ZIP IT UP!

God wants us to watch what we say.  Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) says: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

An effective way for kids to really incorporate this truth into their lives, is to teach them Zip It Up.  One verse of the song says: 

Little bitty tongue is just one part
But words show more what’s inside the heart
So Zip it up, you gotta zip it up
Well you got two eyes, you got two ears
But only one mouth
So look in the mirror
Ya gotta zip it up, you gotta zip it up.

This song is available on Mary Rice Hopkins & Puppets with a Heart DVD which may be ordered HERE.

Zip It Up and 13 other songs on this album have been aired on the television program on TBN by the same title.  Being able to sing along with the DVD helps reinforce this important concept of watching what we say.

Here is an object lesson which may be used with the song:

Ahead of time, place in a Surprise Bag a can of whipped cream with spray nozzle, a  large plate, and a white plastic spoon for each child.

(Choose two children to come and take the two large items from the box.  Ask the boys and girls to line up and, one at a time, take a spoon from the box.  The children should then stand in a semi-circle around your object lesson table.)  Have you ever said something mean or unkind to someone?  (Start spraying cream on the plate as you talk.)  Let’s pretend these are mean or unkind words which you all have said sometime to others.  Now you regret what you said and you want to take the words back.  I would like you each to fill your spoon with cream and put it back into the can.  We will be pretending to take back our words.  (Give them opportunity to try and put the cream back in the can.)  Just as this cream won’t go back in the can once it’s been sprayed out, we can’t take back words once they are out of our mouths.  We need to be careful what we say because words can really hurt. The Bible says: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  If we want others to speak kind words to us, we need to speak kind words to others.  If we don’t want others to hurt us by what they say, we should not say things which will hurt other people.