Bruised Bananas – Object Lessons From a Banana

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Bruised
Bananas –
Object
Lessons From
a Banana
www.creativeobjectlessons.com

Bananas are enjoyed all around
the world. They are full of
goodness, but they are easily
bruised and can quickly turn to
mush. Like many fruits, they can
be extremely sweet and a
delight. But they can also be
easily bruised and turn rotten.
They make a great object
lessons on how we look at the
outside to judge the inside and
also on how we treat one
another, how we express the
fruits of the spirit to others, or
we cause hurt to others.

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Games using Bananas
Warning: Bananas are easily bruised
and can quickly become a pile of
mush and peel. These games have a
tendency to be messy so you will
want to play them in an area where
it is easy to mop up the mess. You’ll
also need a lot of bananas. You can
also use plastic or toy bananas for
some of the games as this will reduce
the number of bananas and can tie in
to the later discussion. But real
bananas are so much more messy
and fun! Green bananas will last a
little longer and be a little less messy.

A Peeling Bananas – Youth must
peel a banana and eat it with hands
tied behind their backs.
Banana Bites – Give each youth a
banana, or choose a representative
from each team. The objective is to
peel and eat the banana while
holding one hand behind his/her
back. In other words, the youth
must peel the banana with his or
her teeth, then eat it. The first to
do so and whistle, is the winner.

Banana Circle Race – Everyone
takes off their shoes and sits with
their team in a circle on the floor.
Youth must pass a banana around
the circle from person to person
using only their feet. Each
successful pass to a person adds a
point but teams lose a point if a
hand is used or if the banana is
dropped. Once the time is up, the
team with the most points wins.

Banana Duel – Have everyone pair up
and tie their left wrist together with a
bandana. Give each a banana to hold
in their left hand. When you say “go”,
they peel the banana with only their
right hand and try to push it in their
partner’s face/mouth. You may want
to do this blindfolded to add
excitement. First to do so wins!
Banana Eating Contest – This is the
typical peel the banana and eat it
contest with a twist. Youth must put
one leg of a pair of new nylons over
their face. The first person to eat the
entire banana through the nylon
wins! It can be done but be prepared
for a mushy mess!

Banana Footrace – Girls must peel a
banana and feed it to their team
mate using only their feet. You can
break the stalk so that the start is
easier.
Banana Mascots – Each team is
given a banana and a bag of random
items (felt, foil, beads, etc… BE
CREATIVE). They must create a
personality and appearance for their
banana with the items they get. One
volunteer from each group gets up
and introduces their banana mascot
to the group. It’s better if each group
gets different items for variety.

Banana Grab – (Played like the game
of spoons but with bananas) – Have
everyone sit around a table and put
one banana for each person in the
middle of the table. Take one Banana
out so there is one less banana than
the number of people. Have one
person deal four cards to each player.
The goal with the cards is to get four
of a kind (4 Aces, 4 Kings, etc.) To
start the game the dealer will take
one card from the remaining deck.
They must decide if they want to
swap the card out with one of theirs
or pass it to the left. If they swap it
out, they must pass one of their
previous cards to the left, leaving
them always with four cards.

The person to the left does the same
thing with the passed cards and the
cards continuously go around the
table. When someone has four of a
kind they can grab a banana. Once
one person has four of a kind
everyone else can grab a banana at
the same time. Shuffle and deal
again, removing one spoon each
time and eliminating a new player!
Banana Necking – Youth line up
single file in teams. Without using
hands, they must pass the banana
down the line by trapping the
banana under the chin.

Banana Olympics – Prepare a copy
of the tasks for each team and place
them in a bag in the middle of the
room. The teams should sit at the
side of the room. Allocate a bag to
each team. Give each team four
bananas. One player from each
team runs one after the other to
their bag and pulls out a piece of
paper with a task written on it then
runs back to their team. The player
reads out the task and performs it.
One leader per team should make
sure that this is done correctly. The
first team to complete the tasks has
won.

Sample tasks: Drop a banana under
your clothes from collar to ankle, Hold
two bananas like horns on your head
and act like a bull, Tickle a players bare
feet with a banana, Throw a banana to
the ceiling and catch it again, Sit on a
banana and squash it, Walk out of the
room with a banana between your
knees, Balance a banana on your finger
for 5 seconds, Balance a banana on
your face for 5 seconds, etc.
Banana On a String – Tie strings
around several peeled bananas and
hang them from the ceiling. Ask for
volunteers to race to see who can eat
the banana first without touching it
with their hands. Increase the difficulty
by using unpeeled bananas.

Banana Relays – There are a lot of
different relay ideas you can do:
Carry the banana under your
armpit and hop on one foot, Hold
the banana between your knees,
two teammates toss the banana
back and forth down the field and
back (designate a minimum
number of tosses), Leapfrog
formation and first player hops
over players while holding banana
and then tosses banana to next
player in line to do the same. Do
them as individual races or
combine them all together for each
person in line to do something
different

Banana Rugby – Teams of youth
must score goals by throwing a
banana into a bucket which is
guarded by a goal keeper. Split the
group into two equal sized teams
who each choose a goal keeper. The
keeper will be placed on a stool
holding a bucket on the opposite
side from his team. Players may not
run with the banana. You cannot
touch the player in possession of the
banana. You can only pass the
banana with your hands. A team
loses possession of the banana if a
member takes more than one step
before passing it. Players have a 10
second count to throw or it is an
automatic turnover.

If a pass is intercepted, is batted
to the ground, or goes out of
bounds it changes possession. The
opposing team starts their turn
from where the banana comes to
rest. More than one banana in the
game means more action! You can
also make sure the girls are
included by requiring each pass
from a guy to be made to a girl
and vice versa or only allowing
girls to score.

Banana Scavenger Hunt – Divide
the youth into teams and give
them a list of items that can be
measured with bananas.
Alternatively, you can provide the
measurements and they have to
find out what was measured in
banana lengths. You’ll want to use
bananas of the same size, but you
can adjust a little by cutting the
end of the stem. You can do it at
the church, or with permission you
may also be able to do something
in a public park or shopping mall.

You’ll need to get permission for
management for shopping malls or
places of business, but some will
be happy to allow you to do so. (By
the way, you can use a tape
measure to measure all the items
yourself and just divide it by the
measurement of your standard
banana to get the banana lengths.)
Give extra point for the team that
eats the mashed banana at the
end. You can measure signs,
streets, sidewalks, objects, people,
places, buildings, etc.

Banana Shuffle – Divide your youth
group into relay teams with 3 or for
persons per team. the first person on
each team must run to a designated
location and back, holding the banana
like a runner’s baton, then pass the
banana off to the next team member.
Continue until you have a winning
team. Variation: Before each runner
begins to run they must peel a
section of the banana, break off that
section and eat it. Enough banana
must be left for the last member of
the team. You can make it more
difficult by turning the race into an
obstacle course in which they have to
go over, under and around various
objects.

Banana Slap – Peel a bunch of
bananas and hand out the strips of
banana peels to everyone. Then you
have them partner up and grab a
hand of a partner. Play some music.
When the music stops, the object is
to slap someone in the face with the
banana peel before someone slaps
you. The winners move on and the
losers are eliminated. Last standing
wins!
Banana Split Bonanza – Create a
giant Banana split using a rain
gutter. be sure to clean it with soap
and water or line it with plastic wrap
first.

Bobbing for Bananas – Follow the
same rules as you would in bobbing
for apples, but use bananas
instead.
Behind the Back Banana Peeling
Contest – With hands tied behind
their backs using a bandana, team
members must race to a pile of
unpeeled bananas, select a banana
and peel it completely and drop it
in a bowl. No hands are allowed.
Youth then return to the line where
the next member’s hands are tied
and sent off to peel a banana.
These peeled bananas can later be
used in the banana splits-as long as
they don’t touch the ground!

Doctor Banana – Each team peels
and cuts up a banana into equal
pieces. Then tell them they must
put the banana back together using
string, toothpicks, sticky tape,
rubber bands, etc. The team that
produces the best reconstructed
banana wins.
Head over Peels – Teams must lie
down on their backs in a long line
(one persons head at the other
persons feet). The person at the
front starts with a banana in
between their feet and must lift
their legs up to pass it on to the next
persons feet. The first team to get
the banana all the way back to the
end of their line wins!

Hidden Banana – The youth must
stand in a circle with their hands
behind their backs. One stands in
the middle of the circle. While the
person in the middle’s eyes are
closed, walk around the outside of
the circle and quietly place the
banana into someone’s hand. The
person in the middle is then
allowed to open his or her eyes.
The banana is secretly passed from
person to person around the circle.
The person in the center must
study people’s faces and work out
who has the banana. If caught with
the banana, the person holding it
must then replace the person in the
center.

Instant Banana Splits – A girl from
each team makes a banana split in
in a teammate’s mouth (guy). Cut a
hole in the garbage bag and put it
over him so only his head is
exposed. The guy lies on the on the
floor. Girls stand above him and
with hands straight out must drop a
slice of banana, a bit of chocolate
syrup, some whip cream, chopped
nuts, and a cherry into the guys
mouth. First guy to eat it and
whistle wins. You’ll need some wet
towels to clean up.

Quick draw Bananas – Two teams
face each other in parallel lines.
The people have to put their
banana in a pocket. When the
signal is given, the people must
draw their bananas like guns and
instantly peel it and eat it as fast as
they can. Whoever has their
banana eaten first wins.
Tallest Tower – Each team of youth
sits in a circle with 6-10 bananas.
Within a given time limit the team
that builds the tallest tower using
the bananas wins. You can make it
more challenging by requiring that
only one banana is allowed to
touch the table.

Steal the Banana – Divide the youth
group into equal teams on opposite
sides of the room. You can play with
more teams so that one team is on
each wall of the room. Within each
team ask the youth to number off.
Place a banana in the middle of the
room, halfway between the two
teams. Teams must start out
touching the wall. Call out numbers
and the youth on each team who
has that number must run to the
banana grab it and bring it back to
their team. The first team to collect
three banana’s wins.

Whole Bananas – Divide into teams
and then members of each team pair
up with a partner on the same team.
Provide one banana for each pair who
will peel it and then place opposite
ends of the banana in each persons
mouth. Then they run together
around a chair placed about 10 feet
away and back to their team. Then
the next two people peel their
banana and the relay continues. Each
pair scores 3 points for the team for
completing their run without
breaking their banana and 1 point for
making the run with a broken banana.
The first team to have all its pairs
complete their runs gets 5 extra
points. Highest score wins!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
For added spiritual application you
can prepare one or more of the
following props. These can each
represent a possible spiritual
condition as indicated in the
parenthesis. Keep it simple for
younger age groups, or expand it for
those who are more mature.
1. Place a banana in the fridge for a
couple days, the skin will turn
black, but it will still be fine
inside. (Outside it looks a mess,
but inside it is still wholesome.)

2. Just before your meeting,
carefully squeeze and bruise a
banana so that the inside is
bruised and mushy, but the
outside skin is still whole and
unbroken. (Outside looks fine
but inside it has been bruised)
3. Add a plastic or fake banana
(It’s fake)
4. Let one banana rot (Rotton
both outside and inside)
5. Green Banana (Fruit is not fully
expressed yet… it is still
growing)
6. Ripe banana that is perfect for
eating (Sweet and enjoyable)

7. Banana that which was used in
the games and is now quite a
mess. (Abused, injured, bruised
by others)
8. Label from some other fruit on
a banana (Labels, name calling,
not true)
9. Before the lesson, get a banana
& a sewing needle. You insert
the sewing needle into several
spots through the banana skin
and sort of “swish” it back &
forth, so that you cut the
banana into pieces inside its
skin. (Looks fine on the outside,
but is all cut up on the inside.)

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL
• What was the key ingredient of
the games?
• What is a banana?
• What are some characteristics
of a banana?
• In what ways could what
happened to the bananas, be
similar to what can happen to
people?
• Have you ever been hurt or
injured by someone? Even if it
was just a game, can people
still be bruised and hurt?

• What does this tell us about
how we treat people?
• Scripture says that Christians
are known by their fruit.
(Matthew 7:20) How do we
evaluate whether fruit is good
or bad?
• How can these Banana’s (refer
to props) represent spirit
conditions of a person?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL
• What are the first things that
come to mind when you
consider the question: “How is
your spiritual life going these
days?”
• What are some of the things
that people use to determine
the quality of a person’s
spiritual life?
• How do you know if a person is
a Christian or not?
• What are some of the things
that people use to evaluate if a
person is a Christian? Of the
things that you have listed,
which are actions, words,
thoughts, values?

• Are the things in the list
mostly internal or external
things?
• What are some of the fruits of
a Christian’s life? (see
Galatians 5:22-23)
• Are these internal or external,
or both? Explain.
• Which traits of the fruit of the
Spirit are easiest for you?
• Which ones are the biggest
areas of growth for you?

• The list in Galatians was not
meant to be the total list as
other qualities are also
mentioned in scripture like
holiness, humility,
compassion, generosity,
contentment, thankfulness,
mercy, grace, sincerity, and
perseverance. Which trait(s)
on this “expanded” list of the
fruit of the Spirit come
easiest and hardest for you?

MAKE IT PERSONAL
• Take time to discuss ways youth
have shown the fruits of the
spirit or have experienced them.
Also, discuss experiences that
have bruised us and hurt us.
How did each of these
experiences make us feel? What
can we learn from them? How
does it affect you or others?
• Which of fruits are lacking in
your life? why?
• What do you need to do to grow
and become more fruitful?
• What can you learn from this
lesson in how you personally
treat others?

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM
BANANAS
Be Careful How We Treat Others
Bananas are really fragile fruits that
need careful handling and
preparation. You have to handle
bananas gently so you don’t bruise
them. The same holds true for the
way we treat others. Our words and
actions towards others can leave
bruises upon their hearts just like
bruises on a banana that has not
been handled with care.
Sometimes, a person who has been
treated unkindly for a while can
become angry and bitter inside.

He starts to decay from the inside.
But even if the fruit becomes
rotten, the seeds can be planted
in good soil and new and
wonderful can grow out of it. God
has the power to come into our
lives, to give us new life, and the
opportunity to abide in him and
produce good fruit.

Don’t Judge by the External
Unfortunately there are also those
who try to fake the fruit of the spirit
in their lives. Fruit is a natural
product of drawing from the source
(John 15) You don’t force fruit. It is
the outflow of abiding in Christ.
Some people pretend that they are
loving, kind people, but they are
really angry bitter people on the
inside. Some people try to pretend
that they have joy because of
material things, but really they are
unhappy miserable people. You can’t
always tell the quality of fruit by it’s
outside. What you look like on the
outside is not what is important to
God.

What your heart and life look like
on the inside is what is important
to God. How do we know if a
banana is good? First we look at
what we can see. Then we open it
up and look at the inside. How do
we know if a person is a Christian?
We look at their lives that we can
see, but that doesn’t always tell us
accurately. As Christians we should
not only have good outsides, but
we should have good insides.
People we are around look at what
they can see so we need to be sure
we are acting the way Jesus wants
us to. God looks at the inside so we
need to make sure that we are
acting the way Jesus wants us to!

SCRIPTURE VERSES
Psalms 34:8 – “O taste and see
that the Lord is good! How
blessed is the man who takes
refuge in Him”
1 Samuel 16:7 – “But the LORD
said to Samuel, “Do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I
have rejected him. The LORD
does not look at the things
people look at. People look at the
outward appearance, but the
LORD looks at the heart.”

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness and
self-control. Against such things
there is no law.”
John 15

Creative Object Lessons
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and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Bruised Bananas – Object Lessons From a Banana

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