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Manners Matter Bible Reference: "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;" Romans 12:10 KJV Printable Bible Verse Cards - Print out the Bible Verse Cards onto card stock and make copies. (Printing Problems?) Teaching Concept: Manners are important. They show others that we love and respect them. Rules of etiquette are important but change according to the circumstances and times , but God's rules never change. Early Arrivals Activity
2. Setting the Table Activity
The Lesson (Write the word "etiquette" on the board.) Does anyone know what this word is and what it means? Etiquette is the rules we live by that tell us how to behave in certain circumstances. For example, when we go to a fast food restaurant like McDonalds or Burger King, we pick up our wrappers and throw them away when we are done eating. It is considered rude or bad manners to just leave your table all messy for the next person. Etiquette can get pretty confusing sometimes because the rules aren't always the same all the time or in all circumstances or places. The rules can change according to where you are and what you are doing. For instance, if you were in a fast food restaurant in Spain, you would just throw all your wrappers on the floor when you were done eating and no one would think you had bad manners because that is what they do in Spain. At the end of the day they just sweep everything up and put it in the trash. Do you ever throw your peanut shells on the floor when you are eating peanuts? I bet your mom would be pretty mad at you if you let the shells fall all over the floor. That would be bad manners in your home, but in some restaurants it isn't considered bad manners at all. Etiquette changes over time. If you were in school a long time ago, you would have to stand up whenever your teacher entered the room. If you didn't, you would be considered rude and probably be punished. Today if you stand up in class, you would probably get in trouble. It used to be considered rude for children to talk to adults unless the adults talked to them first. Today adults would not even think a child was rude for coming up and talking to them. They would probably be very happy to talk the child. Why do you think having good manners is important? They are important because it shows others that we care about them and respect them. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:12, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." That means that we should treat others how we would want to be treated and to treat them like they are even better than we are. Sometimes it is hard to know exactly how to act because not everyone follows the same rules and rules change, but God's words never change. He commands us to love one another, as he has loved us. When we use good manners we are showing love to others so it is important that we know what is good manners and what isn't. Since Thanksgiving will be here soon, we will be talking about good manners at the dinner table. Some of us don't get to practice good dinner manners very often since families don't sit down at the table together that much anymore. Hand out the "Manners Matter Activity Sheet" and read each rule or have your children take turns reading the rules. Talk about why each rule is important. For example, the "don't chew with your mouth open" rule is important because it would make other dinner guest uncomfortable and grossed out to see the chewed up food in your mouth. (Printing Problems?)
Younger Children's Lesson The following story can be told using a puppet or actor. Change it to fit your needs. Dress your puppet or actor in a pilgrim hat or something else relating to Thanksgiving. Mary Sue Learns Manners Hi, my name is Mary Sue. I'm seven years old and I love Thanksgiving. All my relatives come to my house to eat dinner. My mom makes a great big turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, corn on the cob, and, best of all, pumpkin pie! You know, it takes a lot of work to get ready for Thanksgiving. Last year my mom started cleaning the house a week before Thanksgiving. She even took all the food out of the pantry and wiped down all the shelves. That made mom was very tired. Last year I was too little to help, but this year I'm going to help my mom clean. She said I could take all the food out for her and help her put it back in in neat little rows. Last Thanksgiving I was only six years old. I've learned a lot since then. Did you know that you're not supposed to say anything bad about the food, even if it smells really yucky and tastes really bad? My Aunt Anna brought cranberry sauce last year. She put some of it on my plate. I wanted to gag. I smelled it, and I almost threw up. I held my nose and made a yucky face. My mom didn't like that at all. After Aunt Anna left she told me that I should never say bad things about the food or the gifts people bring even if I really don't like them. Instead, you should try to think of something nice to say about them. Like, "Wow, it sure is a pretty color." I learned lots of other things about manners last year too: 1. Always wash your hands before setting the table especially if you were just coloring with magic markers. That way you don't get different colors on the plates and cups. 2. Never stuff your mouth full of food. You never know when you are going to have to sneeze. People don't like it when food from your mouth lands on their plates. Did you know that food could fly all the way across the table if you have a really big sneeze? It not only gets all over the table, it gets on you too. Then you have to go change your clothes and wash up again. 3. Always say, "Please pass the gravy" instead of reaching over the table to get it. You can cause big problems by knocking over your milk. It makes the whole table a gooey, soppy mess. And the milk runs off the table onto your clothes and you have to go change your clothes again. 4. Don't eat with your hands if you can use your fork. It's a lot easier to eat with your hands sometimes, but when you are eating Thanksgiving turkey you should eat it with a fork that way your hands don't get all greasy. Oh, and always use your napkin to wipe your hands and mouth. You will ruin your thanksgiving outfit if you wipe your greasy hands on your clothes. Then you will have to go change your clothes again. Oh, and when you aren't using your napkin, you should place it on your lap. And if it falls on the floor, you should get another one. 4. Don't talk with your mouth full. If your turkey is in big chunks, don't stuff it all in your mouth or pick the whole thing up and bite a part off. Instead, cut it up into little pieces or have an adult cut it up for you, and then put it in your mouth. That way, if someone asks you a question, you can hurry up and swallow your food and answer them. If your mouth is all stuffed with food, and you try to answer him or her, you might choke, or the food might fall out of your mouth and that is gross. Nobody wants to see chewed up food from some bodies else's mouth. And then you will have to go change your clothes again. There sure are a lot of eating rules, aren't there? Can you think of some other eating rules?
Prayer Father, we thank you for providing food for us. Help us to show other that we love and care about them by showing good manners. Amen.
1. Practice Table Manners - After going of the dinner table rules from the "Manners Matter Activity Sheet" have your children practice their table manners. Show them the table-setting diagram, and have each student set his place at the table using paper plates, napkins, spoons, forks, knives, and a glass. Check each student's place setting to make sure he or she set it properly. (Printing Problems?) Set some goodies on the table and have your children practice passing them from left to right, taking their share, saying thank you, and then passing it on. Make sure they don't start eating before everyone has been served. Tell them that when you place your napkin on your lap, they should do the same thing. They should also wait for you to say the blessing and start eating before they start. As they continue eating point out good and bad manners so they learn what is appropriate. Remind your children that they should never point out someone else's bad manners at dinner. You can even pretend that they are coming to your house for Thanksgiving dinner. Practice introducing your guests, washing their hands before they eat, not interrupting others when they are talking, etc. 2. Draw Pictures of Good or Bad Manners - Assign each child a different manner listed on the "Manners Matter" Activity Sheet and have them draw a picture depicting that manner. When they are done collect all the pictures and see if the other children can guess which manner is depicted in each picture. Copyright © 2008 Carolyn Warvel All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information or storage retrieval system, except for local church or school use only. This copyright notice must be included on all copies. Requests for permission to copy this material for any other uses should be addressed to Carolyn Warvel, 588 Duran Street, Henderson, NV 89015 or e-mail me at care@daniellesplace.com
Comments We would love to hear your comments about this lesson. If you taught this lesson, we would love to hear how it went, if you changed anything, added anything, what age you taught and was it appropriate. Any comments that would help others teach this lesson are welcome. |
Before class cut out large plate-size circles from construction paper, print out the 
r children draw pictures of food on the plate. (
Activities
