Aim to learn that God guides us through our conscience to make right choices

Aim
* to learn that God guides us through our conscience to make right choices
* to understand that we must follow our conscience and not give into peer pressure

Materials
* Picture cards of cartoon characters
* Story – “Sandy’s Present”
* worksheets
* Visual aids
* large pictures of the story
* traffic lights with the words, feel, think, do
* key words – conscience, peer pressure

Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Pictures to explain conscience
3. Read “Sandy’s Present”
4. Discussion
5. Activities – worksheet, storyboard, memory
6. Conclusion
7. End with a Prayer

1) Introduction
* Last week we learned that when we get angry, we should think before we do anything, otherwise, we may do something we regret
STOP – FEEL
GET READY –  THINK
GO – DO
* But do we always know the right thing to do, even if we think about it? God gave us something to help us. It is called our conscience. It is like a little voice or feeling in our head that tells us what is right and wrong. We must listen and do what our conscience tells us. When we act upon our conscience we come closer to God and we feel happy inside our heart. When we act against our conscience God is more distant and we feel uneasy in our heart.

2) Pictures to explain conscience
Show pictures to give examples of following and not following our conscience
1. Waiting patiently – interrupting parents
2. Giving up your seat for an old man – not giving up your seat
3. Putting toys away – leaving them on the floor
4. Doing regular exercise – being lazy
5. Being honest on a test – cheating on a test
6. Sharing – being selfish
7. Report a wrongdoing – afraid to report wrongdoing
8. Resisting the temptation to take cookies – taking cookies without asking
9. Buying something with money – stealing from a shop
10. Admitting your mistake – blaming others

3) Read “Sandy’s Present” 
This is a story about our conscience and peer pressure. Peer pressure is the pressure we feel in a group to do what the group does. It is about a girl called Sandy. Her mother buys her a hairbrush of her own. But she tells Sandy to promise not let anyone else use it. When she brings it to school her friends ask if they can use it, but Sandy says no. However, her friends keep asking and asking and eventually she gives into their pressure and lets them. Two weeks later she gets lice in her hair. Her mother asks her if she gave the brush to anyone and Sandy answers honestly. From this experience Sandy learns the importance of doing what is right and not giving into pressure from her friends.

4) Discussion
* Do the children know what peer pressure is? Have they felt pressured to do something by their friends, but their conscience told them not to? What happened? Peer pressure can also be good,
when the group pressures you to do the right thing.
* Discuss the story using the worksheet. Emphasize the importance of following our conscience and not giving into peer pressure.

5) Activities
* worksheet – circle the right answer, fill in the missing words, colour the picture
* storyboard – write a sentence for each picture
* memory game – to reinforce the lesson.
* charades – to reinforce the lesson

6) Conclusion
Ask each child what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
* to learn that God guides us through our conscience to make right choices
* to understand that we must follow our conscience and not give into peer pressure

7) End with a Prayer