Sign of the Cross

An Easter assembly

by Becky May

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To explore the symbolism of the cross.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Sign of the Cross) and the means to display them.

Assembly

1. Welcome the children to the assembly. Ask them if they know what special event is coming up. What will they do to celebrate? Do they know why we have Easter? What does it celebrate?
   
   
2. Tell the children that you are going to show them some different examples of crosses. Explain that you want them to tell you what each one is for, or when they may see them.
   
   
3. Show Slide 1.
   
   Ask the children when they might see this kind of cross. What does it mean?
   
   Hopefully, the children will identify that it denotes where treasure can be found.
   
   
4. Show Slide 2.
   
   Ask the children what this cross means. Help the children to explain that it has the meaning of a kiss, so it represents love.
   
   
5. Show Slide 3.
   
   Ask the children what it means when we use a cross like this. Explain that we sometimes use a cross to mark something as being wrong.
   
   You could explain that teachers used to mark work with ticks and crosses, but nowadays, we usually mark it in a different way.
   
   
6. Show Slide 4.
   
   Ask the children if they have ever seen a cross like this before. Do they know what it means?
   
   Explain that it means that someone has died. Ask the children if they know why we use a cross here. Invite the children to share their ideas.
   
   
7. Show Slide 5.
   
   Draw the children’s ideas together and explain that the cross is an important symbol for Christians. It reminds them of Jesus’ death on the cross, which they particularly remember at Easter.
   
   Explain that it is because of the Easter story that the symbol of the cross is used on graves today too. Christians believe that because Jesus died and was resurrected (came back to life), we don’t need to fear death because we too can live with him. So, instead of being a symbol of sadness, the cross can be a symbol of hope.
   
   
8. Show Slide 6.
   
   Explain to the children that all of these ideas about what a cross can be used for can help us to think about what Easter means.
   
   The cross reminds us that Jesus died on a cross, and that he was resurrected. It also reminds us of other things that Christians believe.
   
   - People are really precious to God - like treasure - and he came down to find and recover his treasure. (You could remind the children of the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin here, if appropriate.)
   - God loves the world so much that he sent his son, Jesus, into the world.
   - We do wrong things, which the Bible calls sins, and there had to be a punishment for these. But Jesus chose to take away that punishment for us when he died on the cross.
   
   
9. Encourage the children to remember these things the next time they see a cross. Challenge them to see whether they can spot any other crosses that mean different things. Can they relate them back to the Easter story?

Time for reflection

Encourage the children to make themselves really quiet and think about what we have explored during this assembly. Invite them to think about any symbols that may be special to them, and why they are significant.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for Easter and for the cross.
Thank you for everything that it represents.
Thank you for your amazing love for us.
Please help us to better understand what it means.
Amen.

Song/music

‘When I think about the cross’ (Songs for Every Easter by Mark and Helen Johnson, Out of the Ark Music). An extract is available at: https://tinyurl.com/mwu44rzx

‘Sign your cross’ by Nick and Becky Drake, available at: https://youtu.be/MWiP6jEUl8Y (4.16 minutes long)

Extension activities

1. Invite the children to bring in different crosses to create a display area in the school or classroom.
   
   
2. Take a walk around the community to see how many crosses you can find. You could also extend this to see what other symbols you spot and what they represent. This could be done as a class walk around the community or as a family homework challenge.