Pass
the Parcel with a twist:
a
very simple All-Age activity suitable for the rest of the Christmas Season
This idea grew from passing shop after shop
in our local City (Cambridge UK) just before Christmas and seeing hundreds of
glittery boxes in their windows – and realizing that every one was EMPTY! Put
there to inveigle us into looking in their windows.
Fast forward to Christmas morning and an
invitation in our morning service to join in a game of pass-the-parcel: we were
not short of eager volunteers who were spaced down the centre of the church so
they and their reactions could be seen by most of the worshippers!
But then – each of the six layers contained
-simply nothing. That was bad enough but the disappointment that the centre was
nothing more than an empty box momentarily really was a bad moment for players
and watchers alike. The disappointment was rapidly relieved by each player being
given two chocolate sweets – and the reactions of the children caught everyone
into the contrast
Message 1: that one of the gifts of Jesus to the world is of fairness and Justice – and whilst
Pass the parcel is seldom a just game, we had managed to change that.
Message 2: about the empty box at the centre. Any gift has an emptiness about it
unless it is wrapped with Love –the gift of Jesus himself.
Love and Justice, represented in a simple,
popular party game. And numerous
warm comments as people left, as they too were invited to take a sweet from the
box that had rewarded each of the players - justice for all present.
As an
activity, it doesn’t, of course, need to be confined to Christmas.
For Epiphany, you might also like to consider The Wise-men’s Tale
For Epiphany, you might also like to consider The Wise-men’s Tale