Treasure Script by The Salvation Army UK and Ireland

Treasure Script Overview

This mission is a discovery session and the objective is for the children to gain a basic introduction of what The Salvation Army is through a ‘pass the parcel’ game. The session starts with a welcome to all of the children and adults and then the main part of the session is based around a pass the parcel game where various items are wrapped in layers of a parcel for the group to unwrap during the game. Discussion and suggestions are then invited from the children for them to explore for themselves the basic beliefs and actions of The Salvation Army. This mission is child-led and the adult leader will only share the concrete answers with the children after they have made their own suggestions.

Aims • • •

To gain a basic understanding of what The Salvation Army is and does. To be able to recall at least 3 of the items and their relevance within The Salvation Army. To use descriptive language.

Setting up the mission

Curriculum Links the parcel containing the ’treasure’ objects in the centre.

For the beginning of the activity, the children need to be seated in a circle with

A traditionally wrapped ‘pass the parcel’. Brightly coloured tissue paper layers work well. For the last layer white paper can be decorated with Salvation Army Red Shield stickers. Objects inside the parcel which need to be individually wrapped one inside each layer.

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A small globe A children’s bible and a small cross A small house A small dolls cup (with a red shield sticker on it (phone us for a red shield sticker if you need one) and a spoon A teddy bear A child’s musical instrument (bells or maracas or miniature instrument) Mini missions stickers one for each child

A bag containing the items above can be loaned from the Schools and Colleges Unit at THQ. The stickers are available to buy. mini

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Resources needed

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Treasure Script Welcome session (5 mins)

This is a time for you to welcome the children to your corps/centre or for you to introduce yourself if you are visiting their nursery or school. Say hello to the children and tell them your name, remember that these children are very young and their understanding of church language, let alone ‘Salvation Army’ language may be very limited. If you are comfortable with it, perhaps you could just share your first name and if you are a corps officer, perhaps you could introduce yourself as the leader of the Salvation Army church in ______ (insert town as appropriate). Ask the children if they know what a church is if they don’t it may be necessary to offer a simple explanation ….Tell the children that you are here today to help them to discover something new about your church. Let them know that it’s going to be lots of fun and they will be taking part in activities similar to ones they do at nursery or at school. If you are at the corps or centre, make sure you let the children know where the toilets are and emphasise how important it is for them to tell an adult if they need to go to the toilet rather than wondering off on their own.

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With the children seated in a circle explain that we are going to play some music and then pass the parcel around the circle from child to child. When the music stops the child holding the parcel is to remove the top layer of wrapping and take out the object. Then as a group the children are invited to put up their hands to see if they can guess what the object tells us about the work of The Salvation Army. Ask the group how they think The Salvation Army would use this item and how they think it helps other people. Allow for a few suggestions to be made by the children putting their hands up and then, using the explanations below, share with the children what this item tells us about The Salvation Army. After the explanation has been shared, place the object in the circle in a place which is visible to the children. This continues for each layer until all of the objects have been unwrapped. The final layer reveals a bag of mini mission’s stickers to be given out at the end of this ‘pass the parcel’ session.

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Ask the children if any of them have ever been to a church before (allow 4 or 5 children to put their hands up and share their experiences) and then briefly explain to the children that The Salvation Army is a Christian church which is well known for helping other people who might be in trouble or need some kind of help. Explain to the children that they will be taking part in a game. Show them the parcel and ask if any of them know what the game is called. Lots of items are hidden inside the parcel and these items will help you to learn some new things about The Salvation Army.

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Treasure Script

Item explanations • Small globe This globe shows our world and all of the different places in our world. There are lots of Salvation Army churches in England where we live. But The Salvation Army can also be found in over 120 other countries across our world!

• Children’s Bible and small cross This very special book is called the Bible and it is important to members of The Salvation Army because it teaches about Jesus. We believe Jesus is a very important person. He helped lots of people when he lived on earth and that is why The Salvation Army wants to help so many people today.

• Small house The Salvation Army helps people who don’t have a home by giving them food, clothes and a place to stay. They can also help them to find a new home.

• Small dolls cup (with a red shield sticker on it and a spoon Curriculum Links

• Teddy bear and a photo of an old person The Salvation Army cares for people of all ages. The teddy bear shows that The Salvation Army really cares for children and their families and helps them when they need it. Older people sometimes come to a Salvation Army centre for a lunch if they don’t have anywhere else to go. The members of The Salvation Army will give them food and drink and visit them if they live alone and are lonely.

• Child’s musical instrument (bells or maracas or miniature instrument) In The Salvation Army, we like to play lots of different instruments and sing or dance because we believe God likes it when we play music to him.

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When there is a flood or a fire, The Salvation Army are always there to help. This cup shows that they give drinks to people who are hurt and also the people who are helping, like fire-fighters or the police. They will also give them food and will comfort them if they are upset.

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Treasure Script

Plenary Once all of the objects have been unwrapped tell the children that they have done a great job at thinking about what each item says about The Salvation Army. Ask the children to put their hands up if they have had enjoyed the gameâ&#x20AC;Ś then ask them to touch their nose if they have learnt something newâ&#x20AC;Śand then to put their hands on their head if they would like to share with the group something that they have learnt about The Salvation Army. Encourage the children to keep their hands on their heads while you ask each of them in turn to share what new thing they have learnt about The Salvation Army.

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