Part 2: Activities for schools, children and young people
Discussion, Reflection and Prayer Activities
1. Seasons of the World
The four sticks loaded with fruit or sweets
on the Christingle represent God’s good gifts
– the fruits of the earth and the seasons. First
introduce the children to the seasons. Select
one object or picture to represent each of the
four seasons. Gather the children in groups for
discussion and consider the following questions:
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Why do we need the seasons?
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What would it be like if we took one of
the seasons away? Which one? How would
it affect life?
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What would happen if you changed the
order of the seasons? What would the year
be like? What would the impact be?
Discuss what this tells us about God and
His plan for creation.
Movement Activity
God said “Let there be light in the sky to
separate day from night. These lights will be
used for seasons, days and years” Genesis 1:14
How the seasons work is really interesting,
but it can be a little complicated so make it fun!
For this activity you will need a torch or lamp.
Ask one of the children to be the ‘sun’ and stand
in the middle of the group. Ask another child
to be the ‘earth’. Earth has to spin round (to
represent days), whilst also moving round the
‘sun’. One complete rotation of the sun equals
a year. Take care and make sure the ‘earth’
does this slowly so that they do not get dizzy
or fall over. Give the ‘sun’ the lamp and ask them
to shine at the ‘earth’. The seasons depend on
the amount of light reaching the surface of the
earth as it revolves around the sun.
1st day of Spring is March 22 (Spring Equinox).
The sun is over the equator heading North.
1st day of Summer is June 21 (Summer Solstice).
The sun is farthest North.
Discussion Activity
With the children, think through how the seasons
differ in other parts of the world. (You could use
a globe or a map to find the countries).
Britain
Spring Equinox - Days begin to get longer.
Summer Solstice - Sun is highest in the sky.
Time between sunrise and sunset is longest.
Autumn Equinox - Days begin to get shorter.
Winter Solstice - Time between sunrise and
sunset is the shortest.
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Q. Ask the children to discuss which season
they like best and why. How does the changing
of the seasons affect them? (e.g. waking up in
the dark during Winter to go to school, long
Summer evenings when the weather is warmer).
The North Pole
Spring Equinox - Sun appears over the
horizon and everyday gets higher in the sky.
Summer Solstice - Sun is up all the time and
does not set at all. There is no darkness.
Autumn Equinox - As the sun sets, there is a
period of ‘twilight’, which means that the sun
isn’t actually seen above the horizon but its light
is still experienced.
Winter Solstice - Sun fully sets and isn’t seen
again until the Spring Equinox. During the
Winter there is no daylight, not even twilight.
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Q. Ask the children how people at the
North Pole know when to go to bed
in the Summer and the Winter. What
would it be like if there was no
darkness when you are sleeping?
What would it be like if
there was no daylight?
How would this affect
the things around them?
Australia
In parts of Australia, the
seasons are experienced as in Britain,
but they are reversed. So our Spring
Equinox is their Autumnal one, our
Summer Solstice is their Winter Solstice.
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1st day of Autumn is September 22 (Autumn
Equinox). The sun is over the equator heading south. Q. Discuss what it would be like having
Christmas in Summer and Easter in
1st day of Winter is December 22 (Winter
Autumn.
Solstice). The sun is farthest south.
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Part 2: Activities for schools, children and young people
Around the equator
For countries around the middle of the earth,
the seasons are not like our seasons because the
sun in the sky doesn’t change much in distance
and intensity. This means that seasons around
the equator are either ‘rainy’ or ‘dry’.
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Q. Ask the children whether they have
experienced seasons in this way?
Reflection
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter,
day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22
Talk with the children about this verse from
Genesis in relation to the current state of
the world. Children are very aware of global
warming and green issues and will have
questions and concerns which you could write
up on a big piece of paper. Don’t be afraid
of not being able to ‘answer’ their questions.
Giving voice to the concerns is most important.
If you write the questions down you could make
a project to gather information and explore
issues at another session.
Prayer time collage
You will need:
Large pieces of paper (blue, black
and yellow)
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Glue.
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Cut out a big blue paper circle to represent
the earth. Stick it onto a black sheet of paper.
Make a yellow ‘sun’.
Ask the children to think of words that describe
God – creator, big, loving, faithful etc.
 Blue wavy strips to represent seas and rivers,
changing times and things that worry us and
seem ‘too big’. Are they too big for God?
 Stars to pray for people who are trying
to bring light to the world by helping and
looking after us. This could be family or
friends, neighbours, teachers, policemen,
The Children’s Society.
You can adapt this idea further by adding other
‘objects’ to represent prayers and petitions for
the world in God’s hands. For example, use seeds
to pray for farmers or cotton wool ‘clouds’
to pray for areas that have little or no rain.
Quiz time
To represent the seasons, gather a range of
clothes, food products, pictures, toys, artefacts
to remind of religious festivals and days etc.
For example:
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Spring - umbrella, picture of daffodils,
frying pan (pancakes), Easter egg, cross.
Summer - sunglasses, sun cream, salad,
strawberries, bees & butterflies, tennis racket,
swimming costume or goggles.
Autumn - coat, tractor, conkers, leaves,
school, Hallowe’en, Bonfire night, pumpkins,
Harvest, Divali.
Winter - Hat & gloves, frost & ice, Christmas,
porridge, turkey, root vegetables, holly.
Ask the children to guess which item you
most associate with each season and make
four seasonal piles. These could then be made
into a display or a collage if you use pictures
of the items.
Ask the children to write or draw ‘Thank yous’
and praises to God for who He is and what He
has done for each person. You could use some
of the following ideas to decorate the collage.
O Green circles to represent islands. Say
‘Thank you’ to God for anything you like or love.
 Brown triangle mountains to represent
the safe and secure things and places in life.
Say Thank You to God for these. Be mindful
of children who don’t have safe and secure
places to be and pray for them and the work
of The Children’s Society in supporting them.
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