Everyday Thanks
Being thankful every day
by Manon Parry (revised, originally published in 2010)
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider how an attitude of thankfulness enables us to cope better with each day.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the following objects or images and the means to display them during the assembly:
- a symbol of celebration, such as a champagne cork. An image is available at: https://tinyurl.com/ymdc33hy
- a symbol of ordinariness, such as a carrot. An image is available at: https://tinyurl.com/mszmruvy
- a symbol of sadness, such as a box of tissues. An image is available at: http://tinyurl.com/44sg5gc
- You will also need five volunteers for the ‘Time for reflection’ part of the assembly. These could be chosen during the assembly or could have been given time to prepare beforehand.
Assembly
- Ask the children, ‘How are you feeling today?’
Point out that each of them would probably answer that question differently on different days. Some days can be sad, happy or ordinary depending on what’s going on. For example, we feel happy when something nice happens to us, like when we make a new friend, when it’s the day of the school trip, when we’re invited to a party or when we’re about to start the summer holidays. We might feel happy and excited when we return to school and move into a new class, with all the opportunities that are open to us. - Show the champagne cork, or the image of it.
Explain the meaning behind the cork or the image of it, speaking personally if possible. For example, ‘This is the cork from the bottle of champagne that I drank with my family and friends when I . . .’ - Ask the children about their own happy days. Encourage them to remember special family birthdays or events, such as weddings or when their football team won a big match. How do they feel when they wake up on Christmas morning, or on the day of their birthday? What does a happy day feel like?
- Show the carrot, or the image of it.
Explain how most days are ordinary ones, when nothing exciting or sad happens.
Ask the children if they like carrots. Carrots are good for us and have lots of nutritional benefits, but they are a very ordinary food. - Show the box of tissues, or the image of it.
Discuss how some days can unfortunately be sad days, when something bad happens to us or to someone we love.
Explain that even though we might be having an ordinary day or a sad day, there are things that we can do to make ourselves feel better. We can try to stop and think about things for which we are thankful. If we can do this and remind ourselves about good things in our lives, it can sometimes stop us from feeling as bad.
Note: this point needs to be handled sensitively, depending on the circumstances of the children at the school.
Time for reflection
Ask the children to think about things for which they are thankful. You may wish to tie this in with being thankful for the summer holidays.
Ask for five volunteers to come forward to share their thoughts with the school.
Ask each volunteer in turn to share what they are thankful for, and then say a prayer, thanking God for what they have just said.
Ask the volunteers to sit down, and then ask the children to think quietly about all the good things in their lives.
Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for all that’s good in our lives.
We thank you especially for what we remember quietly in our hearts now . . . (silence)
Help us always to be thankful, whether we are happy or sad.
Help us to know that you are with us during ordinary days, good days and bad days.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Dollop’ by Doug Horley, available at: https://youtu.be/k1fKFAk8zfI (2.59 minutes long)
