The weight of a snowflake

Key ideas: peace, responsibility

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake”, a sparrow asked a wild dove. “Nothing more than nothing”, was the answer. “In that case I must tell you a marvellous story”, the sparrow said. “I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow – not heavily, not in a raging blizzard: no, just like in a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch – nothing more than nothing, as you say – the branch broke off.” Having said that, the sparrow flew away. The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for a while, and finally said to herself: “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for peace to come to the world.”

From New Fables, Thus Spoke the Maribou, by Kurt Kaufer

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submitted: Robert Shaw

Scripture: 1 Cor 1:22

Preparation: Create stickers for each child with the words "I belong to God."
    Begin by asking about the movie "Toy Story".  Recall how the boy Andy and marks all his toys with his name on the bottom of the toy.  The mark means that the toy belongs to Andy.
    Ask about how we are given a seal that we belong to God.  ==> Baptism.
    Offer to put a sticker on the foot of each child’s shoe as a reminder that they belong to God.

submitted: Catherine Gamble

Equipment: Kerplunk Game

Begin your talk by talking about games you like to play. Tell the congregation you have brought in a game to play. Its Kerplunk.(it may be helpful to have it already set up before you begin your talk as it can take a while to put the straws through the holes.) invite the children to come out and let them remove a straw each. (small children will need to be supervised as the straws are quite sharp) After a while the marbles will begin to fall off the straws as the straws are removed.
I used this to demonstrate that we can be like straws supporting each other just as the straws supported the marbles. If we work together we can support each other. Demonstrates unity in the church

submitted: Robin Hill

equipment: 26 Alphabet letters A-Z

Age range: Upper primary

Theme: The importance of community and of individual involvement (in society, school, church, etc.)

Preparation: Prepare 26 A4 sheets each containing a different letter of the alphabet printed in large, bold type. Bring all sheets with you, but hide the letter "I" near to yourself, and the letter "U" somewhere in the assembly hall.

Action:
Mix up and hand out the 24 alphabet cards to kids across the hall. Tell the 24 "volunteers" that they will have to pay attention as you are going to race through the alphabet in double quick time. As their letter is called out, they must hold their card up quickly, then take it down again. Having explained these rules, build up the tension with a "On your marks … set … GO!", then shout out the alphabet, both loud and very, very fast. (General mayhem ensues, though no-one notices the absence of the two letters.) This process only takes a few seconds, so try it a few times, maybe getting the teachers involved too. All good fun.

At this stage, talk a little about how the exercise started as a complete mess. Everyone, however, co-operated well with their teamwork, eventually getting the hang of raising and lowering the cards at just the right time to make the alphabet race a great success – so teamwork counts for a lot!

Then, ask everyone with a card to come out to the front and to line up in the right order. Strangely, they can’t quite do it, so prodice the missing "I" and ask for a volunteer from the remaining kids to hunt around the hall for "U".

When the last two letters are safely in place, point out that "U" and "I" ("you" and "I") are needed if group is really going to work as a great team. Yes, you and I are needed, perhaps more than we can imagine.

Before getting the kids to sit down, do one more rapid fire run through from "A" to "Z", then encourage a big round of applause, as they take their places once again.

Talk:
If any talk is needed at this point, simply speak about how you and I should always think about playing our part in the really important things of life: the worship of God, caring for those in our wider community, campaigning for justice, supporting fair trade, etc. You and I need to be involved, if life is to be complete.