Puppets: Learning about Aphids and Gratitude

Learning about Aphids and Gratitude

Mooster:  Hello, kids! I’m Mooster!  Wow…look at all the pretty flowers around here today. I’m so thankful God gives us beautiful things to enjoy!  Are you thankful for what you have? Some of us may have a lot of things while others may not have so many, but we should all be thankful for what we have! Hey Monkey Moe! Are you home today?

Monkey Moe:  (rummaging around in the flowers) yes – I’m down here!

Sheepy: I’m here too!

Mooster:  Hi, Sheepy! Thanks for joining us today! Moe - why are you in the flowers?

Monkey Moe: I’m watching the bugs.

Mooster: What kind of bugs?

Monkey Moe: They’re funny little green bugs. They’re really packed on here, too. Some of them have wings but not all of them. They seem to be attached to the plant stem.  

Mooster: Hmm…..sounds like aphids.

Sheepy: Yuck! I don’t like eating bugs.

Monkey Moe: No, I don’t think they’re all named David.

Mooster. No Moe! Aphids. AAAAA – phids.  That’s the name of that type of bug.

Monkey Moe: Oh. Well aren’t they hurting the plant? Looks like they’re eating it.

Mooster: That’s exactly what they are doing. They’re eating the sap and making a food called honeydew.

Sheepy: What’s sap?

Mooster: That’s what’s inside of a plant to make it grow. Kind of like blood is inside of you, making you live and grow.

Monkey Moe: Ohhh…and that’s where we get honeydews? I thought those green melons grew on a vine…

Mooster:  This is a different kind of honeydew. It’s not a melon.

Monkey Moe: Oh, good. I was trying to figure out how these little green guys could make a huge melon. And how would they carry it? It would be like a bazillion times their size…

Sheepy: I love honeydew melons!

Moe: Me, too! Especially when mom sticks it in the fridge and gets it cold…

Sheepy: My daddy eats it with salt! Ha ha – I think that’s yucky.

Mooster: Guys!! – let’s get back to the aphid’s honeydew.  It’s not a melon – it’s a small drop of liquid sugar that the aphid produces. You know how bees produce honey? Well aphids produce liquid sugar drops.

Moe: That’s cool. I wish I could do that. Well, actually, I’d like to make banana flavored drops. That would be really awesome!

Sheepy: I wish I could produce chocolate drops!

Moe: Okay - enough about aphids and honeydews and drops….I thought today’s Bible story was going to have something to do with being grateful? Isn’t that what you told me yesterday, Mooster?

Mooster: You’re right, Moe, today’s story is about being grateful, but aphids are a part of it!

Moe: No kiddin’. How are they part of being grateful? I wouldn’t think gardeners would want aphids. Looks like they could do a lot of damage to their plants.  

Sheepy: Yeah, gardeners try to get rid of them.

Mooster: Well, that’s true. Aphids do destroy plants. So gardeners probably aren’t happy to have them. But aphids play an important role in the lives of so many other bugs. And, as you know, we have to have bugs in the food chain because bugs feed birds and other animals.

Moe: So who’s thankful for aphids?

Mooster: Well, we should be. You know how the Bible tells us to be thankful for everything?  Well, even with aphids there’s something to be thankful for. And we can learn lessons from them. They are a great helper to the ants.

Sheepy: The aphids helped your Aunt Helen and Aunt Sharon?

Mooster: Not MY aunts!  I’m talking about the little bugs that live in colonies!

Moe: Oh – those ants. Doesn’t the Bible say we are to study the ants to learn about hard work?

Mooster: Yep, that’s right, Moe! Ants are not lazy and they are very hard workers. They can carry a lot of weight for a long distance. But what happens when you work really hard? Do you get hungry?

Moe: Yep. I get hungry enough to eat a … a … a Moose! Ha ha ha ha haha!

Mooster: Very funny. Well the ants get hungry too.

Sheepy: I’m hungry. Can I have a melon?

Moe:  Can’t the ants just go “out to eat” ?  Ha ha ha!

Mooster: No, Sheepy – no melons right now. Moe, the ants need food right where they are so they can keep working. And the aphids produce the food for them. The ants eat the honeydew drops that the aphids make. So while the ants are working and the aphids are eating, when the ants get hungry they can go visit the aphids, get some sugar water, and go right back to work. Neat huh?

Moe: Oh yeah! I guess the ants are thankful for the aphids, huh?

Mooster: I guess so! The ants will fight off other attacking bugs to defend the aphids and they will protect them. Sometimes they’ll even build little ant fences around a plant where the aphids are eating. They want to help their aphid friends. And in return, the aphids are thankful for the ants’ protection, and so they are happy to feed the ants. It’s a great relationship.

Moe: Sounds awesome. Is that how God intends for us to live too?  

Mooster:  That’s exactly right, Moe! God uses the relationship of the ant and the aphid to show us how we are to be thankful for each other and to help each other. Are you thankful for your mom and dad?

Moe: Yes I am.

Mooster: How could you show your gratitude?

Moe: Well, I guess I could obey faster. Maybe take out the trash without being asked. Or feeding the dog first thing in the morning.

Mooster: Those are all great ways to show your folks you are thankful for them.

Moe: Guess I better try a little harder to show my folks I’m grateful for all they do for me.

Mooster: That would be a good idea.

Sheepy: I’m thankful for Farmer Jones, so I share my wool with him! Is that a good example?

Mooster: It sure is, Sheepy!

Moe: And people in church – they should be willing to love each other and help each other to show thankfulness, too, huh?

Mooster: Right again. Do you know the example we are following when we do that?

Moe: Yep. God’s example. God loved us so much that He wanted to help us and save us from Hell. So He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins so that we can go to Heaven. The Bible says that we have to believe that Jesus did that for us, and that we need to pray and ask forgiveness for our sins and ask God to save us. Then we can live forever in Heaven one day!

Mooster: Very good, Moe! You got that exactly right. God has done so much for us  - we should be grateful and be willing to do much for Him. And we should always be thankful for what He gives us.

Sheepy: Mr. Songleader – can you teach us John 3:16?

Songleader: I sure can! Kids, let’s all learn the verse together! John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Mooster: Thanks, Mr. Songleader! Moe, will you work on memorizing that verse this week?

Moe: I sure will! Sheepy, will you help me?

Sheepy: Yep! Hey children – we can all learn this verse, and come back next time and say it all together!

Mooster: Great idea, Sheepy. Bye kids!

Moe and Sheepy: Bye everyone!