Weeds in the Garden
Group Activities

Sermon Title: "Weeds in the Garden"

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

HOE FUN:

Give each child a very small toy hoe. Let them write today's Bible verse on the hoe, or attach a mini-card with today's verse written on it. Attach it to the handle with a small string or rope.

CHURCH DRAWING:

Give the children a picture of a church building or have them draw a picture and draw many flowers around the church in various colors. On the church building or on the drawing of the church door, have children write, "Keep the weeds out of the church".

WEEDS Art:

Let the children go outside and pick some weeds to glue onto a piece of brown paper. Tell children that we are ALL born "weeds" but that God wants us to NOT be weeds any longer and wants us to produce good fruit! Children can make the weeds into an ART piece to show that GOD wants us to make something beautiful out of the weeds!

FRUIT BOWL:

While teaching about producing fruit and not weeds during today's lesson, let the children enjoy small bites of fruit in a bowl. Ask the children to give examples of the kind of fruit they would like to produce in their own lives!

WEEDS & FRUIT CHART GAME:

Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a poster with two column headings WEEDS and FRUIT. Have the children write examples of the "weeds" in our lives and the "fruit" that we could produce in our lives. See which team can come up with the most ideas. Give children fruity candy snacks at the end of the game.

FRUIT ART:

Let children draw or find fruit pictures to create a collage. Add the words PRODUCING GOOD FRUIT FOR THE LORD as the title of the collage. Let the children decorate or draw a frame around their art as a special remembrance of today's lesson!

TREE DRAWING:

Have the children make a drawing of a tall tree with a weed climbing on it. (Example)

PRODUCE PERSON:

Make a drawing of a "produce person." Draw a pear for its torso, an apple for its belly, bananas for the arms, cucumber for the legs, and the silhouette of small pineapple for its head (the leaves will be the hair). Add the eyes, nose and mouth.

FIVE WEEDS YOU WANT IN YOUR GARDEN:

The teacher might visit this web site and print pictures of the five weeds. Tell the children about the weeds and how they are helpful. Explain to the children that some people that we might consider to be a pain might possibly be helpful in the church. Create a short story about one of the weeds.

Song: "Love One Another" Charles Kirkpatrick & John 13:34-35

Words and music (pdf)

Piano AccompanimentMP3