Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Presence of the Holy Spirit
Materials: smartphone, tissue
Tell your children they will experience the wind in several ways during the activity. First, instruct them to close their eyes and raise their hands when they hear the wind. Using a white noise app on your smartphone, play a wind noise very low and slowly increase its sound until everyone can hear it. Tell your children they can’t see the wind but can hear it. Next, tell your children to lightly blow on the backs of their hands and slowly blow harder until they’re blowing as hard as they can. Tell your children they can’t see the wind but can feel it. Last, give each child a tissue, and instruct them to blow it into the air. Tell them that they can’t see the wind but can see its effects. Explain how they cannot see the Holy Spirit, but it is possible to hear His teachings, feel His presence, and see what He is doing in people’s lives. Tell your children they will see the early church receive the Holy Spirit for the first time in the lesson.
Live It Out
Game – Over, Under, Transformed
Materials: two pictures of a caterpillar, two pictures of a butterfly
Before class, find a picture of a caterpillar and a butterfly and print off two copies of each. In class, form two equal-sized teams with your children. Line each team up, where everyone is facing the same direction. Hand the child in front the picture of the caterpillar. Instruct the teams to pass the picture to the back and then to the front again. They will pass it over their heads and then under their legs, alternating the entire time. The team that gets the picture back to the front first is the winner! Leader note – you will swap out the picture of the caterpillar with the picture of the butterfly at the back of the line. Afterward, tell your children that the disciples were transformed when they received the Holy Spirit, just like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Before they received the Holy Spirit, they were afraid, hiding in a room. Afterward, they became bold in preaching the Gospel!
Craft – Holy Spirit Wind Sock
Materials: construction paper, markers, tape, streamers, hole punch, yarn, scissors
Hand the supplies to your children. Instruct them to turn their construction paper sideways and to cut it down the middle, from left to right. Next, have them place the two pieces side-by-side and tape them together, creating a long strip. Tell them to write the Life Point on the long strip of construction paper and to decorate it. Instruct the children to cut small strips of streamers and attach them to the bottom of the strip of paper in short intervals. Next, tell them to attach the two ends of the paper to create a circle. Last, punch two holes in the paper and string yarn so that it can hang. Afterward, tell your children that they cannot see the Holy Spirit, just like they can’t see the wind. However, the Holy Spirit moves in people’s hearts and draws them to God. Have everyone say the Life Point together.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – In the Air
Materials: straws, tissue
Give each child a straw and one tissue. Tell the children they will use straws to keep their tissue in the air for as long as possible. The child who keeps their tissue in the air the longest is the winner! Explain to your children that even though the Holy Spirit is invisible, like the wind, He equips people to tell others about Jesus. In today’s lesson, tell your children they will see how the Holy Spirit impacted the early church.
Live It Out
Game – Balloon Race
Materials: balloons, masking tape
Before class, blow up two balloons. In class, form two teams with your children. Make a starting and “turn around” line for each team. Tell the teams they will blow their balloon from the starting line to the “turn around” line and back. When each child returns, the next child will repeat the process. The team that finishes the task first is the winner! Tell your class that even though no one ever saw the wind they produced to move the balloon, the effect on it was genuine. Explain how no one can see the Holy Spirit, but He works in people’s lives and draws people to Jesus. Have everyone say the Weekly Verse together.
Craft – Pentecost Fire
Materials: plastic forks, washable paint (red, orange, yellow), foil, black construction paperGive each child a plastic fork and black construction paper. Place blobs of red, orange, and yellow paint on the foil for several children to use. Depending on how many children you have, you may need to create several “paint stations.” Instruct your children to dip their forks in the paint and use them to paint fire on their construction paper. Encourage them to mix the colors as they create their fire. Afterward, remind your children that the Holy Spirit was represented by fire on Pentecost. As a result of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit, they went out and told everyone about Jesus. Read the Weekly Verse to your children.
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