Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 4 JOY

I can hardly believe we are already on Lesson 4 of our Fruit of the Spirit  lesson material.  The children seem to really be enjoying this material.  Lesson four was all about the attribute: JOY.  So, I decided that I needed to find a story in the Bible that showed someone that went from being unhappy, worried, concerned, etc. to being happy, thrilled, and filled with JOY.  So, I decided to use the Parable of the Lost Sheep to illustrate one who became JOYFUL.  

I told the children the story (put into my own words) from Luke 15:1-7.  We learned that a Shepherd is one that takes care of sheep.  We learned that this shepherd had 100 sheep, but sadly one had become lost.  The shepherd loved his little lost sheep and went to look for him.  He looked, and looked and looked until he FOUND his little lost sheep.  He was sooo, happy that he found his sheep that he carried the sheep home and then threw a big party.  I asked each of the children if they had ever lost and then found something....I asked them how they felt when they found what they had lost.  Then I went on and explained that GOD loves us and never want us to wander away from HIM.  

Our TAKE HOME activity was a DIORAMA.  This was a simple FOLDED PAPER project...We added a PUFF ball sheep and a shepherd.  The children also enjoyed adding paper "grass."  The kiddos really liked their Dioramas....They were soo excited to show them to their parents.  I think they turned out really cute.

Our memory verse this week was John 10:14.  We had a little tune that we sang this Memory Verse too.  The children had it memorized before leaving class...Matter-Of-Fact, they enjoyed singing the Memory Verse song so much that they were singing their Memory Verse going down the hallway.  It made me SMILE!!!!  :-)

One of our sheep is missing!!

We searched until we FOUND IT!!

Our Game/Activity was based on our Memory Verse...  I printed one word of our memory verse onto some sheep.  I had them all set up in a row on the table, but made sure to HIDE one sheep before class time.  We started the game by saying the memory verse to see which little sheep was missing.  The kiddos had SOOOOO much fun searching for the lost sheep,,,,that we ended up playing it several times...I let each student have an opportunity to hide the sheep...and the one that found the sheep had to carry it all the way back to the table on their shoulders.  It was soooo cute!!!!

One of the students carried it home and placed it safely on the table.

 

 

 

I wanted to show you something NEW we have started in Bible Class....It is a BIBLE WORD WALL....I am sure you have seen Word Walls in school classrooms.  I decided that the children were learning so many NEW words that I needed an easy way to REVIEW the words that they have learned.  The kiddos are sooo thrilled about learning "BIG PEOPLE" words.  I let them know that it is important to use these words correctly and to share these words with their Parents.  We will be adding to this WALL each week.  I will refer to this WALL each week...so, I thought it might be a useful thing for others.  When we teach kiddos words that they need to remember I think it is important for them to SEE those WORDS in the classroom.  So, this is a quick and easy way to have those words within the children's  eyesight.   

On Wednesday Evening the children will be making these Very Puffy,and Fluffy Sheep for their Explorer Journal.  They are made out of card stock and cotton.  I love the way they POP UP OFF the page.  I know the kiddos will enjoy making these little sheep. I think they are cute.

I am enjoying teaching this UNIT of the Fruit of the Spirit.  It has allowed the children to lean 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

 

Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 3 LOVE

Lesson three of our Fruit of the Spirit unit was a lesson on LOVE.  I used the verse John 3:16 as our main text.  We learned how God LOVES us soooo much that HE sent HIS Son JESUS to die for our sins.  

For our  "story time" I used a small story book that showed the basic life of Christ.  It started with his humble birth.  The book then showed a few highlights from HIS life...and then HIS death, burial and resurrection.  The book ended with a GIANT HEART that has the words, "BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU" on it.  It was a nice way to give a short chronological account of the life of Christ.

As our TAKE HOME project we made a type of mobile.  The kiddos LOVED the 3D earth that they got to glue to their mobile. They also got to stick on 3D foamy heart stickers.  The pictures really help you see what we made during class. 

The little globes came from a pencil sharpener that I had purchased a while back at Target.   I think they turned our darling!

Our memory verse was JOHN 3:16....We sang the verse to a little tune to help the kiddos get it memorized.  They ALL had it memorized before leaving the classroom!!!

The kiddos loved coloring the heart with the earth in the middle of it.  I explained that GOD'S love for the world...Is really GOD'S love for mankind

For our Activity/Review Game we play "Put the LIFE of CHRIST in order."  I had added a small picture ,that matched the pictures in the book we read during "story time," to Popsicle sticks.  Then used an old piece of Styrofoam placed each piece in order of events in the LIFE of CHRIST.  Then took them all our and mixed them up.  The kiddos had to answer a question from the lesson to pick a piece and place it in the styrofoam in the correct order.  They did a really good job getting them in the right order.  It was a challenge for the younger students and a BREEZE for my older student.  So, I had the older student "HELP" the younger ones...It was great fun!!!  It was also a very effective yet inexpensive way to review the lesson.

I wanted to encourage the kiddos to memorize the memory verses.  I decided that a basket would be perfect. If they can say the memory verse on Sunday, they get to add a new FRUIT to their basket.  They are so excited about "FILLING" their basket with the fruit stickers.  

Simple things make kids happy. 

On Wednesday Evening the kiddos had a puzzle with pizazz to make.  This project goes into their "Explorer Journal."  To make this the kiddos had to put the puzzle  (we had already cut each puzzle out) together first...then colored it however they wanted.  Then for a SPECIAL SURPRISE... or the PIZAZZ, as I like to call it....they got to glue on a wooden globe to the center of the heart!!!!  This gives this puzzle a SPECIAL touch. 

The children LOVED this...they all thought the GLOBE was really COOL.  I love it when something so simple makes them excited about their projects...and helps make the lesson more memorable for them.

I bought something NEW for my classroom...We do a lot of on the carpet activities...I had wanted to buy a large rug that had colored squares for each student....however, I could NOT afford to do this at the moment.  So, I decided to keep my eyes opened for ANYTHING that would accomplish the same desired effect at a much lower cost....Well, while shopping at ROSS recentely I noticed these great FOAM puzzle pieces....A light bulb went off and well...NOW, each of my students has their OWN SPOT to sit during our CARPET TIME activities.  :-) 

Blessings,

Ronda

Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 2

One of my Visuals.

 We are continuing to "EXPLORE" the various attributes of the FRUIT of The Spirit.  The children are really excited about this topic. 

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to do an "extension"  to last weeks lesson.  We are going to have different lesson for every attribute....but, because so many of my students are out of town, I did not want to proceed forth into the  LOVE lesson.  I did not want them to miss any of the lessons on the individual attributes.

My students will be making a "Fruit of The Spirit" fruit basket as their Take-Home project.  I think they turned out very cute...They will color and glue the basket together and then add "paper fruit" and the Fun Foam Fruit as well.  

For their "Explorer Journal" activity the kiddos will be making a Fruit of The Spirit Puzzle.  The will add the puzzle pieces to make a complete apple.  My focus with them is going to be that we have to have ALL the attributes to have a COMPLETE fruit...If we are missing any of the attributes we are NOT completely the way GOD wants us to be...so, we need to improve, change or add the attributes we are missing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed Fruit of The Spirit Puzzle.

Our Review Game for this week is a Bean Bag Game...The kiddos will answer a question from the lesson and then get the opportunity to throw a bean-bag at the "Toss-A-Cross" game...They will then have to answer the question that they turn over with their bean-bag.  My students LOVE to throw bean-bags...so, I know they will LOVE playing this game.  (BTW, the game was made from a old Toss-A-Cross game, that I purchased at a yard sale for 50 cents.  Always keep your eye out for things you can re-purpose for Bible Class.)

Fruit of the Spirit

Today was the beginning of a NEW Quarter for my students.  With a new quarter....we are beginning new material.  

Our Theme for the Quarter....I LOVE the bright colors.

We are EXPLORING the FRUIT of THE SPIRIT from Galatians 5.   The kiddos were so excited to see all the NEW items in the classroom.  I even had one little girl asking her mom if she would get to have NEW MEMORY VERSES with the new material.  I love it when the little ones want to memorize GOD'S WORD.  

Since our we are learning through EXPLORING BIBLE HISTORY, we will continue to use the Who? What? When? Where? Where? Why? and How does it effect us? Method.  

  

Who? What? When? Where? Where? Why? & How? WALL

Our WHO? was--Apostle Paul and the Christians living in Galatia.

Our WHAT? was-- That Paul LOVES the Christians in Galatia.  Paul wanted them to know that GOD had done them a BIG FAVOR (GRACE) by sending JESUS to die for their sins.   God wanted the Christians to have a HAPPY life....and a Happy life come though have the qualities of the FRUIT of THE SPIRIT.

Our WHEN? was--Christian Dispensation.

Our WHERE? was--Ephesus/Corinth (possibly where Paul was when he wrote the letter.)  GALATIA.

Our WHERE? in the Bible is the story found? was-- New Testament/Galatians.

Our WHY? was-- God wants Christians to behave in a godly way.  HE wants us to love others.  He wants us to feel joy.  He wants us to be peaceful, patience, kind, good, gentle, and in control of our self.  God knows if we live this way we will be happier and make others happier too.

Our How does this effect us? was--We must make sure to be living the way GOD wants us to live.  We must make sure we are always BEARING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.  We must have all these qualities in our life every day.  

This is one of the NEW items on the wall in our classroom.  It is a large laminated poster that has interchangeable (via velcro) cards that have the FRUIT of THE SPIRIT on them.  We will have one up for the week that we are learning about that attribute.   There is a small picture that represents the attribute....that will help the little ones "SEE" the attribute in a visual way.  

The Kiddos "Take Home" Activity was a smaller version of the BIG poster....They colored each of the pictures on the Attribute cards...we added the velcro dots, so that the kiddos can take it home and review each attribute with their parents.  I LOVE it when kiddos are able to review their BIBLE lesson with their parents in a fun and exciting way.  THEY LOVED making these...and were sooo excited about taking them home and sharing with their family.  I added a pocket to the back so that there would be a place to store all their attribute cards.

This is our NEW Memory Verse Card.  The kiddos colored their card in class...and they ALL had it memorized before leaving the classroom...that just makes me smile.

We added pieces to our interactive map.  We added "CORINTH"  and "Galatia."  "Ephesus" was on their from last quarters, Armor of God study.  

The kiddos will be making these FRUIT BASKETS on Wednesday Evening.  They will be going into their "EXPLORER JOURNAL."  The baskets are really 3D and pop up off the back of the page.  I really need to take an extra pic. to show how cute they really are.  

I finally took a pic to show  the 3D.

One of the NEW VISUALS I have in the Classroom....We will be using this as a REVIEW lesson in the future.  The BIBLE is opened up to Galatians chapter 5.

This is a "Fruit of The Spirit" homemade book.  I made this from an OLD visual aid.  It used to be posters....But, I cut it up and put each attribute on its OWN page...and now when we SING our FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT song...we can use this book to look at each attribute in action.  This morning I spent a lot of time going over the list of attributes that make up the Fruit of The Spirit....and this book really helped keep the kiddos attention....I LOVE re-purposing old material.

As a REVIEW Game we played a Question Game that involved putting a puzzle together.  The puzzle is made from a laminated Fruit of the Spirit Picture that I had printed from my computer.  I then cut it out in a PUZZLE shape and added magnet strips to the back....I placed it on my magnetic board (I LOVE my magnetic board) all mixed up.  The children answered a question from the lesson...then had the opportunity to  place a piece of the puzzle in the correct placement.  They REALLY enjoyed doing this...so, I will definitely be thinking of other "Puzzle Review Games" we can play in the future.

Hope you are enjoying teaching Bible Classes....Remember you are teaching precious little souls--LIFE CHANGING MATERIAL!!!

Blessings,

Ronda

Fished the Armor of God Unitt!!!!

We finished the Armor of God unit.  The children had soooo much fun learning all about the Armor God wants us to be wearing.  I decided for this post to post a lot of pictures of one of the kiddos in his FULL "ARMOR OF GOD."  

They all enjoyed making their ARMOR PIECES....and when we put them all together they had their entire suit of ARMOR.  I know they will NEVER forget learning about this very important subject.  

They LOVED learning about the Armor of God.

Happy Boy

 

Belt of Truth.  

Breastplate of Righteousness. 

Sandals of Peace.  

Helmet of Salvation.  

Shield of Faith.  

Sword of the Spirit.

Armor of God Exploring Bible History New Testament Lessons 6

The lesson on the Sword of the Spirit was a fun lesson.  The boys were very excited about learning about and making a SWORD.  

After teaching them that God's Word is a SWORD and that when we read it we often CUT through our hearts and that is what makes us CHANGE and live the way GOD wants us to live.  

I did do a lot of explaining how we do NOT hit people with our BIBLE and thus we should NOT use our "Take Home" sword to HIT others with.  I asked them how they would like it if I HIT them with my BIBLE....they all agreed that they would NOT like it at all.  So, I told them I did NOT want to see them hitting others with the SWORD we were making as a "Take Home" project.  It worked....with a classroom of 90% boys we did NOT have anyone hitting anyone with their sword.  YAY!! 
 

Their "Take Home" Sword was made from foam core board.  We copied the swords onto card stock and then glued it to the foam core board.  My loving husband helped me cut out all the swords for the kiddos.  In class the kiddos decorated their sword and added the cord around the handle.  As we decorated our sword we would sing a little song that taught the fact that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God....It is the Bible.  

Ephesians 6:17 is the Memory Verse.  They ALL had this verse memorized before they left the classroom. 

The kiddos Explorer Journal Activity for Wednesday Evening is a type of puzzle. They were given the blank page and the sword blade piece and the two gold pieces for the handle. They colored the blade and glued it to the correct area of the sword.  Then they glued on the gold pieces to the handle.  This was a simple activity, however, for Preschool Kiddos simple puzzles are often a good little challenge.  They enjoyed this activity!

I LOVE this bulletin "Bulletin Board."  We added a copy of each of our "Take Home" activities.  The children love looking at each of the 3D items we made during class....It really helps them REMEMBER what we have learned.  I enjoy using this bulletin board as a REVIEWING Opportunity.

This has been a FUN activity for the kiddos...We have used this Flannel Board for a Game....We had the kiddos roll the Armor of God cube...and then tell me what piece of Armor it landed on....then add that piece of Armor to the Soldier....After, we had all his Armor in place the kiddos had to answer a question from the lesson...if they answered it correctly they got to remove one of the flaming darts.  They really enjoy doing this "game."

We have a few more weeks of the Armor of God lessons....we are going to be reviewing what we have learned for the next few weeks.  

Hope you are enjoy teaching Bible Class.

Blessings,

Ronda