This quarter seems to be FLYING by. We have been having sooo much fun learning about the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. We are on lesson 6 which is ALL about PATIENCE. Our lesson was based on the FARMER from James 5:7-8. I really like these verses for showing the need for Patience…..because, FARMERS HAVE TO BE PATIENT and the children easily GRASP the concept by looking at pictures of Farmers/Crops.
I introduced the story by showing the children a picture of a farmer planting in the field. I asked the kiddos if the farmer would be able to immediately pick fruit from what they had planted. They all said, “NO.” So, I showed them a picture of the plants just spouting through the ground. Again, I asked if the farmer would be able to pick fruit? Again, they all responded, “NO.” So, I showed them a picture of the crops in full growth with blooms on the plants and again asked the same question. Again, the responses was a resounding, “NO.” So, I showed them a picture of the farmer during harvest time, picking the fruit from the plants and asked, Do you think the farmer can eat it now? I was told, “YES.” However, one child said, “They need to take it to the sink and wash it first.” Children make me smile….such an eye for details. So, I just added that to my lesson….by saying, “You are right…they still have to wait until the fruit has been washed. Farmers are so patient.” I then asked them to tell me which attribute of the Fruit of The Spirit we were learning about and they all said, “Patience.” We talked about how God wants us to be patient with others, because HE is patient with us. We talked about times it might be hard to be patient….but, GOD wants us to always be patient.
Our TAKE HOME activity was an Activity to test their patience. I had the children plant beans in a milk carton. I also had them color a “cover” for the milk carton that showed a farmer, field and our scripture reference for today’s lesson. I think they turned out cute and hope they grow for the kiddos once they get them home.
Our memory verse this week was 1 Thess. 5:14. Because, I teach the young ones, I only used the end of this verse. We had a little tune that we sang this Memory Verse too.
The children really enjoyed our Game/Activity! We played a BOARD style game. I made this on my computer and then printed it in POSTER size. I coded each square with a name of a child and a situation. If the child was being inpatient then we had to move our marker back 1 square. The really fun part was that I included each child’s name in the class on the board. Of course if they landed on a space that had one of my students names on it the situation ended with the child showing patience. They LOVED it!!!! Look closely at what I used for a game marker. The next time you see them laying around by the bubble gum machines grab them up. They can be used for soooo many fun thing.s
We added a few words to our “WORD WALL.” The children are so happy learning these “BIG PEOPLE” words.
On Wednesday Evening the children made these FLOWERS. The neatest thing is…they are made by tracing the child’s hands and then rolling them up. This takes a bit of prep time. We traced the children’s hands on Sunday during the first few mins. of class. That way I could cut them out and make sure they were ready for the Wednesday Night teacher. They loved rolling the “petals” on dowels. We added a small hand-print that says that the flowers are made from the child’s hand-print and it is to remind them that GOD is patient with them as they grow and they need to patient too. I LOVE how they turned out…and they loved placing them in their EXPLORER JOURNAL. (These were made from white construction paper and yellow and green chenille sticks.—inexpensive and fun!!!)
I am enjoying teaching this UNIT of the Fruit of the Spirit. It has allowed the children to learn VARIOUS stories from the Bible. Since I normally teach in a CHRONOLOGICAL fashion, this is a nice break from MY norm. It is challenging me to think of Biblical Example that go along with each attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit. So far, so good.
Blessings,
Ronda
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