The Fruit of the Spirit

Even though Quinn has been brilliant at entertaining himself these days, I have been so anxious to do some extra fun activities with him. I’m telling you, he just EATS it up…and always has! I’m so thankful for my little sponge and am constantly amazed at how quickly he retains things.

First…a little background…Quinn’s new favorite show is God Rocks that is on the Smile of a Child channel! (A precious Christian TV station with LOTS of great shows!.Hermie, Auto B. Good and Carlos the Caterpillar…to name a few!...) And, one of his favorite “God Rocks” songs is the one that recites Galatians 5:22-23! So, I got online and found some great “Fruit of the Spirit” activities for my little man.

We had so much fun making our Fruit of the Spirit necklaces and bracelets! (Pipe Cleaners do the trick for this with little guys!) Our conversation about all of the different parts of the verse was priceless as we worked!

  

We painted with kool-aid!!! It smelled DELICIOUS and made talking about the Fruit of the Spirit even more fun! 
  

And, his finished masterpiece turned out so beautiful!!!… We played a game with our fake fruit. I’d have Quinn study the basket, hide his eyes, and then I’d take one away. The goal was for him to tell me which one was missing. …We stared with 9 pieces of fruit and that was WAY overwhelming. So, we went down to three and he did GREAT! Then, we added 4…then 5…and he could still do it! It was a great game that we’ve played again and again! He’s so proud when he figures it out and also has so much fun hiding a fruit from us! I printed out this little mini-book and had Quinn “read” it to me! (which he can do because of the fact that he had the verse memorized and knows how to find words based on their first letter sound!) I’d mix it up, then we’d put it in order on the floor over and over. Then, we found the verse in Quinn’s Bible and highlighted it! Next was some fun with magazine pictures. I had found a bunch of different “people” pictures and had him tell me which Fruit of the Spirit he thought they were portraying. It didn’t last as long as I hoped, but it got him thinking! I should have known that his favorite pic would be of Buzz and Woody…and he thought they were showing “kindness” by helping each other! We watched this little show…and he loved seeing all of the different types of fruit…

I must admit that I was most excited about our little Fruit of the Spirit field trip. On Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and headed to the Farmers Market. Quinn was so excited to find the fruit and chose strawberries (and honey…not a fruit, but yum!)…while Slickpaw got cantaloupes and peaches. Q and I kept talking about the Fruit of the Spirit as we shopped. It was a fun outing… 
      
 
  Nash even got in on the fun! Look at his precious “Squeeze me” lemon shirt! (a gift from Mammer because she always has to get “squeezers” from her boys!) And, now, we’re continuing to apply these precious principals! I made Q a little “Lapbook” with each Fruit of the Spirit inside. Then, I numbered each one with a one through five. When we see Quinn living out a Fruit of the Spirit, we’ll have him add a fruit sticker to the appropriate spot. And, when he fills it up, he’ll get to choose a special sussy!

He has been so excited when we praise him for doing something so wonderful. And, I feel that this is something that isn’t going to stop when this lapbook is full! I truly believe that God is working in Quinn’s precious little heart and helping him understand the importance of living out these principals! It melts my heart when he says, “Mommy, I’m joyful!” Or, “I’m being patient…that’s a Fruit of the Spirit!”

Check out how precious he is reciting this amazing scripture…

And, of course, since God is teaching Quinn, He is also teaching me. I have loved reading different online devotionals about the Fruit of the Spirit and am reminded at how I need to daily be striving to …
show love…especially to my family
have joy… even when I’m tired and grumpy
live a life full of peace…when life isn’t as easy as we’d hope
practice patience…like when I’m feeding Nash and Q needs something…EVERYTIME!
be kind to everyone…especially the ones that seem the hardest to be kind to
show goodness…by volunteering my time when it isn’t convenient
be faithful…in spending time with the Lord
and practice self-control…when I think we need more than we do!

I love how God works! And how He’s constantly showing me His face through my three year old! What a blessing to be Quinn’s (and Nash’s) Mommy! And, what a blessing to be able to teach them God’s Word! May I never underestimate its importance!!!

(Most of the print outs are from this source!)

P.S. Quinn loves these too…