Object Lesson | Car That Can’t Go

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Toy Car, Play-Doh or something that can gunk it up.

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the toy car and ask if any of them have ever had a toy car.  Ask them what their favorite thing to do toy cars.  It is so much fun to race the cars and make them go fast.  Now what happens if in the wheels we gunk it up with play doh?  The wheels don’t spin very well, and it has a hard time moving.  Are you going to be able to win any kind of race with this car?  Probably not.

Explanation: Forgiveness can be the same way.  Let’s imagine for a moment that we are the car.  As this car we are able to race around and share the love that God has for us with other people.  Now all of a sudden when people hurt our feelings and bring pain to our life, it is like getting all that play doh jammed up in the wheels.  We now have a choice.  We can leave that stuff in their where it will harden and get harder and harder to remove, or we can get it out.  With people we have to forgive, because if we don’t, we lose our ability to share God’s love.

Object Lesson | Remove The Pencil

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Pencil

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the pencil.  Ask them if they have ever accidentally poked themselves or got poked by someone with a pencil.  It doesn’t feel good at all.  In fact at times it can really hurt depending on how bad it pokes or stabs.  Now imagine if someone came up to you and stabbed the pencil into your hand.  That would be extremely painful.  Imagine if part of the pencil was still in your hand, would your hand be able to heal?  Most people would go to a doctor or hospital and get the pencil removed so the hand can heal.  Now in that situation who is in more pain, you or the person who stabbed you?  Clearly you are, because you are the one sitting at the hospital with a pencil sticking out of your hand.

Explanation: Being hurt and learning to forgive is exactly the same way.  When someone is mean, or forgets about us, or something else that hurts us it is like getting a pencil thrown in your direction.  There are times where it was just a little poke, and other times it was a stab through the hand.  Now the sad part is that many people decide that they don’t want to get that pencil out.  They want to be mad at the person who hurt them for the rest of their lives.  They take up ever offense they can and hold grudges.  Well over the years a person like that may have pencils sticking out of their hands, back ears, etc.  What they fail to recognize is they are the ones who are allowing the hurts to not heal.  The lack of forgiveness in a persons life ends up hurting themselves more than the ones who applied the hurt in the first place.  If we want to be whole, if we want to be able to love and be loved, then we need to forgive.

Object Lesson | Car That Won't Go

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  Toy Car, Play-Doh or something that can gunk it up.

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it... 

Main Point: When we don’t forgive it stops you from loving!

Illustration: Show the kids the toy car and ask if any of them have ever had a toy car.  Ask them what their favorite thing to do toy cars.  It is so much fun to race the cars and make them go fast.  Now what happens if in the wheels we gunk it up with play doh?  The wheels don’t spin very well, and it has a hard time moving.  Are you going to be able to win any kind of race with this car?  Probably not.

Explanation: Forgiveness can be the same way.  Let’s imagine for a moment that we are the car.  As this car we are able to race around and share the love that God has for us with other people.  Now all of a sudden when people hurt our feelings and bring pain to our life, it is like getting all that play doh jammed up in the wheels.  We now have a choice.  We can leave that stuff in their where it will harden and get harder and harder to remove, or we can get it out.  With people we have to forgive, because if we don’t, we lose our ability to share God’s love.

Object Lesson | Accepting Money

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Some coins, a few dollars

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: God loves, accepts, and wants all of us.

Illustration: Ask the kids if they have ever paid for something at the store. Now ask them how do people pay at the store for their items, like what kind of things do they use. That’s right, some people pay with cash, some people pay with a check or a bank card. There are all sorts of ways to pay. Now lets say that I decide to pay with cash. Does it matter if I use pennies, nickels, quarters, dollars, etc? Of course not, because money is money. It may be different, and have different characteristics, but it is all worth something.

Explanation: You see boys and girls, it is the same with us! God values and loves each of us. We all may have different characteristics, talents, and we may act differently, but God loves us all just the same! God sent His son, Jesus to save all of us!

Object Lesson | Candy Bucket

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Bucket of candy

Preparation: Have a bucket of various candies ready. The more diversity the better.
The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: God loves, accepts, and wants all of us.

Illustration: Show the group the bucket of candy. Start pulling out different pieces of candy and asking if someone would want it. Then pull out a different kind, describe it and then ask if anyone wanted it. Do this a few times, and you can even hand out a few pieces to those that are well behaved.

Explanation: You see boys and girls, every single one of you were trying to get a piece of candy. It didn’t really matter which one, you were constantly raising your hand for one because you know that candy tastes really good. God is the same way with us. Even though on the outside we are all different we have one thing in common with every single person on the planet. No matter if a person is young, old, rich, poor, healthy, sick, tall, short, or anything else we were all created by God. We are all also loved by God. Because of that fact and that connection we should be nice to everyone, and by being nice and doing the right thing we can show others that God loves them!

Object Lesson | Lunch Box

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Two lunch boxes filled with one good lunch and one bad lunch

Preparation: Prepare two lunches with one being good and something you would want to eat, and the other with random, and disgusting things no one would eat for lunch.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: God always wants the best for us.

Illustration: Show the kids the two different lunch boxes.  Ask them how many of them love lunch time!  Of course, most of the kids favorite subject in school is lunch time.  Describe how exciting it is to see what was packed for lunch.  (Here you start with the bad lunch).  As you pull out all the bad items no one would eat the kids should be saying things like gross and disgusting!  Have fun with this, and make it sound like you would love to eat all this.  Then tell the kids of course no one would want to eat any of this!  Now pull out the good lunch box.  Show the kids all the good and nutritious food.  Ask them how many would want to eat this one!  Explain that God wants the very best for us.  Even though bad things happen in life, God wants us to have the very best because he loves us.  If we put our life in God's hands, God will take care of us!  Matthew 6:25-34

Object Lesson | Jelly Donut

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Jelly Donut

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point - You can't really know someone until you get to know them!

Illustration: Show the kids the Jelly donut.  Ask who loves jelly donuts! Explain how it is such a mystery!  You can smell and hold up and do all sorts of other investigations to find out what is in it, but until you open it up and take a bite you can never truly know!  Have one of the kids take a bite and let you know what is inside.  Know make the point with something like this, “Boys and girls, until you really dive in and learn about someone you can never truly know them.  That’s one reason why God wants us to love each other.  We can’t judge someone by the way they dress or look.  We need to get to know someone!"

Object Lesson | Optical Illusion Old/Young Women

Source (Where I saw it): Original, but seen picture all over.

Supplies: Picture of the Old/Young Women

Preparation: Find this picture online or in a book.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We can't judge people, but need to show God's love to everyone!

Illustration: Show the kids the picture.  Ask what they see.  Some will see a young women and others will see an old women.  Some may even see more than that.  Point out the two images and make the point like this: “Boys and girls there are a few different ways to see this picture, each of us see kind of what we want to see.  The same thing happens with people.  We sometimes see what we want to see.  Now the person who drew the drawing knows exactly what they were doing.  The only way to really find out what this is is to ask the creator.  In order for us to find out about someone and who they really are, we need to actually talk to them.  You never really know about someone until you take the time to get to know them.  God wants us to show his love to everyone!”

Object Lesson | $20 Bill

Source (Where I saw it): Saw versions of this at Victory Church, online at Mormon Share, and at various Kids' camps.

Supplies: $20 bill, $50 bill, or $100 bill, etc.

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We are all worth a lot to God, no matter what we do or what happens to us.  So we need to treat each other with the same respect.

Illustration: Show a nice new $20 Bill.  Ask the kids who wants it.  Then crumple it up, throw on ground, pretend to sneeze on it, etc.  After each action ask if the kids still want it.  Everyone still wants it, of course.  After a while ask some of the kids why they still want it.  Most of the kids will respond, " because it is still money!"  Now explain that we as people are the same way.  To God we all have value.  No matter what we do our what happens to us, God loves us!  This is a great lesson in and of itself.  If you want, you can take it a step further.  I used it to illustrate the point that since we all are very valuable to God, we need to see each other as valuable and love one another.

Object Lesson | Cup of Pens

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Cup of pens, pencils, etc.

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: God has a unique, specific plan for each of us, but we all have the same general plan of reaching out to others.

Illustration: This is a cup of various pens and pencils.  Each pen and pencil is a little different.  They all have different variations in their size, shape, or color, but all of them are held in this cup.  Each pen or pencil has a purpose.  They are used to write with.  Now that is where they change a bit.  Each one is used to write different things, so even though they all have the same purpose, that purpose comes out in different ways.  People are the same.  We are all different sizes, shapes, and colors, but God has all of us in His hands.  We each have the same purpose - to love God, and others, but each of us has a unique way to do that b/c God has a unique plan for each of us.  We need to understand that God has each of us and help each other accomplish the unique plan has for us, because ultimately we all have that same purpose of showing others the love God has for everyone.