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10 Coughing Children: A Story of HealingIntroduction: Use puppets to tell the Bible story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed. Based on Luke 17:11-19 RSV, this child adaptation of the story takes place at a daycare in the home of Mrs. Tower. The ten children she cares for are mostly 5- and 6-year-olds, but there is one 4-year-old named Sam (to take the place of the Samaritan in the story). Sam can be a boy or a girl puppet. You can use less than 10 children puppets, but make sure to have a few so they can take turns speaking. Make sure that Sam looks different from the other puppets. Characters: Mrs. Tower, Child 1 through 9, Sam, Narrator Props: Narrator: Hi, boys and girls! Welcome to our puppet show. This story takes place at Mrs. Tower's daycare where ten children are playing together happily. All Children and Sam enter. Narrator: The children play cars. (Children and Sam zoom around and make car noises.) They pretend to be animals. (Neighing, mooing, growling, roaring.) They dance and sing songs. (Singing random melodies while dancing around stage.) Narrator: But then something terrible happened. (Children and Sam cough loudly, and continue to cough.) Everyone started coughing and couldn't stop. Child 1: Ow, my throat hurts. (Cough.) Child 2: Yeah, mine, too. (Cough, cough.) Sam: I'm not feeling well either. Maybe we should ask Mrs. Tower for help. Child 3: Yeah, that's a good idea, little Sam. (Cough, cough.) Maybe Mrs. Tower can help us feel better. Sam and Children exit. Narrator: Sam and the other Children left the playroom and went to find Mrs. Tower. (Mrs. Tower enters stage and pretends to dust with a cloth.) They found her in the living room, dusting. (Sam and Children enter stage.) Mrs. Tower: Well, children, are you having fun playing today? Child 4: No, Mrs. Tower. (Cough, cough.) We don't feel good. Child 5: Yeah, my throat hurts. Mrs. Tower: Oh my, that's not good. Child 6: (Coughs) Mrs. Tower, I keep coughing. Child 7: Me, too. (Cough, cough.) Can you make it stop? Child 8: Mrs. Tower, can you help us stop coughing and feel better? Mrs. Tower: Yes, I can. I have just the thing to help you feel better. Follow me into the kitchen. All Children follow Mrs. Tower off stage. Children cough as they follow. Narrator moves to center stage as they exit. Narrator: (Speaks directly to audience.) Mrs. Tower says she has something that can help the children feel better. What do you think it is? (Allows audience to provide several answers.) Those are great ideas, boys and girls. Let's find out what happens next. Narrator exits or moves to the side as Mrs. Tower and all Children enter. Mrs. Tower carries a pretend, labeled bottle of cough medicine and a spoon. Mrs. Tower: OK, children. Line up. One at a time, now. All Children make a line behind Mrs. Tower. Sam is at the end of the line. Mrs. Tower lifts spoon to each of the Children's mouths. Mrs. Tower: (As she gives the medicine.) Hold still . . . swallow carefully . . . here you go . . . your turn. All Children have exited the stage except for Sam. Mrs. Tower: And last in line, little Sam. Even YOU need some medicine like the older kids. (Lifts spoon to Sam's mouth.) There you go, Sam. Now run along and go play with the other kids. Sam exits. Then Mrs. Tower exits. Narrator: Sam went back to the playroom and starting playing with the other children. Sam and Children enter. Narrator: They play cars. (Children and Sam zoom around and make car noises.) They pretend to be animals. (Neighing, mooing, growling, roaring.) They dance and sing songs. (Singing random melodies while dancing around stage.) And then something happens. (Everyone holds still.) Child 9: Hey, I'm not coughing anymore! Child 1: Me, too! And my throat doesn't hurt anymore. Sam: Wow, I feel better, too. No more coughing. All other Children: (In unison.) We feel better, too. Child 2: The cough medicine really helped. That was really nice of Mrs. Tower to give us some. She knew it would work, and it did. Sam: Maybe we should go say thank you. Child 3: Yeah, maybe we should. Children start dancing around and playing again. Sam holds still. Narrator: All the children started to play again. They were so busy playing that they forgot to go tell Mrs. Tower thank you. Sam, on the other hand, did not play. He/She knew it was important to say thank you when someone does something nice for him/her. Sam decided to go find Mrs. Tower. Children exit. Sam stays. Mrs. Tower joins Sam on stage. Sam: Mrs. Tower! Mrs. Tower! Mrs. Tower: What is it, little Sam? Sam: Listen! I'm not coughing anymore. See? (Spreads arms wide and opens mouth. Nothing comes out. Remains motionless briefly. Turns to Mrs. Tower.) The cough medicine worked! Mrs. Tower: That's great, Sam! I knew it would work. Sam: Thank you for helping me feel better, Mrs. Tower. Mrs. Tower: You're welcome, Sam. Where are the other children? Where are the 5- and 6-year olds? Are they feeling better, too? Sam: Yes, they're better, too. Mrs. Tower: Why didn't they come to say thank you? They're old enough to know it's polite to say thank you. Narrator: (To audience.) You know what, boys and girls? This story sounds just like the story of the healing of ten lepers in the Bible. When Jesus was on a trip, he came upon ten people who had the skin disease of leprosy. He sent them to the priests, and while they were on their way, they were completely healed! Only one of them, an unlikely Samaritan man (someone who most people thought wouldn't know how to do the right thing), came back to Jesus and said thank you. Jesus told him that his faith had healed him in a very special way and that he would now be well, just like Sam. Mrs. Tower: Sam, since you remembered to be thankful when someone helped you, how would you like to have some hot cocoa? (Can say Kool Aid, pop, cookie, or a treat of any kind, depending on the season of the year.) Sam: You bet! Thanks, Mrs. Tower! (Whistle sounds behind stage.) Mrs. Tower: I think I hear the tea pot whistling in the kitchen. Let's go! Mrs. Tower and Sam exit stage. Narrator: The End. All puppets return to the stage and bow to the audience. |
