Day 5 Virtue Demonstration: CHEERFULNESS
You’ll need:
- 1 (pre-planned) youth volunteer who can whistle the “Happy Birthday” tune.
- A chalkboard
Ask:
I’m going to do a little demonstration about cheerfulness, but first I have a few questions for you…
Who knows what the word “cheerfulness” means? (showing happiness, looking on the bright side)
We’re going to act out the answers to these questions together as a group.
Without making any sound, can you show me what cheerfulness looks like? (huge smiles, big eyes, sitting taller, dancing in their spot, looking happy)
Look at the people around you. How do you feel? (happy, excited, cheerful, etc.)
Being very quiet, can you show me what grumpiness looks like? (big frowns, eyebrows lowered, wrinkled nose, slumped shoulders, crossed arms...etc)
Look around at everyone again. How do you feel now? (sad, scared, mean, discouraged, etc.)
Explain:
A lot of the time, we don’t have to say anything. Our body language can show how we feel. Obviously, we can all see that it’s much better to be cheerful than to be grumpy.
Now, we are going to use our ears. There are sounds we all enjoy, like the sound of people laughing, giggling, cheering and whistling.
Can you all show me what cheerfulness sounds like? (giggles, cheering, clapping, laughter, whistling, etc.)
Introduce youth volunteer #1. He/she is whistling Happy Birthday and skipping or dancing around cheerfully.
When you hear someone whistling & dancing like this, how does it make you feel? (Pick three volunteers to answer.)
(cheerful, fun, happy, like laughing, like smiling, etc.)
Have the volunteer go back to his/her seat.
I need a volunteer to scratch their nails on this chalkboard. (Pick an older child or teen volunteer.)
There are sounds that no one really likes, such as the sound of nails on a chalkboard or the sound of grumbling and whining. (Have the volunteer scratch his/her nails on the chalkboard.)
When someone is grumpy, it can be a lot like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. They can make the people around them cringe and shudder. We don’t want to be like that to others. (Have the volunteer go back to his/her seat.)
When we are cheerful (you may choose to whistle a tune and dance around), we can give life to the people around us and give them the chance to smile.
When we are grumpy (you may choose to stomp around and frown), it doesn’t give life and instead can make people feel awkward and sad.
We need to remember to be cheerful even when life becomes hard. There will be times when we will want to be grumpy, but we have to remember that an important part of cheerfulness is to always look on the bright side. God will be there to help us as we practice this. Saying goodbye to grumpiness and hello to cheerfulness is a fun and exciting way to live!
The Bible says: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord.” Psalm 98:4
Let’s pray… Lord Jesus, please teach us to be cheerful and kind. Help us to bring life and happiness wherever we go. Amen.
