Day 18: Teaching Sunbeams

Too Cute to Be Allowed

My very first Sunbeam class in sixteen years was not exactly how I'd planned it.

Lesson: "I Can Make Right Choices"

Children:
--Alicia, an adorable girl from Ghana who loves pink and playing games. Unspoiled and enthusiastic. Has one two-year-old sister.

--John, a very British four-year-old with only sisters and one father who comes to church. Soft-spoken and well-behaved, so long as proper attention is paid him.

--Daniel, nationality unknown. He looks like a minature Urkle and has more energy than I've seen in a long time. Family unknown. Difficulties listening, hearing?, getting along, and being without that attention.

Execution:

I was put into their room entirely alone (I'd hoped for some kind of teacher to help me out, but I guess not.) Although the Church has announced a ban on candy in Primary, I bought some to incure some kind of order. It was a smart thing to do; with the promise of sweets in the near-future, even Daniel was able to answer questions right and play the games according to the rules. We played a game where all the kids stayed backed to the wall; I had a fifty pence-piece hidden in one hand, and they had to guess which one. If they got it right, they could take a step closer. Alicia was a good guesser, but poor John became really frustrated really quickly. The goal was to teach them all that guessing is a bad way to make choices, and I hope I got through to them.

Most of class was spent on my feet and making Daniel stay put. We also played the thumbs-up, thumbs-down game--I say something like, "You choose to walk quietly to class" and they tell me whether it's a good idea or not. It was fairly successful. My only problem was, after these two games and a big fat story, there were still twenty minutes left of class and everyone was getting wiggly. At that point, I realized I didn't have any other games I could think to play, so I resigned and sat down in a little Primary chair and watched them squeal and jump and dance around the room. It was really fun, so long as the noise was constantly hushed. I found out about John and Alicia's families and what they liked to do. At the end of class, we had to be reverent so Alicia could pray, and John passed around the tiny garbage can ("Put your wrappers in the bin!") and I was able to let them go to their parents.

Mental note: research games for four-year-olds, and maybe sing some songs next time.