Every Little Bit Matters

Kindness is important

by Philippa Rae (revised, originally published in 2015)

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To consider the value of kindness and how it affects other people.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the illustrated story of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ from Aesop’s Fables. Alternatively, you can use the adapted version in the ‘Assembly’, Step 7.
• Optional: you may wish to have a dictionary available for the children to look up definitions of the words in the ‘Assembly’, Step 6.
• Optional: you may wish to familiarize yourself with the parable of the good Samaritan, which is found in the Bible in Luke 10.25-37.

Assembly

1. Ask the children what the word ‘kindness’ means. Ask them if anyone has been kind to them lately.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
2. Ask the children whether any of them have done something kind for other people recently. Ask what sort of things they could do that would be kind.
   
   
3. Point out that the opposite of being kind is being unkind. Being unkind involves things like saying harsh words to someone, laughing at someone if they get questions wrong in class or leaving people out at playtime.
   
   Being unkind doesn’t necessarily mean that what you are saying is incorrect. It can sometimes be how we say something that hurts people. It is possible to be truthful and kind.
   
   
4. Remind the children that sometimes, we don’t realize that what appears to be unimportant to us is actually very important to someone else. There are times when something little means a lot to the person receiving it. It might make their day!
   
   
5. There is a saying, ‘Charity begins at home’. This means that, although it is great to do good things to help those in the wider community, such as raising money for charity and so on, we mustn’t forget that how we treat those closest to us is also very important.
   
   There are many ways in which we can show kindness.
   
   - We can be friendly and helpful.
   - We can put away our toys or our clothes.
   - We can make sure that we don’t leave anyone out of games during playtime.
   - We can hold the door open for someone.
   - We can smile at people!
   - We can speak politely.
   - We can show respect.
   
   
6. Ask the children to add other ways of showing kindness to the list.
   
   Ask the children whether they can think of any words that relate to kindness. For example, consideration, sympathy, empathy and so on.
   
   Ask the children to explain the meaning of these words.
   
   Optional: you may wish to ask the children to look up the definitions in a dictionary.
   
   
7. Now let’s listen to a story about being kind, and how it can repay us.
   
   The story of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ was written by a man called Aesop. He wrote lots of short stories, which became known as Aesop’s fables. Many of the characters in Aesop’s fables are animals, and the stories teach strong morals.
   
   The Lion and the Mouse
   
   Lion was a huge animal with big, sharp teeth. Many animals were afraid of him. He was fierce and he had a loud, frightening roar.
   One day, he was fast asleep when a little mouse ran across his face.
   With a start, Lion woke up. He was angry and caught the mouse with one scoop of his enormous paw.
   ‘Spare me,’ cried Mouse. ‘Please don’t kill me. One day, I may be able to repay you.’
   Lion laughed. How could a little mouse possibly help him? After all, he was the king of the jungle. However, Lion let the mouse go.
   Some time later, Lion was out in the jungle when SNAP! He was caught in a hunter’s ropes. How the mighty creature roared and roared!
   The little mouse heard him and came to his rescue. She gnawed and gnawed at the ropes until they fell apart and Lion was freed.
   ‘You laughed when I said that one day, I would repay you,’ said Mouse. ‘But now you can see that even a mouse can help a lion.’
   
   
8. In this fable, Lion was kind to Mouse. For him, it was nothing that a big, fierce lion should spare a tiny, helpless creature such as a mouse. But that small action ended up saving Lion’s life!
   
   This story doesn’t mean that we should be kind to people to get something back. It means that we never know what difference being kind to someone can make to their life and ours. How we react to others is important. Being kind to other people improves relationships with those around us. Also, being kind to people can make us feel good on the inside too!
   
   Optional: you may wish to remind the children about the parable of the good Samaritan, which is found in the Bible in Luke 10.25-37.

Time for reflection

Sometimes, it is easy to forget to be kind. Being kind means thinking about someone else and being willing to put their needs first.

Think about the ways in which people are kind to you.

- How did you feel when someone was kind to you?

Pause to allow time for thought.

- How can you show kindness to someone today?

Pause to allow time for thought.

Prayer
Dear God,
Please help me to be kind to others.
Please help me to be helpful, considerate and sympathetic.
At difficult times, when I’m busy or tired, help me to respond to others in the way in which I would like to be treated.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Bridge over troubled water’ by Simon & Garfunkel, available at: https://youtu.be/4G-YQA_bsOU (4.53 minutes long)