BIG IDEA: GOD IS HOLY SPIRIT
AIM: The God is Holy Spirit lesson will help children to understand who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is within the Trinity.
SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available via our dedicated Pinterest Board
Today’s games are all partner games to remind the children that the Holy Spirit is our helper. The children help one another, just as the Holy Spirit helps us.
GAME IDEAS:
FLAP THE FEATHER – 5 mins
Description: Partner game
Supplies: (regular/widescreen) feathers, cardstock
Details: Children work in pairs to flap their card and move the feather from one end of the room to the other. The winning pair is the team that gets their feather to the other side of the room the fastest.
PAPER BOAT RACE – 5 MINS
Description: Partner Game
Supplies: (regular/widescreen) Paper, tub, water
Details: Children work in pairs. The first child makes their own boat from paper. The second child races the boat. The children race one at a time to blow their boats from one end of a tub to the other. Time the children and see how long it takes. The winning team is the pair whose boat blows to the other end the fastest.
TRUST MAZE – 10 MINS
Description: Partner game
Supplies: (regular/widescreen) Blindfold, chairs, tables, cones etc
Details: Children work in pairs to lead one another through a maze of chairs, tables and cones. One child wears a blindfold whilst the other speaks out directions. They must not touch. Have different partners compete one after the other by timing how long they each take. The quickest partners are the winners.
BIG VERSE: But the Helper will teach you everything. He will cause you to remember all the things I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name. John 14:26.
(regular/widescreen) Download the Bible cards here (PDF).
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Story time
Supplies: Bible or try one of the Bible videos listed on our Pinterest Board.
Details: Read Acts 2, show a video or act out then ask a few of the review questions below:
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- Where the believers all meeting?
- What sound did they hear?
- What rested on them?
- Why were the people amazed?
- Who preached?
- How many were added to the believers?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE THIRD PERSON IN THE TRINITY – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: Trinity Printable (PDF). Corkboard, red wool/yarn, pins or tape, scissors.
Details: Stick the printable on the cork board using pins or tape. As you talk, use the red wool/yarn to connect the three persons of God to create a triangle using pins or tape to secure. Cut the end off the wool/yarn at the end.
Say: Did you know that the Holy Spirit is the third person of God? This is what we call the Trinity. God is God the Father. Can you remember what we said about the Father God? [Get feedback as you secure the yarn/wool in place] we looked at Him in our first week when we thought about the story of the Lost Son.
The second person of God is God the Son. Can you remember who that is? [Get feedback and secure the yarn/wool in place] That’s right! Jesus is God’s Son and He came to save us! We looked at His baptism and how the Father spoke from heaven saying He was well pleased with Him!
The third person of God is… [Get feedback as you secure the yarn/wool in place] the Holy Spirit! That’s right! Today we’re looking at how the Holy Spirit came to the believers that were gathered after Jesus had died. The Bible tells us that He showed up with the sound of an earthquake and with tongues of fire!
2) THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: balloon, bottle, baking soda, vinegar
Details: Place some baking soda in a balloon. Pour vinegar into a plastic bottle. Attach the balloon to the plastic bottle and secure with tape, without letting the baking soda drop in. Practice this object lesson before doing it in front of the children!
Say: The Bible tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. That’s because when we become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes into our lives. He can come and fill us up and make us more like Jesus! [Show your flat balloon attached to the bottle.] This balloon and bottle is like someone that doesn’t yet know Jesus. Yet when we tip the balloon up [Tip the balloon and let the baking soda join with the vinegar] we see that when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, just like this balloon we are filled up! The Holy Spirit gives us power to do the things God wants us to do. He helps us to live for Jesus, to remember the things that God has said, He teaches us what God’s Word means and He gives us special gifts to help us in our relationship with God. He also helps us to know God’s joy and love so that everyone can see what God has done in us!
3) THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 3
Supplies: People that help us: coach, mentor.
Details: Play a game of Guess Who? With some of your country’s top sports coaches. You can give the children clues of who the coaches are and they must take a guess after hearing the clues.
Say: The Holy Spirit can help us just like these coaches help their teams to win and play the game well. It can be tough trying to live with God when we try to do everything on our own. That’s why God gave us His Holy Spirit to help us to live for God! He teaches us and trains us to be more like Jesus. He reminds us of what Jesus has done and how He has done it. He shows us how we can grow in God. All we have to do is ask the Holy Spirit to help us, to be like that coach or mentor towards us.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
SUPER SECRET: WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? – 10 MINS
Description: Team Game
Supplies: Paper with Holy Spirit Roles on them (PDF), tape markers, red yarn/wool
Details: Children go around the room finding the titles about Jesus.
Set up a laser beam room or corridor by using red yarn/wool and tape to stick from side to side of your corridor or room. Then attach some of the names below on paper to the ‘laser beams’. You can have more than one copy, or replace them after each child, if you don’t have room for more than one laser area. Children must go through the lasers, avoiding touching the wool/yarn and grabbing one of the sheets of paper. Then discuss them at the end.
- The Holy Spirit is our Counsellor (John 14:26)
- The Holy Spirit is our Comforter (John 14:26)
- The Holy Spirit is our Spirit of Truth (John 16:13)
- The Holy Spirit is our Helper (John 14:26)
- The Holy Spirit Teaches and Reminds Us (John 14:26)
- The Holy Spirit Lives in us and Fills Us Up! (1 Corinthians 3:16)
- The Holy Spirit Convicts the World of Sin (John 16:7-8)
- The Holy Spirit is our sources of Revelation, wisdom and power (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)
- The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)
- 10.The Holy Spirit helps us to bear good fruit (Galatians 5:22-25)
- 11.The Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak (Romans 8:26-27)
- 12.The Holy Spirit makes us new and gives us eternal life (Romans 8:10-11)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- How does it feel to know you can have the Holy Spirit with you wherever you go?
- What do you think your sheet of paper means? How does the Holy Spirit help you? You can use a Bible to help you.
SENSE HOW YOU FEEL – 10 MINS EACH OR IN TANDEM/ROTATION
Encourage the children to think about the questions above as they do one of the activities:
Description: Craft.
Supplies: Flaming Cup Craft printable (PDF), scissors, colouring pens, transparent cup, glue.
Details: Color the flame and cut it out. Stick it to the cup and place the cup on your head. You could also tape some elastic to the cup at the top to put around your head to wear the cup as a hat.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould a dove or some fire out of playdough as you think about how the Holy Spirit moves.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build the room that the Holy Spirit appeared to the Early Church within.
Description: Sensory activity.
Supplies: cupcakes, yellow and orange and red icing (frosting), strawberries, yellow, orange and red sprinkles (optional).
Details: Pre-make the frosting and cut the strawberries into quarters. Cover the cupcake in the different frosting and stick the strawberries facing up to look like flames. Top with orange, yellow and red sprinkles if possible.
Description: Activity Booklets.
Supplies: 5-7s (PDF) and 8-11s booklets (PDF), markers.
Details: Fill in or color the 5-7s and 8-11s booklets
SEEK GOD: 5 MINS
Description: Prayer activity
Supplies: Instrumental music
Details:
Say: We’re going to invite the Holy Spirit to come and meet with us today. Sometimes He might give us pictures of things in our mind, maybe we will feel something different like being hot or tingly, we might see a word in our mind. There are lots of ways the Holy Spirit likes to speak to us. Let’s take a moment to hear what He has to say..
[Spend a few minutes in silence as you invite the children to hear from the Holy Spirit. You can invite the children to talk with a leader in small groups about what they felt or experienced.]
Pray: Thank You God that You give us Your Holy Spirit to help us each day. Thank You Holy Spirit for giving us the power to live for God. Amen.
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