Has anyone heard of a story by Dr. Seuss called “The Sneetches”? Can someone summarize it for us?

If not, in the story there are two kinds of people, the Star-Belly people and the Plain-Belly people. The Star-Belly people are snooty and won’t walk with or talk to the Plain-Belly people and their children won’t play ball together.

A man with a special machine comes to town and gives the Plain-Belly people stars on their bellies. That upsets the Star-Belly people so they get their stars removed by the same machine. You can read the book and find out how it ends, but from what you know what are some things causing the people in the story to behave as they do?

Break them up into smaller groups of 3 and have them discuss these questions…

Think about a time in your life when you were very different from everyone else around you. How did it make you feel?

What kept you from moving toward the others?

What prevented the others from moving toward you?

Say: The need to belong is one of the strongest human impulses we have. That shouldn’t surprise us – it’s an echo of our design, we are designed to belong with our Creator. The gospel, the good news we’ve been talking about isn’t just for us, but it’s for all people.

– Christi Marshal and Alan Tung

This game is to highlight how we are different and how that is good! 

Divide your group into 2 even teams. For larger groups, divide into 4 teams and have a play-off with the 2 winning teams and 2 losing teams. 

Give each person a blank 3×5 card (or piece of paper). Have them write 5 little-known facts about themselves, things that they think might be different than the others in the room. Then have them sign their name. 

Examples: I have a pet snake; my middle name is Hortense; I was born in Mexico City; I hate pizza; the carpet in my bedroom is green. Collect all the cards and keep separate stacks for each team. 

The object is for students to name the person on the card that the leader draws (from the other team’s stack of cards) in as few clues as possible. 

Begin by opening up the bidding between the teams, for example: “We can name that person in five clues!” or, “We can name that person in four clues!” etc. 

The team that wins the bidding has five seconds to guess after the reading of the appropriate number of clues.

The lunchroom at school can be a particularly stressful time for some students and a place where students divide up in very specific groups. Try starting the study with this question…

“Think about your lunchroom at school. Which lunch tables would be difficult for you to sit down at?”

We all love to chat and socialize with our friends. But in our world of constant connection, texts, and social media, managing your friendships online can come with benefits, and also some drawbacks — especially when it comes to boundaries. In this video, you can listen to other teens’ thoughts and feelings about having and maintaining friendships in the digital age.

Take a pitcher or cup of water or drink and ask “what is in this?” Make it so the kids can’t see what is in it unless you pour it out. Then pour it out and have them answer that same question. They can then tell you “it’s water,” or “it’s coke.” This is an example of how we can know what is in a person by what comes out of them. We need to guard our hearts because that is who we are. Whatever we are will come out of us in our actions, thoughts, and feelings.

This activity students will use energy, intellect and physical skill for couples to guard their balloon. We should be using such effort to also guard our hearts. After this activity, share the challenges, strategies, victories and defeats that occurred during this challenge. How can this activity relate to guarding our hearts? 

Challenge: Divide your group into teams of 6-8 people. Give each team a balloon. At ‘go’ each team tries to keep their balloon aloft. 4 rules: #1 players cannot use their arms or hands, #2 a player cannot touch the balloon twice in a row, #3 everybody on the team must touch the balloon at least once and #4 no trapping the balloon between two of them to hold it off the ground. If your team’s balloon touches the ground you are out and must sit down on the ground. Last team standing wins.

From the Inside Out movie is a clip of how a daughter gets annoyed and angry with her parents. This clip shows the variety of emotions going on inside that can contribute to why we get annoyed with others, especially parents. Students can relate to Riley and her frustration.

Give groups 5 minutes to write as many words/phrases that begin with a certain letter that relate to the lesson. Have them justify and explain any words that are challenged. The group with the most legitimate words wins. Remind groups to keep their voices low so other groups can’t steal!

Words to use: OBEY, RESPECT, PARENTS