Activities for Older Children John 8 verse 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Without light, there would be no vision, no colour, no food to eat. Without light, there could be no life on Earth as we know it. The Old Testament begins: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was unformed and void, with darkness over the face of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water. God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3) Your first act This could be a group activity at the start of your session. Have a selection of items that are associated with light or provide light, available for the group to mess around with and decorate the room with. For example mobiles or shiny wind chimes, torches, lamps, see through coloured paper, shinny gift-wrap, fairy lights. Before the group starts to decorate the room try and make the room as dark as possible, pull the curtains, place dark coloured paper over the windows. Just have one tiny light on so the group can see what they are doing. Encourage the group to place these items around the room and to be creative, for instance torches shining on silver paper or shiny mobiles and twinkling fairy lights. Once the room is set up have a switching on ceremony Break the group into three’s to explore the following questions taking time at the end to feed back to the whole group:
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What did it feel like to be in a completely dark place? How many different kinds of light are in the room? What areas of the room are the brightest? What areas of the room are in shadows? How does the light make you feel?
What is light? Activity 1 Spread large sheets of paper around the room with a selection of brightly coloured pens. In their three’s ask the group to discuss and think about light, and using the paper write or draw their thoughts. • What is it? • What colour is it? • How do you know it’s there? • What does it feel like when there is no light? For the next exercise, have enough equipment for each group to take part. You will need: • Glass • Water • Piece of thin card • Tape • Sheet of white paper • Torch • Coloured disks of card 1. Fill a straight-sided clear glass with water. 2. Take a piece of card cut a small rectangle out of the middle 1/2" tape the paper to the side of the glass. 3. Place a sheet of white paper on a table close to a window. Set the glass on it with the card toward the window so that the sunlight shines through the slit. If it is a cloudy day, shine a flashlight through the slit instead.
Results: The water refracts the light and a spectrum (rainbow) is displayed on the paper. Ask the group if they want to change their answer to the question "What colour is light?"
Activity 2 1. Cut a 6" circle from a piece of thin cardboard. 2. Use a protractor to divide the circle into 7 equal wedges (51.5° each). Colour each segment in order according to the colours of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. 3. Punch a hole in the centre of the circle. Place a pencil in the hole. 4. Spin the circle on the sharpened end of the pencil as quickly as possible. Results: The colours merge as the disc spins, and the disc appears pale gray. White light, such as sunlight or light from a car headlight, is really a mixture of all colours of light.
Psalm 18 v 28 ‘You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.’ How do we release the light of God? Within us? How we feel about ourselves is really important if we feel good about ourselves our light can shine brightly not only so others can see that light but also so we can see the light from within ourselves. This light is a very precious gift God has given to us. Equipment: • • •
Boxes of markers One sheet (8.5 x 11) of paper per person One paperclip per person
Objective: To increase self-esteem and to facilitate sharing positive feedback with peers. The paper you use should be brightly coloured and folded in threes (like a tri- fold brochure). Have the group decorate the front flap with their name in any manner they want. Then have them open the brochure and read out categories to list on the inside. For example my best feature, my proudest moment, my favourite activity, something I'm good at, etc. Prepare about ten categories. After they list them they should provide an answer to each one (tell them that no one else will be looking at these, so they can feel free to write anything, as long as it is positive). When everyone is done, participants fold up the brochure and paperclip it shut and write their name on it. Then everyone passes their brochure to the person on their right. They then note who the brochure they are holding is from, turn it over (never opening it) and write a comment about them on the back. If they don't know the person well, it can be a simple thing like "I like your haircut" or it could be a very personal note to someone if they know them well. These can be anonymous, or people can sign their names. The brochures should be passed all around the circle until everyone has signed each of them and participants receive theirs back. At this allow five minutes for people to quietly and silently reading what people said about them. Discussion in Three’s • • • •
What does it feel like to read things others have written about you? Where you surprised by anything written about you? Was it easy or hard to compliment others? Was it hard to read things about yourself?
At the end of the discussion encourage everyone to keep his or her brochure and re read it.
Sharing your light with others through sharing your gifts You will need: • •
Post it notes Large sheets of paper spread around the room.
Instructions: Ask the group to think about their individual gifts. Each member of the group should be given post it notes and pens. On the post it notes individual to write their name and a gift, writing a separate post it note for each gift, placing the post it notes on the sheets of paper. Now as a whole group look at the variety of gifts on the post it notes: • How can we make use of these gifts? • Do we use these gifts? • What areas of Church, Home or School life can you use these gifts in? • Are there any gifts that have surprised people? Read the following with your group and get them to follow the instructions. Light Sit and breathe. Focus on the light, the word, God. Breathe in God’s peace, breathe out your concerns, anger and fears. Each breath taken in draws God down into you to meet with God who already resides within you. Each breath out lets go of those things that keep you from the knowledge and love of God, which is constantly, readily available for you. Sit and breathe in the enfolding presence of God.
