"Solving our differences"
Children's Activity
Object:
Teachers or Parents: There is probably no more important
behavior that we can teach our children than how to resolve
conflict. This week's Gospel gives us a Biblical approach to
solving problems. The most important part of the process
described is confronting, in a loving way, the person with whom
we are in conflict. If this can be learned early, many serious
conflicts will be avoided.
* Play a game with a deck of cards and some kind of tokens.
The object of the game is to get three tokens. Anyone with three
tokens at the end of the game gets a prize. The game can be a
simple one like "War" where each player lays down a card and the
highest card takes the trick. Will the first person to get three
tokens stop and let others win or will he/she continue to
accumulate tokens even though he/she has already won a prize?
There is no value in additional tokens except keeping others from
winning a prize. Will someone in the group point this out to the
one who keeps on playing?
When the game is over discuss these points and see if they
see the value in confronting the one who continued to play after
winning. Perhaps a little discussion would have shown him/her
the value in stopping after he/she had the three tokens required
to win the prize.
* Ask a volunteer to talk about a conflict he/she had with
another child and discuss how the problem might have been solved
by talking with the other person in a loving manner.
Sunday school assembly opening:
* Pick out a conflict story from the newspaper and discuss
it with the children. It could be a big conflict like a war or a
dispute between two people. Ask the children how the conflict
might be resolved in light of the Gospel lesson.
behavior that we can teach our children than how to resolve
conflict. This week's Gospel gives us a Biblical approach to
solving problems. The most important part of the process
described is confronting, in a loving way, the person with whom
we are in conflict. If this can be learned early, many serious
conflicts will be avoided.
* Play a game with a deck of cards and some kind of tokens.
The object of the game is to get three tokens. Anyone with three
tokens at the end of the game gets a prize. The game can be a
simple one like "War" where each player lays down a card and the
highest card takes the trick. Will the first person to get three
tokens stop and let others win or will he/she continue to
accumulate tokens even though he/she has already won a prize?
There is no value in additional tokens except keeping others from
winning a prize. Will someone in the group point this out to the
one who keeps on playing?
When the game is over discuss these points and see if they
see the value in confronting the one who continued to play after
winning. Perhaps a little discussion would have shown him/her
the value in stopping after he/she had the three tokens required
to win the prize.
* Ask a volunteer to talk about a conflict he/she had with
another child and discuss how the problem might have been solved
by talking with the other person in a loving manner.
Sunday school assembly opening:
* Pick out a conflict story from the newspaper and discuss
it with the children. It could be a big conflict like a war or a
dispute between two people. Ask the children how the conflict
might be resolved in light of the Gospel lesson.
