A Celebration of Spring!
Wonderful bulbs
by Rebecca Parkinson
Suitable for Key Stage 3
Aims
To use the image of bulbs flowering as a metaphor to encourage us to create beautiful lives.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (A Celebration of Spring!) and the means to display them.
- You will need to familiarize yourself with the parable of the sower, ready to tell it in the ‘Assembly’, Step 6. It is found in Matthew 13.1-23, and is available at: https://tinyurl.com/yawbmudb
Alternatively, you may wish to ask a student to read the story. - Optional: if possible, have a plant available that has been grown from a bulb.
Assembly
- Show Slides 1-6.
Ask the students to call out the names of the flowers on the slides. In order, they are daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops, crocuses and lilies. - Talk about how beautiful a flower is. Encourage the students to look at the colour and shape of the flowers. Point out to them how each bloom is slightly different – a different size, colour, scent and look.
- Ask the students ‘What do all these flowers have in common?’
Listen to a range of responses.
There may be various answers, but the one that you are aiming for is that all of the flowers are grown from bulbs.
Optional: show the plant that has been grown from a bulb. - Show Slides 7-9.
Explain that the bulb from which the flower grows is often hidden below the ground. Usually, we don’t see the bulb after it has been planted, we only see what grows from it – we see the beautiful part.
In the same way, other people can’t see what’s in our minds or our hearts, but they can see our lives and our actions. If our minds and hearts are right, people see our lives as beautiful – like the flower that grows from the bulb. - Explain that bulbs can grow in different environments. They might grow in water, soil or even air! In the same way, all of our homes and experiences are different, but they can still produce a beautiful person.
- Show Slide 10.
Jesus told a story about how learning about God and living our lives in a way that will please him will help us to grow into something beautiful.
Read, or ask a student to read, the parable of the sower, which is found in Matthew 13.1-23.
Time for reflection
Ask the students to reflect upon the following questions, pausing to allow time for thought after each one.
- What are the things that make us beautiful?
- How can we show love, kindness and compassion today?
- How can we make people’s lives better today?
Maybe all it will take is a smile or some kind words.
Prayer
Dear God,
From a tiny seed or a hidden bulb to a beautiful flower, let us grow strong, helped by care and love.
Help us to appreciate the beauty around us in this wonderful world that you have created.
Help us to see beauty in other people.
Help us to look beneath the surface and see what people are really like.
Amen.
Song/music
‘What a wonderful world’ by Louis Armstrong, available at: https://youtu.be/VqhCQZaH4Vs (2.29 minutes long)
