My children are very familiar, through a little song that we sing, with the Fruit of the Spirit. In the New Testament, Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
I have been noticing lately that, though they all know what the fruits are, they weren’t necessarily applying them in their interactions with one another. So I had the idea that maybe a little chart might help.
I googled “free printable fruit of the spirit chart” and looked at several before I decided on this one. I printed it out and cut out the little fruits.
Then, I gathered everyone around and told them that whenever they noticed themselves displaying one of the fruits of the spirit, they were to put their initial under the corresponding fruit. I would not be reminding them, so they would need to be looking for it in themselves. Of course, we went over several examples of what each fruit might look like in our home, and then I posted it in an easily accessible spot.
I told them up front that there would be no prizes or winners, that this was simply a tool to help them see what they were already good at and what they needed to work on.
Occasionally, I have reminded one or two of them that I expect to see a few more of their initials on the chart, but overall, they enjoyed getting to mark their initials. At the end of each day, we have all looked at it together and discussed what each fruit looked like that day and which fruits we need to display more often.
This has really worked well for us this week! Check out Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips.
{ 22 comments }
I love this idea! I’m going to bookmark the page and print it off tomorrow!
That is such a cute idea!! Thank you for the great link!!
love love love this!
blessings,
karla
We tried doing this but your take is much better than mine was. I always forget to mark things down when I see them.
that’s so cute and such a neat idea
This is an absolutely wonderful idea. I’m actually going to use it for myself as well as my children. I find I’m really struggling with some more than others and I think this might help me see that more clearly. Ta for now dahling!
Oh I love that idea, especially expecting the kids to see it in themselves.
I like that it shows up the fruits that we need to work on a bit more. It’s so easy to think we’ve got it all covered but when you actually note down things you realise which ones are lacking in your life. Thanks!
great! easy and simple for all!
This is way to perfect for my boys! Love it! Thank you!
http://tonsofsons.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/wfmw-christmas-plannernotebook/
Thats fantastic! ok…off to print it now to use with the kiddos!
Angela
Thanks for the tip and link! What a thoughtful Mama you are! I love that there are no prizes–be good for goodness sake, right?
Brilliant! I love it!
This is such a good idea. I like the idea that there’s no reward attachted to it too. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent idea–we have done this verse for beginning reading practice, since the words are so easy to do and so easy to identify tangibly. Keep up the good work!
Sherry
WOW! This is a great idea! Many thanks. There are some attitudes going on at the moment which need improving so off to print one out now!
Fantastic idea – thanks for sharing!
Love this – going to use it when my boys are a little older!
Great idea – I just bought a little FOtS game that we are gonna play for family night one of these weeks – this will be a great follow up!
Blessings!
Neat chart! I’m sorry I missed you today:( I didn’t get your message on my blog until late this afternoon. I call and see when we can meet up:)
That is a really great idea. I think I need to make this chart for myself. I can be a real brat sometimes. Great post!
What a wonderful idea
Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea. I am printing it off and going to use it with my boys. I also saved the link for the website you linked it from to my favorites. They have some really useful things for our family there. Thank You.