Everyday object lessons

Submitted by Amanda Nelson

The lesson is about trust.  You will need a bunch of building blocks, the wooden kind, not Lego’s or anything that locks together.  You can tape labels  on the blocks that build character like, caring for others, responsibility, fairness, service, being a good friend, truthfulness, etc.  (This is not necessary, but helpful)  Then as a group, build a tower together until its as high as you can build it.  Then have one person try to knock it down.  Ask them to try and do it in one kick or push.  Then tell them that you need to build it again.  Once that is done you can explain that just like trust in a person, it builds over time, but it only takes one kick (lie or broken promise) to destroy it all.  All trust is broken.  It also takes a long time to rebuild that trust once it has been broken.

This was a lesson from a recent primary sharing time.  I don’t know the original source.  The topic was on family history but the lesson could be used for any topic where you want to encourage and show how helpful it is to use teamwork.

Have  a bag containing a wide variety of 20 items.  Show each one as you bring it out then put them back into the bag.  Then move on something else in your topic – this way the students will “forget” some of the items they have seen.

Then have the students write down as many items as they can remember – on their own.  After that, give instructions for students to work together and see if they get more items on the list.  This illustrates that working together makes it more fun, and you get more accomplished.

From a story by Bernie Siegel MD

His son came home with a picture from school and it was just a piece of paper with WORDS written all over the front over and over. As he looked at it, it became words or swords and he realized words can be swords. Words have life or death in them.

WORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDSWORDS

Submitted by Nancy:  I did this with the 8-11 year old girls but could be adapted to all ages.

We had 2 teams and they were instructed that they were going to put together a 100 piece puzzle and the team to finish first would get the prize – an eye catching gift bag with something inside. I had taken out 2 pieces from each puzzle so that neither team would finish/win. When they figured out there was no way to win we stopped and talked about what the ultimate prize in life is – we all agreed this is to return to live with Heavenly Father and then we talked about all of the puzzle pieces needed to receive the prize and how not even one piece can be missing.

You need 2 pair of scissors for this lesson. One should be dull and maybe toddler type scissors that would only cut paper. The other should be fabric scissors. Also have a piece of heavy duty fabric – like canvas The topic of the lesson would be something about being instruments in the hands of God. Both of these are instruments, and both are tools for cutting. Have someone demonstrate how nearly impossible it is to cut a piece of fabric with the first pair, but how easily the other scissors cuts thru the fabric.

Develop the story in whatever way you need to in describing the difference between the two. One example would be that all people on earth have the capacity to be instruments for God. We can bring joy to others, we can contribute to peace in the family or neighborhood, we can help teach others or tend the earth and animals. Those are all beneficial. The toddler scissors are able to cut paper.

Those who have taken the covenants of baptism or received the priesthood or taken temple covenants are then obligated and called to be a different and very specific kind of instrument. We are preparing the world for the coming of Christ. We must find the sheep who will hear his voice. We must actively use and bless the earth with the proper priesthood power and ordinances.

Then add whatever scriptures and other examples fit your needs.

Idea from a speech by Sheri Rose Shepherd
For the object, get a sharp knife and hold it up from the sharp end as you give the story You know how toddlers are very curious and they ask lots of questions and they want to touch and get into everything because they are learning about everything in life.

Imagine if you had a toddler exploring around in the kitchen and you find your toddler holding onto a very sharp knife by the sharp end. Your heart leaps and you know you need to act quickly but carefully so the child doesn’t injure himself. The worst thing would be to scream and yell and grab the knife away. What you would probably do is to speak very softly and request the child give you the knife and maybe use something else to distract the child until you can safely remove it from view.

This is how God works with us in our school of learning called life. Many times we are like toddlers and getting into all sorts of things that could cause us great injury and harm. God calls us with a still small voice and gently seeks to persuade us to leave those things alone.

Add to this beginning any scriptures or more elaboration on the story so it fits with your lesson

Idea from Zig Ziglar
Its human nature to follow what your friends, pastors, leaders, parents DO more than what they say. That’s why your actions are so much more important than talking. Here is a little game that illustrates this perfectly. Have your class or audience do this: “I want you to follow what I say here. Hold your hands up in front of you…….now when I say go – clap them together……Let’s start…….ONE……..TWO……..THREE (you clap your hands together)……..GO!” Your audience is going to clap their hands together when you do – not when you say GO. So then you can point out to them that they followed what you did. They did not follow what you said!

For an object lesson regarding marriage, partnerships, working together, etc. I used a simple clothespin. I showed the class that if I only have one side of the clothespin it does not perform it’s full function. However, with the two sides of the clothespin being bonded together by the Lord the clothespin can perform it’s full function. In relationships if one side is trying to do it all, the relationship will not always work. But by working together with the Lord it is amazing what can be accomplished.
Submitted by Kori Hoyt

Bring a few combs to the class, or have them use their own combs. If you bring your own, please make sure they are washed and very clean before offering students to use them.
Have students comb their hair, with the stipulation that they cannot bend their elbows. This is quite a hilarious sight to see them trying to comb hair with straight arms. Its basically impossible unless the person has very long hair and can bend over very far. Then give the same comb to a neighbor and again with only straight arms, have the neighbor comb the hair. It is possible for this to happen

You can take this object lesson in several directions. It is the message that there are things we cannot do for ourselves. Another person must do it for us. This can be temple work for the dead, or it can be the savior’s atonement. Develop this idea any way you desire.

Source: Doug Hoffman from Kentucky
Here’s an an awesome object lesson that I use with my kids at camp – all you need is a can of fruit or vegetables, and take the label off…add a dent or two also. It’s amazing what and how much the younger ones can come up with! Put the can in the middle of the group and let the group examine it. Ask them to describe the can. Some may say that it’s shiny, that it has dents, and that it has no label. Then ask how this relates to people. Dents of course, because we aren’t perfect and we all have some sort of short falling. The reflection…we reflect what people say about us. Some may say we’re really good at something, and others not good and often we’ll do just that. Then the label. We don’t want to label people. Only God knows whats on the inside, yet as people we know how to look on the outside. We need to train ourselves to look on the inside. On that same note, we need to get to know people and people need to open themselves up in order to really get to know what’s inside. A whole different road can be taken in discussing what labels we have had, why we don’t like them, etc. Some cans may have a pricetag on them, and one can touch on putting value on people needs to only be done if we really value them (because sometimes people don’t get high value, when they really are).

This is a really cool object lesson, something we can get from our kitchen cupboard. Great for group discussion and learning about relationships and judging.