FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

(INTRO 2: SPIRITUAL FRUIT)

Galatians 5:22-26 / Exodus 1:9-14 / John 15:5-8

DECLARE THE WORD OF GOD AT THE CLASSROOM DOOR:

• God created the good fruits that we eat.  He also helps us grow good fruit on the inside.  He sent His Holy Spirit to HELP US because sometimes the fruit that is inside us can be bad, like when we are mean.  His Holy Spirit will help us be kind, even when it’s hard.
• So, let’s thank and praise Him together: “GOD, THANK YOU FOR SENDING YOUR HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP US GROW GOOD FRUIT ON THE INSIDE: THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

WORKTABLES:

• Printing Text: THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

SONGS:

• I Hear the Blowing of the Shofar Calling me to Worship God!
• Theme Song: Christ the Vine and we’re His branches. Refrain only.  Teach signing / actions.  Explain meaning of bible verse.
• The Fruit of the Spirit by Wesley’s Wuppets

LESSON VISUALS:

• Basket of plastic fruit AND a clear glass sealer jar for rotten fruit
• Real fruit such as bananas: one fresh and one that is rotting. Place the fresh banana in the basket of fruit; place the rotting banana inside the sealer jar. 

CIRCLE TIME LESSON POINTS:

• God created fruit, all kinds of good fruit.  What an imagination! He thought of many kinds of fruit.  Look at this Banana (describe the shape and color).  When we cut it in half, we can see that itis  What is in the center of the banana?  Seeds!  Just like our Creation song says.  What could we do with these seeds?  Plant them in dirt.  What would happen to the seeds got plenty of water and sunshine?  They would grow into more banana trees!  Wow.  God planned for that to happen! (growing a banana plant)
• Sometimes fruit falls from the tree.  It hits the ground and gets bruised.  As it lies in the dirt it begins to rot.  Would we pick up rotten fruit and eat it!  No way.  We would pick the beautiful fruit from the tree to eat.  Rotten fruit belongs in the garbage / compost(place a piece of banana in a glass sealer jar to observe the decay over time).
• Well, that is the way it is on our inside, in our spirit.  We can grow fruit.  Not the kind we eat.  It’s a different kind of fruit.  Did you know that LOVE is a fruit that grows inside?  Love is good fruit.  Sometimes showing love is hard.  Sometimes we feel hate.  Hate is bad fruit… like the rotting fruit in our jar.  God wants us to show love to others even when it’s hard to do.  We can ask Jesus to help us.  He sent His Holy Spirit to help us grow all kinds of good fruit.  We are going to be learning about the 9 FRUITS OF GOD’S SPIRIT.
• Read the booklet: THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT by LDFischer PDF
• Ask the children to recall one of the Fruits of the Spirit

PRAYER SUGGESTIONS:

• WORSHIP (statements about God’s character): When you hear that God sent His Holy Spirit to HELP us grow good fruit on the inside, what do you want to say to Him?  Father God, you are…
• When you hear that God grows a different kind of fruit inside you, what do you want to ask Him?
• What is one of your favorite parts of our story today?

FREE PLAY: (Note: Before handing out play cards, show them you are setting the FREE PLAY TIMER to go off about 5 minutes before parents are expected to arrive.  The timer will let them know they have 1 more minute to play at which time everyone will STOP PLAYING and clean up the centers.  After centers are in order, students will be directed to the carpet to pick a book from the shelf and quietly “read” until families arrive. 

• During FREE PLAY, call the children one at a time to work on the art project: Hand and arm tracing for FRUIT TREE POSTER

CLEAN-UP: Each student cleans up the center where he/she was playing when the timer rang. Teachers supervise clean-up to ensure toys are returned to their proper location. This will be a good lesson in sorting and classroom responsibility.  It also helps students stop playing before parents arrive (facilitates transition). When centers are tidy, student return their play card to the tray and head to the BOOK NOOK to quietly read until parents/guardians arrive. They may NOT start playing in another center.

OVERTIME ACTIVITY: However, if the service extends  beyond the normal dismissal time, there are some CIRCLE GAMES that can be played (Marbles, Bean Bag Toss, Doggie’s Bone etc).   These games are located under the TV stand.

DISMISSAL:

• Call the students one at a time when parent/guardian arrives.  Prompt other students to call out “GOODBYE (student’s name)”
• Student checks mailbox for take-home papers
• Student selects a snack from the table in the hallway 

CLOSING DOWN THE CLASSROOM:

• Wash brushes and close paint jars
• Turn off battery operated keyboard
• Stack chairs and carpet mats
• Vacuum area rug (rechargeable vacuum plugged into corner outlet)
• Turn off heat and lights
• Place garbage can outside classroom door
• Return teaching materials to packet