Spreading Love, Patience, and Joy: Holiday Ideas to Teach the Fruit of the Spirit
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Hey Reader! The Christmas season is a perfect time to focus on developing the Fruit of the Spirit in young children. You’ll naturally find countless opportunities for children to practice love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These virtues/character qualities are more easily “modeled” in most cases than they are taught. You’re probably already doing a lot of the following activities, but I just want to encourage you to “notice” how children are actually practicing the Fruit of the Spirit as they enjoy fun activities in the classroom: Love Through Giving Encourage children to practice love by creating small, handmade gifts or cards for friends, family, or classmates. Explain that when we give gifts, we share God’s love with others, just like God gave us the gift of Jesus. This small activity encourages love, generosity, and thoughtfulness. Celebrating Joy With Song and Dance Create a joyful classroom atmosphere with Christmas songs that celebrate Jesus’ birth and bring extra fun to your day. Encourage children to sing, dance, and thank God for His gift to the world. As they do, talk about how we can spread joy and cheer with our words and actions. Practicing Patience While Waiting The excitement of Christmas can be challenging for young children to manage, so build patience through simple “waiting games” or an Advent countdown. Remind children about the excitement of anticipating the arrival of Jesus. In the classroom, give children specific things to do whenever they have to wait – “tap your leg with your hand while you’re waiting for our line to move”; “look around and see how many letters you can name while you’re waiting for your turn to wash your hands.” Then “notice” their patience – “I noticed you tapping your leg and waiting quietly for us to start walking toward the playground. That’s showing patience!” Cultivating Kindness Through Acts of Service Involve children in age-appropriate acts of kindness—maybe helping a classmate clean up their work/play area. Remind them that kindness reflects God’s heart. Be on the lookout for other kind behavior and again…”notice” it – “I noticed you helped your friend put on her coat just now. That’s showing kindness. You’re growing to be more like Jesus!” Gentleness in Our Words and Actions Practice gentleness by role-playing soft, kind words and gentle touches. Set up a nativity play center where children take turns “caring for Baby Jesus” and using quiet voices and soft touches. This helps children understand that gentleness is a way to show love and respect. Remember, that intentionally “noticing” out loud when you see children display the Fruit of the Spirit can be such a powerful motivator for children to keep practicing. The Fruit of the Spirit reflects God’s character and is a gift that we can nurture in our children throughout the year but the Christmas season makes it especially applicable. Listen to our latest podcast episode with Peggy Osborne as we dig into the topic of instilling good, godly character traits into our students all year! HERE is a great downloadable resource that Peggy and her daughter, Lauren have created to help you teach the Fruit of the Spirit to young children in age-appropriate ways throughout the year!
Cheering you on this week! -Your ECCN team
Colossians 3:16 “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” |
