about the similarities and differences between them.
- Encourage the children to celebrate their friends and friendships. You could do this by creating a special display where children can celebrate the uniqueness of their friends. Alternatively, you could create a ‘good friend’ certificate that the children could award to their peers.
