Apples! Pumpkin pie! Harvest time is a wonderful reminder that good things take time to grow. Farmers plant seeds, water them, care for them, and patiently wait for the fruit to appear. In much the same way, God is growing something in each of us! As we learn His Word, follow His ways, and allow Him to work in our hearts, we can grow to produce good fruit in our lives—fruit that shows His love to the people around us. This harvest season let’s think about what it means to grow good fruit with God’s help!
Here is a simple harvest time object lesson that uses a step-by-step process to teach children about growing good fruit in their lives with God’s help. You just need an apple and an artificial tree or a large tree made of poster board attached to the wall. (Or you could cut a branch from a tree outside to use as a pretend tree.) Use the actions and the Big Idea provided to keep kids engaged. If you’d like pictures, PPT slides, coloring pages, and more to go with this activity; download our free lesson, “Harvest Time!” This download will also provide you with a full gospel-centered lesson, games, and activities to teach kids about growing good fruit.
Harvest Time!
Say: Have you ever gone apple picking? (Show an apple.) Where did all the apples come from? Delicious, healthy apples don’t just happen. They grow best when someone is taking care of them and making sure they get the right amount of sunlight and water, keeping harmful insects away, covering them when the cold weather comes, and making sure any diseased branches are pruned off. Wow! That’s a lot of work! The Bible tells us about another kind of fruit that takes a lot of work to grow, too. Pretend to pick fruit while I read about it.
Do: Read Galatians 5:22-23 while children pretend to harvest fruit. If desired, you could also sing the verse with motions by using the simple memory verse song below.
Say: This is the kind of fruit God wants to grow in our lives. It’s not easy to grow good fruit like this. Jesus is the only human who ever did it perfectly all the time. And like a farmer, Jesus wants to help people who trust in him to grow fruit the same way. That’s our Big Idea today. Any time I ask, “What’s the Big Idea?” I want you to shout back, “God helps me grow good fruit!” Learning about how a farmer cares for his plants can help us learn more about how Jesus helps good fruit grow in us.
Orchard Planting – (Have kids gather around the tree and spread their arms to pretend to be an orchard of trees.) Most fruit trees won’t grow fruit unless the farmer plants them near other trees. This way they help each other grow fruit. The trees grow best together. It’s similar for you and me. God gives us other Christians to meet and grow alongside. (Read Hebrews 10:24-25.) God wants us to find help and encouragement as we grow with other followers of Jesus. You can find this support at church, with your parents, or with friends or trusted adults who love Jesus, too. What’s the Big Idea? God helps me grow good fruit!
Fertilizing – (Have some kids pretend to fertilize the soil under the tree.) The farmer makes sure the trees have good soil. He may add fertilizer and nutrients to nourish (feed) the trees. In a greater way, God gives you encouragement and instruction in the Bible to nourish you. When it feels hard to follow Jesus, don’t give up! Read your Bible, or ask someone to help you read it, and talk to Jesus. He is there for you! He is on your side! (Read Galatians 6:9.) What’s the Big Idea? God helps me grow good fruit!
Pruning – (Have children pretend to cut a diseased branch from the tree.) The farmer sometimes cuts diseased or weak parts from the tree to keep it heathy. God helps us cut sin from our lives to keep us healthy. Even after trusting Jesus to save us, we still sin and this makes it hard for us to grow good fruit. God tells us what to do to help us cut off the sin. (Read 1 John 1:9.) Confess means to tell on yourself to God and to others instead of hiding or ignoring your sin. Thank him for forgiving you and ask him to help you obey. Is there sin you need to confess today? What’s the Big Idea? God helps me grow good fruit!
Grafting – (If time permits, have each child write their name on a small piece of brown paper and tape it onto the tree as a new branch.) The farmer may attach new branches to a healthy tree root so they can grow good fruit. These branches will only grow fruit if they stay connected to the tree. Jesus said we are like this, too. (Read John 15:4-5.) To abide means to stay close to Jesus so that his good fruit grows in your life. If you have trusted Jesus to save you from sin, he wants you to grow close to him like a best friend. How do you stay close to a best friend? You talk, listen, spend time together, and love each other. You can do this with Jesus, too! When we spend time with him, we learn what makes him happy and how to live in a way that grows fruit. What’s the Big Idea? God helps me grow good fruit!
Harvesting – (Have children pretend to pick fruit from the tree and share it with others. You may also want to serve apple slices or another fruity snack after the lesson is finished.) After all that hard work, the farmer harvests the fruit that grows on the tree and uses it for good things. In a much greater way, Jesus takes the fruit that grows in our life and uses it for his glory and the good of others. (Read Philippians 2:13.) When you stay close to Jesus and his good fruit grows in your life, it makes God happy and it also shows his love and awesomeness to others. What’s the Big Idea? God helps me grow good fruit!
Do: Spend some time discussion with your kids what kinds of things help them abide close to Jesus (reading the Bible, praying, obeying, loving him, worshiping, church activity, etc.) and specific opportunities to produce the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. You can also pray together to ask Jesus to help you abide in him and grow good fruit for God.
Don’t let this harvest time be just about hayrides, bonfires, and other fall activities. Use the season to connect your kids with seeing how growing good fruit is essential and only done with God’s help. Even the changing of the seasons can be an opportunity to show our kids how to be more like Jesus. And if you’d like MORE free ideas to help you enjoy the harvest season with kids in your home or church, we’ve got other free activity kits like The Biggest Pumpkin! and The Gospel Pumpkin! to help you point kids to Christ in fun and meaningful ways. Happy Harvest Season!
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