The Littlest Palm

Today's Craft:

Making a growing palm tree which shows us that Jesus wants us to grow tall and strong as a Christian.

Materials Needed:

For each child:
A4 sheets of green paper.
Sellotape.
Scissors.

Preparation:

Cut two sheets of coloured A4 paper longways and glue the pieces together to form a long sheet. Roll this into a tube about 20 mm in diameter and sellotape the end to complete the tube. Make 6 to 8 cuts halfway down the tube. Roll these segments back to make "leaves" and you have a palm tree!

Effect:

At the right point in the story, the tree is made to "grow" by pulling up the leaves carefully. The tree can also be used as a Christmas decoration if made from colourful paper.

The Story:

Once upon a time there was a baby Palm Tree ( Show the audience the little palm tree ). He was growing next to a water pool where there were many tall palms. One day Little Palm looked around and saw all the other palms were much taller than he was. This made him very jealous and for days he sulked. At last he shouted to the tallest palm, "Hey Grandpa," he asked, "Why am I smaller than all the other palms?"

Grandpa answered, "Are you growing next to a water?" Little Palm replied crossly, "Of course I am! I'm right next to the pool of water." Grandpa murmured, "That's good. You seem to be in the sunlight and that should make you grow." Little Palm shouted, "Well, I'm not growing at all. Everybody is bigger than I am."

The Problem:

"H'mmm, I think I know what the problem is," rumbled the old Palm, "Yes, that's it!" Little Palm got mad and yelled, "Well, are you going to tell me or not?" Grandpa snapped, "You need to change your attitude!" Little Palm whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll try to change for the better". Grandpa Palm looked pleased, "That's good son! And I know what your problem is, it's your roots!"

Little Palm looked down at his roots, "My roots?" ( Turn the palm upside down to show it has no roots ), "What's wrong with my roots?" Grandpa replied, "They need to go down deep in the soil." Little Palm looked surprised, and then began to do just that. He pushed and pushed his roots deeper into the soil and guess what happened? That's right, he began to grow! ( Start pulling up the leaves to make Little Palm grow ).

Big and Tall:

Little Palm grew quite a lot and this pleased him so much that he pushed his roots deeper and deeper into the earth, and he grew and grew! ( Gradually pull up Little Palm as big as it will go ). One day a young palm looked up at him and said, "Hey Grandpaps! How did you get so big and tall?" Little Palm smiled to himself as he looked over the tops of all the palms and replied, "That's easy young fellow, all you need to do is to push your roots deep into the soil!"

Growing in Jesus:

And children, you need to grow as well. Jesus lives inside you as your Saviour, and He wants to help you to grow tall and strong as a good Christian. He wants you to produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, such as love, joy and peace. Others will see this in your life and will be drawn to Jesus. In 2 Peter 3:18, we are told how we should grow:

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

And then one day in Heaven, you will hear Jesus say those marvellous words: "Well done you good and faithful servant". Are you a "Little Palm" that Jesus is pleased with? Or do you need to ask Jesus to come into your heart and help you grow?

Making a Palm Tree:

I want you to make a Little Palm ( Show the children how to make a palm tree and how to make it grow ). Now I want you to take it home so that you can tell the story to your parents and friends.

God bless!