Day 1 Virtue Demo: EXCELLENCE
Ask:
What does it mean to strive for excellence?
Doing your very best in everything you do, continuously learning and improving in all areas, the quality of being excellent, etc.
Demonstrate:
I need 2 volunteers. Choose one boy and one girl. Have them stand beside each other.
I want both of you to take a BIG step. (pause) Good job! Now, I need you to take an even bigger step! (pause and wait) Wow, even better! This time, I want you to give it your best shot, and take the biggest step possible! (pause) Awesome!
Which step do you think was your biggest step? The first, second or third one?
Explain:
It’s interesting how you didn’t take your biggest step the first time. Aiming for excellence is when you give it your very BEST effort, every time, and even the first time! You try to be the best YOU can be at all times!
Thank the volunteers, give them a round of applause and have them go back to their seats.
Ask:
What are some things you can practice excellence in? Faith, chores, school work, sports, friendships, hobbies, taking care of our bodies, etc.
What happens when you don’t practice excellence in those things? Low grades, broken relationships, we settle for second best, etc.
In the Bible, St. Paul tells us “if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
Ask:
What are some ways to practice excellence in your faith? Put God FIRST: Love God with our whole heart, mind and soul, read the Bible, pray before meals, practice an attitude of gratitude, celebrate Mass on Sundays, go to Confession, etc.
Explain:
When we don’t practice excellence in our faith, we MISS OUT on all the amazing things God has prepared for us.We experience less joy and less peace in our heart.
To be a Champion means trying to do your very best! We need to have a great game plan: to practice EXCELLENCE in everything we do!
Day 2 Virtue Demo: PRUDENCE
You’ll need:
- Large, clear glass bowl
- Kitchen strainer
- 5 rocks (large enough to not pass through the strainer)
- Pitcher of water
Ask:
Our virtue today is prudence. Does anyone know what prudence means?
Prudence means being able to know the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do the right thing. Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues and we will be learning the other three virtues later this week.
Demonstrate:
Who can tell me what I am holding? An empty bowl.
The bowl represents our hearts. It’s empty and ready to be filled with good things.
The water represents all the great things that come into our lives such as happy thoughts, good decisions, encouraging words, forgiveness, love, peace, joy, etc.
The rocks represent all the bad things such as bad decisions, bad thoughts, bad words; everything that is not from God.
The strainer represents the virtue of prudence. It helps filter the good and the bad.
Hold the strainer over top of the bowl with one hand and grab the pitcher of water with the other hand. Pour some water into the bowl.
Prudence helps us bring good things into our heart and filter out the bad things..
Drop one rock at a time into the strainer and pour water over them into the bowl.
You can see that when we practice prudence, only the good things can enter into our heart.
What happens when you don’t practice prudence? You make bad choices, your heart gets heavy with sin, you make Jesus sad, you hurt others, you are not being wise, etc.
Set the strainer aside and drop one rock into the bowl at a time.
Explain:
We can remove the rocks from our hearts by going to confession and asking for forgiveness for our sins. Remove the rocks from the bowl.
A person who practices prudence will try to do what Jesus would do. We want to fill our heart and mind with what is good, true and beautiful.
Day 3 Virtue Demo: FORTITUDE
You’ll need:
- Small table
- Fan
- Feather
- 5 lb weight
Ask:
Who can tell me what the word “fortitude,” means? I’ll give you a hint: you can hear the word fort in the word fortitude.
(Being brave and strong in the face of trials, similar to courage, etc.)
You can practice fortitude by standing up for what’s right and not be afraid to show your faith.
The opposite of fortitude is when we give into our fears. When someone doesn’t practice fortitude they are easily afraid and they don’t persevere in hard times.
Demonstrate:
What am I holding? A weight.
How would you describe this weight? Solid, heavy, unmovable, unshakeable, etc.
Now, what am I holding? A feather.
How would you describe this feather? Light, weak, movable, shakeable, etc.
The weight represents someone who practices fortitude, and the feather represents someone who lacks fortitude.
Put the feather and weight beside each other on the small table. Plug in the fan.
The wind from the fan represents the hard times, challenges, temptations and trials that we might experience in our life.
When I turn on this fan, we’ll see what happens. Turn on the fan. Start on low speed and work your way up to high speed. Shut it off after it’s been on high for a couple seconds.
It’s easy to see that the feather didn’t stand a chance against the strong winds, but the weight remains solid and untouched.
Ask:
Which object do you want to be; the weight or the feather?
We need to remain strong and anchored like the weight; standing solid and unshakeable in our faith. When we have fortitude, it will help us remain strong during temptations. We need to stand firm and face our struggles, and not run from them.
How can you practice fortitude in your faith?
Share Jesus with others, stand up for what is right, resist temptations, let go of fear, etc.
Explain:
Sometimes, we may feel like giving up. We need to remember every situation is a chance to grow. We waste the opportunity if we try to run from the struggle. We need to remember that Jesus is always with us and will help us stand strong.
Day 4 Virtue Demo: TEMPERANCE
You’ll need:
- Balloon
Ask:
Does anyone know what the virtue of temperance is?
Temperance means doing things in a proper, balanced way; and controlling your behavior. If you have trouble remembering what temperance means, just remember that temper is short for temperance. When you practice the virtue of temperance, you have great self-control and you don’t lose your temper.
What is the opposite of temperance? Being uncontrollable, unpredictable, etc.
Demonstrate:
I am going to blow up this balloon. Blow up a balloon without tying a knot on the end and let go.
Woah! Did you see that? I hope I didn’t scare anyone. Retrieve the balloon.
When we don’t practice temperance, we act just like this balloon that took off. Just as the balloon went out of control, we can get out of control too, sometimes.
We become uncontrollable and unpredictable.
For example, a person who doesn’t practice temperance will eat a whole bag of candy, instead of just one or two pieces. Someone who doesn’t practice temperance will watch 3 hours of TV, instead of maybe 30 minutes.
Ask:
What are some other examples of things in our life that can get out of control? Spending too much money, wasting too much time on our electronics or video games, yelling, sleeping in or staying up really late every day, getting angry, being mean to our siblings, etc.
Demonstrate:
I am going to blow up this balloon once again, but this time I’ll tie a knot to represent temperance. Let’s see what happens.
Blow up the balloon again and tie a knot on the end. Toss it in the air a few times.
A balloon with a knot tied on the end is like a person who practices temperance. It’s what the balloon was intended for; to have fun in a proper, safe and balanced way. It reminds us that when we’re practicing temperance we are in control of our actions. We have self-control. We’re a lot more fun to be around and are less likely to hurt others.
Explain:
We need to remember to enjoy things in moderation. We should balance 3 things: work, play and pray. If we want to become Champions for Christ, we need to practice the virtue of temperance.
Day 5 Virtue Demo: JUSTICE
You’ll need:
- $20 bill
Ask:
I’m going to do a little demonstration about the virtue of justice.
Justice means being fair in everything you do, to give what is right to God and others.
It means that we should deal fairly with others and respect their differences. We can practice justice by treating everyone equally, especially the poor and the weak.
Who can tell me what I am holding? A twenty dollar bill.
Demonstrate:
I’m going to need a volunteer. Choose an older child and hand them the $20.
What would you do with this $20 bill? Answers will vary. Ideas: You can save it, you can spend it and buy something such as ice cream, a toy, a gift for someone, a book, etc.
If I told you that you could spend this on whatever you want for yourself, would you agree that if you had more money, it would even be better?
What if I told you that I don’t want you to spend it on yourself, but I want you to spend this $20 on someone else?
Does it seem like too much money to spend on someone else?
Which one is harder to do: spend money on yourself or spend money on others?
Leader takes the money, thanks the volunteer and asks him/her to go back to his/her seat.
Explain:
It would be justice, if you saw the $20 bill as equal, whether you spend it on yourself or on someone else.
It would mean that you considered other people’s needs, just as importantly as your own.
Ask:
What happens when someone does not practice justice? Others may get hurt by being bullied, things may not be fair, some people may end up with way more than others, someone may be treated badly, people’s feelings may get hurt, etc.
When we practice justice, people feel loved and valued.
Did you know that the word justice comes up over 800 times in the Bible? God must want us to know that justice is really important. We need to practice justice if we want to become Champions for Christ!
