Everyday object lessons

This is specifically how I will teach my 8-11 yr old boys the story of the temptations of Jesus and other concepts about temptation. You can change the lesson to fit your circumstances. My objective for this lesson is to cover some simple concepts
1) Temptation is influence of Satan to choose the wrong behavior. We have the age (over eight) and mental ability (not handicapped) to know right from wrong and are accountable. It is a battle within our heart and mind of whether to choose Satan or choose God.
2) When we choose Satan we choose darkness for our spirit, when we choose God, we choose light and companionship of the Holy Ghost.
3) Tell the simple JST translation story of Jesus’ temptation after the 40 day fast
4) Repeat the scripture many times: get thee behind me Satan

Here’s how I want to do that
On the flannel board have 3 scenes, each one of the 3 different temptations of Jesus. On the wall or door or board have the word temptation and then a line leading to a picture of the Savior and another line with nothing on the end.

Our classroom can go entirely dark, so each boy will have a flashlight to shine on the flannel story or board.

1. Hand out the flashlights very soon after walking in. Give instructions that they are to shine the flashlight on the item that I tell them, or they lose the flashlight and if they flash in someone else’s face, they lose their light. I will probably give them a second chance after awhile, but I’m not going to tell them that! Turn off the lights and ask them to check that the light works. Tell them we have a very special, fun lesson where we get to use the flashlights in the dark, so lets get thru the other things quickly so we have lots of time to use the flashlights.

2. Cover any announcements and other things as needed.

3) Turn off the lights. Shine on the word temptation and discuss the simple definition. When we talk about the battle going on in our heart and mind, then they get to go wild with the light all over the room and we when we say, Get thee behind me Satan, then all the lights shine on the pix of the Savior. One time we will illustrate that choosing Satan’s influence leaves our spirit in darkness and everyone will turn off their light.

4) Have someone read the stories of the temptations of Christ – the Joseph Smith Translation gives a better detail so I will use that. As we get to each one the boys can shine the lights on the flannel board.

5) Reinforce the idea that thru our whole life we will have temptations. Satan will influence us to behave different than we know is right. We must do as Jesus taught us and say to ourselves, Get thee behind me Satan and then have courage and choose God. Use the lights on the words and pix on the board.

6) Find one or two stories that give illustration of temptation and how the choice brought the person more light. And then do step 5 again. Maybe there is a primary song we can sing that goes with this too.

This was a sharing time in primary. I adapted it a bit for our Family Home Evening. Get a clear bowl or clear glass pitcher and fill with water. Get two oranges. You could draw a face on the orange if you want too. Put the oranges in the pitcher to show that they float. Go the scriptures in Ephesians and read thru the portion on the armour of God. You can include as much or as little of this as you have time for. Have class members come up with things both that strengthen or represent the armour of God, and things that weaken or distress the armour of God. Each time you discuss something that weakens the armour, cut a slice off of the orange peel. Keep going until the whole orange is peeled.

Keep the other orange whole. Float the two a few times during the lesson to see how they are doing. When the whole orange is peeled, the orange without the armour sinks to the bottom.

For this story, tell a story that you have actually experienced or heard (we have all done this!) about driving on a new highway and its unfamiliar. You have a map or even someone giving you directions and for what ever reason, you drive past the exit.This is parable that illustrates the scripture I Cor 10:13, There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. If we are listening to the spirit, following the council of prophets and scriptures, then there will always be an exit off the highway. If we do not get off the highway at the first exit, and choose to continue in a temptation, then we have ignored the escape, we have chosen the temptation. God is faithful to give us an exit, but he will not take away our free agency to ignore the exit and it will be our own will if we succumb to evil and temptation.

Aim:
If you let your bad habits grow out of control, you will be overcome by them (their effects) and will find it very hard to win over them. Therefore identify your bad habits at their roots and make your best to overcome them as soon as possible. Apparatus:
– Test tube filled with water
– Potassium parmanganate crystals (powder)
All pharmacies sell potassium permanganate as it is used as a disinfectant to wash fruit. Note that since the postassium permanganate is sold as powder you won’t actually see the crystals .
– spatula
– piece of white paper (A4/letter size will do)
Method:

Introduce this object lesson to your audience by saying that the potassium parmanganate crystals, which are very small (barely visible with the naked eye) can be compared to our bad habits, that can also seem unimportant. Now take a very small amount of potassium permanganate with the spatula, and in front of the class drop the crystals in the test tube. Mix well. Place the white paper behind the test tube and ask the class if they can observe any differences. Potassium parmanganate is very soluble in water so the colour would have changed to a pinkish colour, but not every one will notice this change. Observe to your audience that these little defects did not make any difference even if left unchecked, therefore lets repeat our behaviour. Add some more crystals (a small amount) and you should notice that the pinkish colour becomes more visible. With two more repetitions the colour of the water changes into a visible pink colour. At this point, point out to your audience that the small potassium parmanganate crystals have changed considerbly the colour of the water. So do our defects if they go unchecked they are capable of changing are character and the way people see us completely.

Aid:
With this you can build on with the story of the prince and the dwarf. The prince was walking in the forest when he met a dwarf that challenged him for a duel. The prince refused, because the dwarf was small and weak. But the dwarf wouldn’t listen and the prince was forced to fight. The battle was short lived in a couple of seconds the prince disarmed the dwarf and knocked him on the floor. The prince walked away. Time passed and the prince became king. One day while walking in the forest a giant lept out at the king and challenged him for a duel. The king had no choice but to fight for his life to the bitter end. The fight took a long time, but finally though exhausted the king overcame the dwarf and killed him. At this point the king realised that the giant was the same dwarf that he fought with years ago. The gist is that the prince should have finished the dwarf of the first time round. Because he didn’t, he nearly got killed by the giant. The same applies to our defects (dwarfs), if we let them grow unchecked they become (giants) which are difficult if not impossible to overcome.

This is a talk given by 11 yr old Alex.
The idea was based on a story given in a general conference talk – Oct 99
First you make two paper airplanes. One needs to fly very straight and true. The other needs to look a little battered and fly more in loops. There are patterns out there for making the different types. Then here is the talk: Imagine a plane taking off, the plane is in perfect condition the crew is trained and they have flight plan. If you get on this plane your sure to get to your destination. Now, imagine another plane taking off it doesn’t really have a place to go. It’s not in good shape. Its crew is a bunch of high school kids who have just graduated and have not been properly trained yet. If you get on this plane your almost sure to not reach your destination.

The first plane is god’s plan of happiness. Just like in the plane the church has leaders who are called of god. Just like the flight plan, gods plan of happiness is clearly written out in the scriptures. If we get on this plane, then we will be happy, and reach our destination of living with God again.

The second plane is the world. It has no destination, no plan, no consistent direction or standards. One month the world wants pokemon, next it wants pogs. One year the world wants Harry Potter, next it wants Animorphs. (This lesson is old! Pick popular toys and media of today.) Everthing is subject to the whims of popular culture. The passengers on this plane don’t know where they are going, so they never know if they get there.

If I were a passenger with a specific destination, I would pick the one with trained pilots and a flight plan. I would feel safer and more secure the God’s plan of happiness.

Then read this scripture Eph. 4:11-14

Source: Bob Wleszewsli
This is is story taken from the Focus on the Family Plugged In magazine.
It is a struggle to keep our family’s movie viewing habits free of pornography and graphic violence. “The hardest part in this struggle for some parents is saying no when other parents are saying yes. Perhaps this will help. Suppose you pulled up to the drive-thru window of your favorite fast food restaurant and there was a sign that said, Serving E. coli contaminated beef today. Would you order? Of course not. What if ten cars in front of you all got hot burgers? Would it make a difference? You’d quickly hit the gas pedal and head elsewhere. Why should it be any different if it’s E coli entertainment? Yet adults continue to take their children out for toxic nibbles of what Hollywood is eager to serve.”

Source: Elder Earl M. Monson conference talk Nov. 98
Make up a jar or cup full of colored water the same as you would for coloring eggs. Hot water (not too hot) with a tablespoon of white vinegar and food coloring. Have each person in the class or family put their fingers or hand into the jar with the dye then take it out and dry their hand.
Here is the quotation taken directly from the conference talk: “We may not appreciate the capacity of our our minds to absorb and remember if we think it doesn’t matter what books or movies or other activities are fed into it. The Lord wisely told us to seek first for the kingdom of God and then other desirable things will also come to us. Elder Sterling W. Sill noted that our mind, like the dyer’s hand, is colored by what it hold; that is, if I hold in my hand purple dye, my hand becomes purple. Those who help establish the Church know what is bad, but they consistently choose the better part and fill their minds with pure thoughts.”
Continue or elaborate on the discussion about how what we read or see stays with us just like the dye. A good scripture to go with this is the 13th article of Faith.

Take a spool of thread and wrap it once or twice around the volunteer’s fingers or wrists. Have them break the thread. This represents bad habits. When we first begin a bad habit like smoking, or even something as simple as watching an inappropriate t.v. show or using foul language, it is easy to break. Now wrap the thread around many many times and see if the volunteer can break the thread. If we let bad habits go on and on, we lose the power to easily return to something better. It requires more will power and may require help from someone else. Don’t give up your freedom and power by remaining in your bad habits.

What would you do if you were walking down the sidewalk in your neighborhood and you see a friend working in his yard and he runs up to you and has an armful of gooey mud that he wants to give you? Do you move closer and hold out your arms and accept all that mud? Yuck! Or do you say, “No, thanks. I don’t want that mud.” And keep on walking? The mud is like gossip or angry words or sarcasm or cutting remarks or criticism. People who dish this mud out of their mouths are wanting to give it to you. Do you have to take it? Or can you refuse? Of course, you have the choice to refuse. You don’t have to take offense, or get angry. You can choose to not let the other person’s angry words rub off on you.

If you have a screen door you know it works well for keeping out cold in winter and letting in the nice breeze in the summer time. When people come in the door, they usually just open it and come in and it closes gently by itself. What would happen in one of those big huge profession wrestlers came and grabbed the screen door and pulled so hard on it that the springs are pulled straight and the screws are pulled out of the door frame and the door and the door is pulled out of the hinges? Would anyone else be able to use the door nomally again? This is a good analogy to how cocain works in a person’s brain. There are doors called chemical receptors in your brain that receive other chemicals into your brain that make you feel good and happy and satisfied. These feelings come naturally from the things we do in life and are like people going in and out a screen door. The very first time cocain is used, it is like the professional wrestler coming and ripping the door off the hinges. Cocaine gives the brain a huge kick of good and satisfying feelings but they are falsely created by a drug. And it is such a huge kick, that it destroys the receptors for those specific chemicals. The receptors can never be used normally again. Users of cocaine say that they can’t feel happy or satisfied with the normal things in life that used to make them feel good. Its because the screen door was ripped off in their brain. And this happens the very first time cocaine is used. This is why it is so important to choose to never even try this drug.