Definition: Being gentle, friendly, courteous; sharing without complaining; being generous; helping others in need; being sensitive to others feelings
Opposite: Mean, selfish, rude, hurtful
Bible Story: Healed Through the Roof
Objective: Kindness means doing whatever it takes to bless another person.
Scripture: Luke 5:17-26
My First Hands-On Bible: 
Through the Bible in Felt: pg 127
Bible Story: Healed Through the Roof
Objective: Kindness means helping those around you.
Scripture: Luke 5:17-26
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes: pg 264-265
The Beginner's Bible: pg 328-333
My Story Bible: pg 80-81
Through the Bible in Felt: pg 127
Big Thoughts for Little People: Letter D
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Teasing
God, I Need to Talk to You About Bullying by Dan Carr
Papa's Pastries - Read review ...
Let's Be Kind by P.K. Hallinan
Matthew 7:12 - Do to others what you would have them do to you.
Steve Green – Hide 'Em in Your Heart Vol. 1 - #2
Fill a jar with candy (good use for Halloween, Valentine's, or Easter candy). Label the jar with the words "Kindness Jar." Sit down with your child(ren) and explain that your family is going to help each other show kindness by using the "Kindness Jar." Every time anyone is "caught" being kind, he or she gets to take out a sweet treat from the jar. Encourage the kids to look for other family members being kind.
Tie this to your Bible story for the week or use the following verses:
1 Corinthians 13:4
Galatians 5:22–23
Proverbs 19:17
Proverbs 12:25
Ephesians 4:32
Fruit of the Spirit (reprinted with permission)
Preparation: For the story, bring in a ripe banana that looks really yummy and a rotten banana.
If I offered you this piece of fruit (holding up the rotten banana), would you like to eat it? (Let the child answer.) Of course you wouldn’t. This banana is yucky and rotten. We want to throw that banana away. What if I offered you this banana (holding up the ripe banana)? Would you like to eat this one? (Let the child answer). I bet you would like to eat this banana. It is yellow and ripe, and probably tastes really yummy. Our life is like these two fruits. On one hand, we have people who do bad things and make us feel sad. While on the other hand, we have people who like to do good things, like help others and be nice to others. Which fruit do you think God wants us to be, the rotten banana or the ripe banana? (Let the child answer.) We have been talking each week about character traits. Let’s think back to some of the ones that we have talked about. (Let the child answer.) Paul writes in Galatians 5:22–23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Do you notice how several of the character traits that we have been learning about are listed as the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23? God wants us to be good fruit. Paul talks about the way Christians should treat others and how we should do things that make God happy!
Questions:
- How does God want us to treat other people? (He wants us to be kind and help others.)
- Why don’t we want to be rotten bananas? (Rotten bananas are like people who try to hurt others and are not nice to us.)
- Who tells about the Fruit of the Spirit in the Bible? (Paul or the Bible tells us the things we should do to be good to other people.)
Weigh the Friendship
Using a balancing scale, demonstrate how playing together and fair balances the friendship. Place a small toy on one side of the scale. Discuss that when one person shares (place equal weighted toy on the other side to balance) the friendship is balanced.
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