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Build It, Play It: Four Kinds of Dirt

  • Writer: Maralee Allen
    Maralee Allen
  • Jun 10
  • 2 min read

Milo says, “Warning: This project could result in dirty paws!”


Milo’s Dirty Paws and His Big Smile
Milo’s Dirty Paws and His Big Smile


My favourite parable has always been, “The Sower and the Seed.” Maybe that’s because I’ve always enjoyed playing in the dirt!



A Seed Project from My Childhood



Instead of just reading the story in Matthew 15, why not make the story? All you need is four cups, four seeds and the great outdoors! 


                



Find the right kinds of dirt for each cup.


Two plastic cups, one with dirt, and one with large rocks


  • Cup 1 gets lumps of clay or the worst dirt you can scrape up. Pack it down hard!

  • Cup 2 gets rocks with just a sprinkle of dirt on top.


White dog chewing on a long stem of grass

Dig up a weed for Cup 3. Milo chose quack grass, which is fantastic, since it’s almost invincible!


The best dirt goes into Cup 4.


Now it’s time to plant your seeds.


Black cat looking into plastic cups filled with dirt.

In Cup 1, the seed sits on top of the hard, packed “path.”


The seed can sit in a little dirt on top of the rocks in Cup 2.




Poke the seed into the dirt in both Cups 3 and 4.


Water lightly and review the story.


Four cups of dirt, with a bottle of water to the side. One of the cups has long stems of grass growing out.

Seeds are the good news about God’s love.


  • The hard, packed path where birds can eat the seed (Cup 1) is people who don’t understand the good news and Satan snatches it from their mind.


  • The rocky dirt (Cup 2) is people who get excited about God, but when trouble starts, their love for God is weak and dies away.


  • The weedy dirt (Cup 3) is people who get excited about God, but then they let worries choke out their love for God.


  • The good dirt (Cup 4) is people who hear the good news, understand it and let God’s love grow, changing them and the world around them.


Four cups of dirt, sitting in the windowsill. One of the cups has long stems of grass growing out.

Keep watering the cups and checking on them over the next week or two.

When you “visit” your cups, talk about the four kinds of people shown in the four kinds of dirt.


Close up of plastic cup filled with dirt. Roots are seen growing.

I had an unexpected result in my Cup 3.


As the brave little seed sprouted, I could see the quack grass roots taking over the cup. I felt so bad for my seed that I had to rescue it from the weeds and plant it properly. I couldn’t watch it suffer and die!


A fun next step could be figuring out some ways to “plant seeds” in your neighbourhood (sharing the good news about God). It could even involve some literal seed planting and weed pulling.

 
 
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