Lesson 9: Give and Take
Aims
* to learn that God made everything to have a give and take of love
* to learn that filling “buckets” is about giving love to others
Materials
* Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
* plastic buckets
* stickers
* bag of sweets
* card
* Pictures showing examples of give and take action
* worksheets
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Examples of Give & Take Action
3. Story – Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
4. Activities
5. Conclusion
6. Prayer
1) Introduction
How does God want us to live? We are not meant to live alone. We are meant to live in relationship with others, where we give and receive love. There are always two positions; a subject partner and object partner. The subject gives something to the object. The object receives and gives something back. The subject receives back and gives again and so it continues. When this happens both
partners feel happy. This relationship is called GIVE AND TAKE ACTION
2) Examples of Give and Take Action
Show the diagram and explain it with different examples.
1. Teacher and Student. (Practice this with the children)
The teacher talks (give)
The children listen (receive)
The children nod their heads to show they are listening (give)
The teacher smiles to show he notices their interest (receive)
The teacher asks a question (give)
The children listen (receive)
The children put up their hands (give)
and so it continues . . . Through this both the teacher and children feel happy
Do it again, but this time the children are bad objects. They don’t listen, interrupt and look bored.
The teacher loses energy. This is bad give and take. The teacher is not happy and neither are the children.
Look at the other pictures and talk about give and take action. They could also be acted out to bring them alive.
3) Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
The book is about “invisible buckets” that everybody has. Each one holds our good thoughts and feelings about ourselves. We fill other people’s buckets when we say or do kind things for them.
They fill our buckets when they do the same for us. When we fill others buckets, something always comes back to us. Our own bucket is filled in return, because the good we do for others is returned to us. The book also is about bucket dippers. People who dip into other people’s buckets when they say or do unkind things to others.
The book is also shows examples of good and bad give and take action. When give and take is based on love (living for others) both subject and object partners are happy and love grows, because
their buckets are filled. But when you say or do bad things, you empty someone’s bucket and your own bucket becomes empty also.
4) Activities
Choose one or two of the following activities:
*Give & Return Compliments – In pairs give as many compliments as you can about each other, in one minute
* Each person in the group says something positive about one person. How does the person feel? Repeat with another person. This could also be written on a piece of paper or made into a card.
* Pass a bag of sweets around. Each person should respond in a polite manner saying thank you, that’s kind of you, etc… to show how to be a good object.
* Complete the worksheet – Write subject and object words to match the pictures
* Draw a picture or make a card for your parents to make them happy (Sunday is Father’s Day)
* Make buckets to fill – Decorate buckets with stickers. Every time you do or say something kind to others you receive pom poms to add to your bucket. This can be followed up at home by
parents, who give pom poms to their son or daughter each time they say or do something kind and loving for someone in the family.
5) Conclusion
Ask each child what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
* to learn that God made everything to have a give and take of love
* to learn that filling “buckets” is about giving love to others
6) End with a prayer
