A lesson · The Sunflower Who Worried
K-2The Sunflower Who Worried
A small, crooked sunflower is sure she’s growing all wrong — until she notices the sun comes up for every flower in the field.
Assumptions & Caveats
Before you begin
What you should know
Young children hear “that’s wrong” a lot — from grown-ups, from worksheets, from each other — and some of them quietly decide they are the kind of kid who always gets it wrong. This lesson never tells them that isn’t true. It lets them be a sunflower that turns toward a sun that keeps coming back, and lets their bodies feel the relief of that. The whole lesson is the story, the turning game, and the craft.
A real fact you can share if a child asks: young sunflowers turn to follow the sun across the sky during the day, and grown-up sunflowers settle facing east, toward where the sun comes up. You don’t need to explain more than that.
Please don’t add a spoken wrap-up at the end (“so, friends, God loves us even when...”) — if the turning game landed, they already have it, and saying it out loud flattens what they just felt. Nothing you don’t already have for prep: a paper plate or a circle of yellow paper for the sun, and paper and crayons.
What we're assuming
- Children come from many faith backgrounds and many kinds of homes. This lesson never asks a child what they get wrong, or what they get in trouble for — keep every example inside the story. - Some children may be corrected often at home or school, and some may be very hard on themselves already. The story is built so no one has to say that out loud. - Not every child can turn or stand easily. Turning just a head, or pointing a hand, is a full way to play. For a child who is blind or has low vision, ring a small bell or hum where the “sun” is so they can turn toward the sound.
Learning goals
What they walk away with
1. A felt sense — not a spoken lesson — that the sun comes up for every flower, the tall, the small, and the crooked. 2. A felt sense that when you get turned around, you can just turn back. 3. One phrase to say together: “The sun comes up for everyone. I turn and face it.” 4. A sunflower they made with their own hands to take home.
How to hold the room
Before you start talking
- Tell the story slowly, with a real worried voice for the sunflower and a warm, unhurried voice for the old oak tree. - Keep the game playful and quick. If the room gets wiggly, move to the next beat. - Anyone can sit out the turning game and just watch. You can make them the “weather helper” who says when it’s morning.
The lesson flow
Step by step
Each beat alternates a little input, a little doing, and a little reflecting. Skip, slow down, or stretch any of these to fit your group.
Gathering
Sit in a circle. A simple welcome: “I’m so glad you’re here today.” Hold the yellow paper sun behind your back. “I have a story about a sunflower. Have you ever seen a sunflower? They’re tall and yellow and they have a big round face.”
The story: Pip the Sunflower
Tell it in your own words. The shape of it:
Pip was a sunflower in a big field of sunflowers. But Pip worried. Her stem was a little crooked. She was shorter than the others. One of her leaves pointed the wrong way. “I think I’m growing wrong,” she whispered. “Everybody else knows how to be a sunflower. I’m doing it all wrong.”
An old oak tree at the edge of the field heard her. “Little one,” said the oak, “do you know what sunflowers do?” Pip didn’t. “Sunflowers don’t grow perfectly,” said the oak. “They turn and face the sun. That’s all.”
So Pip tried. She turned her face toward the sun, and it felt warm.
But the next day was cloudy and gray. Pip couldn’t see the sun anywhere. “Oh no,” she said. “I did it wrong. The sun left because of me.” The oak just said, “Wait for morning.”
And the next morning, the sun came up — over the tall sunflowers and the short ones, the straight ones and the crooked ones, and over Pip. It didn’t skip anybody. Pip turned her face east, toward the sunrise, and she smiled.
Stop the story there. Don’t explain it.
The turning game
Everyone stands (or sits) and becomes a sunflower — arms up like petals, face ready. Bring out the paper sun and walk slowly around the circle. The sunflowers turn to follow it. Then:
- Cloudy day: hide the sun behind your back. “Is the sun gone?” Let them answer. “Let’s wait for morning.” Count softly to three. - Morning: bring the sun up on the other side of the room. The sunflowers find it and turn. - Turned around: “Oh no, the wind spun you around!” Everyone turns the wrong way, giggles — then turns back to face the sun.
Play two or three rounds. The turning back is the heart of it; let it be fun.
The phrase
Teach it with a motion — hands over your eyes like a cloud, then open them wide as you turn toward the sun: “The sun comes up for everyone. I turn and face it.” Say it together two or three times. If you’d like, read one line from the Bible, just once, simply: “They are new every morning” — Lamentations 3:23. No explanation needed.
Make a sunflower
Each child draws or cuts out a sunflower with a face. They can make it any shape, any color, crooked or straight. Nothing needs to be labeled or explained. Let them take it home.
What you'll need
The materials
- A yellow paper plate or a circle of yellow paper for the sun - Paper, crayons or markers (scissors optional) - A small bell, if anyone in your group would turn toward sound more easily than sight - This lesson’s printable handout, “A Road or a Sunrise?” — not for the children to read in the room, but to send home with a grown-up at pickup so the idea can keep going at home
If it's not going well
When this one gets heavy
Silence or shyness is normal — let a quiet child just watch the sun move. Pushback (“the sun doesn’t really move, the Earth does!”) is wonderful — agree cheerfully, and keep playing. A strong emotional reaction (a child who gets upset about “doing it wrong” in the game, or a child who says “I’m always bad”) calls for a pause and a warm, private word: “You didn’t do anything wrong. The sun came up for you too.” If a child says something that sounds like real harm — being hurt, being very scared at home, being told they are bad all the time — don’t ask more questions in the moment. Stay calm and warm (“Thank you for telling me. I care about you.”), and afterward follow the site’s mentor safety guidelines and your own church’s child-safety and mandatory-reporting obligations. Children this age often share big things inside a gentle, playful moment; take it seriously even though it arrived softly.
For the fuller tiered guidance — including what to do if someone discloses something serious — see For Mentors.
Help this get better
Teaching this to a group we haven't planned for?
Tell us — this only gets better with your eyes on it. We read every one of these.