Fruit Of The Spirit: Self Control

***I am retro-blogging previous lesson plans from 2016-2018, so I do not always have pictures of each activity, I will be working harder to be sure that pictures are taken to fully show you the ideas that I used**

Bible Verse:  
⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.--2 Timothy 1:7
 
Fruit of the Week: Lemons (we taste each fruit of the week for snack. If there are varying types of a fruit then we will taste different kinds).

Activity 1: Making Lemonade.This was a simple activity, but we talked about how being sour to others leaves a bitter taste in our own mouths much like it would if someone was "sour" to us. The kids loved taking turns stirring the lemonade powder into the pitcher (yes, I cheated) and tasting the drink.

Activity 2:Veggie Tales Video. We typically wrap up our longer units with a "movie night" including popcorn. So, this was our main activity for the evening, except for handing out certificates for finishing the unit. I love to give recognition to those who regularly attend and learned something!

Printable Certificates. I made my own, and you could too if you wanted.

If I did not add this to the previous Fruit of the Spirit entries, I must do it now!! I found this hilarious song about the Fruits on YouTube and the kids LOVED hearing it and singing it over and over and over and over again.  I highly recommend it! 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ymNuBZXCK20" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fruit Of The Spirit: Gentlenes

***I am retro-blogging previous lesson plans from 2016-2018, so I do not always have pictures of each activity, I will be working harder to be sure that pictures are taken to fully show you the ideas that I used**

Bible Verse:  
³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.--1 Peter 3:3

Fruit of the Week: Pears (we taste each fruit of the week for snack. If there are varying types of a fruit then we will taste different kinds).

Craft: Pear Footprint. Oh how I love hand and footprint crafts! And, the kids loved taking off their shoes and getting their feet painted. I did print a guide, so that the footprint would be more exact and make more sense to the parents when they got home! The above printable was for a different use, but I blew it up and made one per page and then had them stamp their painted foot inside the pear with a friend helping them.



Activity 1: Paul In The Middle (game). This idea ended up morphing into something else (gotta love excited kids), but we were supposed to put someone in the middle of the circle, and he or she was "Paul" and they would give and example, and someone had to guess the correct fruit of the spirit that would be needed. Well, the kids had trouble coming up with examples, so it ended up in a cut-throat game of Bible Jeopardy where I asked the questions and they tried to see who could guess the fastes (I have some seriously competitive kids this year!)

Activity 2:Fruits BINGO. I made and laminated my own BINGO boards and made call out cards.  These kids could play this for hours! And of course I love that we can use them over and over again for Wednesday nights or Sunday School or even VBS! I made my own as 6 sheets weren't enough, but this could get you started. Click here for this resource.

Printable. Fill In The Blank.  I try to always have a printed activity on hand. There are always the kids who finish up the other activities you give them quickly, and those who just really enjoy puzzles, word searches, etc.
**I used the above printable, and you can find when you click here**

Fruit Of The Spirit: Faithfulness

***I am retro-blogging previous lesson plans from 2016-2018, so I do not always have pictures of each activity, I will be working harder to be sure that pictures are taken to fully show you the ideas that I used**

Bible Verse:  
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.--Psalm 51:10


Fruit of the Week: Watermelon (we taste each fruit of the week for snack. If there are varying types of a fruit then we will taste different kinds. 

Craft: popscicle list of the fruits of the spirit.  This is a super easy and fun craft for just about anything. You'll need to use strips of masking tape and Popsicle sticks. I have each child 9, 1 for each fruit of the spirit.  They decorated and labeled them anyway they wanted, and since they are old enough, I allowed them to use the masking tape strips themselves. The picture above should give you a good idea of how I did this craft.



Activity 1:Floor Breathing.  Now, we attempted this activity, and did pretty well for about 5 minutes. I had them lay on the floor and close their eyes and practice breathing in and out slowly. We talked about things that calm us and make us feel safe. I was attempting to connect the lines between finding a calm time and space and being faithful to prayer time.

Activity 2: Ball Toss. I bought three small glitter colored balls at the dollar store, and used a Sharpie marker to write all of the fruits of the spirit onto the surface--spreading the words evenly. We really only needed one ball, but I loved having backups as we used these balls several times over the session and in "free time." The object was to catch the ball and where your finger landed when catching was the fruit you were supposed to talk about. I allowed the kids to use a story or example of that fruit of the spirit, and for more shy kids, they could just define the word.

(I used the words, and this idea used pictures of the fruit)

Printable. Quiz.  I try to always have a printed activity on hand. There are always the kids who finish up the other activities you give them quickly, and those who just really enjoy puzzles, word searches, etc.
**I used the above printable, and you can find when you click here**

Fruit Of The Spirit: Goodness

***I am retro-blogging previous lesson plans from 2016-2018, so I do not always have pictures of each activity, I will be working harder to be sure that pictures are taken to fully show you the ideas that I used**

Bible Verse:  
¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.


Fruit of the Week: Bananas (we taste each fruit of the week for snack. If there are varying types of a fruit then we will taste different kinds. 

Craft: Bookmarks. Adult coloring pages are really in right now and I have a very crafty group, so I found some free "fancy" coloring pages and put them inside a clip art drawing of a mason jar (canning/fruits). I added a hole with a hole punch and the kids picked their color ribbon. This activity was made more fun by pulling out the coloring pencils which is far more grown up than crayons or markers.

Activity 1: Beaded bracelet. We loved making the Froot Loop bracelets, but I realized that I needed something that was not edible for the kids to make and use as a reminder. I found an idea on Pinterest that associated colors with the spirits, but I kind of tweaked the colors to go with the fruits we were using to associate with each spirit.  The church had pony beads in bulk, so I used those and fishing line to make the bracelets.

Joy-purple (Grapes)
Peace-green (apples)
Patience- orange (oranges)
Kindness-burgundy (cherries)
Goodness- yellow (bananas)
Faithfulness- pink (watermelon)
Gentleness-light green (pears)
Self Control- clear (lemon)
Love- red

Printable. Crossword.  I try to always have a printed activity on hand. There are always the kids who finish up the other activities you give them quickly, and those who just really enjoy puzzles, word searches, etc.
**I used the above printable, and you can find when you click here**