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(WT) Fruit of the Spirit ~ Art "Workshop" Lesson

Rotation.org Writing Team

Fruit of the Spirit

A Bubbly Art Workshop Lesson


Fruit of the Spirit Bubbles

Summary of Activities

Students will create a large interactive and colorful "bubble art" display to share and teach the Fruit of the Spirit with the entire congregation. The bubbles themselves and the unique "Bubble Blaster" blowing device each student will create, will inspire them to remember that God's Spirit (wind, breath) blows through us and around us—blessing our lives and the lives of others with the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The lesson starts with a unique "prism" demonstration about scripture. The colorful style of bubble painting on a large floor canvas—which includes a "kid in a plastic suit" laying on the canvas as the color bubbles come floating down(!)—creates a fun and super-memorable lesson everyone will be talking about. The students also incorporate a Fruit of the Spirit matching game in the art display.

Scripture for the Lesson

Galatians 5:22-23a

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,* faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (NRSV)

* "generosity" or "goodness"  See the Bible Background for an explanation.

Lesson Objective

To remember the Fruit of the Spirit and share them with others!

See the Bible Background at Rotation.org for insights and this set's complete list of objectives.

General Preparation and Materials

  • Read the Bible Background and scripture.
  • A prism (search online for "Light Crystal Prism")
  • A strong flashlight
  • 13-gallon plastic trash bags—either one or two per student as "smocks" (see "Keeping the Bubble Artists Tidy" below)
  • 2 large trash bags and masking tape, shower cap, and swim goggles for the "kid in the suit" (or a painter's coverall, see "Kid in the Suit Tips" at the end of the lesson)
  • 3x5" index cards (a minimum of 36 cards are needed) index cards with fruit of the Spirit words
    • Write each fruit of the Spirit on a card. Repeat for nine more cards, keeping the two stacks of "fruit cards" separate.
    • Leave 18 cards blank. (They will be taped onto the canvas over the "fruit cards" to create a "flap" so that the display becomes a giant matching game!)
  • Glue stick to attach the 18 "fruit" index cards to the canvas
  • Scotch tape to attach a blank cover card to each of the 18 fruit cards
  • A Sharpie pen to write the verse on your canvas
  • Gather the bubble supplies and prepare the room.
  • Recruit a student to be the "kid in the suit" so that they come dressed to get messy.
  • Note: It will be helpful to have an additional adult to help prepare students for bubble blowing!

Preparing the Canvas and the Room

  • Thick absorbent canvas painter's tarp on the floor (plastic is too slippery when wet). Minimum size: 8x10 feet.

  • 4x6 feet sheet of heavy paper—this will be your "canvas" to make the bubble painting on. (Tape together, on back, if making your heavy paper out of smaller sheets.) Can be butcher or roll paper or flipchart paper. Do not use thin or shiny paper. Sheets of thick butcher paper or freezer paper (shiny side down) are good options.

  • Place this paper "canvas" on the top of the floor-protecting canvas painter's tarp.

  • A table next to the canvas to assemble bubble blasters and prepare the bubble mixes. Cover this table with paper towels to sop up the extra bubble mixture. Have cloth towels handy.

Bubble Recipe and Bubble Blaster Construction

  • Water Dawn-Free & Clear
  • Dawn "Free & Clear" Dish Soap (or any clear liquid dish soap)
  • Various colors of liquid watercolor paint or acrylic paint to color your bubble mix
  • One plastic water bottle cut in half per student
  • One 5" to 6" square of 1/4" to 3/8" mesh per student (see "The Bubble Blasters" below)
  • Packing or masking or duct tape to fasten the mesh to the bottle
  • Make one Bubble Blaster to test your bubble recipe.
  • Bowls and spoons to mix each color of bubble mix you plan to use
  • Did we mention paper towels?


BUBBLE DETAILS

using a bubble blasterThe Bubble Mix: Each student will make their own "Bubble Blaster" and dip it into different colors of bubble mix, then blow their streams of bubbles down onto the canvas. Use Dawn "Free & Clear" or similar clear liquid dish soap. Begin with a 6:1 water to soap ratio, add a tablespoon of color and do a bubble test with your blaster. This thicker bubble mixture is not your typical thin mix. Rather, it is designed to deliver a "bunch" of colored bubbles out of the bottom of the blaster which drops onto the canvas as you continue to blow. If needed, add more soap after you've added paint to increase the bubbliciousness.

how to make a Bubble BlasterThe Colors: Add liquid watercolor paint or acrylic paint and mix thoroughly with your clear bubble solution so that students can create a multi-colored, multi-fruited display using their Bubble Blasters. Add more dish liquid if the paint dilutes the mix.

The Bubble Blasters: Cut a recyclable water bottle in half and tape a square of "mesh" over its wide opening using packing, masking, or duct tape. Students then dip the mesh-end into a bowl of bubble liquid and blow through the small end of the bottle to produce a large column of colored bubbles that fall onto the canvas. Where can you get "mesh"? Gather potato and onion sacks, or lemon and orange bags. They are also sometimes used as packaging for items at the dollar store. 1/4" to 3/8" mesh opening is about right.

sources of mesh

Keeping the Bubble Artists Tidy

Students dipping and blowing bubbles down onto the canvas will need covers for their clothes. If you plan on having them lay on the floor next to the canvas to blow their bubbles, a heavy smock or trash bag-smock is fine. If you plan on having them stand, have them also step into a trash bag to protect their legs and shoes (use masking tape to secure the bag around them). Standing works better in smaller groups

Tip: Show the kids how NOT to get a mouthful of bubbles when they inhale to blow more air through their blaster. The trick is to take your mouth off the bottle before you inhale to blow bubbles.


The Lesson Plan

Opening Prism Demonstration & Scripture Reading

Welcome your students and describe what they'll be doing and learning today. Tell them that by the end of the lesson you want them to be able to repeat all nine Fruit of the Spirit from memory.

Darken the room and open the lesson by demonstrating how a prism splits white light into a rainbow of color. (Alternately, give them prism pendants of their own, or bring in a cut crystal that creates rainbows around the room when you shine a bright light on it.)  Later in this lesson, you will demonstrate how the bubbles are prisms too.

a prism on a bible

Place your prism on an open Bible and aim a beam of light at the prism to create a rainbow. Explain that a prism reveals the colors that are in a ray of light. "THE BIBLE is like a prism because it reveals the colorful messages of God's Word. Messages about what God is like, what God has done for us through Jesus, and how we are to live our lives."

Let your students take turns shining the bright light as you continue to reinforce the idea that the Bible helps us see and understand all that God wants us to know and do. Finish by saying, "Let's open our prisms, er.... our Bibles to Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23 to see what kind of LIGHT God wants to shine on us today."

As everyone finds Galatians 5:22-23, give them this background on the passage:

"The Galatians were brand new Christians, and they had some people giving them BAD ADVICE about how to be a follower of Jesus. People were saying, "well, you have to follow the traditions of the Old Testament, stop eating certain foods, wear only certain types of clothes, worship and pray a certain way—otherwise, you're not a real follower of Jesus!" That upset the Apostle Paul a lot. To him, Jesus was about freedom from the old ways, not about lots of old religious rules and traditions! SO, PAUL GAVE THEM NINE FRUITS TO REMEMBER HOW TO BE REAL FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST. Nine things that come from the Holy Spirit that you are supposed to do and share with others, that will tell the world that you love Jesus. Let's read them together in Galatians 5:22-23."

After reading the passage, play a quick matching game with your 18 Fruit Cards:

Place one set of the 9 individual fruit cards face down on the table, then deal the other set of 9 fruit cards face up. One at a time, have students take one of the face-up fruit cards and try to find its match among the face-down cards. Give one try per turn—or two if the kids are younger—until all the cards are matched.

Tell students that you'll be making your art canvas into a giant matching game!

Separate the cards into two stacks of nine fruits each, then move on to gluing all 18 on your canvas using a teaching technique.

Gluing and Taping the Index Cards to the Canvas:

  1. First, gather around the large canvas and have students help you paste the first set of nine fruit index cards in random spots around the canvas (making sure they are all properly oriented on the canvas for later reading.
  2. Next: Have them also randomly glue the second set of nine fruit cards. As they paste this second set of cards, have the pasting-student "define" or give an example of their fruit. For example, "what is faithfulness" or "what is an example of faithfulness."
  3. Finally, have them place a blank index card over the top of each "fruit card" and tape it to the canvas so that the blank card acts like a "flap" that can be lifted to play a matching game once the canvas is completed.

layout of the art project

Let's Blow Some Bubbles!

a kid protected in a plastic suitWhile you are explaining the bubble blasting procedure, have a helper get the "Kid in the Plastic Suit" dressed for their fruit tree modeling debut. Once properly protected (!) have the kid lay down on top of the canvas with their arms outstretched like a tree.

Get your bubble-blowing kids ready by putting them in plastic bag smocks—either just on their top if students will be laying on the floor to blow bubbles—or stepping into a second bag to cover their legs and shoes if they will be standing to blow bubbles.

blowing bubbles/standing in a trash bag

The amount of bubble color you apply to the canvas is up to you. It won't take long for the Bubble Blasters to generate lots of colored bubbles (the color transfers to the canvas when they break).

thumbs up Hot Technique Tip!
Dip the Bubble Blaster in the bubble mix AWAY from the canvas, not over it!  It will drip quite a bit, so go ahead and let it drip over a towel on the table and NOT over the canvas. Then when you start blowing bubbles move the bubbles over the top of the canvas to let them drop.


Questions to Ask and Things to Say During the Bubble Blasting

Bubble blowing time is a great time to do some teaching. Here are some points to make and questions to ask.

  • BUBBLES:
    How long can you hold your breath? Let's try it!

    In the Bible, the word for "Spirit" (Ruach—pronounced "roo-akh") also means "breath." Just like breathing keeps you alive, God's Holy Spirit breathes life and blessings into our lives. That's why we're blowing bubbles today—to remember that the gifts of love, joy, peace (say them with me) are like breathing for Christians. The fruit of the Spirit are gifts that bring us life.

  • RAINBOW:
    Bubbles are prisms too!  Can you see the rainbow in them? Let's look at our bubbles.

    That's one of the reasons we're painting with bubbles today—to remind us that God's Holy Spirit gives us a rainbow of gifts to guide us and to be shared by us with others.

  • NEEDING THE FRUIT:
    Which fruit do you need MORE OF right now in your life?
    Which fruit do you think kids your age need the most?

  • SHARING THE FRUIT:
    When you have joy and patience (for example) in your life, you're supposed to share it with others. In fact, you might say that the fruit of love, joy, peace (etc.) in your life can "RUB OFF" on other people. TRY THIS:  Stick your finger in the bubble solution and "rub" a heart sign of a smiley face onto the arm or cheek of a classmate. Jesus-people are contagious!   (Alternately: Have the teacher apply this sign on each student's arm.)

More About the "Kid in the Suit"

THE KID IN THE SUIT:

Ask:  What does our kid in the suit sort of look like?  Yes, they are supposed to look like a tree! The Fruit of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—are all things God wants to grow in us.

Ask:  What things does a fruit tree need to grow? (Water, soil, sunlight, and time)
For us our "water, soil, and sunlight" are things like prayer, worship, reading God's Word, learning in Sunday school, and helping others. Those things help us to grow love and joy. They teach us to be patient and good, etc.

Ask:  Fruit trees produce a lot of fruit! So, who is the Holy Spirit growing all this fruit for? Just us? (No, the Spirit wants us to share love, joy, peace, etc. with others, and in that way, the Holy Spirit can feed the lives of those around us.)

Say: Yes, when you follow Jesus, you can be a fruit tree producing the fruit of the Spirit!

Closing

When you have finished the canvas, have each student use their finger to sign their name on the painting along the bottom edge (you can use some extra paint if you like).

Invite someone with good penmanship to use a Sharpie pen to write the memory verse inside the white silhouette where the "kid" was laying, or come up with a slogan, such as "We're Growing the Fruit of the Spirit."

Lastly, as you are gathered around the canvas, lead a "blowing prayer" where students repeat what you say and do. Stop after each sentence and each individual fruit to make a motion that goes with the idea in that part of the prayer. For example, when you say "joy" you could jump with your hands in the air (and have the kids repeat both saying and doing it).

Holy Spirit blow your blessings on us.

Send your fruit—the fruits of love, joy, kindness,
peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Be alive within us Holy Spirit today and every day,
moving us to DO your fruit and BE AN EXAMPLE of each fruit
to everyone we meet.
AMEN!

Then, carefully wash up the kids and clean up the room. dancing smiley

Displaying your Fruit of the Spirit Canvas

You can speed up the drying of the canvas using a hairdryer and then hang it in a prominent place in your church where everyone can learn about the Fruit of the Spirit and do the matching game.

a kid dressed in plasticYour Writing Team loves memorable, and your kids will too. And that's why this lesson has "A Kid in a Plastic Suit"!

The kid in the plastic suit lays on the canvas to create a white silhouette surrounded by the colorful bubbles. Other than being fun for everyone involved, the kid in the suit will help turn your bubble canvas into an attractive display of a key idea: we are trees growing and sharing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit tree image (the kid with their arms outstretched) is reinforced in several other lessons in this set. Fruit imagery is also found in several Bible stories—including the teachings of Jesus.

Kid in the Suit Tips:
You can buy a plastic "coverall suit" or an "isolation suit" for under $10 on Amazon. You can also make your own coverall with trash bags, masking tape, and some ingenuity. In addition to the "suit," eye and hair protection is a must. Once you lay on the canvas, stay perfectly still. Keep your mouth closed. Get help standing back up so you don't smudge any of the colors and have help carefully taking your plastic suit off so that you don't get any colors on your clothes underneath.


Adaptations

For those with younger children:

Do the canvas on a tabletop and control their hand when they dip into the bubble mixture. The Kid in the Suit on top of the canvas will get fewer bubbles on them that way too because shorter arms won't be able to reach above him/her. (But they'll still get the excitement of blowing all those bubbles.)

For those with less time or in need of something simpler:

Glue/tape the 18 fruit index cards and the 18 blank cover cards to the canvas before class starts.

Eliminate playing the matching game after the scripture reading and save it for another time using the cards on the canvas.

Eliminate the opening "prism" demonstration.

Use a paper cut-out of a "kid in the suit" instead of a real kid, and remove the paper cut out after the bubbles have been blown to reveal the white "tree" silhouette beneath.

For those with larger class sizes and/or more time:

Consider doing two canvases.

Experiment with different ways of blowing colored bubbles onto the canvas. A fine mesh can make finer bubbles. You can also dip a straw into the mixture and blow it onto the canvas.

Sources

Some bubble images copyright hellowonderful.co. Used with permission.


Written by Joe Bruce and members of the Rotation.org Writing Team
Copyright Rotation.org Inc.

Attachments

Images (12)
  • Fruit of the Spirit bubble art
  • index cards with fruit words
  • Dawn-Free & Clear
  • using the bubble blower
  • Bubble Blaster construction
  • mesh sources
  • Prism on a Bible
  • Layout of your art canvas
  • Kid in a plastic suit
  • Here come the bubbles
  • Applying bubbles
  • Kid in a plastic suit
Last edited by Luanne Payne
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