‘Kindness’ Fruit of the Spirit Childrens Lesson

BIG IDEA: I CAN BE KIND

AIM: The ‘Kindness’ Fruit of the Spirit Childrens Lesson is part of the Tutti Frutti series on the fruit of the Spirit. This lesson aims to help children understand the importance of being kind, how God is kind and how we can also be kind.

GAME IDEAS:

1. Two of a Kind. (regular/widescreen) You will need the Two of a Kind playing cards. Children must try and find the two matching fruit from the pile. The images are placed faced down and children take turns to choose which they would like to reveal. The child/ren that match the most fruit are the winners.
2. Kind or Cruel? (regular/widescreen) Several images are placed facedown and one image is shown. The children must decide if the next image revealed will show a kind or cruel act. The player that gets the furthest by guessing the most correctly will be the winner.
3. Green Grape shuffle. (regular/widescreen) You will need a grape for each contestant  Children place the grape on their forehead and compete to see who can shuffle the grape down into their mouth first. If the grape falls off their face then the contestant must start again!

For SONG AND BIBLE STORY IDEAS you can check out our dedicated Pinterest Board.

BIG VERSE: …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control… Galatians 6:22-23.

(regular/widescreen)

Download Bible Cards.

 

SET the Scene:

Read 1 Kings 17 about how the widow is kind to Elijah. Explain that this was during a time when there had been no rain for years and everyone was struggling. Explain that today we are looking at the fruit of the Spirit which is kindness.

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) GOD IS KIND

Dig out a nice card or gift that someone has given you.

Say: Do you know the kindness of God? Many people think God is harsh and unkind. They fear Him because they think He is out to get them. That’s not what the Bible tells us. To be kind is to be friendly and generous and think of others. That is exactly what God is like. Someone gave me this lovely card/gift. It makes me feel special that someone thought about me like that. It was a very kind thing to do.

This reminds me of the kindness that the widow showed Elijah in our story today. She was kind even when life was hard on her. God is kind towards us when He could be very harsh. He sent His only Son Jesus so that we might know Him because He wants to be our friend, our Lord and our Saviour. We can know God today because He is kind.

2) KINDNESS IS THINKING OF OTHERS

You will need some big sticks and stones to show the children.

Say: God wants us to be kind to others as he wants us to know that we are loved and He wants everyone to share in that love. When we are unkind to others, or others are unkind to us IT HURTS. Has anyone ever called you a nasty name? How did it make you feel? [Get feedback] Yes it hurts!

[Show the children the sticks and stones] The little rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is really a lie- unkind words are often the thing that really hurt. Being kind to others is sometimes difficult when others are not kind back.

Well, God wants us to be kind to others EVEN when they are unkind to us. It sounds impossible! And it is without God’s help! So we need God to help us be kind in a harsh world so that everyone will feel loved and not get hurt.

The widow was able to think of Elijah even when her own son was in danger of death. She was able to be kind in the toughest time because she chose to think of someone else and not just herself or her own family.

3) I CAN BE KIND

Print out the word or have a large painted version of the word [mepr-s3-link src=”teaching-series-tutti-frutti/KND.pdf”] KND: [/mepr-s3-link] Kind without the ‘I’. 

Say: For the word kind to be spelt here what does it need? [Get feedback] It needs I. That’s right, for kindness to work it needs you and I. Each one of us can choose to be kind or cruel. The things that we do make a difference to people’s lives. People will remember our actions and how they made them feel. We can choose to be kind and we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us be kind when we are tempted to act in a cruel way.

How can you think of others and be kind to them this week?

SEARCH the Scriptures:

There are many Bible verses about God’s kindness towards us. Read the verses out and discuss the questions below.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to be kind?
2. How is God kind?
3. Was Jesus kind to people? In what ways?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

Imagine you are the widow and Elijah asks you for some bread.

What makes you be kind to him?

1. Make the craft picture of the widow and stick some twigs to it US version and UK version.
2. Sensory: place some sticks on the sensory table along with some jars of oil and packs of flour. Invite the children to think about what the widow chose to do.
3. Mould: the widow and her son out of playdough or clay.
4. Build: the home of the widow where God multiplied the oil.
5. Fill in or Color the activity booklets for 5-7s and 8-11s.

 

SEEK God:

You will need some post it notes and markers.

Get Everyone to write down one kind thing they will do today for someone. Place all of the post it notes on paper in the shape of a pre-made cross and pray over them aloud.