This has been hugely helpful to us lately! I scoured the internet to find a Fruits of the Spirit poster that depicted the actual words and not pieces of fruit and couldn’t find one, so I made my own 😉
I took an old picture frame, painted the glass with chalkboard paint, and voila!
(We have this across from our kitchen table so it’s easy for everyone to see/ talk about throughout the day)
To combat undesired behaviors (i.e. impatience, anger, roughness, disobedience, etc.) we’ve EMPHASIZED and ENCOURAGED their opposites from the fruits of the spirit.
whining ➡️ PATIENCE
hitting/ not sharing ➡️ KINDNESS
anger/ frustration ➡️ SELF-CONTROL
yelling/ roughness ➡️ GENTLENESS
dis or delayed obedience ➡️ GOODNESS
complaining/ “I want that one instead” etc. ➡️ JOY (thankfulness)
Not doing what they said they would ➡️ FAITHFULNESS (keeping our promises)
The pictures for each word should be mostly self-explanatory, but:
- goodness is a check-mark
- faithfulness is two hands shaking like they’re making a promise
- and gentleness is a feather
We talk about how we need The Spirit’s HELP to do these things, and when a behavior arises, we say “Aww man that sounded demanding, try that again with a kind voice.” Having them “try that again” gives added practice of doing the behavior that you want, and when they do it the new way you can praise and make a big deal of it. “Wow that’s what I like to hear” or “that was so kind thank you” or “I love how you took a deep breath instead of hitting me” 😜
What are some ways you help encourage the Fruit of the Spirit?
Toddler Tips 