Explaining "Born Again" to children

We're reading in John 3:1-7 this morning.  I feel that many of us, especially children, can relate to Nicodemus' question, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

And Nicodemus still had a difficult time understanding Jesus' answer, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Can you imagine Nicodemus' confusion?  "How can these things be?" (verse 9).

How can we explain such an important aspect of what is means to become a Christ follower to our children?  Of course, the Holy Spirit is the one who has to do the revealing (really, I did not grasp this teaching until I was captured by the Lord in my early 20's), but I feel it is good to help children begin to understand what it is to be born again.

I like the way the site, Sermons4Kids approaches the subject.

Think about the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar?" When he came out of his cocoon, he wasn't an improved caterpillar, was he? No,he was a totally new creation. A butterfly! That's the way it is when we let invite Jesus into our heart. He doesn't just make us a better person. He makes us a new creation!

I'm not a fan of the whole "invite Jesus into our heart", because that's not really a biblical principle, so I explained that when we confess our sins, repent, and surrender to Christ, the Holy Spirit enters us, and we become a new creation in Christ.  We look the same on the outside, but our hearts and minds are changed. We are no longer the same person!

The children enjoyed illustrating this lesson with a picture of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly!