It’s been over a week since my last post and I’m playing catch-up. I realized that I never posted the results to my little contest/request for help on this blog post.

Well, I ended up going out on my own; however, it was one of Sam’s suggestions that got my brain leaning in that direction. So, although I didn’t really use anyone’s exact idea, I’m treating myself to a Starbucks gift card… I love being in control. 🙂 Actually, I promised Sam I’d treat him to a meal the next time (which will be our first time) to meet up.

Thank you though for the suggestions. They do help, even if it gets stored away as an idea for another lesson on another day. In case you care to know, I’ve posted that particular activity below.

Memory Match-up

SUPPLIES: Set of 24 responsibility cards

You will have a set of 24 responsibility cards containing 12 pairs of actions that either show responsibility or irresponsibility such as taking out the trash or cheating on a test. The 24 cards should be mixed up and put face down in the center of the group. Kids will take turns turning over two cards at a time looking for matches. If a child does not find a match, the next child will take a turn. If a match is found the leaders will ask the following question: Does this action show responsibility or irresponsibility? (Some are very obvious such as cheating on a test; however, several are a little fuzzy such as playing with friends. For some of these actions, feel free to ask the child or the rest of the group when might playing with friends be a responsible action and when might it be an irresponsible action.) In order to give all the children a chance to play, children who make a match do not get to pick again right away, but the turn passes on to the next child.

Depending on how quickly the first game went, shuffle the cards and play again. This time ask a different question when a match is made. We have been learning that “when you can be trusted, with little, you can be trusted with a lot.” If you acted out what was on this card, would it show that you could be trusted with more or with less? (There are some cards that could go either way depending on the situation. Probe the kids to see if the question could be answered the other way as well. Say: Many of the same actions could show either responsibility or irresponsibility. Part of learning to be trusted with little means deciding to make the right choice depending on the circumstances.

SMALL GROUP LEADER: “At your age in life, you are constantly building trust. You are building trust with your parents, with your teachers and even with friends. When you show that you are responsible with something little, you might be trusted with something bigger. Today you might be trusted with feeding the pet and taking out the trash. When you are older and have proven that you can be trusted with the little things, you may be allowed to drive the care (when you’re old enough of course) Remember, [Impress] when you can be trusted with a little, you can be trusted with a lot.”

[Personalize] Share with your small group about something small that you were trusted with even as an adult and how being responsible with that grew into something much bigger (maybe a small job or task at work that grew into a promotion).