A few weeks ago, we talked about how we “grow” in the Lord… We discussed listening to God, praying, reading the Bible – and talked about how those things help us to grow. This is like when you drop grow capsules into water. Without the water, the capsules don’t do anything. The capsules only grow when water is added. We only grow when the Holy Spirit teaches us through the Bible, prayer, other wise people, etc. (These are a ton of fun to put in a large vase with a ton of capsules!)
Object lessons are powerful for kids. Kids are very visual and remember stories. An object lesson is when you relate something a child may see every day to their walk with the Lord.
Here’s the way that our staff learn to do this at camp:
1. Someone selects an object. This can be anything. It may be a billboard, a traffic light, a blanket, a salt shaker, a boiled egg, a swimming pool, a bird, a ring, a pair of glasses, etc.
2. Ask someone to tell you how it relates to their spiritual life.
For instance – A ring is a picture of a marriage, just like baptism is a picture of our new life in Christ. A pair of glasses brings clarity to your vision, just like Scripture brings clarity to the way to live our lives.
When you begin from a text, here’s a way you can develop object lessons:
1. Ask, “What is the main idea?”
2. Ask, “What objects might connect to the main idea in the way that it is used? Could I modify the way something looks or is used to make the point? Is there a way to write on something, tear up something, or talk about what an object DOESN’T do that would be helpful?
3. Make sure that I am focusing in on the text and not on the illustration. The main goal is for kids to walk away with a concept, not a cool experiment.
Cheat sheet: Here are a few subjects to get you started: -think on these things
-flee from sin
-love others like Jesus did
-Jesus was perfect, but we are not
-fruits of the Spirit
-forgiveness, honesty, temptation, obedience, etc.
Helpful hint: Begin a document now of object lessons you randomly think of or that you use. You never know when you may need them again.