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Children and Young People
Intergenerational Idea
• Group Rules - Ask the children and young people to write down three helpful rules for this group. If they’d prefer to draw
them provide some felt tip pens and large sheets of paper. Give the group time to look at all the suggestions. Ask the group to
see if they can agree on three for the whole group to abide by. Let there be some discussion and debate about which ones
they prefer. Would there be any rules we wouldn’t like? • Get Dressed! - Have a race to see who can put the most items of clothing on in one minute. Provide lots of different items and
invite two or three people to take part, a mixture of different ages might make it more engaging. You might want to see who can
then take them off the quickest! Explain how this is an image of what Paul is describing (not the speed of course) – putting on
and taking off clothing but instead he’s talking about qualities and our behaviour.
• Making Pizza - Buy the ingredients to make pizzas (you could get ready made bases and just add toppings). Tell the group
that there are rules before starting the activity and read out a list of your own making. Include some sensible ones and others
which are ridiculous! E.g. Wash your hands before touching the food; balance on one leg whilst grating cheese etc. Discuss
with the group whether they think the rules make sense or why not. Reflect on the need for there to be rules, but sometimes
they can get in the way especially when we’re trying to be Christians. • Give differently aged small groups of three or four some paper (a mix of wrapping paper, wallpaper, newspaper) and invite them to
make an item of clothing for someone in the group. Provide sellotape or glue too. Explain that it represents something
mentioned in the passage that we are to put on, you might want to give each group a different one. What might a ‘Coat of
Compassion’ look like or a ‘Hat of Humility’? Have a fashion show once everyone’s completed and let them explain their thinking
and ideas.
• Silly or Sensible Rules - Create a list of ten rules for being a Christian. Include a range of things e.g. read your Bible for
exactly 17.5 minutes every day; pray with your eyes shut; thank God when you notice something wonderful He’s made.
Explain there’s a continuum line with ‘silly’ at one end and ‘sensible’ at the other. As you read the rules ask them to stand
somewhere on the line and give time for them to share their reasoning about why they stood there. Ask if it’s helpful to have
rules when you’re a Christian. Invite the group to adapt the rules and write a new list or consider whether any are needed at all! • Old self, new self (v 1-17) - Explore whether there are times when it’s okay to be angry? Passionate? Are they always bad
traits? How can we learn to understand those feelings and what causes them? Find some example stories of where people were
angry or passionate about something in a good way and in a not so good way. Compare and contrast then ask the group to
choose the positive examples and explain why. Use film clips, YouTube, magazines or newspapers to source stories.
Intergenerational Idea
Paul talks here of the competing influences in life. The messages we receive from a range of different places and people can all
have an impact on us and change the way we think or view things.
• Ask the group to spend a few minutes speaking with the person next to them about who or what influences them the most?
When the time is up ask for their thoughts and recognise the difference in answers. For younger people social media is probably
a major influence whereas for those a few generations older it may be newspapers and friends.
• Do a quickfire influencers quiz – hold up images of different well known people and ask those in the group to stand or put
their hand up if the famous face is a big influence on them. Suggestions for these are: Joe Sugg (YouTuber), Mary Berry, Barack
Obama, Harry Kane…. etc. Alternatively you could include these on a PowerPoint or on a handout sheet to look at.
Ask the question: ‘How do they influence us?’ and ‘Did anyone influence people of all ages?
Chapter 4
Ways in…
Talking to God and others:
What is prayer/ how do you talk to God? How do we take care of others in what we say, How do you describe or talk about
God (v 2-6)
Children and Young People or Intergenerational
Chapter 3
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the
place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth….So put to death the
sinful, earthly things lurking within you….Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator
and become like him. (Extract from v1-10, New Living Translation (NLT))
Children and Young People
• Reading the passage - You may wish to read the fuller passage with young people that goes onto v17. With children consider
reading from the Good News Bible version v8-10 then 12 to 13.
• I Love to Wear - Talk about if anyone in the group has a favourite item of clothing. What is it? Why do they like it? How do they
feel when they put it on?
• The Dirty Coat - Bring a filthy, worn coat to the group and ask if anyone is brave enough to put it on! You could use an old coat and
ask the group to make it dirty before doing this. Explain that this coat is similar to all the things Paul talks about in the letter.
How might those things cause harm to us or others? Wonder together whether it might ever be okay to be angry or passionate for
instance? What might these things look like if they were to be items of clothing we put on? You might want to post these as questions
around the room to move from one to the next and invite older children and young people to discuss them in small groups together.
• Ask the group questions - What does the word ‘prayer’ mean? What are the different ways that we can pray? Explore
prayer as the act of communicating with God.
• Try a selection of different prayer activities - be creative and set up five prayer stations for the group to explore based
around the theme ‘Talking to God’. For ideas look at ‘Prayer Spaces in Schools. (www.prayerspacesinschools.com)
What are the different ways that can be used to spend time in God’s presence in conversation?
• How are we taking care with our words towards others - Write positive phrases on a ball in permanent marker: e.g. Thank
you to ___ for…; You are good at…; I like this about you…; The kindest person I know is…. Then stand in a circle and pass the ball
across the circle in a random way ensuring everyone has a chance to catch the ball. The person with the ball reads out one of
the phrases and chooses someone in the circle to direct the phrase at.
• Or just pass the ball and each time someone throws the ball they say something kind and generous about the person
catching the ball.
• Yes, no, maybe or not sure – label a corner of the room yes and another corner no. etc. Then ask questions about what
God is like e.g. I think God is all-powerful?; I think God is kind?; I think that God is a father?; I think that God gets angry?
Let the group choose where they stand and open up conversation by asking them why they chose to stand where they are.