Everyday object lessons

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.

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!

Source: Heather M. K.
Object lesson on priesthood authority. Teaches that in order to perform the ordinances necessary to gain eternal life you must have the proper priesthood keys given by the proper authorities. Take a “Master” lock and attach a sign to it that says “Eternal Life”. The only way to get the “Eternal Life” is if you unlock the lock. Have several keys that you can give to a class member and let him/her take one and pass the rest to the person beside them. That person takes one and passes the rest until they are all passed out. Then discuss how the keys of the priesthood are passed from one individual to another worthy individual. Once the keys are passed ask a person without a key to unlock the lock to gain eternal life. He/She will not be able to because he/she doesn’t have a key. Then give the lock to the person that has the correct key. Then discuss how other churches say they have the power to gain eternal life, but are unable to do so because they don’t have the authority given by God.

Submitted by: Robin Guthrie
After many lessons on explaining a testimony, I did this for my YW class: I played a game with the YW with about 20 questions of general and interesting things to know about the organization, history and doctrines of the Church (Some easy and some a little harder and interesting. ie–How old was Joseph Smith when he received the First Vision? How old was Pres. Monson when he was called to the Quorum of the 12? Who is the current prophet?) We played this game for most of class time, and then the last question I asked was “What is the difference between knowing the answers to these questions and a testimony?” Basically I was trying to teach the girls that you can know all of the answers to our game, but still not have a testimony if you don’t DO the things we’re asked to do. The adversary and his angels KNOW all of the answers to the questions we asked. They know Pres. Hinckley is the prophet today and that Joseph Smith restored the Gospel. The testimony comes when you have the faith to DO what Heavenly Father has asked us to do.

Then I talked to them about the story behind “I am a Child of God” song. Originally the words read “Teach me all that I must know to live with Him someday,” but President Spencer W. Kimball said that that’s not enough–we have to DO. I challenged them to keep the commandments and test these truths for themselves.

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.

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

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.

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.