Christingle assembly resource
Within this booklet are three assembly ideas to use with your
school to engage them in the themes of Christingle.
Assembly 1: Shining light into the darkness with The
Children’s Society Christingle (Page 2)
Assembly 2: A Christingle in a rainbow (Page 5)
Assembly 3: Families in crisis (Page 8)
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Assembly 1: Shining light into the darkness with The
Children’s Society Christingle
• Suitable for key stage two
• Follow up with a PHSE lesson on runaways (a quiz on young
runaways can be found in the ‘Games and Activities’ booklet)
• Curriculum links: RE, PHSE, Citizenship Preparation and
materials
You will need:
• A large candle (the local church might have one you can
borrow) or/and a Christingle (real or model)
• Set of cards displaying the following words:
Love, hate, life, death, friend, enemy, anger, self control, war,
peace, hit, hug, include, exclude, ignore, talk to, stealing,
respect others property.
Assembly:
• Display the large candle and Christingle at the front of the
hall/room.
• Explain that Christingle is a Christian festival of light. All
celebrations of light are about how light can chase away
darkness.
• Ask ‘How do you get rid of darkness during the night?’ Answers
could include street lights, stars or sunrise.
• Ask ‘How would you chase away darkness when a little girl or
boy is frightened in the night? Answers could include ‘put the
light on’.
• Explain that the only way to get rid of darkness is through
light. Christians refer to Jesus as ‘the light of the world’ who
came to rid the world of dark things, such as hatred, jealousy,
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bitterness and replace them with love, forgiveness and life
forever.
• Ask the children to think about opposites. This is where the
cards can come in. Show one of the cards and ask the children
to guess what the opposite would be. Place the cards in two piles
as you work your way through them, one positive and one
negative. You will have one ‘dark’ pile and one ‘light’ pile.
• Ask the children about the kind of things which could make a
child’s life ‘dark’, e.g., bullying.
• Then ask the children to come up with ways to make a child’s
life ‘light’.
• Explain some of the ways The Children’s Society brings light in
the darkness for children, e.g., listening to children, giving
children a place to go.
• Light the large candle and the Christingle and ask the children
to focus on the light of the flame.
• Read the following reflection:
As we light this candle let us pray that this light may shine in
this place today and always.
With this Christingle, a symbol of God’s love for us, we will
remember and pray for children who have little light in their
lives; children who have runaway trying to escape from conflict
at home, children who have become refugees seeking safety but
meeting with prejudice; children who have been bullied or
teased for no reason at all.
Loving God, source of all light, help The Children’s Society shine
your light into their darkness so that they may have hope.
Amen
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Song suggestions:
Shine Jesus Shine
Walking in the Light of God (Siyahumba)
Fundraising idea:
Why not distribute our Christingle collection candles to the
children at the end of the assembly. They can take them home
and use them to fundraise amongst their friends and family.
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Assembly 2: A Christingle in a rainbow
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Suitable for key stage one
Introduces Christingle, a Christian festival of light
Use the symbolism of Christingle to explain Christian principles
Curriculum links: RE
Preparation and materials:
• A large picture of a rainbow
• A picture, OHP slides or 3-D Christingle visual aid
• A real Christingle made from an orange with a red ribbon
around it, a candle and sweets on 4 sticks. Visit
www.Christingle.org for details on how to make a Christingle.
Assembly:
• Show a picture of a large rainbow
• Talk about each colour in turn or ask the children to identify
them. Make the point that each colour is important on its own
but for us to see the rainbow in its full glory, we have to see
them together.
• As you talk about each colour, relate it to the different parts of
a Christingle of the same colour. This could be in a rainbow
order or as below:
Orange – the world. ‘In the beginning there was darkness and
chaos and God brought order out of chaos and created the
world. We are all part of the world – but we are different. God
knows and loves each one of us.’
Red – The red ribbon around the orange. ‘The red ribbon
reminds us that Jesus died on the cross for us, but rose again.
This show’s us God’s continuing love for us all, encircling the
earth.’
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Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet – the sweets or fruits on the sticks.
‘The fruits represent the four seasons which God gives us,
bringing order into the world.’ Ask the children to identify the
seasons or what they bring.
Yellow – the flame on the lighted candle. The candle represents
Jesus as the light of the world. It tells us of all the goodness,
which Jesus brings into the world. People who help other people
bring light into the darkness for people who are suffering. Ask
the children to name people who help them every day. They are
shining lights. Are we shining lights to our friends? The
Children’s Society aims to be a shining light in the lives of
vulnerable children in this country.
In the finished Christingle all the colours of the rainbow are
present. Together the colours of the rainbow remind us of God’s
continuing love for us, and his promise to be with us always.
Reflection:
Thank you for all the colours in the world and especially for the
beauty of the rainbow. As we look at our Christingle help us to
remember that each colour has its own message. Help us to
show our love for each other and to be a shining light like Jesus.
Thank you for the work of The Children’s Society, which aims to
shine a light into children’s lives.
Songs:
Who put the colours in the rainbow
Shine Jesus Shine
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Fundraising idea:
Why not distribute our Christingle Collection Candles to the
children at the end of the assembly. They can take them home
and use them to fundraise amongst their friends and family.
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Assembly 3: Families in Crisis
• Suitable for all ages
• Follow up with a PHSE lesson on children with disabilities
Theme: Families face extra challenges when a child has
disabilities
Prop: A Christingle ready for the candle to be lit
Introduction:
Ask the children to think about one thing that makes them
different from the person sitting next to them. This might be
their gender, their height, or the colour of their skin.
Now think about something that is unique about them. It might
be something about their family or something they like doing.
Emphasise how special this is, as this is what makes them who
they are.
Ask one of the children to read the following passage:
Jack is 17 and like most boys of his age, has a busy life. He likes
going bowling, swimming and to the cinema, as well as meeting
up with friends and his girlfriend. Jack was born with a condition
called cerebral palsy. This makes it difficult for him to walk, to
stand up or control his arms. He also has problems with his
sight. Jack has a wheelchair that is adapted to his needs, and
attends a special school some distance away. Jack’s mum has
had her car adapted so that his wheelchair can be loaded into it,
as it is difficult to take the wheelchair on the train. But his mum
has to spend a lot of money on petrol driving him to and from
school. Sometimes because of all the money they have to spend
on equipment to help Jack move around like we do, they can
only afford to have beans on toast for tea.
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Ask the children to think about all the things they have to
do in the morning to get ready for school – get up, wash,
dress, have breakfast, clean teeth, pack their bag.
Which of these activities would be harder to do for Jack?
Which activities would they need more help with?
How might this make life difficult for Jack and his mum?
Ask a second child to read the following passage:
Then life got even harder for Jack and his mum as they faced
another challenge. The UK government was going to stop giving
Jack and his mum some of the money they received to help
them – which would have made it impossible for his mum to
keep their special car, or to run it. The Children’s Society
thought this wasn’t fair, and spoke out against this proposal.
Thanks to The Children’s Society and others like them, Jack and
his Mum can keep their car! The Children’s Society is determined
to help families like Jack’s. Because they speak out for families
like Jack’s, Jack can celebrate.
Ask the children to think back to what makes them different
from the person sitting next to them. What if this made things
really difficult for their family? Would this be fair? What would
they want to do if this was the case?
Leader:
The Children’s Society spoke out to help Jack continue to receive
money to help him live a full and active life with his disability.
The Children’s Society are working with poor and vulnerable
children and with families in crisis in many different situations
children who run away, children in care, children who care for a
sick member of their family. One of the ways people get involved
in the work of The Children’s Society is through Christingle:
Christingle celebrates their work and the difference that it can
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make to people like Jack. The Christingle [show prop] contains
a candle which is lit as a symbol representing the light of Jesus.
Light the candle now and invite people to keep a minute of
silence and think about how we/they might play our part in
helping families like Jack’s.
How can all of us help? First, we can give practical help to
people who use wheelchairs by offering to open doors if they
need assistance. But we can also support campaigns run by
charities such as The Children’s Society to make life fairer for
families in crisis. It costs The Children’s Society a lot of money
to campaign on behalf of families in crisis, like Jack’s. You might
like to take home a Christingle collection candle today to collect
some money from your family and friends to help The Children’s
Society with its work.