Too Many! | Diligence Character Time Activity

Diligence is: “Investing all my energy to complete the tasks assigned to me.” This means focusing your attention and effort on the task you are doing and finishing it on time.

Supplies needed:
Marbles (too many for your child to hold in both hands)
A jar or bottle with a small opening big enough for one marble to fit through at a time
A slip of paper with “Completed Tasks” written on it
Tape

Before you begin, tape the slip of paper to the jar and put it within reach of your child. Then have your child cup their hands. Start placing the marbles in their hands, one at a time. Explain that the marbles represent all the jobs and tasks your child has to get done and the jar represents completed tasks. As you put each marble in your child’s hands, have them help you list the different tasks or responsibilities that they have. Once your child’s hands are so full that they are having trouble holding all the marbles and have started dropping some of them, have your child try to dump them into the jar.

Take all the marbles back and begin handing them to your child again, one at a time. This time, instead of trying to hold on to all of them, when your child receives a marble they can put it in the jar right away. Unlike the previous situation, your child will be able to get all the marbles into the jar without dropping or spilling them.

Talk About It: The first time, when you tried to hold on to all the marbles, you ended up dropping some of them and couldn’t get them all in the jar. This is like when we procrastinate, which means to put off or avoid doing something. When we leave things for later instead of doing them right away, we will end up with more and more things we need to do and could run out of time to do some of them. On the other hand, if we do each task right away and don’t leave it for later, this will help us to do it well. We are also less likely to run out of time to finish it. A way you can practice doing this in life is to do the tasks your parents give you as soon as possible.