Wednesday 19 December 2018

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went to do our final assembly of 2018 at St Peters.  We started by singing Be Happy then Sarah talked a little about why the children were so happy - It's Christmas we did get remined by one little boy just how many sleeps away it is.  After the song I showed the children a Christmas cracker and asked for two children to come out and help.  I explained that I was going to use the cracker to tell the story of Christmas.  To start with there is always a surprise inside the cracker which can remind us of the surprise that Mary had when she discovered that God was going to use her to give birth to his son Jesus.  Next I asked who likes loud bangs or who was scared of them I asked what else we get scared of - we had the dark, spiders and other things too. So as the children pulled the cracker and it make a small crack noise (I did ask the children to put their hands over their ears if they didn't like loud noise) I said could they imagine what it must of been like for some of the people in the Christmas story that got very frighten - I asked them who they thought that might be - the shepherds came the answer.  I explained that every time an angel is mentioned in the Bible it always says 'do not be afraid' so the shepherds seeing a host of angels must have been really scary.  Next we looked inside the cracker and found the hat - which is a crown so I asked who wears a crown - the queen and kings too came the reply.  I told the children that Jesus was and is the King of kings which means he is the king of everyone.  We removed the joke next as I told the joke I said that some times in crackers we get wise sayings as well - now in the Bible some wise people in the old testament foretold of the birth of Jesus hundreds of years before it happened.  Last of all we had the gift which reminds us of the gifts the wise men brought.  Who would have thought that a Christmas cracker could be used to tell the Christmas story I said as I recalled the different parts of the cracker. Sarah then talked about Jesus being the greatest gift of all and when we open our presents on Christmas morning we should not only say thank you to the person that gave us the present but say thank you to God for giving us Jesus - because with out Jesus there would be no Christmas.  To finish off we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with us.  To close off the assembly Sarah said a short prayer.

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Burlington School

This morning I went to do our Christmas assembly at Burlington School.  I started by asking if the children were excited - which got a big reaction.  I asked the children why? - because it is Christmas came the reply.  As the children were excited and happy we linked into our first song - Be Happy.  I then explained I was going to talk about the Christmas story and that is a story we all know well, I but I was going to use a Christmas cracker to help them remember the parts of the story.  Asking for a boy and a girl to help me we sat down and waited.  I said that inside the cracker there is always a surprise which can help us to think about the surprise Mary and Joseph got when they found out that Mary was going to have a baby and not just a baby but God's son.  Next and before we pulled the cracker I said that there would be a loud bang or crack - in fact the cracker even said bang on it.  Loud noise can frighten people so now I asked what makes them frightened, we had the dark, loud noise, spiders, snakes.  Linking to the Christmas story I asked what group of people got frighten in the story - the shepherds of course.  I told the children that if an angel suddenly appeared to me even during the day and spoke to me I would be frighten.  The children pulled the cracker and we took out the party hat.  I asked what it looked like - a crown that a king or queen might wear.  This can be used to remind us that Jesus came as a king but not just a king of a country or area but as the King of kings which is one of the titles Jesus is known by.  Next we took out the joke - which was bad.... But it can help to remind us that long before Jesus was born wise men in the Old Testament spoke about him.  Then there was the gift - who brought gifts I asked - the wise men.  I then said that Jesus was also God's gift to us and that without Jesus there wouldn't be a Christmas.  To finish off our assembly we sang Rejoice with Us.  Then a said a short prayer. 

Crosthwaite School

Yesterday Sarah and I went to do our Christmas assembly at Crosthwaite School.  Sarah started by asking if the children were excited - which got a big reaction.  Pushing the question a little more she asked why - a multitude of answers came back all related to Christmas.  As the children were excited and happy we linked into our first song - Be Happy.  I then explained I was going to talk about the Christmas story and that is a story we all know well, I but I was going to use a Christmas cracker to help them remember the parts of the story.  Asking for a boy and a girl to help me we sat down and waited.  I said that inside the cracker there is always a surprise which can help us to think about the surprise Mary and Joseph got when they found out that Mary was going to have a baby and not just a baby but God's son.  Next and before we pulled the cracker I said that there would be a loud bang or crack - in fact the cracker even said bang on it.  Loud noise can frighten people so now I asked what makes them frightened, we had the dark, loud noise, spiders, snakes.  Linking to the Christmas story I asked what group of people got frighten in the story - the shepherds of course.  I told the children that if an angel suddenly appeared to me even during the day and spoke to me I would be frighten.  The children pulled the cracker and we took out the party hat.  I asked what it looked like - a crown that a king or queen might wear.  This can be used to remind us that Jesus came as a king but not just a king of a country or area but as the King of kings which is one of the titles Jesus is known by.  Next we took out the joke - which was bad.... But it can help to remind us that long before Jesus was born wise men in the Old Testament spoke about him.  Then there was the gift - who brought gifts I asked - the wise men.  Sarah then said that Jesus was also God's gift to us and that without Jesus there wouldn't be a Christmas.  To finish off our assembly we sang Rejoice with Us.  Then a said a short prayer. 

Low Furness School

Yesterday Sarah and I went to do our Christmas assembly at Low Furness School.  Sarah started by asking if the children were excited - which got a big reaction.  Pushing the question a little more she asked why - a multitude of answers came back all related to Christmas.  This led into me talking about the Christmas story and that is a story we all know well, I explained that I was going to use a Christmas cracker to help them remember the parts of the story.  Asking for a boy and a girl to help me we sat down and waited.  I said that inside the cracker there is always a surprise which can help us to think about the surprise Mary and Joseph got when they found out that Mary was going to have a baby and not just a baby but God's son.  Next and before we pulled the cracker I said that there would be a loud bang or crack - in fact the cracker even said bang on it.  Loud noise can frighten people so now I asked what makes them frightened, we had the dark, loud noise, spiders, roller coasters.  Linking to the Christmas story I asked what group of people got frighten in the story - the shepherds of course.  I told the children that if an angel suddenly appeared to me even during the day and spoke to me I would be frighten.  The children pulled the cracker and we took out the party hat.  I asked what it looked like - a crown that a king or queen might wear.  This can be used to remind us that Jesus came as a king but not just a king of a country or area but as the King of kings which is one of the titles Jesus is known by.  Next we took out the joke - which was bad.... But it can help to remind us that long before Jesus was born wise men in the Old Testament spoke about him.  Then there was the gift - who brought gifts I asked - the wise men.  Sarah then said that Jesus was also God's gift to us and that without Jesus there wouldn't be a Christmas.  To finish off our assembly we sang Rejoice with Us.  Then a said a short prayer. 

Monday 3 December 2018

Church Walk Primary School

This morning I went to do the assembly at Church Walk Primary School it was the first of our Christmas assemblies.  After asking the children if they had had a good weekend and if they had put their Christmas tree and things up, I asked if they were feeling happy - this linked to Be Happy song.  After the song I showed the children a Christmas cracker and asked for two children to come out and help.  I explained that I was going to use the cracker to tell the story of Christmas.  To start with there is always a surprise inside the cracker which can remind us of the surprise that Mary had when she discovered that God was going to use her to give birth to his son Jesus.  Next I asked who likes loud bangs or who was scared of them I asked what else we get scared of - we had the dark, fireworks, loud drums. So as the children pulled the cracker and it make a small crack noise (I did ask the children to put their hands over their ears if they didn't like loud noise) I said could they imagine what it must of been like for some of the people in the Christmas story that got very frighten - I asked them who they thought that might be - the shepherds came the answer.  I explained that every time an angel is mentioned in the Bible it always says 'do not be afraid' so the shepherds seeing a host of angels must have been really scary.  Next we looked inside the cracker and found the hat - which is a crown so I asked who wears a crown - the queen and kings too came the reply.  I told the children that Jesus was and is the King of kings which means he is the king of everyone.  We removed the joke next as I told the joke I said that some times in crackers we get wise sayings as well - now in the Bible some wise people in the old testament foretold of the birth of Jesus hundreds of years before it happened.  Last of all we had the gift which reminds us of the gifts the wise men brought.  Who would have thought that a Christmas cracker could be used to tell the Christmas story I said.  To finish off I reminded the children of all the bits in the cracker before singing Rejoice with us.  As we closed the assembly I said a short prayer.