Characters: Billy: a five-year-old in the middle of Kindergarten--hyperactive and accident prone. Mr. Barnabas (Mr. B): Billy’s leader at church—can be Sunday school teacher, AWANA leader, Children’s church leader or whatever fits the situation where the skit is being performed.
The skit can be performed by just 2 puppeteers, or a larger team can help with Billy’s props and act out Billy’s imagination. NOTE: Use of props is more effort but will turn this presentation into a very memorable lesson.
Billy enters wearing a bike helmet and perhaps elbow pads, BandAids™, etc. He wobbles and wobbles across the stage and falls out of sight with a loud “crash” (hit a pile of cans with mic?). He reappears and wobbles back across the stage and falls out of sight with a loud “thud” (hit some boxes with a mic?). Billy again appears, wobbles across the stage and lands with a “crash” as cans fly into the air. One last time, Billy appears, wobbles across the stage, lands with a thud and papers or confetti fly up.
Mr. B. (entering with a shocked expression): Billy, what are you doing?
Billy pops up: Oh, hi Mr. Barnabas. I’m learning to ride my un-i-kyu-kl-e.
Mr. B.: But what happened to the new red bike you got?
Billy: Well…….you know the BIG hill on Maple Street….(up pops picture of mountains)
Mr. B.: Yes…..
Billy: Well…….you know how there’s a BIG curve in the road at the bottom of the hill….(curved road placed in front of mountains)
Mr. B.: Yes…...
Billy: Well…….you know the BIG tree on the BIG curve on the BIG hill on Maple street? (large scary tree with branches like arms and a mouth appears)
Mr. B.: Yes………
Billy: (quickly) It ate my bike. (bike appears at top of street and rushes down into the tree’s mouth, all signs exit)
Mr. B.: Oh, my, are you all right?
Billy: Yes, but mom says no more bikes—she says my un-i-kyu-kl-e can’t get going fast enough down that hill to hit the tree. I may never go fast enough to hit that tree, but I’ve hit most everything else in the neighborhood. (Billy hops on his unseen unicycle again, wobbles across that stage and falls with a loud crash as paper and cans fly)
Mr. B.: Are you okay?
Billy: Sure, I’m getting really good at the falling down and getting up part of this.
Mr. B.: But Billy, just what is a un-i-kyu-kl-e?
Billy: Its this. (puppet-sized unicycle placed on front curtain or picture of unicycle comes up next to Billy)
Mr. B.: That’s a unicycle!
Billy: No, Mr. B., it’s a un-i-kyu-kl-e. I read it on the box. Here, let me get it. (goes down and comes up with a box with a picture of a unicycle and the word “unicycle” on it) See! (points to box) I know all about reading now that I’m in kindergarten. I know what all the letters say. There are rules for letters, you know.
Mr. B.: Yes, I know there are rules for reading but that box says unicycle.
Billy: No, look. I’ll show you (alphabet card comes up with each letter and stay up) U says u (say short sound for all vowels) N says n, so that’s un. I says i, so that’s un-i. C says ck. Y say yu, so that’s un-i-kyu. C says ck again (c card raised a little). L says l and E says e, so that’s (slowly) un-i-kyu-kl-e. (more quickly) Un-i-kyu-kl-e! (all signs down)
Mr. B.: Yes, Billy, that’s what those letters can say, but there is more than one rule for each letter. You just don’t know all the rules, yet.
Billy: No way, Mr. Barnabas. I’ve been going to school 5 days a week for 6 months. I know how to count (numbers pop up) and add (addition problems pop up) and tie my shoes (shoes pop up) so I figure I’m just about done with school and then I can go back to just being a kid. I know it takes most kids longer, but I like to get things done quickly. I don’t sweat the details. (signs down)
Mr. B.: Well, Billy, I think there is a little more to learn in school than letters, counting, adding and shoe tying. And besides, when you’re done with school, you don’t go back to being a kid, you go to work.
Billy: (Blank, open-mouthed stare as several signs with the word “work” pop up)…… (stuttering)…….. you,…. you,…. you mean WORK like what my Dad goes to?
Mr. B.: Yes, Billy.
Billy: You mean like getting up early and rushing around to get out the door and into “TRAFFIC”? (scary illustration of traffic appears)
Mr. B.: Well, that can be part of it.
Billy: Oh, no! I’ve heard about traffic. (scary traffic sign wiggles) I’m not sure what it is, but it must be awful. (Dad in car joins other signs) Dad says it raises his blood pressure, especially since he got saved and can’t say those words anymore. I asked what the magic traffic words were (all signs but dad lower slowly) and he said he can’t say them at home because there is a small boy (enter sign of small boy) with big ears around (big ears pop out on sides of boys head)…………..I’ve looked all over the place but I can’t find him. (all signs lower quickly)
Mr. B.: Well, Billy, traffic can be a problem, but you can sometimes work where you don’t have to go through traffic and you won’t be driving for several years, anyway.
Billy: I don’t know. I don’t think I’m really ready for work. Maybe I will keep going to school for a couple of years …….(scratches his chin and thinks)…….. Mr. B. how long can you go to school before you have to go to work?
Mr. B.: Well, let’s see, if you’re in kindergarten, you can go 12 more years through high school, 4 years of college, then you can go to graduate school or law or med. school or something. You could probably go to school for 20 more years if you really studied hard.
Billy: Gulp! Are there really that many rules to learn?
Mr. B.: Yes, Billy, and those are just the school-type rules. There are lots of other rules in life that we have to learn, too.
Billy: But, Mr. B., why do there have to be so many rules—why do there have to be rules at all?
Mr. B.: Well, Billy. Think of it this way. Have you ever played checkers?
Billy: Yes. (Checker board and checkers pop up. Some checkers on sticks so they can move around)
Mr. B.: If you could put your checkers anywhere on the board and move them any way you wanted, whenever you wanted (checkers move about randomly)—how would you play a game or know if you won or lost?
Billy: (shakes head yes)
Mr. B.: What if you were playing football (up pop 2 goal posts and a football) and you didn’t know the rules. You could run the wrong way and score a goal for the other team. (Football starts one direction, then goes the other way and through the other goal)
Billy: (moving to beside Mr. B. in an embarrassed manner) (quietly)…….I did that once. (signs down)
Mr. B.: But, there are rules that are even more important than which way to run with a football or that u, n, i, c, y, c, l, e says unicycle.
Billy: Really?!
Mr. B.: Yes, Billy. These are God’s rules. Just like you Mom and Dad have rules for you because they love you. (picture of Mom and Dad)
Billy: (interrupting) …like I have to wear my helmet when I ride my un-i-kyu-kl-e? (Mom and Dad down)
Mr. B. That’s right. Its like our memory verse in Sunday school (or AWANA or children’s church, etc.) for this week. Do you remember it?
Billy: Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Mr. B.: Great Job! That’s one of God’s rules. It means that everyone has sinned. Sin is when people do something God doesn’t want them to do and everyone had done it. Because of that sin, boys and girls and mothers and fathers can’t be with God because God is perfect. Sin can’t be where God is, so no one who is a sinner can be with God. But everybody is a sinner.
Billy: Oh, no. So that means NOBODY can be with God.
Mr. B.: That would be true, Billy, except that God has made a way to take care of people’s sin. God knew that boys and girls couldn’t do anything to get rid of their own sin, so he sent His own perfect Son, Jesus, to earth. Jesus was born without sin, lived without sinning and was killed on the cross even though He had never sinned. Because He had never sinned, He was able to die to take the punishment for everyone’s sin. Three days after Jesus died, He rose again. That means he came back to life. Because of what Jesus did, boys and girls can be forgiven for their sin and never have to be separated from God.
Billy: Wow! But can it really be that easy. If it takes 20 years just to learn the school rules, doesn’t it take even longer to learn all the God rules?
Mr. B.: (CHUCKLES) No, Billy. You know everything a person needs to know to accept God’s gift of salvation—that means saving boys and girls and mothers and fathers from their sins.
Billy: Is it really that simple?
Mr. B.: Yes it is. It’s certainly much simpler than learning to ride a un-i-kyu-kl-e.
Billy: You mean unicycle, don’t you Mr. Barnabas?
Mr. B.: Ha, ha! You’re right, Billy. See? You’re learning the rules already.
Billy: (LAUGHING) Yeah. Hey, do you think there might be some kids out there that might want to know more about how God can save them?
Mr. B.: There sure might be. Let’s let (leader’s name) talk to these kids more about what you learned today. (Exit, all props down)
