Free Sunday School Lessons for Children's Ministry

Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 1 - Love

 

 

Member's

Instant Download NIV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Instant Download KJV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Printable Bible Verse Cards:

Print out the cards onto card stock, write the Bible verse on the cards and make copies.

Teaching Concept:

Children learn what the fruit of the Spirit is and how we can grow to be more like Jesus.

 

1. Color a Bible Verse Picture for Love

Each week your children memorize a verse they get to add a fruit to their bowl. You can write the verse on the back of each fruit and display the bowls on the bulletin board. Let your children color the bowls and write their names on the front. Cut a slit on the white line around the top of the bowl so that you can slip the fruit into the bowl.

You can also be used as attendance charts. Have your children place one fruit in the bowl or on the tree each time they come to class.

Member's

Instant Download NIV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Instant Download KJV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

 

 

Fruit of the Spirit Posters and Coloring Sheets

 

These printable coloring sheets and posters are available in both KJV and NIV. Each fruit represents a different fruit of the spirit and makes it easier for children to remember them. For example, the apple is heart-shaped so it reminds them of love. Cheery cherries remind them of joy, and kiwi and kindness start with the same letter. These posters and coloring sheets go with the Fruit of the Spirit Bible lesson on The Resource Room. One poster and coloring sheet is including in each lesson.

Member's

KJV Posters and Coloring Sheets - - Color and Black and White - Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance

NIV Posters and Coloring Sheets - - Color and Black and White - love, joy, peace, patience (forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

 

Early Arrivals Activity

 

Children paint the fruit with paint made with Kool-Aid.

What to do:

1. Print out the pattern and make copies.

Member's

Instant Download NIV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Instant Download KJV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

2. Add one or two tablespoons of water to each package of powdered Kool-Aid. Have your children paint with the appropriate Kool-aid mixture to make fruit that actually smells like the picture they are painting. When the pictures are dry, show them how to scratch them with their fingernails to smell the fruit.

 

 

At the end of your lesson, you can have your children plant a tomato seed in a cup or pot to review the lesson. They can place this plant stake in the pot to remind them that love is one of the Fruits of the Spirit.

How to Make the Plant Stakes:

1. Before class print out the pattern onto card stock and cut them out.

Member's

Instant Download NIV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Instant Download KJV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

2. In class have your children color the patterns and glue them onto the plant stakes. Tape some pipe cleaners onto the caterpillar's head.

3. Work on a Boarder for your Bulletin Board - You can make this an early arriver activity or prepare the boarder ahead of time. Print out and cut out the boarder before class and make sure you have enough copies to go all the way around your bulletin board. When your children arrive ask them if they would like to help you with a new bulletin board display. Give each child a section of the boarder and let him or her color it any way he or she would like.

 

Preparation

 

Start preparing for this lesson at least four weeks before you teach it. You will need tomato plants at different stages of development. It is best to teach this lesson in the spring or summer when tomato plants can grow.

This lesson can be presented with a puppet or the teacher can demonstrate how to plant a tomato plant. You will need a puppet (Tomato Worm Puppet - optional), a pot, some dirt, a packet of tomato seeds (or a variety of different types of tomato seeds, and a watering can.

Print out the apple shapes onto red paper, cut them out, and write one word of the Bible verse on each apple, leaving one word out.

If you have older children, you can skip the puppet skit and just plant the tomato seeds yourself as you give the lesson.

 

The Lesson

Teacher: Good morning class. I’ve brought a special guest with me today. You’ll never guess who he is. When I was out in my garden this morning I looked down at my rose bushes, and what do you know, there, lying on a branch was my friend Squirmy Worm. I asked Squirmy if he would come to church with me today. He said he was really busy, but he would come.

Squirmy: Squirmy pops up with a packet of tomato seeds in his mouth.

Teacher: Hi Squirmy. I would like you to meet my class. (Squirmy bobs his head up and down with the tomato seed packet in his mouth.) Class, I would like you to meet my good friend Squirmy.

Teacher: Squirmy, what do you have in your mouth? (Take the seed packet out of Squirmy's mouth and read it.) Oh, tomato seeds! (Squirmy shakes his head yes.) What beautiful tomatoes. Did you pick out these seeds out yourself? (Squirmy shakes his head yes.) (Reading the packet, ". . . fine flavor, gorgeous color, solid flesh, bears fruits early, bumper crops all summer . . ." These sound wonderful. Would you like us to help you plant these seeds Squirmy? (Squirmy shakes his head yes.)

Squirmy: (Pulls out a pot, a bag of dirt, and the watering can, with his mouth one at a time.)

Teacher: Well, I think we have everything we need. You know, Squirmy, it takes a lot of work to grow tomatoes. You must really love tomatoes.

Squirmy: I do love tomatoes! They're my favorite food. (Shaking his head yes.)

Teacher: Squirmy, I can see that you took the time to pick out just the right seeds and you planned out exactly how you were going to plant the seeds. You have great plans for these seeds, don't you?

Did you know that God has great plans for you? Did you know that God is compared to a gardener in the Bible? God planned to make you before you were even born. He knew exactly what he wanted you to look like. He loves you and wants you to be happy, healthy, and grow up to be a wonderful person just like Jesus. He has great plans for you because he loves you.

Squirmy: (Squirmy shakes his head yes.)

Teacher: Now let's see, first we have to place the soil in the pot and poke a little hole in the middle. Now we place the seed in the hole. We will give it some water and fertilizer so that it will grow strong and healthy and produce fruit, tomatoes. (Squirmy helps and gets dirt all over himself.)

Did you know that God wants us to produce fruit? He wants us to grow spiritual fruit.

Squirmy: Yuck, that doesn't sound very good.

Teacher: You don't eat spiritual fruit Squirmy. Spiritual fruit is how we act.

God wants us to become more and more like Jesus, to be happy, kind, gentle, faithful, and loving. The Bible tells us what the spiritual fruits are in Gal. 5:22-23. (Open your Bible to the verses and read them.)

What do plants need in order to produce fruit?

Squirmy: Love and care. (Squirmy places his head on top of the pot of dirt.

Teacher: They need soil, fertilizer, water, and sunlight to produce fruit.

We also need things to help us produce spiritual fruit. What do you think we need to produce spiritual fruit?

God gave us his words, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God's words are like water and fertilizer. The more we read his word and hide it in our hearts the more we will grow to become like him. He also gave us Jesus. Jesus is like sunshine. All plants must have light to grow and we must have Jesus in our hearts. He takes the sin and darkness away. God also sent someone else to help us, his Holy Spirit. We can't see the Holy Spirit, but he guides us and helps us to grow to be more like Jesus everyday. As we grow and learn more about Jesus, we will produce more fruit of the Spirit.

Squirmy, there is some apple shapes back there that I wrote the Bible verse on. Do you see the apples?

Squirmy: What apples?

Teacher: The apple pictures right over there.

Squirmy: Oh, those apples. I'm afraid I ate one of them.

Teacher: Oh, well, we can still use them. Let's see if we can figure out what today's Bible verse is.

(Spread out the apples and have the children help you place them in order, and figure out what the missing word is. Then have Squirmy eat one of the apple shapes and see if the children can still say the verse. Make the apple shapes disappear one at a time until all the apples are gone and the children can say the verse without looking at the words. You can have Squirmy eat some of them, drop them on the floor, throw them somewhere, etc.)

Today we learned about the first fruit of the spirit which is love. To represent love we used the apple shape. (Hold up an apple shape.) The apple is shaped a lot like a heart. Hearts are often used to represent love so we can remember that the heart-shaped apple represents love.

Teacher: Squirmy, we would love to see how your tomato plants grows. Do you think you can bring it back next week?

Squirmy: I would love that. I will take really good care of this plant and bring it back next week so you can see how fast it grows. Bye, bye.

Teacher: Bye, Squirmy. See you next week. Next week we will learn more from Squirmy. He will show us how we can grow fruit, not just tomatoes, but also spiritual fruit.

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Prayer

 

Father, We thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit that leads us and helps us to become more and more like your son Jesus. Teach us how to be to be happy, and kind, and gentle and faithful, and loving. Amen.

 

Bible Games and Activities

 

How to Make the Worm Paper Bag Puppet:

1. Before class print out the puppet pace and leg pattern and the apple verse patterns. Cut out the patterns and use the leg pattern as a template to cut more legs from construction paper or colored paper.

Member's

Instant Download NIV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

Instant Download KJV Bible Lesson - - Includes everything on this page, except all the Fruit of the Spirit Posters.

3. In class have your children color the face pattern and glue or tape it onto the bottom of the bag. Have them glue the legs to the back of the bag.

4. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and wind the ends around a pencil to make the antenna. Tape the antenna to the back of the bag. Glue the apple with the verse to the puppet's mouth.

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2. Plant a Tomato Plant

Bring in pots or cups, potting soil, tomato seeds, and water and help your children plant tomatoes. Use the caterpillar plant stake from the Early Arrivals Activity to place in the pot when they are finished.

 

3. Feed Squirmy Bible Verse Review Game

Use the apple shapes from the Bible verse activity above. Write the verse on the board and repeat it several times. Spread the apple shapes out in front of the children. Have your children take turns picking an apple and feeding it to Squirmy by placing it in its mouth. If a child picks a fruit out of order, Squirmy spits it out and the child must try again. Keep playing until all the children have had a chance to feed Squirmy. If you have very young children shorten the verse to less than five words if possible.

 

2. In class explain to your children that Jesus is our example to follow. He showed us how to love other. Ask them to think of Bible stories that they remember in which Jesus showed love.

Some examples might be: He healed the ten lepers, raised Lazarus from the dead, turned water into wine, talked to the woman at the well, fed the 5,000 people, died on the cross, etc.

As your children come up with examples write them on the tomatoes and tape them in the basket, or near the basket when it gets too full.

3. When you are finished tell your children that Jesus wants us to love; when we love others we are displaying a fruit of the Spirit.

4. Print out the basket pattern and the apple patterns and cut them out. Cut a slit around the top of your basket so you can place the fruit inside the basket. Staple the basket to your bulletin board.

 

5. Snack Time

Serve cut up apples for snack time. Let your children sprinkle on a little cinnamon and sugar. Cut the apple in half lengthwise and show your children how it is like the shape of a heart. Tell them that the apple can remind us of love.

 

6. Play "Worm Through the Apple" Game

Have your children make a straight line one behind the other and spread their legs apart. The child at the end of the line is the worm and starts crawling through the other children's legs towards the front of the line. When he gets to the front, he stands up and the last child in line becomes the worm. Keep playing until all the children have had a turn to be the worm.

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Songs

 

Love One Another, John 5:12
Written by Nancy Foss
(Sing to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Love one another,
Love one another,
As I love you,
As I love you,
John 5:12
John 5:12
I LOVE YOU
I LOVE YOU

Action Rhyme

God’s love is higher than the mountains (Point up.)
Deeper than the sea (Point down.)
Wider than the biggest hill (Stretch arms across wide.)
Is how much God loves me! (Cross arms over chest.)

Do You Love?
Written by Marie
(Sung to “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” )

Do you love, love, love,
Like God wants us all to love?
All the people in your home,
All the people in the world,
Love them all forever and always,
And never stop to hate.
Do you love, love, love?

In The Bible
Written by Marie
(Sung to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”)

In the Bible do you know?
There are lots of places to go.
To read about how God loves you,
And to know how to love too.
In the Bible do you know?
There are lots of places to go.

See the "Comments Section" below for more song ideas.

 

Copyright

Copyright © 2004 , Digital by Design
Contributing writer Nancy Foss
Danielle's Place of Crafts and Activities

All rights reserved. While much of the material on this site is free, it is still copyrighted. It may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, library, and other organizations.

It is illegal to copy any part of this website and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site even if you include the copyright notice.

To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

 

Comments

We would love to hear your comments about this lesson. If you taught this lesson, we would love to hear how it went, if you changed anything, added anything, what age you taught and was it appropriate. Any comments that would help others teach this lesson are welcome.

I have a poem that goes with the fruit of the Spirit lesson I used for my Wednesday night mission class. You go through the alphabet and let the kids guess a fruit name, for example "a" is for apple, "b" is for banana, "c" is for coconut, etc.

The fruit of the Spirit is not an apple, an apple
The fruit of the Spirit is not an apple, an apple
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

(Repeat the nine fruits again. Then go on to the next letter.)

The fruit of the Spirit is not a banana, a banana,
The fruit of the Spirit is not a banana, a banana,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

By the time you complete the alphabet, they will know the nine fruit of the spirit. I have used this with ages ranging from 6 to youth and they love it. Sent in by Robin

We did the Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 1 - Love today with our special needs class. All of our parents were really impressed with the scratch and sniff pictures. The kids really enjoyed Squirmy and they all had fun planting their on tomato seeds. We were able to keep the attention even though we had a newspaper photographer in our class taking pictures!!! I really love your site and thank you for all your hard work! Thanks, Lori

The series on The Fruit of the Spirit promises to be a fun and exciting group of lessons for my preschoolers. They loved planting the tomato seeds but let me give some advice on that. This late in the season Wal-mart, K-mart, and other large retailers have just about gotten rid of all seeds. I found some at a farmer’s co-op store. You might want to call first to save yourself a trip. Mr. Ricky

*Note: If you can't find tomato seeds, you can get the seeds out of a ripe tomato.

With the Fruit Of The Spirit Lessons I wanted to use a puppet theater to go along with Squirmy. I have made one out of refrigerator boxes in the past but they take up so much room in my Sunday School Class. I found a puppet curtain at my local educational school supply store that has a casing at the top and it fits between a doorway. The only problem is that I did not have a doorway unless I stood in the hallway where I might disturb another class, therefore I found a clothes rack at Wal-mart for $4.97 (the cheapest one I could find) and the curtain fit on it perfectly. It would be easy to take a piece of fabric and double the width of the rack for your width on your curtain. Turn down the top and sew to make a casing to slip the top rod of the rack in. My kids are loving the lessons. I'm glad I did not use a plastic plant, because the first thing my kids said when they saw the tomato plant growing was "Is this real?" Thanks for great lessons and ideas. Robin

The children I taught ages 4 to 10 LOVED this lesson. I made the worm puppet. It was so easy to do. I have tried to make puppets before but they didn't turn out very well. Your instructions were right on target. The children all wanted to play with it! We made the plant stake at the beginning of class. We planted tomato seeds and I let the children take them home to watch them grow. The children also enjoyed playing match the fruits of the Spirit game. Thanks for all the great tips.

Our preschoolers have been enjoying the lessons on the fruit of the spirit. I read an idea from another lesson (I can't remember if it was your site or not) that helps the kids learn the fruits of the spirit. I taped balloons up across our puppet stage and cut out the "fruits" from the first lesson and taped them on the balloons. We then had a puppet named Mr. Meanie with pin in his mouth who came out and popped the balloons one by one with me reviewing each time with the kids to help me remember which ones he had busted. To add to the fun use a silly voice (ask someone to help if you can't do puppet voices) to laugh and say something like, "Pop it, pop it, I'm going to pop it". Most computers have a sound recorder so you can get a microphone and record it to CD to make the playback easier.

I used the first lesson on "The Fruits of the Spirit" - "Love." The children listened intently as Squirmy peeked out from inside a beautiful house that I use for different activities. It was exciting as they listened to what he had to say. The "Bowl of Fruit" and the "Tomato Plant" provided excellent demonstrations. I plan to use all the lessons in this series. Thank you for the website. It has been a blessing. Sincerely, Linda

Here's a song I use with my children in Children's Worship. We snap our fingers to the beat while singing!

Tune: Rock Around the Clock

Love, and Joy
Love, Joy and Peace
In your heart may they increase
We're talking Patience, Kindness, Goodness too
And Faithfulness to last your whole life through
Gentleness and Self-Control the Fruit of God's Spirit lives in you.

Since I teach about 40 children at a time (ages 4-9), we fill a basket with small artificial fruit each week. During the class when the children are participating well, singing well or listening well, I ask one of them to add a fruit to the basket. When the basket is full, they receive a piece of "fruit" candy at the end of class. They love filling the basket and then clapping for themselves. I found small fruit at Target on sale! I also teach a children's Friends Class on Sunday evenings. This is when I make the "food" applications and we work on our dictionaries. They love the "Fruit Basket Turnover" game. I hand out the fruit cards so the children will remember what fruit has been assigned to them. I also show the card when "It" calls two fruits. The children are learning so much with your lessons. Keep up your great work! Glenda Watson Sherman, TX

I have found a delightful CD track to accompany this lesson. It might only be available in the UK, but just in case you can come across it, here are the details: Dave Godfrey - Heaven's Number 1. He's actually a math teacher, with a heart for children and fun, so you should be able to imagine what the songs are like. But, from a learning point of view, it's brilliant. I've only played the 'fruits of the spirit' track a couple of times, and my children now know them perfectly. Kind regards,
Claire (Barker)

I did a few lessons on the fruit of the spirit. The children loved the activities. We picked a new fruit each day and let the children paint the color of that fruit onto large butcher paper. We used that fruit to dip into the paint and then let them paint with an up and down motion so you could see the fruit stamp. The strawberry was red paper. The orange we let them mix red and yellow and then cut out the shape of an orange. After each fruit paper was dry we cut out very large pieces of fruit from the corresponding paper. We then had the children paint paper with brown paint. We cut it into a large bowl shape. We decorated the hallway with the bowl and added each piece of fruit to it. We added each fruit of the spirit word and titled the bowl "The FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT". The families loved it and so did the children. It helped them to recall each fruit of the spirit. This was a class of proud 5 year olds. Thanks for such a great web site! Connie Cannon

Thank you for this curriculum. This curriculum is perfect. Most of the other curriculum I found for Fruit of the Spirit was for older kids. Your activities are easily adaptable for preschoolers as well. Our kids range in age from newborn to five year olds and we have a lesson for younger twos up to five. At our first meeting our kids loved painting with the "Kool-Aid paint". What a great idea. Thanks for making lesson planning such an easy task for me. Kim Norris

I just taught the Fruit of the Spirit lesson on Love to my Wednesday night group of 6-8 year olds. The kids loved Squirmy!

For the bulletin board, I enlarged your basket and fruit patterns. I ran them off on colored computer paper so that I wouldn't have to color them.(I love your fruit characters!)

Since the apple represents love in this lesson, I changed the tomato to the apple in the following activities: Feed Squirmy Bible Verse Review Game, Love Basket, Fruit Sheet - replaced the tomato with a banana. I'm only going to use the tomato when Squirmy is involved in the story.

The children loved making Squirmy, the bag puppet. The head and feet were run off on green computer paper and a rectangle of the same paper was used for the body. We sang, "This is My Commandment that Ye Love one Another". Taffy apples were our treats. I made a poster using light green construction paper and glued the fruit around the edges. In the center I wrote, "If you don't like the crop you're reaping, check the seed you are sowing." I loved the lesson and your characters. Shirley Kent

I taught the Fruit of the Spirit to my class of 4 year olds. I took the bowl of fruit idea and combined it
with the scratch and sniff idea from the early arrival activity. The children loved to paint with Kool-Aid and then glue the fruits onto the bowl. I also added the names of the Fruits of the Spirit for the children to paste onto the bowl itself. I teach at a Christian daycare but not all the children come from saved families. Some of them were interested in the lesson but I think children a little older may have better understood it. They did have a great time with the craft and I'm thankful I found this site. I mainly use the crafts rather than the lessons but when need be; the lessons are very handy as well. I would like to try to incorporate more of the lessons into my plans. Thank you again, Melanie

I have 4-6 year olds on Sunday night. We went through the entire Fruit of the Spirit series with "Squirmy".The kids just fell in love with the puppet!They would ask if Squirmy was going to be there when they came through the door. As the series came to an end I knew they would miss him, so I let Squirmy explain that he needed to get "ready for the winter".He told them about the cocoon he would make and how next spring he would be back, but he would be different. Instead of a little green worm, be would be a beautiful butterfly!He told them he would be back so they could see him. He "kissed" each one goodbye. They are still talking about him, so now I'll need to come up with a butterfly puppet and some lessons to go along with that this spring. Should be great right around Easter. Thought you might be able to incorporate a "new" Squirmy as a butterfly in a lesson or series of lessons about that time? You do an excellent job on these lessons. There is always more than enough. Thanks so much! Sylvia Kelly

Thank you so much for the great lessons and ideas on the Fruit of the Spirit. Our church just began a Children’s Church program for up to 2nd graders. The teachers loved the lessons and craft ideas. Our kids loved the Bible lessons that were on their level. It was so rewarding for some of the children to be able to tell you what some of the fruits of the spirit are. Thanks for helping us get off to a successful start. I can’t wait to use more of your information. Melissa, New Liberty

I used all the Fruit of the Spirit Lessons in my Preschool (3-5 year olds) Wednesday evening Bible class last month. I made the Squirmy Puppet out of a striped sock and he was a huge success!I ended up teaching by myself the first week, so instead of having Squirmy say his lines, I just had him whisper in my ear and I would respond to whatever he had said. The kids sat with total attention throughout every lesson!We even did 2 fruit per week and had no problem because they were so eager to hear what Squirmy had to say. My daughter, who had watched me make the puppet in our kitchen even interrupted the first lesson to ask, "Mommy, is he real?"She was so entranced by him!What was so wonderful about the lessons is that there were several crafts of varying degree to choose from for each fruit, so I really could create my own lesson from all the choices--therefore meeting the needs of my group of kids. We had a "guest" (my dad) come show them how to cut up a real pineapple one week and they loved that experience. Several parents commented that they loved the crafts and had them hung up at home to help their whole family remember the fruit of the spirit. The thing that impressed me the most was that the kids can still name the fruit of the spirit, and I never asked any of them to memorize them. The adult classes were studying the same topic last month, but I think our lessons were better!!Thanks for the great site!

We so enjoyed the Fruit of the Spirit lessons. As an incentive, I made baskets out of brown heavy paper that held different pieces of fruit (copied onto colored paper). Each week, the children would place a piece of fruit in their baskets, which were taped to the wall. At the
end of the series, they took their baskets home. I did add any missing fruit to baskets for the children who weren't there each Sunday. This was a great series with wonderful craft/activity ideas. Thanks! Judy (Arkansas)

We're finishing the Fruit of the Spirit series and I must say my kids have really enjoyed Squirmy! The lessons, coloring and crafts were great. As a final craft we're doing a mobile. I found toy fruit-shaped containers with candy powder at the Dollar tree (Eight different flavors and containers per pack for $1.00). I drilled 9 holes in the bottom of an industrial size toilet tissue (short and squat) and 4 ontop, and spray painted it. We attached9 toy fruit containers with curly ribbons and ran ribbons from the 4 holes on top to hang it.

I printed out Galatians 5:22-23 on to a sheet of paper and we glued it around the tissue roll. As we reviewed the different fruits the kids enjoyed the candy. This series was so easy and fun to teach, most of my children (Wednesday nights, average of 17, ages 2 to 7, have memorized the scripture and can tell you all about the "Fruits". Thank You and we look forward to new material! Teena Reid, Christian Life Ministries, Georgiana, Al.

We used the Fruits of the Spirit lessons in our Children's Worship for children ages 4 thru 2nd grade. The children and teachers enjoyed the lessons. We had small a photo album for each child to put their scripture verses in each week. The last lesson we reviewed all the lessons and they took home their scripture albums and fruit baskets. We really like lessons that build on one another.

I'm doing the Fruit of the Spirit lessons again with a new class. Of course they just love Squirmy!I just finished the lesson on Patience. It is a good review lesson for the first four fruits. We colored the page with the apple, cherry, lemon and pineapple...and added the hats, of course!Then I served them "Fruit of the Spirit" Cake. This is a Pineapple Upside Down Cake made with a lemon cake mix, using the pineapple and cherries. After pouring the cake mix over the fruit and brown sugar mixture, spoon a can of apple pie filling over the top. This will sink to the bottom and become part of the topping when you flip the cake. The kids really thought this was cool! Sylvia Kelly

When we had the lesson on Joy we sang "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart".As I thought about reviewing the various lessons, I decided to add a few more verses to this song to include all the "fruits of the Spirit".Here is what I came up with:

1.I have the love for Jesus, love for others,

Down in my heart.
Down in my heart, down in my heart.
I have the love for Jesus, love for others,
Down in my heart.
Down in my heart to stay.

2.I have the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart.
Down in my heart, down in my heart.
I have the joy, joy, joy, joy,
Down in my heart.
Down in my heart to stay.

3.I have the peace God gives me, peace God gives me,
Down in my heart,etc.

4.I've learned to be more patient, be more patient,
Down in my heart. Down in my heart today.

5.I'm showing lots of goodness, lots of kindness,
Straight from my heart, straight from my heart, straight from my heart.
I'm showing lots of goodness, lots of kindness,
Straight from my heart. Straight from my heart to you!

6.I will be always faithful, always faithful,
Down in my heart. Down in my heart always.

7.I'll be a gentle person just like Jesus,
Down in my heart. Down in my heart always.

8.I'll be a humble person, meek in spirit,
Down in my heart. Down in my heart always.

9.I'll practice self-control in all I do from,
Down in my heart. Down in my heart always.

Chorus:
Oh, I'm so happy, so very happy!
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart, down in my heart!
Oh, I'm so happy, so very happy!
I've got the love of Jesus in my heart!

I'm going to use this song next time and put the words on a poster so they can read along as we learn it. Wish I had thought of it sooner. Next time I teach this series, we'll learn a new verse for each lesson. Thanks so much for the great lessons! Sylvia Kelly

I think this project is fantastic!My Sunday school class is finishing the Fruit Of The Spirit. I teach 1-4 yrs. old and I interpret it so that they can understand, "in their language"and they enjoy it so much!!You are a lifesaver!You take out the hunting for a good project and leave the fun for the kids and me. Thanks a bunch! Leisa Matthews

I just wanted to let you know, I've begun these lessons with our preschool class at church. It's been a real hit and treat for the children. They interact well and participate great when we use the crafts ideas to further enhance the theme. Our groups of kids sometimes range from 4 to 8.So, thanks a bunch for the unique and interesting lessons. Teresa Fowler

"Upset the Fruit Basket" Game - Children sit in chairs in a circle. Each child is given the name of a fruit. (For the younger ones, I have made up pictures of fruit on cardstock to hang around their neck to help them remember their fruit). Several children can be given the same fruit name. When you call out the fruit name, for example "apple", all the apples switch seats. You can call out several fruit at one time. To make all the children switch chairs we call out "Upset the fruit basket". You might also play this game and remove one chair each time you call out a fruit. Eventually one fruit is left! This game can get a bit loud, but the children ask to play it!! Sent in by Marsha

I did the Fruits of the spirit Lesson as my summer program this year. I have some ideas that I will be passing along when I have time. One thing that was done was that I enlarged the Bible verse to make long wall banners (about 3-4 feet x 8 1/2").These I then cut into 5 or 6 puzzle-like pieces and laminated them with clear contact. Each week the group worked as a team to put the puzzle pieces together, which was then hung on a wall with its corresponding enlarged (about 2'x2' also laminated) fruit. This was a great way to fill the walls with color, and reinforce the lessons all summer. Suzanne Raeke - Raeke's Home Group Daycare

My daughters were having a hard time (as we all do) exercising the Fruit of the Spirit. I printed off the some fruit and printed a Fruit of the Spirit on each one of the fruits. I then found a basket picture in a clipart program of mine and attached a small magnet to the back of it and to each of the fruit pieces and stuck it on my refrigerator. As my children exemplified a certain fruit during the day, I told them they could go to the refrigerator and place that fruit in their basket (They each had their name printed on their basket.) The goal was to see who could fill up their basket during the day. It worked very well!Kerrie Wade

I teach a group of 3 - 6 year olds in Auckland, New Zealand. We have just completed 'The Fruit of the Spirit' lessons. Your site has been a blessing to me as I have used the ideas. The children have amazed their parents and others in the church as they have shared what they have learned. They have enjoyed showing off the things they have made in class. For the meekness lesson I got two of the children to act out the story as I read it. I taught the children Galatians 5:22-23a with each 'fruit' written on big colorful fruit where we could then take away fruit. Even my 3 year olds were able to remember the various 'fruits'. Thank you for this most fabulous and inspiring site. Sharon Burgess

Just started doing the fruit of the spirit series and found something that goes great with them. Go to www.toyboxtales.com and download the stories for the fruit of the spirit series. I then raided my son's toy box and found the items needed to do the stories myself. You can show his prerecorded tales if you like but after doing a few myself I can tell you that this teaching tool grabs the kids attention like you wouldn't believe. When I set up a story scene,the kids rush up to get front seats and say things like "Oh I'm so excited. I can't wait to see the story. Try it. You'll love it. Mr. Ricky.

We just started doing the unit on Fruits of the Spirit with our preschool kids and they really enjoy it. Last week I had one little girl crying because she did not want to go home…she wanted more. Thank you for the lessons. Ideas and inspiration that you have given. We are making a mobile each week. I have a basket hanging down from the ceiling and I had taken each of the pictures of the fruit and enlarged and laminated them and each week we hang another fruit from the basket. We are also making place mats for them to take home at the end of the unit. I copied the fruit and each week they get to glue the fruit onto their 11 X 17 piece of poster board. I write what each fruit represents near wherever they have glued the fruit and at the end we will have them laminated and after our unit windup Sunday they can all take home their placemats. Thanks again for the inspiration. God bless, Karen

We have the "Music Machine: The Fruit of the Spirit CD and love it!!! These CD can be a very good addition to this series! Lilla

 

 

 

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