Ask your kids: Did you ever wish you were a kite? The answer should be a resounding yes! Show them that as Christians, they are a lot like kites – dressed in spiritual protection that will keep them buoyed in the strong winds of life – in this wonderful Spring object lesson!
Materials
• Kite with all parts, including tails
Preparation
Clear a large area, such as the learning rug, for kids to spin and be kite-like.
Lesson
Have you ever wished you were a kite? Let’s pretend we’re kites! Get everyone up into the center of the learning rug. Tell them to take a couple leaps and take off with their arms spread wide! Pretend the wind is lifting you up and up and up! Shut your eyes now! Where are you? On a beach? In a field? Let them answer and encourage them to twirl around and feel the wind take them even higher. Ask questions: Is it a sunny day? A windy day? What kind of a kite are you? A box kite? A diamond kite? One of those dragon kites with the big dragon head?
In our lives with Jesus, we have a lot in common with kites! The most important thing is that one day, we will surely fly! We will have the freedom to go up, down, and around, see people near and far. We can hang out with angels and have powers akin to flying!
Kite Dynamics
How do kites fly so high and stay up so long? It doesn’t seem possible! As a person runs with a kite, the wind pressing into the kite – this force is called lift. This lift is pushing us into the air! Can you feel it?
At the same time, another force is pulling us back. This force is called drag, and it is caused by the pressure of someone pulling on our string, not letting us go completely. Can you feel that tug?
If they are enjoying their journey you can continue to teach as they twirl and inhale the fresh air. Or they can sit down and you can point out the parts on your own kite.
The Kite Spine and Canvas
Think of your “kite spine,” the wooden part that holds the canvas or plastic in place. It’s strong. In a diamond kite, it is shaped like a cross! Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “Anyone who wishes to come with me must ‘take up his cross daily and follow me.’” He meant that people should sacrifice their wants for his wants. With a kite, it is easy to see — that if you are the canvas and Jesus is the cross, attaching yourself to him will make you stronger and take you higher!
The Kite Tail
Think of your long, pretty tail. With kites, the tail is what keeps the kite from spinning out of control. Have you ever seen a kite lose its tail? It starts doing really fast circles and tumbling toward the ground! A kite can’t fly without its tail.
A tail is a lot like our faith, which comes from “hearing the word of God,” according to Romans 10:17. Think of every knot in your tail as an important passage of Scripture — one that you remember in times of trouble.
Here’s one to remember when you feel like you might spin out of control like a kite in the wind: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Let’s say Psalm 23:4 together (as we fly). Say it with them. We can say that over and over when we feel afraid to keep from “spiraling!”
The Wind
The wind is like the Holy Spirit. It takes you closer to Jesus and keeps you “up” when life’s circumstances want to take you down. Acts 1:8 says “the Holy Spirit will give you power when it comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses…”
People don’t notice kites when they’re on the ground. But how about when they’re sailing in the sky? Everyone who comes past sees them! And they smile! People will smile at you when you have the power of the Holy Spirit taking you where God wants you.
The String
And lastly, what about the string? Who holds the string of a real kite? The person on the ground. What happens if the string should break? The kite will travel a bit and then crash. So actually, the string, which gives the kite “drag,” is the very thing that keeps it in the air! What is the string like, concerning our salvation? God himself.
God can seem far off, like a speck. It seems sometimes when we pray, that our connection to him is only a thread. We can’t always hear him. All we can feel is that “tug,” telling us where to go and what to do next. It feels awkward! We’re not always sure what it means!
However, his connection to us is strong. He is not going to let go of that string! Though people may “stumble, they will never be hurled headlong,” says Psalm 37:24, “for the LORD holds them by the hand.”
The Lord always knows where we are and what way he needs to pull us, to keep that balance of our cross, our tail, the wind, and himself.
And someday, when it’s time, he will reel us in. And we will find ourselves cradled in his loving arms – after our long flight and our days as Christian kites are over!
So let’s think of ourselves as kites and our lives with Jesus as taking us higher and making us freer!