Explore & respond with children

Choose from these ideas to help the children make connections between the Bible reading and their lives

Do

Water challenge   5 mins   W E

A fun activity to emphasise being connected with Jesus

You will need: hair bands, two glasses of water with straws, two birthday candles, each in a blob of plasticine, matches.

• Ask for two volunteers and make sure long hair is tied back.
• Place the two glasses on a table, one at each end. Stick the candles some distance apart in the middle and light them.
• Explain that the aim of the game is to drink all the water in their glass through the straw, but also to try and blow out their opponent’s candle. They can only drink while their candle is lit, and as soon as it goes out they must wait until it’s relit by a leader before they can continue drinking.
• Afterwards, explain that just as you cannot drink the water if your candle is blown out, neither can you ‘bear fruit’ without being connected to Jesus.

Rope walk   10 mins W E

Play a game to symbolise staying connected to each other

You will need: a length of rope.

• Show the children the rope and explain that it represents the vine that Jesus was talking about. Invite them to hold onto the rope. Lead them on a journey, adding some obstacles, if appropriate.
• Afterwards, reflect that being connected to Jesus is like being attached to an invisible rope. We can’t see it while we are at home, at school or out playing, but it we know it’s there and that it links us all together.

Make

A folding stick heart   10 mins   S A

A reminder to love and support each other

You will need: lolly sticks, sticky tape, scissors, pencils, felt tips.

• Give each child four lolly sticks. Show them how to attach the sticks so they fold into a concertina: lay them all down next to each other; tape sticks one and two together, using a small piece of tape, top and bottom. Then tape sticks three and four together, separately. Now turn both pairs over and tape sticks two and three together.
• Invite the children to decorate their sticks: on one side, draw a big heart that crosses all the sticks, and on the other side write: ‘Let’s stick together!’
• They can take their folding hearts home as a reminder of being connected to each other, and an encouragement to show love to each other in practical ways.

Fruitful trees   10 mins   W E S

Explore the meaning of bearing good fruit

You will need: tree shapes (template), one per child, pencils, coloured crayons, a potted herb.

• Give each child a tree shape. Talk together about what kind of things Jesus meant by ‘bearing fruit’, e.g. being kind, generous (see Galatians 5.22-23).
• Invite the children to draw some fruit on their tree and write down some practical examples in the leaves.
• Show them the herb and its roots. What kind of roots do we need to bear good fruit? Invite the children to write down some ideas among the roots of their tree, e.g. praying, reading Bible stories, going to church.
• The children can finish by lightly shading their trees, so the words remain visible.

Pray

Prayerful painting   5 mins   W S A

Paint a prayer card

You will need: fruit bowl (template), photocopied onto white card, one card per child, coloured poster paint, brushes, hand wipes.

• Give everyone a fruit bowl card. Explain that if we stay connected to Jesus, he will produce fruit in our lives, and the picture will remind us of this. Read the Bible verse together.
• Invite the children to paint the fruit in their fruit bowl, thinking about being connected to Jesus and showing that in the way they live. You could play the song ‘He Lives in You’ from The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride [U].

Additional prayers

Spiritual styles abbreviations
W Word E Emotion S Symbol A Action
Read our Spiritual Styles articles 

Sing

Key to abbreviations for hymn book titles

Under 5s      God Loves Me, Doug Horley on Lovely Jubbly;
                     Five little fruit jumping on the bed (Adapt rhyme ‘Five little monkeys jumping on the bed’).

Under 12s    Let’s Make God Happy, Doug Horley on Doug Horley’s Top 50 Awesome Action Songs;
                     I’ve Got Peace Like a River, Cedarmont Kids on Sunday School Songs

12+               Abide With Me, Matt Redman on Abide With Me Live;                   
                     Build Your Kingdom Here, Rend Collective on Build Your Kingdom Here: A Rend Collective Mixtape CD Disc 1 Track 8