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| The familiar Bassetts Jelly Babies box |
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| The different colors and shapes of Jelly Babies |
mary School the other
morning to do a school
assembly for the 100 or
so students.
Planning and putting on
a Christian-themed as-
sembly for primary aged
students is not one of my
strongest suits in my cal-
ling to pastoral ministry,
but it is an important part
of my calling as a pastor.
I do about seven or eight assemblies a year. Preparing for and doing them is a challenge, but I do enjoy the challenge of being asked to do an assembly. All across Scotland, fewer and fewer pri-
mary and secondary schools are allowing ministers and youth workers to come into the school to
do an assembly. But the Peterhead area, where I am, is an exception, although some schools are
putting up restrictions. It is up to the head teacher. The two head teachers I have known at St Fer-
gus Primary School are themselves active members in congregations. Two years ago I was given
15-18 minutes, but now I am given five to ten minutes. In a lot of schools, it is even less.
The week before Easter I was part of a chaplain team that put on Easter-themed assembly in the
Peterhead Academy, a big secondary school in the area. We were given 15 or so minutes for five
morning assemblies. The team chose to show a powerful and short video about Jesus on the
Cross as the Suffering Servant. We opened each assemblies with a crowd-breaker using Jelly
Babies in small packets that we threw into the assembled students. One of us then addressed
the students about the history and meaning of the Jelly Babies. The video about Jesus on the
Cross as the Suffering Servant than followed. The assembly ended with a short message on in-
viting Jesus into one's heart.
I liked the idea of using Jelly Babies with the secondary students, but expected I would have
to use them in a different way for the primary students at St Fergus Primary School. I found
out how many classes there were (five) and how many students there were in each class (be-
tween 20 and 25). I had found a store where I could purchase Jelly Babies. They come in
boxes of 50. I knew I had to have about 120 Jelly Babies to cover the students, teachers, and
staff. So I bought three boxes.
I had no experience with Jelly Babies until just a few months ago. I have had a sweet tooth
ever since I was a young tyke. I have enjoyed Gummi Bears and jelly beans, but nothing in
my life prepared me for Jelly Babies. They are a soft sugared candy that are shaped as ba-
bies in a variety of forms, flavors, and colors. Each of them is coated with confectionary
sugar that can be licked off, revealing the specifics of the different colored baby shapes.
Since their first appearance in 1864, Jelly Babies have been produced by different manufac-
turers. It is said that they took on Christian significance when Bassett's took over produc-
tion of Jelly Babies in 1953.
There are six different colors, each having their own shape and personality, if sweets can
have personality. The strawberry-flavored red baby is called Brilliant. It has a 'B' on its
chest that stands for the blood of Jesus. Then there is Bubbles, the yellow lemon-flavored
baby. It has a necklace that represents the treasures and riches that Jesus bestows upon us.
It is hard for me to distinguish between the red Jelly Baby and the pink one. The latter one
is called Bonny. The raspberry-flavored Bonnie is suppose to be a baby, representing our
need to be born again. There's the lime-flavored green Jelly Baby named Boofuls. It is cry-
ing because of worsening conditions in the world. The black Bigheart, the blackcurrant one, represents the darkness that is in the world. My favorite one is the orange Bumper. It is car-
rying a bag, encouraging us to be prepared to walk with Jesus.
is called Bonny. The raspberry-flavored Bonnie is suppose to be a baby, representing our
need to be born again. There's the lime-flavored green Jelly Baby named Boofuls. It is cry-
ing because of worsening conditions in the world. The black Bigheart, the blackcurrant one, represents the darkness that is in the world. My favorite one is the orange Bumper. It is car-
rying a bag, encouraging us to be prepared to walk with Jesus.
The assembly seemed to go very well. I had a lot of frenzied interaction with the kids as I
asked them all types of questions about their favorite colors of Jelly Babies. One teacher
told me her favorite sweet is Jelly Babies. She appreciated learning about the meaning be-
hind the different shapes and colors. I had fun, too, and felt relieved it had gone so well.
We had fun, and I was able to share a little more about Jesus. I handed out Jelly Babies
to each class, asking each teacher to come up to take a bag of the sweets for her class. I
went home to finish off the half of a box of Jelly Babies that was left over. Since I never
knew about Jelly Babies until a few months ago, I am now making up for lost time. You
know, they are rather good.
Blessings to you and yours,
asked them all types of questions about their favorite colors of Jelly Babies. One teacher
told me her favorite sweet is Jelly Babies. She appreciated learning about the meaning be-
hind the different shapes and colors. I had fun, too, and felt relieved it had gone so well.
We had fun, and I was able to share a little more about Jesus. I handed out Jelly Babies
to each class, asking each teacher to come up to take a bag of the sweets for her class. I
went home to finish off the half of a box of Jelly Babies that was left over. Since I never
knew about Jelly Babies until a few months ago, I am now making up for lost time. You
know, they are rather good.
Blessings to you and yours,
1 comment:
This is wonderful, just what I was looking for to put into a Church service. Something visual and something as simple as Jelly Babies to grasp the congregation's attention - to make them think on the teachings of Jesus. What a lovely idea from Bassetts, which originally named them Peace Babies. Thank you so much.
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