Objectives: 1. To help members identify their gifts and talents 2. To help members understand that all people have gifts and talents to share 3. To help members understand the importance of sharing their gifts and talents with home, school, and community Supplies for this Activity  Apples- one apple per person  A box  Knife to cut the apples  Piece of paper per person  Pencil per person  CD Case- one per person  Craft supplies- foam shapes, glue, glitter, stickers, markers, crayons, beads, etc. Time 30 to 40 minutes Program Activity One Apples- Everyone needs an apple. Do not eat it, mark on it, or do anything to it. What are these? (Apples) You might think you have just an ordinary apple. Take a few minutes and get to know your apple. Once again please don’t damage the apples in any way. Collect the apples in a box. Have the group find their apple again. I want everyone to look at the apple in their hand and look at your neighbor’s apple. What do you notice about these apples? How are they the same? How are they different? How did you identify your apple? How is this like the way we deal with others? We often look only at what’s on the outside. Also look for unique characteristics and names. Exploring Your Gifts, Talents and Treasures 2 Apples are like people. We are alike in some ways and we are different in some ways. Give me some examples of how we are the same. How are we different? Each of you has something special that your school, your home, and your community needs. This something special is called your gifts and talents. Everyone has individual characteristics- special gifts and talents that make them unique- that make them valuable. Think about the pennies in the world- nothing special about all those pennies that look alike, but what about “wheat cents” pennies? They are more valuable when there is something unique. Cut your apples in half across the equator. You will see a five point star. We all have a star inside but we wouldn’t have found it without looking at it differently than we always have. All apples have a five point star inside that holds the seeds. No matter what we may look like on the outside, inside every person is like the seeds that are just waiting to grow and develop to make each person a star. Just like the seeds inside the apple grow into an apple tree when planted and taken care of, so will your special gifts and talents grow. Activity Two There is not another person who has the same exact gifts and talents as you do. We are going to pass out a piece of paper to each of you. On this paper, list what you think people in your school or Junior Leader organization would say to describe you and your characteristics. Now list how you perceive yourself. Get into small groups and share this list. Have the group add at least two items to each person’s list. Activity Three Pass out CD covers, provide glue, stickers, markers, crayons, etc. Inside this CD cover you are going to list the gifts and talents you are going to give to the community. Think about what you can bring to the Junior Leader organization. Ex. Organizer, listener, humor, supporter, etc. This CD cover can be made into a picture frame so you can have something to take home to remember this activity that everyone has something to give. We all have special gifts, talents and treasures. Spend some time being creative. Regroup- share how it felt to have people share good things about you. What did you learn from this exercise? How was it helpful? Did you learn anything? We all have unique qualities! And we know how good it feels when people recognize the unique qualities we have. Prepared by: Kathleen J. Koch Extension Educator 4-H Youth Development kkoch5@purdue.edu