Life's amazing!
To celebrate the miracle of life (with reference to springtime and Easter themes).
by The Revd Alan M. Barker
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To celebrate the miracle of life (with reference to springtime and Easter themes).
Preparation and materials
- You will need a small plastic box containing fragments from a broken toy car – metal, plastic, wheels, rivet, etc.
- A can of oil.
- A toy car that is new in appearance.
- A couple of hen’s eggs and a clear pyrex bowl.
- Some images of hatching chicks.
Assembly
- Shake the box of assorted pieces with the invitation to ‘just imagine…’
Just imagine how amazing it would be if the things in this box: metal, plastic, nuts and bolts,
(show the children the contents)
mixed with a little bit of oil
(add a dash of oil, replace the lid and shake well)
could turn into this!
(open palm of hand to reveal toy car).
(Note: If you are skilled at this sort of thing you could ‘palm’ the toy car and make it appear as if from the box. To make this more effective, put the box on a table just before this so that it can’t rattle any more. This illusion will only work with an opaque box, of course.)
Suggest how brilliant it would be if I could feed this small car on more oil until it grows large enough for me to drive to school. I’ve always wanted to drive a … (the type of car). Wouldn’t that be marvellous? A miracle, some would say!
Reflect sorrowfully: but life’s not like that. - Continue enthusiastically. Life’s like this!
(hold up the egg)
What’s in an egg?
(carefully break the egg into the bowl)
You can only see egg white, and a yellow yolk. But just imagine how incredible it would be if this gooey mess could turn into a fluffy chick! How marvellous it would be if you could feed that chick until it turns into a hen – to lay more eggs for my tea! And the miracle of life is just that!
Explain that if a fertile egg is kept warm (by the mother hen or in a special incubator) a chick will develop from a small white spot on the yolk. Hidden inside the shell, amazing changes happen. The chick grows from the smallest beginning. It’s fed by the yolk. After just four days, blood vessels begin to form and a tiny heart begins to beat. After eight days eyes have begun to grow and the chicken’s body is taking shape, although you might think that it looks very ugly!
By the time that 14 days have passed the chick has legs and wings. Its head and beak become larger until, after just 21 days, it takes a breath and is ready and waiting to break out of its shell! Show/project images of the hatching chick. - Hold up the remaining hen’s egg. So what’s in an egg? Not just white or yolk – or even a growing chick. Eggs are an important symbol. In other words, they help us to see how amazing life is. And, for many people, eggs are a favourite part of spring, and Easter celebrations – refer back to Easter. They tell of the special possibilities life holds in store each spring, and as we grow. Isn’t life amazing!
Superimpose this phrase upon the image of hatchlings.
Time for reflection
Reflection
Invite everyone to imagine, with appropriate actions, the growth of life inside an egg.
What’s in an egg?
You are so small that no one can see you…
just a few cells,
but there’s energy and life in them,
and they grow and spread quickly.
It’s warm and dark.
Your small heart begins to beat
and blood runs through your veins.
You can feel your eyes, but cannot see yet.
Now your legs and wings are taking shape,
Your body is becoming larger.
Fluffy, downy feathers are growing that will keep you warm.
You have become a tiny chick.
There’s no more room inside the egg.
It’s time to peck a hole in the shell!
… to break out!
… to take a deep breath!
… to struggle to your feet!
… to look around!
… and to say (all together) ‘LIFE’S AMAZING!’
Prayer
Lord God,
Thank you for springtime,
and for Easter stories
of new beginnings!
Life is your gift,
and it’s amazing!
Help us to see and celebrate its wonder
today and every day.
Amen.
Song/music
‘All things bright and beautiful’ (Come and Praise, 3), verses 1, 3 and 4. For a springtime assembly you could substitute ‘The spring shoots in the garden’ for the line ‘The ripe fruits in the garden’.
