Addoli ar y Cyd - Collective Worship
Collective Worship
Title: Birds in Winter
Theme: Caring for God’s creation
School: Primary
Term: Autumn
Summary
Appreciating and caring for God’s creation, especially garden birds in winter with a focus on the Christmas robin.
Teachers’ Notes
Recommended Song:
God Knows Me, Come and Praise no. 15)
Recommended Reading:
So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, ‘Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.’ Genesis 1: 27-28
Occasion: As Christmas approaches.
Instructions:
The pictures should be shown on PowerPoint as the story is told. The ( ) show when the slide should be changed. To attract the pupils’ attention, we recommend the first slide is already on display as they enter.
The Main Text
(Picture 1)
Our Bible reading today tells us that God made all the living creatures on our earth. This includes animals, fish, insects and birds. Today we are going to think especially about one of these groups – the birds.
If you are interested in birds you might sometimes go out for walks in the woods or countryside to spot different types. This hobby is known as birdwatching. Birdwatchers often carry a pair of binoculars to help them see birds at a distance and a book to help them find out the names of the birds they spot.
Do you know what birds visit our school grounds? You probably don’t because you are so busy making a noise and playing with your friends!
But you do not need to go far from your home to see birds. They can be seen in parks and gardens, both in the town and in the countryside. If you have a garden, you could try sitting and watching quietly for a few minutes everyday.
(Picture 2)
You will probably see a variety of birds. You could count how many different types you see each day. You might spot sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds, thrushes and starlings. Another bird that you might see is the one that often appears on our Christmas cards. Do you know what it is? Sometimes he’s pictured sitting on a snow-covered branch or on the top of a post box.
(Picture 3)
You probably all know that it is the robin. This garden bird has become one of the traditional symbols of Christmas. He is easy to recognise with his bright red breast.
No-one really knows why the robin has become associated with Christmas, but there is one traditional story that tries to give us an explanation. It is not a true story but it helps to explain why we often have pictures of robins on our Christmas cards:
(Picture 4)
On the night that Jesus was born it was very cold in the stable. Joseph lit a fire to keep Mary and the baby Jesus warm, but there was not enough wood, and after a short while the flames had nearly disappeared.
(Picture 5)
Mary was worried that her baby would get cold so she turned to the animals and asked them for help. ‘Could you blow on the embers so that the fire won’t die?’ she asked the ox. But the ox lay sound asleep on the stable floor and didn’t hear her. Next, Mary asked the donkey to breathe life back into the fire, but the sleeping donkey didn’t hear Mary either. Neither did the horse nor the sheep. She wondered what to do.
(Picture 6)
Then, suddenly, she heard a fluttering of wings and a robin flew in through the stable doorway. He had heard Mary asking the sleepy animals for help and had come to try to rescue the fire himself.
He flew over to the fire and flapped his wings as fast as he could. Soon the embers glowed bright red again.
(Picture 7)
Then the robin flew outside and returned with some fresh, dry sticks and tossed them into the fire. As he did so, a flame suddenly burst into life and burned the little bird's breast a bright red. But the robin continued to fan the fire until it crackled brightly and the stable warmed up. Mary thanked the robin for all he had done.
(Picture 8)
She looked tenderly at his red breast, burned by the flame, and said, ‘From today your red breast will be a reminder of the kind deed you have done today.’
Winter-time is the best time to spot robins. This is because a lot of them fly from colder countries to Britain to spend the winter.
(Picture 9)
When it’s very cold in countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, they come to join the robins who live in Britain all the year round.
Robins who live in towns and villages can become quite tame. It’s even possible to tame them enough so they will take food from your hand, but this takes a lot of time and patience. If there are keen gardeners in your family, they may sometimes notice a robin waiting in the bushes for a tasty worm while they are digging the soil. Earthworms are a favourite food of robins, along with seeds, fruit and insects. But although they are so friendly with people, robins are very quarrelsome with other birds. Their cheerful singing might sound very sweet to humans but really it’s their way of guarding their territory from other birds, especially other robins. They often fight each other to defend their territory.
Robins mate and nest in late March. The female robin finds a safe hole, usually in a bank or a wall, and she lines it with moss, leaves and wool.
(Picture 10)
Because robins don't build nests in trees with twigs and sticks they sometimes choose unusual places for their homes, such as old watering cans or Wellington boots.
(Picture 11)
The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) think that there are about six million pairs of robins in Britain. Their numbers are thought to be growing. But many types of birds are getting fewer in number, for example starlings and sparrows. This is because humans are changing the environment.
(Picture 12)
The places where birds build their nests are destroyed by building work, or by changes to the way we farm the land, or by the cutting down of hedges and trees. Sometimes their food disappears because of chemicals used to kill insects.
So what can you do to help the garden birds?
(Picture 13)
You can help by creating safe places for birds to nest and feed. Perhaps you have a bird table in your garden and put out food such as nuts, seeds and scraps of food for the birds to eat. This helps them to survive when it is very cold and there is not much food around in the winter. You can put nesting boxes in your garden or leave out some old containers such as broken flower-pots for the birds to make their homes in.
(Picture 14)
Our Bible reading today told us that God put humans in charge of all other living creatures. So this year when you look at the pretty Christmas robin on your cards, remember that God gave us the responsibility to care for his world.
Prayer
Dear Lord, today we remember that all the world is your garden and that you created all the creatures in it. Thank you for the special gift of birds. Help us to remember and care for them, especially at this time of year. AMEN
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