AGE:
Primary |
THEME:
Stepping Stones |
PREPARATION: |
- According to space available, lay out a series of 'stepping stones' where all will be able to see (either in front of where people will sit or in the round). These could be from sturdy PE equipment or large paper circles.
- Vary the 'course' - make some smaller than others or more easy/difficult to manoeuvre.
- Along the route lay items which would draw attention (or not) along the way. These could be a new comic (relevant to the age group), sweets, item of clothing, an old book, an interesting object which may not be obvious what it is ('gadget'). Add to these some less interesting items.
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INTRODUCTION: |
- Talk about how people often refer to life as a journey and what they might mean by this. Ask children what they think about this idea. Is it a good picture of our lives? In what way?
- Introduce the thought that journeys are not always easy and that they may have both difficult and easy paths. Sometimes the route may have particular parts to travel through, without which we cannot carry on our journey. We often call these stages in life. We could think of these like stepping stones, which carry us through difficult patches. The important thing is that we use the experiences we have along the way to make future 'journeys' i.e. life easier for us. We learn about ourselves, our friends and the world around us as we go.
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DEVELOPMENT: |
- Get a helper to 'walk' the stepping stone journey telling them to stop to look at interesting items along the way. Talk with everyone about what was considered to be interesting and why? Ask for another helper. Do they choose the same? Why not?
- Consider whether the distractions and items made the journey easier or more difficult. Was there anything on the journey which might be a help in future? What items might these be?
- The items can be varied greatly to influence choices and teaching points. Construct a course where the children need to gather items along the way which will inform or help other choices. For example: an old plastic bag early on may be overlooked as interesting but may be discovered to be of use later in the journey when there are lots of small, loose sweets to collect! Thus promoting the idea that we need to learn from our experiences to help us move along the 'stepping stones' of life.
- You could include people along the route to show that friends and family are important in helping us through the stages in our life too.
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MUSIC: |
| 'I am planting my feet', No. 103, in The Complete Come
and Praise, BBC Publishing, 1996.
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REFLECTION AND PRAYER: |
Imagine your life so far as a journey. Where have you travelled? What adventures have you had along the way? What have you learnt? Who or what has helped you?
Where will your journey take you and what will you do to help others on their journeys in each stage of their life?
Step by step we journey, watched over by those who care
Step by step we journey, learning the ways as we go
Step by step we journey, each stage we pass through we grow
Step by step we are guided by each new experience we share
God be with us at every stage of our life.
Amen
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FOLLOW-UP WORK: |
- Devise a board game based on 'The Journey of Life'. Consider the stages of life - what are they? Include easy and difficult paths, encounters, help along the way, items to be collected or discarded.
- Write in poetry or prose with a lead in: 'Lessons I have learnt in life...'
- Let pupils create other images for stages in life such as ladders, branches of a tree, carriages in a train, a river flowing from a tiny wellspring to a wide estuary and the sea. These could then be translated into artwork.
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