Ethos Education

Harold and the Purple Crayon: Who Made You?

by

Assembly Objective:

What is God Like? This assembly explores the question of the existence of God, and considers a biblical view of God’s character as the creator of all people who loves each human being on the planet.

Film:

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) certificate PG, click here to buy the DVD online.

Bible:

Psalm 139 1-4 (New International Reader’s Version) and Psalm 139:13-18 (New International Reader’s Version)

Supporting Values Education:

The value of mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, presupposes that each individual has the freedom to choose what to believe and how to practise their faith. This assembly helps pupils explore the question of the existence of God and to consider their own belief system.

OPENING ACTIVITY

Who made this? (Example)

In advance of the assembly, create a pile of objects on a table at the front of the room – for each category there should be three objects. This activity could also be done on a smart board using images, or by creating a Connecting Wall activity (a grid of 4 x 4 words) – see

https://connecting-wall.netlify.app/editor

Below are some examples, but you can think of your own!

Picture of a sheep – ball of wool – woolly hat

Tomato – tin of chopped tomatoes – pizza

Small tree in a pot – piece of wood – piece of paper

Whole potato – sliced potato – packet of crisps

Packet of pens – doodle on a page – book of cartoons

Explain to the group that everyone has to help you sort out the objects into groups of three. Can anyone suggest how the objects might be linked? Can anyone suggest an order for the groups of three?

Work with the group to establish the groups and the sequences.

Explain that the origins of the ‘final’ products (the hat, the pizza, the paper, the crisps, the book) can be traced back to the ‘original’ items (the sheep, the tomato, the tree, the potato, the pens).

Discuss what else you could do with the final products (e.g. putting a badge on the hat, cutting the pizza into slices and sharing it, making a paper aeroplane with the paper, putting the crisps into a roll for a crisp buttie, turning the cartoons into an animation).

Now talk about where the original items came from (a lamb, a seed, a sapling, a sprout on a potato, a vat of plastic and ink). What about before that? People made the products, but who made the original items?

Explain that this assembly is all about that question!

Film clip

Play the film clip from Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) certificate PG.

  • Start time: 00:01:09 (Beginning of the film – ‘Once there was a boy named Harold…’)
  • End time: 00:05:54 (‘Get lost, Smurf!’)
  • Clip length: 4 minutes, 45 seconds.

If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say; a storyteller introduces us to Harold, a cartoon boy in a book with a purple crayon. With his purple crayon Harold can draw whatever he wants and it will come to life. He draws pies, friends and adventures. Sometimes his adventures get him into trouble but his friends, Moose and Porcupine, always stay with him. If he gets lost, he knows he can return home to his bed by the window that is drawn around the moon. The narrator tells us that this would be a good end to the story, but it doesn’t end there. Harold’s world and his imagination grow until, one day, Harold looks at Moose and Porcupine and says, ‘I’ve been thinking. If I drew you guys, then who drew me?’ As he asks the question, the narrator begins to speak to Harold, telling him that he drew him, and that he is an old man now. Harold asks why he can’t see the old man. The old man says that he lives in a real world – kind of like Harold’s world but a lot more colourful and complicated. Harold then asks why the old man drew him. The old man simply wishes him goodnight. The next day, the old man is silent and Harold decides to go to the real world to find the old man. He draws a door marked ‘Real World’. He leaves porcupine and moose behind and tumbles down into the real world. There he is a real person and is delighted to discover that he exists in three dimensions. The world is bright and beautiful but people are not very helpful.

TALK

Scripted Talk

Download the Harold and the Purple Crayon: Who Made You? PowerPoint for use with this talk.

  • [PowerPoint slide 1]
    • Welcome to our assembly today.
  • [PowerPoint slide 2]
    • I’d like us all to start by looking at our fingers. On the back of your finger you have your nail and in the middle there’s the wrinkly, bendy part called the knuckle, and at the base of your finger there is a joint that links your finger to the rest of your hand. So far, so good. Most people’s fingers look pretty alike. They might be a different colour. They might be longer or shorter. But basically they are very similar.
  • [PowerPoint slide 3]
    • Now, turn over your hand and look at the front of your finger, especially the part to the tip. What do you notice? Do you see the whorls? A whorl is a pattern of circles. Can you see the whorls on your fingers? Look at them very carefully, because the pattern on your fingertip is unique. It’s unlike anyone else’s in the world. Even identical twins or triplets have different fingerprints.
  • [PowerPoint slide 4]
    • Some of you probably knew that already, but when was the last time you studied your fingerprint? It’s amazing to think that of all the people living on the planet, nobody else has the same pattern on their fingers as you do.
  • [PowerPoint slide 5]
    • I wonder if that makes anyone here ask some big questions about who you are and how you were made? We know each other’s names and we probably know about one another’s families, but do you ever stop and wonder about how you came to exist? Do you ever wonder if there is more to life than what we see around us? Do you ever think about God?
  • [PowerPoint slide 6]
    • In the clip we are about to watch, a boy called Harold begins to ask some big questions about life. Harold has two friends – a porcupine and a moose – he has created them by drawing them with a special purple crayon, and one day he begins to wonder who created him.
    • Play film clip from Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) certificate PG.
      • Start time: 00:01:09 (Beginning of the film – ‘Once there was a boy named Harold…’
      • End time: 00:05:54 (‘Get lost, Smurf!’)
      • Clip length: 4 minutes, 45 seconds.
    • If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say; a storyteller introduces us to Harold,  a cartoon boy in a book with a purple crayon. With his purple crayon Harold can draw whatever he wants and it will come to life. He draws pies, friends and adventures. Sometimes his adventures get him into trouble but his friends, Moose and Porcupine, always stay with him. If he gets lost, he knows he can return home to his bed by the window that is drawn around the moon. The narrator tells us that this would be a good end to the story, but it doesn’t end there. Harold’s world and his imagination grow until, one day, Harold looks at Moose and Porcupine and says, ‘I’ve been thinking. If I drew you guys, then who drew me?’ As he asks the question, the narrator begins to speak to Harold, telling him that he drew him, and that he is an old man now. Harold asks why he can’t see the old man. The old man says that he lives in a real world – kind of like Harold’s world but a lot more colourful and complicated. Harold then asks why the old man drew him. The old man simply wishes him goodnight. The next day, the old man is silent and Harold decides to go to the real world to find the old man. He draws a door marked ‘Real World’. He leaves Porcupine and Moose behind and tumbles down into the real world. There he is a real person and is delighted to discover that he exists in three dimensions. The world is bright and beautiful but people are not very helpful.
  • [PowerPoint slide 7]
    • Who thinks they would like to have a magic purple crayon like Harold’s? It would be fun, wouldn’t it? You could draw anything and make it come to life. Harold seemed to enjoy using his crayon a lot, but I wonder if you noticed that he began to ask the question, who created me? That’s when he heard the old man’s voice, and he became even more curious.
  • [PowerPoint slide 8]
    • Harold thought that drawing the door and entering the real world would be easy, and that he could track down the old man without any trouble, but in fact he discovered that life in the real world was complicated, and people were not particularly nice.
  • [PowerPoint slide 9]
    • Harold’s story is just a story, but Harold’s question is one the people in the real world think about a lot. It’s maybe a question that you’ve thought about too. Who made you? Who made me?
  • [PowerPoint slide 10]
    • The Bible can help us find some answers to the question, because it tells us all about God. It was written by lots of different people, but the whole book tells the story of how God created the world and everything in it. At the heart of the Bible is the story of how much God loves the people he has made. According to the Bible, the answer to Harold’s question is that he was made by God, not by an old man. And that is true of everyone who has ever lived. The Bible says that everyone was made by God, and that everyone is loved by God.
  • [PowerPoint slide 11]
    • Here are some words from a poem, or a psalm, from the Bible. These words were written by a man called King David who I think also wondered about who made him. Let’s read the words.

Psalm 139:1-4

You created the deepest parts of my being.
You put me together inside my mother’s body.
How you made me is amazing and wonderful.
I praise you for that.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know that very well.

The poem says that:

  • [PowerPoint slide 12]
    • God knows all about us.
  • [PowerPoint slide 13]
    • He knows where we are.
  • [PowerPoint slide 14]
    • He know what we are thinking.
  • [PowerPoint slide 15]
    • And what we’re doing.
  • [PowerPoint slide 16]
    • He even knows what we’re going to say before we say it!
    • God knows everything about us because he made us, and not only that, but he thinks we’re pretty great! Let’s read some more of the poem:
  • [PowerPoint slide 17]
    • Psalm 139:13-14

You created the deepest parts of my being.
You put me together inside my mother’s body.

How you made me is amazing and wonderful.
I praise you for that.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know that very well.

  • [PowerPoint slide 18]
    • We don’t have a magic purple crayon like Harold does, but we do have the ability to imagine things and to create things. We also have the ability to look after the world and other people well – we can be kind, we can forgive people when they hurt us, we can look after the planet.

Headings and Bullets

Download the Harold and the Purple Crayon: Who Made You? PowerPoint for use with this talk.

  • [PowerPoint slide 1]
    • Welcome.
  • [PowerPoint slide 2]
    • Hands and Fingers.
  • [PowerPoint slide 3]
    • Fingerprints.
    • The pattern on your fingertip is unique.
    • It’s unlike anyone else’s in the world.
    • Even identical twins or triplets have different fingerprints.
  • [PowerPoint slide 4]
    • Unique.
    • It’s amazing to think that of all the people living on the planet, nobody else has the same pattern on their fingers as you do.
  • [PowerPoint slide 5]
    • Big questions.
    • Who you are and how were you made?
    • Do you ever stop and wonder about how you came to exist?
    • Do you ever think about God?
  • [PowerPoint slide 6]
    • Introduce the clip.
    • Harold begins to ask some big questions about life.
    • Harold has two friends – a porcupine and a moose – he has created them by drawing them with a special purple crayon, and one day he begins to wonder who created him.
    • Play film clip from Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony) certificate PG.
    • Start time: 00:01:09 (Beginning of the film – ‘Once there was a boy named Harold…’).
    • End time: 00:05:54 (‘Get lost, Smurf!’).
    • Clip length: 4 minutes, 45 seconds.
  • [PowerPoint slide 7]
    • Having a magic purple crayon like Harold’s would be fun.
    • You could draw anything and make it come to life.
    • Did you notice that he began to ask the question, ‘who created me’?
  • [PowerPoint slide 8]
    • Entering the real world.
    • Harold discovered that life in the real world was complicated, and people were not particularly nice.
  • [PowerPoint slide 9]
    • Harold’s question.
    • Who made you?
    • Who made me?
  • [PowerPoint slide 10]
    • The Bible can answer the question.
    • It tells us all about God.
    • It was written by lots of different people.
    • But the whole book tells the story of how God created the world and everything in it.
    • At the heart of the Bible is the story of how much God loves the people he has made.
    • According to the Bible, the answer to Harold’s question is that he was made by God, not by an old man.
    • And that is true of everyone who has ever lived.
    • The Bible says that everyone was made by God, and that everyone is loved by God.
  • [PowerPoint slide 11]
    • Psalm 139:1-4.
  • [PowerPoint slide 12]
    • The poem says that:
    • God knows all about us.
  • [PowerPoint slide 13]
    • The poem says that:
    • He knows where we are.
  • [PowerPoint slide 14]
    • The poem says that:
    • He knows what we are thinking.
  • [PowerPoint slide 15]
    • The poem says that:
    • And what we’re doing.
  • [PowerPoint slide 16]
    • The poem says that:
    • He even knows what we’re going to say before we say it!
  • [PowerPoint slide 17]
    • Psalm 139:13-14.
  • [PowerPoint slide 18]
    • We don’t have a magic purple crayon.
    • We have the ability to imagine things and to create things.
    • We also have the ability to look after the world and other people.
    • We can be kind, we can forgive people when they hurt us, we can look after the planet.

Photo copyright for Harold and the Purple Crayon PowerPoint: Slide 1 Pixabay.com / Slide 2  Pixabay.com  / Slide 3 Pixabay.com / Slide 4 Unsplash.com / Slide 5 Pixabay.com / Slide 6 Sony / Slide 7 Sony / Slide 8 Sony / Slide 9 Pixabay.com / Slide 10  Pixabay.com / Slide 11 Pixabay.com / Slide 12 Pixabay.com / Slide 13 Pixabay.com / Slide 14 Pixabay.com / Slide 15 Pixabay.com / Slide 16 Pixabay.com / Slide 17 Pixabay.com / Slide 18 Sony / Slide 19 Unsplash.com / Slide 20 Pixabay.com

RESPOND

Reflection: Amazing and wonderful and loved by God.

  • [PowerPoint slide 19]
    • Look at your fingerprint again.
    • Remember that your fingerprint is different from every other fingerprint in this school.
    • It’s different from every other fingerprint in this town.
    • It’s different from every other fingerprint in the world.
    • Remember that you are amazing and wonderful because you’re made by God.
    • Turn to your neighbour and say ‘I am amazing and wonderful. I am loved by God.’
    • Now, turn to your other neighbour and say ‘You are amazing and wonderful. You are loved by God.’
    • Finally, let’s all say together: ‘We are amazing and wonderful. We are loved by God.’

Prayer

  • [PowerPoint slide 20]
    • Thank you God that you made all of us.
    • Thank you that you made me and that you know everything about me.
    • Thank you that you love me and you love every human being on the planet.
    • Help us to look after the world and the people around me, and to remember that they are special.
    • In Jesus’ name.
    • Amen.

YOU WILL NEED:

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