Humor | Jesse Joyner

Palm Sunday Lesson

Make a “Palm Sundae” in someone’s palms to open up your Palm Sunday. The kids love it and its a fun way to transition into teaching about the real meaning of Palm Sunday.

Here is a brief activity you can use on Palm Sunday in your Children’s Church service. It is designed to be humorous and then lead into teaching the kids the real meaning of Palm Sunday.

Title: “Palm Sunday”

Scripture: John 12:12-15 NIV

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Supplies:

Ingredients for an ice cream sundae and a serving spoon. No bowl necessary!
A large trash bag or tarp (a large trash can will work too).

(optional) a palm branch.

Summary: You will energetically create an ice cream sundae in the open palms of another person (either another teacher/volunteer or a brave kid with clean hands). You are so thrilled that today is Palm Sunday and you tell the kids that Palm Sunday is the day you get to make an ice cream sundae in your friend’s palms and then eat it. Finally, a “wise person” (another teacher) interrupts you after your shenanigans and advises that Palm Sunday is not about ice cream in palms; it’s about worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ as King. You then proceed to teach the kids about the real story and meaning of Palm Sunday.

Preparation: Gather ingredients for an ice cream sundae. You can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. At least get the ice cream, some chocolate syrup, and some whipped cream. But if you want to go all out, get cherries, sprinkles, a banana, and anything else you like on sundaes. Avoid any nuts or peanut butter products since there may be a child with a nut allergy.

If you can get your hands on a palm branch, whether real or fake, that will help when you get to the real meaning of the story. Have the palm branch hidden from view.

Call up a volunteer (either an adult or a brave child) and tell them to hold out their palms over your trash bag/tarp/trash can (just something to catch dripping ingredients). Tell them to hold together their palms facing up…..

Presentation: With all your energy, tell the kids that you can’t wait for Palm Sunday every year because you get to make an ice cream sundae in your friend’s palms. “That’s what it’s all about kids, right?!” Some will try to interrupt you and correct you, but just keep talking and start making that ice cream sundae. Have fun with it and describe each step as you go. Use your spoon to scoop out some ice cream, then add some syrup, then all your other ingredients. If your friend starts complaining about cold hands, tell them it’s time to eat the sundae! They have to eat the sundae right out of their open palms. The kids will love it!

Finally, a wiser person interrupts you after you’ve milked the moment for all its worth. This other teacher will open up the Bible and read John 12:12-15 to you and explain that Palm Sunday has nothing to do with ice cream. It has everything to do with Jesus as King.*

Proceed to teach a lesson about the real meaning of Palm Sunday, using your Palm Branch as a visual aid. Back then, palms symbolized victory and the fact that Jesus came in on a donkey showed that he was a humble King. Now, we can celebrate Jesus as the one who conquered death and as the King who reigns forever.

*Sources for historical background:

Pat Alexander and David Alexander, Zondervan Handbook to the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 634.

L.A. Losie, “Triumphal Entry,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, eds Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1992), 859.

Developing a 45-minute Show

For many variety performers out there, one of the challenges is filling a 45-minute window of time with engaging content for hundreds or thousands of people. Since I work mostly with audiences that include lots of kids, I have found 45 minutes tends to be a good length of time for family audiences to enjoy a show by a single performer.

But the performance has to be good in order to entertain a crowd for that long. And the younger the audience member, the shorter the attention span. As a stage performer, I can hold the focus of a group of 2-3 year olds for maybe 20 minutes if I’m doing well. But ages 4 and up can usually enjoy a full 45 minutes, and then they start to fade no matter how good you are.

I have spent the past 14 years putting together performance sets using a variety of performing arts. So here are ten things I’ve learned over the years about how to put together quality content for a 45-minute stage show:

Strong Opening and Strong Closing – make the first and last tricks some of your strongest. You have about 3 seconds to make a good first impression to your audience when you appear, so bring out one of your best tricks at the beginning. Then close the act with something just as strong, if not, stronger. Thanks to Bob Cates who told me this tip.
Short Sets – I have about 10 different tricks/stunts/routines that I perform in a 45-minute set. That’s an average of 4-5 minutes per routine. Some of my tricks take only 2 minutes, some take 8, but most are in the 3-6 minute range. Keep each bit short and exciting and then quickly move on to the next routine.
Smooth Transitions – speaking of quickly moving from trick to trick, try to have a smooth transition from one to the other. Know exactly what order your tricks are in and have a set list written out on a piece of paper on the floor or in your prop box. You can lose the momentum of your show if you spend too much time looking around for what’s next. If the transition takes a few extra seconds, call up a volunteer (to do anything) and make your transition moves while they’re coming up on stage.
Volunteers – speaking of volunteers, use LOTS of them. This is one of the secrets of good performing that I learned early on. The audience feels more connected to you if you involve them somehow. One of the best ways to involve them is to invite normal people from the crowd to help you and assist you. Not everyone has to come on stage. Just having a volunteer up there makes someone else in the audience think,”that could be me,” and that includes everyone in your show in a special way. In another blog post, I have written ten commandments about how to use and treat volunteers in your show.
Stage Presence – this goes for any kind of performing, acting, dancing, public speaking, etc. Be awake, alive, energetic, and SMILE. Because you are so small on a big stage, the audience cannot read normal one-on-one mannerisms. So everything you do has to be bigger, from your smile to your movements to your facial expressions.
Patter – speaking of stage presence, a major part of your show is what you say. Unless you are Anthony Gatto (or a really good mime), your juggling/magic/variety skills will only entertain without words for a short period of time. If you want to fill 45 minutes with quality content, then you should have some good “patter” lines, which are things you say during and in between tricks. This is where the audience connects with you. They see you as a real person, and the things you say will make them laugh. And quite honestly, most of your audience wants to laugh more than they want to see you do a spectacular trick. The more shows you do, the more lines you will develop as your own. I have said many things that make the crowd laugh and many things that fall totally flat. I never knew which lines would lead to which response until I tried them (or accidentally said them). I simply keep the lines that lead to a positive response and ditch the lines that fall flat. The best way to develop this is to just go out and do tons of shows for whoever will watch for any amount of money (as low as nothing). I did hundreds of volunteer shows for the first 4 years of performing (it was a side gig). And then that eventually turned into a full-time career because I had lots of practice and I enjoyed it so much.
Tricks and Routines – write out on a notepad ALL your tricks and routines. Then find about 10-15 of your favorite ones and put them in an order for a 45-minute show. Write out the details of each trick (such as props needed, music needed, volunteers needed, patter lines, etc.) and then perform the show with that piece of paper near you on stage for quick reference. I always have a set list on stage with me. I rarely look at it. Sometimes I do the whole show without looking at it at all. But I still go through the process of writing out a set list for every single show I do. That helps me mentally prepare for the order and the special nuances of that particular crowd and venue.
Music – speaking of music, it really helps to have good background music for your routines. Make sure the volume is loud when you want it loud and soft enough when you want to talk over it. I have an iPod with with my song list on stage with me. That way, I can control the volume of the music from the stage. You need a direct box on stage plugged into a sound channel and then a cord to go from the direct box to your iPod or MP3 player (usually 1/4-inch male to 1/8-inch male).
Feedback – your 45-minute show can really improve when you get honest feedback from people who see your show – including yourself. If you get a video of your show, watch it and scrutinize yourself. Have peers watch the show with the intention of getting honest feedback from them (thanks for that tip, David Cain). Get your hosts to fill out an evaluation sheet after your show. That way you can improve on the things they saw as needing improvement and you can use their positive feedback as quotes and references for future gig opportunities. Don’t be afraid of feedback. Most people will love your show. And take the constructive criticism as an opportunity to grow.
Just Do It – just go out and do as many shows as you can. The best way to develop a good 45-minute show is by lots and lots of practice – both by yourself and in front of audiences.

Large Group Game: First Time on the Potty

I have a toddler, so potty time is full of excitement, celebration, and incentive awards. Here is a large group game that is hilarious with any age group (especially elementary-aged kids) that plays on the theme of potty time. I use it at camps and other events. I learned it from my good friend Justin Brooks, who is a super Children’s Pastor/Speaker.

Here’s how it works:

Pick 4 volunteers from the audience. It helps if they are very expressive and dramatic people. If there are adults in the room, it makes it even more funny to make at least 2 of your 4 people adults. These 4 people are the competitors in the game.
Take your 4 competitors out of the room, far enough away so they cannot hear people talking in the main room where the audience remains. Explain to them that they will be competing to act out their first time on a roller coaster. They will sit in a chair and act out going up the hill, down the hills, around the bends, screaming, yelling, calling for mommy, etc. They can make sounds, but they cannot say anything about a roller coaster or what they’re doing. Tell them that it is like charades and the kids will be watching to see what they do.
Meanwhile, have someone else (or yourself if you want to do double-duty) coach the audience in the main room (make sure the competitors are still out of the room and out of ear-shot). Tell the audience that the 4 competitors are coming in one at a time and acting out their first time on “the big potty” when they were potty training. Tell the audience they can laugh and cheer and make noise if something is funny, but they CANNOT say anything about toilets or potty.
Call in the competitors one at a time (keep the others out of the room while each one competes). Give each of them the chair and 30 seconds. Watch and laugh away!
At the end, have the audience vote on their favorite competitor. Then thank the competitors “for showing us your first time on the toilet!”