Love, Kindness and Goodness

Loving other people applies to all people, not just specific ones, and showing them kindness and goodness makes the love evident. Teaching these fruits of the Spirit through helping others will hopefully start a lifelong habit of being good, kind and able to show love to others. Offering two or three different projects that would be appropriate for the age group of the children, let them choose one of the projects to set in motion. Younger children could facilitate a coat or canned goods drive, collecting from relatives, friends and members of the church. Older children could serve a meal at a homeless shelter or shovel the driveways of elderly parishioners. Whatever project they choose, make fruit-shaped posters and give the project an appropriate name to remind them they are growing in the fruits of the Spirit.

Peace, Patience, Gentleness and Self-control

Teaching peace to children takes on the form of teaching them to have gentleness, patience and self-control by not arguing. Discuss unhappy things, including feeling slighted or made fun of at school, the annoyances having siblings brings and any other topics the students bring up. Be prepared to let them know some things are not appropriate for classroom discussion, in case personal family issues come to the forefront. Having the students use puppets, role-play various situations that might cause an argument and teach appropriate ways to deal with unpleasant situations. This will reinforce peace, patience, gentleness and self-control.

Joy

Teaching children that they receive joy when they give joy to others reinforces this fruit of the Spirit. A hands-on activity that will bring joy to someone else will bring this point home. Bringing joy to the residents of a local nursing home teaches them something they can continue on their own, expand upon and continue for the rest of their lives. Depending on the time of year, plant marigold seeds in paper cups and deliver them in person, taking the time to visit with the residents. Older students could create a small talent show to perform for the residents.

Faithfulness

Teaching about faithfulness requires that the kids know it requires more than going to church on Sundays, it requires following God all the time. This means they need to understand the importance of keeping their word, being a loyal friend and being trustworthy. Living a life of faithfulness encompasses all the fruits of the Spirit. String pony beads, some of them fruit-shaped, onto elastic string to make bracelets or necklaces. Wearing this jewelry serves as a physical reminder to the children to be thankful for and to practice the fruits of the Spirit in their lives every day.