Knowing how to teach character traits can be tricky. However, Little Pot, the main character in the lesson and a fruit-bearing vessel created by the potter, brings clarity and simplicity to the task. In these seven FREE lessons, children learn the fruit-bearing cycle and how to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Likewise, the activities perfectly blend fun and learning with understanding. The fourth lesson in this series, A Strong and Upright Stem, is all about integrity. So, let’s dive into Little Pot’s fourth lesson and discover how to teach character traits!

Read more: How to teach character traits with Little Pot – #4 Integrity

Why you should use Little Pot when teaching character traits.

First, let’s discuss why Little Pot is the perfect tool for teaching character traits. The seven lessons illustrate complex concepts in a way that’s easy to understand. Little Pot’s fruit-growing cycle can teach character traits such as identity, humility, integrity, relationships, and knowledge. Moreover, Little Pot is a tangible reminder of the creator’s love and care for us. It symbolizes how God nurtures us, wants a relationship with us, and helps us grow into the people He wants us to be.

You’re not just teaching good behavior when you use Little Pot. You’re helping others understand that character is not fixed or innate but something God cultivates and develops over time. Using Little Pot as a teaching tool develops the skills and attitudes needed to become the vessels God designed us to be. Each week, we will discuss one of the following lesson plans.

• Lesson Plan 1: Identity
• Lesson Plan 2: Humility and How to Contain It
• Lesson Plan 3: Planting the Right Seeds
• Lesson Plan 4: Strong and Upright Integrity
• Lesson Plan 5: Fostering Healthy Relationships
• Lesson Plan 6: Blooming Knowledge
• Lesson Plan 7: Producing Fruit of the Spirit

If you prefer to buy the entire curriculum with all the lesson plans, worksheets, posters, and activities included. Click below.

Lesson Plan 4: Strong and Upright Integrity

This series’s fourth lesson plan is about integrity. This lesson plan aims to define integrity and discover why it is important to be strong and upright. Students will explain the function of a stem as supporting the plant and transporting substances to all parts of the plant. Likewise, they will connect how their integrity supports their character and transports the seed, God’s Word, to others.

The set of Lesson 4

Study plants or pictures of plants. Look closely at the stem of the plant. Then, ask students to tell you what they think the job of the stem is. Discuss that they grow straight and upright. Then read the following Bible verses looking for a word that describes us when we walk straight (not crooked) and upright.

Bible verses for how to teach character traits

Whoever walks in integrity walks straight, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. Proverbs 10:9

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. Proverbs 11:3 

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. Proverbs 19:1

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.
Proverbs 28:6

That word is integrity. Dig deeper into what it means to “walk” and “talk” straight and upright. Younger children will look for a literal meaning, like walking in a straight line. Help them to understand that it also means to be honest and trustworthy.

Discuss with them when someone has lied to you; it makes it hard to trust them. Likewise, if they have been mean to you, you may not want to play with them or hear what they say. Then explain that we will see how the stem of the plant can be like a person with integrity.

Review the previous lessons for teaching character traits.

Next, explain the parable’s meaning as you review the previous lessons.

Review the information in the first, second, and third lessons about identity, humility, and the seed. Realizing that strong, upright integrity grows from God’s Word planted in a humble heart.

Procedures

A. Celery Experiment

Explain that celery acts like the stem of a plant. Using the food coloring, jars, and celery, complete the experiment. Record daily observations in an experiment journal by drawing, coloring, and writing.

• Step 1: First, fill three jars half full of water. Add a few drops of food coloring to each jar. Choose a different color for each jar. Darker colors work best.
• Step 2: Gather three stalks of cleaned celery and cut about an inch off the bottom, leaving the leaves on the top.
• Step 3: Thirdly, stand one stalk in each jar.
• Step 4: Let the celery sit for a few days and record your daily observations.

The complete curriculum includes a worksheet to copy and record your observations. Click here to purchase the booklet.

B. Connecting the Stem to Having Good Integrity.

Create a Venn Diagram like the one pictured below. Compare the functions of a stem to the function of integrity. Both transport substances and are straight, upright, and supportive.

A Stem	Integrity
Supports plants and holds leaves, flowers, and fruits above the ground.	Give support to others and hold them up when they feel bad.
Keep the leaves in the light and enable flowers and fruit to grow.	Keep others in the light and enables strong relationships and knowledge to grow.
Transport fluids and nutrients between the roots and leaves.	You are trustworthy, and the information that you share helps others grow.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is good to note that no one ever notices the stem. Consequently, we do not look at a plant and say, “Wow, that’s a nice stem.” Instead, we see the leaves, the flower, and the fruit. The same is valid with integrity. No one notices your integrity. They will notice what your integrity supports and that you are trustworthy and honest. What are some things that you do that show good integrity?

What could happen to the plant if a stem has a small crack? It would keep it from growing. Likewise, how would a small crack in our integrity damage us or others?

In the next lesson, we will discuss what grows from good integrity. The straight and upright stem will sprout leaves, and the leaves represent the next idea of how to teach character traits. However, If you can’t wait, purchase the complete curriculum here for just $10.25.

In the meantime, I hope you will sign up for the Fruitful Friday emails and Little Pot’s seven fruit-bearing steps below.

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