Wheat Or Weeds

Title: “Wheat or Weed?”

Matthew 13:24-30

October 11, 2009

Materials: Flowers or pictures of flowers, weed or grass, 2 types of seeds, soil, pots, paper, and markers

Have children identify various seeds that you have for them (for the most part this will be impossible- only the person who collected the seeds will know for sure what they are)

1. Question: Who knows what type of plants these seeds will produce? (the one who purchased the seeds)

2. What type of seeds would you need to produce corn? (corn seeds)

3. If you wanted to grow beans, would you plant corn seeds?

4. To make what you intend to make you must plant the correct seeds, place in good soil, and make sure it gets plenty of sun and rain.

5. Go through the process of planting a seed for the children to see.

SHOW CHILDREN VARIOUS FLOWERS THAT YOU HAVE:

(real flowers or pictures of flowers)

Have children identify the various flowers :( this should be possible by sight- some children will know some of the flowers- do any recognize the weed as a weed?)

1. Instruct children to draw on a sheet of paper what type of flower they would be if they were plants and not children.

2. While children are drawing their plants draw for your picture wheat and weeds growing together- color wheat and weeds different so they stand out. One side of the plant should be the wheat and the other should be the weed- draw the plant in such a way that the weed can be torn away from the wheat)

3. After completing their drawings have various children explain what they have drawn and why they would be that type of plant.

Today’s children sermon is about the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Share Scripture with the children.

Say, someone who wanted to cause the farmers crops to fail planted weeds among the wheat.

Go to the pot where you planted the seed and show children that you are planting another type of seed.

1. The farmer could have tried to pull up all the weeds but would have probably pulled up some wheat as well

2. The farmer decided to let the wheat and tares grow together until the time of the harvest, then the weeds would be destroyed by fire but the wheat would be stored safely in the warehouse.

Ask, What type of plant are you? Most of you called yourselves a flower or a good plant.

God intends on you being a good plant and He will take care of you but you have to be careful because many want you to become like them and be weeds or bad plants.

Take your picture of the wheat and the weed and tear the weed away from the wheat. As you tear the weed away crush up the paper with the weed and discard it.

God will take care of those who love and follow Him, but will not be able to allow the bad to stay among the good forever.

Pray that you will grow to be the good boy or girl that God intended and stay away from the bad of this world.

With time remaining play the following game: THE HARVEST

• Divide children into 4 groups (each group collects in separate corner of room, this is the Wheat)

• Have one Wheat from each group gather in center of room. Have 1 additional child in the center who is a TARE

• On “GO” signal have 4 Center Wheats begin to go to various corners and grab other wheat by the hand and then proceed to another corner for another wheat (only 1 wheat can be taken from each corner at a time) Each wheat stays together until all the wheat is harvested. (At the end of the game you should have 4 bundles of wheat consisting of all children)

• Give some time for wheat to begin to gather and then make a second “GO” signal. On the signal Tare goes and touches any wheat that it can (when touched the entire group would separate, all the wheat except the leader would go to any corner and await another wheat’s touch)