Household object
Serving Spoon
Introduction
Sylvia Serving Spoon makes a great Thanksgiving story. She was just an old spoon, and she really wished she’d been born ornate and large and pretty like Lilly Lenox Dish or Tiffany Platter, or graceful like Sir Lawrence Linen Napkin. They got all the attention on the Thanksgiving table, and all she got was used! Then she realizes that by being a servant, she got to taste everything.
Materials
- An old stainless serving spoon
- A pretty serving dish or platter
- A pretty serving bowl
- A pretty linen napkin
- Some other serving dishes or plates (don’t have to be as nice)
- Apple pie, enough for all students to have a piece
- Serving plates for students for the pie
- Plastic forks
Preparation
- Cut the pie before class starts, then put it aside.
- Set a paper plate, napkin and fork out for each student at the table.
- Put the serving dish, bowl and napkin on the table in front of you.
- Fold the linen napkin in some pretty way.
Lesson
Today let’s take a trip back to the Land of Make Believe….where all things are possible… Hold up Sylvia Serving Spoon. And anything can become a real person.
Meet Sylvia Serving Spoon. If you’re a serving spoon, the Thanksgiving Table is like the prom or something. All the dishes get dressed up with beautiful food. Dip Sylvia in the bowls. And the people at the table rave about how pretty and tasty everything is. Hold up Lawrence Linen Napkin. And they put linen up to their mouths and eat with pretty manners.
Sylvia Serving Spoon is really excited. She’s been cast into the back of an old drawer for years now. She really wants to be a part of this super luxurious Thanksgiving table.
Once the guests are seated, she notices how pretty all the dishes are. “Look at Lilly Lenox Dish!” She tells herself. All decked out in stuffing with real cranberries and so many beautiful spices. She looks like a wedding dish! And Tiffany Platter? Why, she’s all dressed in turkey! Everybody’s got on something except….
Shake Sylvia a little this way and that.
Except me! I’m just a dumb serving spoon. There’s no way to dress me up!
Sylvia suddenly felt horrible, like the most frumpy old thing on the table. She became aware of her scratches, of the fact that she didn’t shine so brightly.
Touch Lilly Lenox and Tiffany Platter and make little laughing noise.
Sylvia just knew all the other dishes were laughing at her plainness and her scratches. Shake Lawrence Linen Napkin and gasp. Did Lawrence Linen Napkin just say I was fat???
And she noticed that as people passed her around…they mentioned the beautiful dishes, the great smelling food…but they never mentioned her! They just passed her round and round..
Pass Lilly Lenox Dish to the child next to you and Sylvia Serving Spoon. Pretend it’s a real fest. Go ahead! Pass all the dishes! Everyone use Sylvia! Dip in!
As the dish goes around and the spoon, warn the children…. It’s a shame, but you see, it gets kind of worse for Sylvia! The hostess has a problem. She’s got all this beautiful stuff. But she’s only got one serving spoon.Sylvia also has to do all the work! Is that not fair or what?!
Pass Tiffany Platter. Sylvia suddenly knows…she’s got the worst deal under the sun! Her silly owner was so busy preparing food that she forgot to polish the other serving utensils. You can’t put tarnished and smutty pieces full of carbon on the table.
Well, the owner is trying to distract everyone from Sylvia by pointing out this dish and that. Sylvia just…goes ahead with it. There’s got to be something good in this situation. Doesn’t the Lord say, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God?” Especially on Thanksgiving??
So she just tastes a bit of this and a bit of that and helps out the dinner guests as best she can. And she begins to notice.
Gee, these YAMS taste really good! MMMM! And these baked potatoes? Start passing around what other dishes you have. Have Sylvia be passed all around the table.
Yummy! I’ve never tasted such a fresh turkey, she notes. What awesome green beans! What delicious waldorf salad! Hey! Maybe I am having a good time!
And the more she thought of to be thankful for, the more things came to mind! “I started out being a little thankful, and suddenly I can think of lots of things!”
I’m glad I’m just a scratched up ole drawer spoon! That’s because…I don’t tarnish. I might not be really pretty…but I don’t get really ugly either! I’m rock steady! I shine just enough all the time.
I may be the humblest servant at this party, but hey! I just thought of something else.
Ask for Sylvia Spoon back, and have her “jump up and down” like a puppet. Tiffany Platter and Lilly Lenox might be a lot prettier. But because I’m the humblest servant, I got to taste everything at this table!
And Lilly and Tiffany only got to taste one thing!
In Matthew 20:126, Jesus said, “In the Kingdom of Heaven, the first will be last, and the last, first.”
Instead of trying to be the prettiest or the biggest or the bestest or the shiniest… Let’s take a lesson from Sylvia Serving Spoon this year. Let’s try to be the best servants to others. People may not notice us right off… but there’s loooooong-term rewards coming our way. For one… we’ll get to taste all of God’s blessings…
And when we get to eternity, we’ll get to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You are now first in the Kingdom of Heaven!”
This turned out to be the best Thanksgiving ever! Let’s get Sylvia to help us serve us apple pie!
Serve Apple pie to students using Sylvia.
You might also be interested in these other Thanksgiving activities!
Looking for more Thanksgiving object lesson ideas? Then be sure to check out our Bible Object Lessons area! And don’t forget to Become a Fan on Facebook, Follow Us on Twitter and Come Hangout with Us on Google+!