Everyday object lessons

This lesson requires the game of Stak Attack or Jenga. Those are the games that stack up wooden blocks in a weave pattern and then you pull out the blocks and re stack them on top until the tower tumbles.

The object lesson is that as you build the tower you discuss what foundations a nation or life needs in order to be prosperous and happy. Then as you play the game you discuss the actions and attitudes that weaken and destroy a nation or people.

For this lesson all the scriptural references are taken from the Book of Mormon but you could use any holy scriptures that fit your lesson.

My game has 16 layers so I split the group into 8 or 4 and each group looks up 1 or 2 scriptures then before they put the wooden pieces into the container they tell what the scripture talked about.

1. Obedience to laws of land -Mosiah 29:11,41, 43
2. Christ- Helaman 5:12
3. Thanksgiving- Alma 7: 23,24
4. Freedom to worship -Alma 21:22
5. Honesty- Alma 27:27 & Mosiah 4:28
6. Family- Jacob 3:7
7. 10 commandments – Mosiah 12:35, 36 & Mosiah 13:12-24
8. Alma 23: 7

When everyone has loaded up the pieces, turn the game over on a table and hand out the new scriptures. As each group tells what actions or attitudes cause eventual destruction, each person in the group gets to remove one piece and stack it on top. The game just keeps going until the tower falls over. If anyone didn’t get a turn, re stack the pieces while as you discuss again the foundations of a strong nation, and play again.

If everyone gets a turn and the tower is still strong, have the class members repeat again the things they learned from their scripture when its their turn again. Repetition is just fine.

1. Unrighteous judges and lawyers – Alma 10:27 & Alma 11:20
2. Gadianton robbers -Helaman 2:13 & Helaman 6:21, 23
3. Dishonesty, etc – Helaman 7:20,21
4. Wickedness – Moroni 9:20
5. Moroni 8:3-5
6. Ether 11:22
7. Mormon 8:37
8. Mosiah 29:27

Start outside when the sun is very bright.  Tell students to stand so they are receiving the most and brightest sun available.  Then everyone moves to a spot that is not so bright, but that you can clearly see the sun is still shining – maybe in the shade of a tree.  Next move indoors but to a room with a window so you can still have the effects of the sunlight but less.  Finally move to a closet or room where it can be entirely dark.  If it is a warm time of year you know the sun is still shining because the building is still warm inside even tho you are in the dark.

This lesson has several applications.  Here are the ones my family came up with:  God’s love represents the sun.

It is our actions that take us out of the light.  God’s love is always there and always the same and always available.  My actions make it so I feel God’s love less.  I move, not God.

We started out in the light.  That is where we all came from – God’s presence.  We should ask for confirmation of this truth and then remember that light and God’s love when we are feeling discouraged and in the dark.

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.

Source:Jaburek
For family home evening one night we were trying to teach our children that we may not know if they had done anything wrong when they were not around us, but there was one that would. We talked to our children about our spirits and used the object lesson with the glove (we used winter gloves), then we separated them by sending one into the kitchen and keeping the remaining two together. On the table was a box lying on it’s side, there was a hole cut into the bottom of the box with a tea towel pinned over the hole. Inside the box was a dish of coloured water with coins in the bottom. The child sat across from their father (who could see into the box and the dish of liquid) they were asked to remove their glove. On the table was a laytex glove which had lots of pin holes and slits cut into it (which they didn’t know). This was to represent the thought of a little bit won’t hurt. Then they were given a choice to 1 – stick their hand through the hole and remove as much as they wanted. 2 – put on the laytex glove and remove as much as they wanted or 3 – refrain from putting their hand through the hole. They were nervous at first, but when prompted to participate each of our three children chose a different method. After they took as much money as they could they were to put their winter glove back on and return to the living room. No was was allowed to share with the others what happened in the kitchen. When all were finished we sat as a family and looked at their winter gloves and asked if anyone could notice a difference in the others gloves when the answer came back no they were then asked to remove their gloves. Two were stained really red, the third was clean. We then discussed that when we sin even though those around us could not see the stain, our spirit was marred by our disobeying. Their father represented Heavenly Father and that he knew what stain was on each of their souls. We then talked about repentance and talked about the scripture – if your sins be as scarlet. Then we had the children with the stained hands wash in bleach to remove the stains. It was alot of hard work, but eventually the food colouring was removed.

Several years ago in our primary, we had an object lesson that made quite an impression. I hope my words are adequate to describe how we did this. It does require some preparation.
First…bake cookies (snickerdoodles work well) Second bake some (just a few) cookies with your substituted recipe. Take them to class covered and in a jar or on a plate. Gather ingredients for the making of cookies–measuring spoons, bowls, flour, salt, etc. The only thing is to leave out some of the key ingredients such as sugar. Substitute salt for the sugar, alum for the baking powder, etc.

Explain as you assemble the cookie ingredients that the cookies will turn out just fine with substituted ingredients and that they will taste just fine if we don’t follow the recipe. (You are playing a role of the adversary here). Continue to add ingredients (I usually make clay that can be taken to the nursery afterward and let the nursery children use it), all the time acting embarrassed that you forgot the correct ingredients but confident that things will turn our all right in the end. This is really fun and can be camped up to really get the kids participating.

When all is said and done and they have an opportunity (through the magic of your already baked cookies) to taste the results, explain to them how our Heavenly Father gives us a “recipe” for our lives through the scriptures, counsel from the leaders and prophet, our parents, etc. and if we follow it, we will turn our all right in the end. If we don’t follow the counsel and substitute our own “ingredients” believing that we will turn our all right in the end, that we could end up like our failed cookies and not be acceptable to ourselves and others.

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.

Source: J.R. Sharp and Deaunna Evans
We were all excited when he asked the class if anybody wanted some gum. He then passed around a plate with pieces of gum that had already been chewed (ABC) along with pieces of gum still wrapped up “clean and pure”. Well we were all thoroughly disgusted and everyone choose the “clean and pure” gum. He acted surprised and questioned us as to why no chose the ABC gum. Why had we all chose the “clean and pure” gum?

He then gave a wonderful lesson on chastity and encouraged us to keep ourselves “clean and pure” for our future husbands and wives.

Many parents are hard pressed to explain to their youth why some music, movies, books, and magazines are not acceptable material for them to bring into the home or to listen to or see. One parent came up with an original idea that is hard to refute. The father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie. It had their favorite actors. Everyone else was seeing it. Even church members said it was great. It was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex–they never really showed it. The language was pretty good–the Lord’s name was only used in vain three times in the whole movie.

The teens did admit there was a scene where a building and a bunch of people were blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff. It wasn’t too bad. And, even if there were a few minor things, the special effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed.

However, even with all the justifications the teens made for the 13′ rating, the father still wouldn’t give in. He didn’t even give his children a satisfactory explanation for saying, “No.” He just said, “No!”

A little later on that evening the father asked his teens if they would like some brownies he had baked. He explained that he’d taken the family’s favorite recipe and added a little something new. The children asked what it was.

The father calmly replied that he had added dog poop. However, he quickly assured them, it was only a little bit. All other ingredients were gourmet quality and he had taken great care to bake the brownies at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.

Even with their father’s promise that the brownies were of almost perfect quality, the teens would not take any. The father acted surprised. After all, it was only one small part that was causing them to be so stubborn. He was certain they would hardly notice it. Still the teens held firm and would not try the brownies.

The father then told his children how the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Our minds are us into believing that just a little bit of evil won’t matter. But, the truth is even a little bit of poop makes the difference between a great treat and something disgusting and totally unacceptable.

The father went on to explain that even though the movie industry would have us believe that most of today’s movies are acceptable fare for adults and youth, they are not.

Now, when this father’s children want to see something that is of questionable material, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poop brownies. That closes the subject.

From Angela Spencer
A Story out of the Friend called Bag of Rocks. This boy named Malcolm collected rocks everytime someone or something made him mad. I brought a bunch of rocks and made a boy stand in front of the room and as I read the story, we loaded him down with rocks, adding suspenders, a coat with many pockets and a backpack. We then discussed at the close of the story, how to unburden ourselves from bad feelings we harbor for others. We took rocks out at every suggestion and this kept the kids completely entertained!!!!