copyright · some people thought you went to a place called “sheol” after you died, which is...

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CONTENTS

Easter Object Lesson: Eggs ......................................................................................... 4

Jesus Looked Like Everybody Else. So What’s the Difference?

Father’s Day ObjectLesson: Stapler ............................................................................. 9

Dad’s Strength Can Keep Us Together

Halloween Object Lesson: White Bedsheet ................................................................. 14

Why There’s No Such Thing as Ghosts (And even More Fun Costumes for Dress-Ups)

Mother’s Day Object Lesson: Piece of construction paper shaped like a heart ..................................................................................................................... 19

So, You Love Your Mom. What Does That Mean?

Mother’s Day Object Lesson: Seeds ............................................................................ 23

Mother is like a gardener

Thanksgiving Object Lesson: Tangerine ..................................................................... 26

The Super-Top-Secret Tangerine & Lessons in Thanks

Valentine’s Day Object Lesson: Paper Cups ................................................................ 31

We’re all a little like paper cups

EASTER OBJECT LESSON: EGGS

JESU S LOOK E D LIK E EV ER YBO D Y ELS E. SO WH A T’S T H E DI F F E R EN C E?

MESSAGE: Long before he was crucified, Jesus told his followers he would rise from the grave. They didn’t see how that could be possible. They were sort of thinking of him and themselves like eggs; someday they would crack and splatter in death. They didn’t know he was hard-boiled.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: John 11:25

MATERIALS: • One raw egg, clearly marked

• Enough hard-boiled eggs so that each child in your class can have one

• Enough candy and Easter-basket grass or shredded paper so that each child can make a small basket

• Large paper cups for baskets

• Paper towels

PREPARATION: • Put everything aside so as not to distract the students, except for the one raw egg and

one hard-boiled egg.

• Make sure you can tell the eggs apart, though they should appear identical to the students, and don’t mix them up

• Place them both on paper towels in front of you

TeachSundaySchool.com 4

http://teachsundayschool.com/

LESSON: To many Christians, Easter is more important than Christmas. That might seem a little strange to some of us. How come?

Answer: At Christmas, we get so many toys. At Easter we only get candy.

Holidays are fun because of the gifts and presents that go with it. But behind all of that, there is always a story. It’s the story that inspires our country, or our culture, to give us gifts.

The story of Easter contained a surprise ending for the people who were there with Jesus. They could never have guessed it.

Jesus spoke to a lot of people and he told them lots of things. He also healed lots of sick people and performed many miracles. Do you know what Jesus’ greatest miracle was?

Answers: Someone may get this right, but most will probably not know that the correct answer is his death on the cross and resurrection.

On Easter morning, angels came to the cave where Jesus’ body had been laid after the crucifixion. They rolled the stone away. By the time Jesus’ friends got there… snap your fingers… it was empty.

Most people were surprised by the end of Jesus’ story because they did not understand that he was different. He would say things to people, like “I am from above, and you are from beneath.” But they really didn’t get that he was different. They were looking at Jesus from the outside.

Hold up the raw egg and the hard-boiled egg. Shake the raw egg, as if it were talking. In a deep voice, say,

“He looks just like us. He talks like us; he’s not a different color, doesn’t have a different smell.”

What was the difference between Jesus and others?

Answers: He could do miracles, he was nicer, he was better, he was the son of God…

But you could see none of that just by looking at him. And this is a problem with most people: When they make judgments about people, they look at the OUTSIDE. We do that sometimes. Sometimes grown-ups tend to get the most respect if they have the biggest



house or the fastest car. With kids, have you ever known somebody who had a whole lot of clothes or toys or a swimming pool?

How do you tend to see that person?

Answers: That person is more fun, or is richer, or gets more friends.

If you put two kids beside each other, and one was rich and the other was poor, and you had cut their hair the same and they had washed up the same, would you be able to tell the rich one from the poor one?

Answer: No.

Hold up the two eggs.

They’d look a little like this. And this was everyone’s problem back then with Jesus. When Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life,” they thought he wasn’t making any sense. They knew he was saying something like he had the power to save people from death. But in their experience, nobody had ever come back from the dead. They had never put a person who had died into his grave and heard him hollering to get out three days later. They had never seen a ghost.

Some people thought you went to a place called “Sheol” after you died, which is sort of like an underworld, not a very nice place. Others thought that when you died, you simply cease to exist.

Shake the hard-boiled egg a little.

Here was a man saying he could “overcome death” and save anyone who wanted to live in heaven someday with him and God.

But then - here’s where the story gets tricky. On Thursday night of Easter Week, some bad men came to arrest Jesus. They beat him up really badly. He bled and felt pain, just like anyone else.

Shake both eggs.

Then, they decided they were going to kill him. They nailed him to a cross and he hung in the sun and then he died. Just like anybody else.

A lot of people saw this. They said, “He’s just like us after all. There’s no difference! If we were hung up on that cross to die, we all know what would happen.”



Drop the raw egg onto the paper towel on the table and let it crack open. Keep holding the hard-boiled egg.

They just didn’t get it - not right away. But they started to see some weird stuff. At noon, when Jesus hung on the cross, there was one of the biggest eclipses in human history. The world became so dark at noon that people got nervous. Some who were in the Holy Temple say that just at the same time Jesus’ spirit left his body, the huge curtain in the temple tore in half—all by itself. There was a giant earthquake. Some of the soldiers who had helped to kill Jesus started to say,

“Oh, no…This surely is the son of God.”

Still, they didn’t understand what that meant. Obviously, he hadn’t overcome death…or had he? They didn’t understand…

Jesus was different…

Drop the hard-boiled egg onto the table. Watch it for a moment to prove the yoke won’t come out. Then sweep the other egg’s mess away in the paper towel and put it aside.

We can get rid of this. It’s no good to us broken.

Pick up the other egg, peel it, and begin to eat it.

This one is nutritious, yummy, very good. It is nourishing my body as I speak. It will continue to nourish my body long after I’m done eating it. It didn’t become useless when it “fell.” It stayed just as nutritious and strong as ever.

Pass out eggs to all the children.

Today, we celebrate the difference between Jesus and other men. He was able to overcome death, to rise on Easter Sunday, because he was God’s only begotten son. As we decorate these eggs today, let’s remember the most important thing of all:

In Jesus’ death and resurrection, he enabled us to start becoming like him. We don’t have to be easily broken; we don’t have to live life in fear of dying. We, too, can live forever. It’s a miracle—the greatest miracle of his life - which continues to this day and will continue until we see him again in heaven.

Let’s decorate to celebrate our everlasting life with Jesus.

Make Easter baskets.



CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, thank you for the greatest miracle on planet earth, the resurrection of your son, Jesus, who overcame death so that we could too. Help us to use our time on earth to become strong, like him. Amen.



FATHER’S DAY OBJECTLESSON: STAPLER

DAD’S STR EN G TH CAN KE EP US T OG ET H ER

MESSAGE: Kids are sort of like pieces of paper. They’re young, which means they are “softer” than adults. Just as papers bend, flop around, and sometimes get carried away by a breeze, children can “bend” to peer pressure, “flop” in front of the TV when chores need to be done, or even get carried away into unchristian behaviors. Fathers have the strength and sharpness to hold a family together, much like a stapler holds pieces of paper in place.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:1-3

MATERIALS: • Stapler

• File folder

• Three sheets of paper

• Piece of masking tape

• Dark marker pen

PREPARATION: • On the individual sheets, draw one stick figure large enough for all to see.

• Write “Jonny” beneath one stick figure.

• Write “Samantha” and “Meagan” beneath the stick figures you create on the other two sheets.

• On the file folder, place a bigger stick figure and write the name “Mom.”

• Place the piece of masking tape on the stapler and write the name “Dad” on it, and a stick figure if you have room.

• Put all items on a table in front of you with children surrounding it.



LESSON: Today, we’re going to study the Paper family. They’re a family pretty much like ours. Hold up the first sheet of paper that shows “Jonny.”

Jonny is 12. Lately he’s been approached by some bigger and older kids to come to the amusement park and “hang out” on Saturday afternoons. Dad and Mom have warned Jonny that the Saturday-afternoon crowd is not for their family. Those kids have no chores, and they’re not expected to help their families. They hang out behind the rides, make fun of younger kids, and sometimes they even smoke cigarettes. Still, Jonny is tempted. The older kids are very cool, and he hasn’t exactly been Mr. Popularity around school. He’s wondering if he should “sneak out” and go down there.

Hold up the second sheet that shows “Samantha.”

Samantha is 10. She’s a good kid, but she jokes around with her sister Meagan that she is becoming “addicted” to some Saturday-morning shows on Nickelodeon. She knows she’s supposed to clean her room, help fold the laundry, and dust-mop the floors on Saturday mornings. Her mom works, and logically, it is not fair that Mom should do all that work. Lately Samantha has been asking Mom why she can’t do her stuff in the afternoon, and why it’s such a bad thing to sit around on Saturday morning, especially when she works so hard in school and gets good grades.

Hold up the third sheet that shows “Meagan.”

Meagan is eight. She has a great imagination, but last week, it caused her to get in some trouble. She left the television on when some of her friends came over to play. A really harmless movie was on when she went upstairs with her friends. When she walked them down to the door again, a very different movie was on, one called Chuckie. Meagan had always loved her dolls. But Chuckie was about a very evil doll. She knew she should turn the TV off or holler for Mom, but she couldn’t help it. She just had to watch for a while. That night when she went to bed, she felt like all her precious dolls were staring at her evilly. She was afraid to turn onto her side to sleep because Bestie, her favorite bear, was in the rocking chair, and she suddenly wondered if she could trust Bestie not to kill her. She had made a bad choice, and now the special gift from God, her imagination, was making her lose sleep and be afraid of toys she’d always loved.

Pick up the file folder showing Mom.



Moms have a lot of wisdom. Mom Paper had been the one to tell Jonny the dangers of going to the amusement park—about the kids who hang there, and how they’re irresponsible to their families and smoke and find lots of trouble to get into.

Pick up Jonny with the other hand, so you are holding both.

Jonny believed Mom; he knew she was telling him the truth about the park. Mom was great for insight, but Jonny kept looking for the loopholes. He wanted to be looked up to like these boys were. “Mom is so busy,” he told himself. “She’s all soft and fuzzy. She loves me a lot.” Open the folder and begin to place Jonny inside. “She’ll never know if I just go a few times…enough times so that everybody knows these kids want to hang with me.”

Pick up Samantha while holding Mom closed around Jonny.

Mom has told Samantha many times that if she puts work before play, she will be able to enjoy her downtime more, because she won’t be constantly thinking about all the chores that have to get done. Samantha believes Mom. It’s just really hard to get started, and, like Jonny has said sometimes, “Mom is all warm and fuzzy. She tells the truth, but it’s not always easy to get up the energy to do things the way she wants.”

Put Samantha in the folder with Jonny. Hold up the folder, this time with Meagan beside.

Mom was really crushed when Meagan finally confessed to watching the scary movie. She and Meagan had always had fun pretending the dolls and stuffed animals were real. In their games, stuffed toys were the lost boys of Neverland, and dolls were the orphaned girls of the book they’d read together, Little Women. That Meagan was afraid of them now just seemed horrible. Mom always told her, “Your bedroom should seem like one of the safest places in the universe. It’s where you say your prayers every night. It’s where you speak to Jesus and learn to hear him speak back, and it’s where many children come to believe that angels surround them while they sleep.” That all made sense to Meagan, but she just couldn’t stop imagining Bestie growing fangs and smiling evilly when she was trying to go to sleep.

Put Meagan in the folder and hold it up.

Generally speaking, a mother’s love and wisdom “surrounds” a family and gives it more strength. Generally, moms are with the kids more, and they can hear great wisdom from



her. And they also get some protection. Shake the folder.

What would happen if I dropped this folder?

Answer from students: The pages might fall out and blow away.

What can I do to prevent Jonny, Samantha, and Meagan from “falling” into trouble—either with bad friends, laziness, or illogical fears from the wrong sorts of imaginings?

Pick up the stapler.

Here comes Dad. Every family is different, but generally speaking, fathers have more strength. They might not be available for all the wisdom that moms bring throughout the day, but they add something special. Sometimes it doesn’t feel very special. Sometimes dads can be a little harder than moms.

Lay the folder on the table, making sure the three pages are lined up inside right next to the crease. Position the stapler to make one staple about an inch out from the crease near the bottom.

“Jonny,” Dad says, “Your mother is right in everything she told you. Let me add to it. I do not want you at the amusement park on Saturday afternoons, especially not with that crowd. Your mom and I will help you find something else to do with other people, but if I catch you down there, you are grounded for a month.”

Hit down on the stapler, stapling the folder down near the bottom of the fold.

Ouch! That wasn’t exactly what Jonny wanted to hear. He wanted to make up his own mind, even though he had to admit that he was torn about trying to sneak to the amusement park. “Well, so much for sneaking,” he thought and dismissed the idea entirely.

“Samantha,” Dad says, “Your mother is right. Work comes before play, but we can tape a couple of those shows if you really want to watch them after your chores are finished. But the new rule is no watching television until after you’ve completed all your chores.”

Hit down on the stapler again and staple the folder up near the center of the crease.

Ouch! Samantha still didn’t see what difference it made when she did her chores. Her dad wasn’t being fair, she felt, but she didn’t exactly want to get into it with him. And, she had to confess, at least now there wasn’t any temptation to interfere. Her chores got



done quickly from then on.

“Meagan,” Dad says, “You are suffering the consequences of your actions. It may take a few weeks before the shock of that show goes away and you trust your toys again. There’s nothing I can do to pull that terrible memory out of your head. New rule: You may not watch any television unless your mom or I approve of that show first. And also: Next time you leave the TV on when nobody’s watching, you can’t watch any TV for the rest of the day and night.”

Put a third staple in the folder, up near the top of the fold.

Ouch! Dad was being harsh. Meagan didn’t understand about the electric bill or how much her dad paid, but it still seemed unfair. But three weeks later, just like dad said, she realized she’d been sleeping all night again with only a vague memory of that time when she thought her “best friends” were sort of creepy.

Now, this family not only has Mom’s love and daily bits of wisdom. It has Dad’s power and strength to hold it together. Is anybody going to “blow away” now?

Drop the folder on the floor to demonstrate that the whole family stays together. Pick it up again.

Ephesians 6:1-3 says “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise— ‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”’”

Sometimes that’s not the way we want to do things. But on Father’s Day, we can be thankful for dads. In many families, dads can be tougher: They’re “sharper,” and their words can go straight through you and make you want to say, “Ouch, that’s not fair.” But Dads are meant to be strong, and the things they do keep us from bending to bad behavior or blowing away from the family entirely.

Let’s thank God today, Father’s Day, for our Dads.

CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, thank you for the dads we have. Your word says we should be glad for their strength. Help us to remember it, not just on this special day, but all year long. Amen.



HALLOWEEN OBJECT LESSON: WHITE BEDSHEET

WH Y T HER E’S NO SU C H T HI N G AS GH OS TS (AN D E VEN MOR E FU N COS TU M ES FO R DR ES S-UPS)

MESSAGE: The secular world likes to think about ghosts on Halloween. The Christian world can use the time surrounding this holiday as an opportunity to explain why there is no such thing! Instead of a ghost, we can use a white bedsheet to make a white robe, like the ones we’ll wear in heaven.

RELATED SCRIPTURES: 1 Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 7:9, 13

MATERIALS: White bedsheet

PREPARATION: None

LESSON: Halloween is coming up, and that’s a time when some people like to be scared. So today, we’re going to talk about fear. Sometimes fear is good. Sometimes fear is bad. First, let’s look at times when fear is good.

There’s a good type of fear called “useful fear.” It keeps us from getting hurt. It’s good to be afraid of the hot stove. That way, you won’t stick your hand up there and get burned. What are some other times we experience “useful fear?”

Help them with their answers. Other answers might include

** fear of getting hit by a car while riding your bike helps you remember to stop at the stop sign



and look both ways

**fear of punishment will get you home in time for dinner

**fear of bad grades might get you to do your homework

**fear of losing your pet might help you to walk your dog on a leash instead of letting him run loose.

All these fears are useful fears. They prevent us from getting in some sort of pain or trouble.

Sometimes fear can be fun, like when we’re riding a roller coaster. The fearful feeling we get when riding a roller coaster is called “happy fear.” We know what “happy fear” is because we’re laughing and screaming at the same time. Outside of riding a roller coaster, when else do we experience happy fear?

Help them think of other times. Answers might include

**at a sports game, when you’re not sure if your favorite team will win or lose

**playing hide-and-seek and you’re trying hard not to be found.

**when someone is tickling you, and you don’t know when they’ll stop

**when you’re about to perform onstage and you’re looking forward to hearing people clap

**when the ocean brings in a huge wave and you decide to dive under it

It’s okay to feel a little afraid when you’re laughing at the same time. Now let’s talk about a different type of fear.

Put the bedsheet over the top of you so that it hangs fairly evenly on both sides. Put your arms out, walking unsurely or like a zombie.

What do I remind you of right now?

Answers: A ghost.

As it’s almost Halloween, lots of folks will either be dressed like me - or they’ll stuff the bedsheets and hang them outside of their houses and try to get their trees to look really scary.

Take sheet off your head and hold it.

Ghosts are scary, aren’t they? What does a ghost mean?



Answers: That somebody who was alive has now died… It’s somebody who isn’t alive anymore.

Being afraid of ghosts and spooks and zombies is really not a good thing—especially if it keeps you up at night. God designed our bodies to get the rest that we need at night, not to lie awake being afraid or depressed.

There’s an even bigger reason not to like ghosts. It has to do with God and Jesus and heaven. Can you guess what it is?

Correct answer: Ghosts imply that somebody who died will still have to hang around down here where everyone else is alive.

God has created a place for us in heaven. He just can’t wait for us to join him up there. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Now we see God through a mirror dimly, but then, face to face. Even then shall we know him, as we ourselves are known by him.”

What about the people who don’t go to heaven? Yes, that gives us shudders. Is it worth joking around about? Is it worth an entire holiday? How might God feel about one of his children, who chose not to join him in heaven?

Answer to last question: He would miss them. He would be very sad.

If God, who loves us more than our moms and dads do, is made sad by something, is it funny for us to be laughing about it?

Should we be afraid of ghosts?

Answer: No.

It says in the Bible, Hebrews 9:27, people die once, and after that they are judged. We don’t keep coming back here, not in earthly bodies or ghostly forms. Fear of dead people, especially mean and scary ghosts, is not anywhere in the Bible. If God allowed such things to go on, surely he would have told us.

Here’s a little story for you. One time, in a city kind of like ours, a young boy was in a car accident, and he didn’t live. After the funeral, some kids in town thought it was funny to go around saying they saw his ghost and that he was scaring people, even though it wasn’t true. And…his parents heard about it. They really missed their son as it was, and on top of that, kids were spreading rumors that he was some sort of mean phantom. That hurt their ears so badly they couldn’t even leave the house for a while. All they did was cry more.



When someone tries to tell you a story about spooky ghosts, here is what you need to remember: That person they’re talking about was, at one point, some mother’s precious baby. She loved him and held him and thanked God for him, just like your mother thanks God for you. He laughed and cried and wanted toys and had friends the same as you do. He got in the bathtub and wore clothes and helped his mom fold the laundry. He tried to get good grades in school, and got disappointed when he didn’t. He prayed when he got scared and laughed when he got happy. Basically, he was just like you.

Let’s say you got pulled out of this world at a young age. How would you like people to think about you? Would you like them to think you are up there in heaven with your Heavenly Father enjoying your time with him? Or would you want them to think of you as something to be afraid of, something that only came out at night, and something that felt great when others were afraid?

I think we know the answers to all these things.

Put the robe around your shoulders.

Here’s what I’d rather do with a bedsheet. I’d rather dress up as a heavenly creature, rather than a ghostly creature.

In Revelation 7, God’s word says that some day we will be so close to Jesus that we’ll be able to stand right in front of him! And all the people who chose God’s way will be “clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

All kids like to dress up as people bigger or different than them. It gives us a chance to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and see how they feel. Maybe I’ll use this Halloween to be a saint in Heaven.

Spin around in your “robe.”

Or maybe I’ll be a military man like my dad! Or Abraham Lincoln! Or a Pilgrim! Or a courageous cowboy who won the West! Or a princess! Or William Shakespeare! But I want to dress up like someone living, and something I’d want to be in my future.

Let’s dream up costumes of people we’d like to be…and use Halloween as a chance to see what it feels like to be them. Who would you like to be someday?

Discuss and praise great ideas.



CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, we thank you for life, here on earth and with you in heaven. Help us to strive to be bigger than we are, and part of that might mean the celebrations of dressing up. Help us to always dress up with the light of hope and not the darkness of other people’s pain. Help us use this holiday to glorify you. Amen.



MOTHER’S DAY OBJECT LESSON: PIECE OF CONSTRUCTION PAPER

SHAPED LIKE A HEART SO, YOU LO VE YOU R MOM. WH AT DO ES T H AT ME A N?

MESSAGE: Moms are often known for being the “loving hearts” in the family. But what is a mother’s love? It’s not just a feeling. It’s surely something more dynamic than a piece of construction paper shaped like a heart. A mother’s love is mostly about doing. But making a heart-shaped card with a promise of “doing something for Mom” can be one way to our return our mothers’ love.

MATERIALS: • Pieces of red construction paper cut into the shape of hearts

• Marker pens

• Cookies or candy that is a favorite of yours and/or your own mother

PREPARATION: • Place one heart in your handbag.

• Put the candy or cookies on a plate so that they look pretty and hide it in the cabinet

• Put the other hearts aside for now.

LESSON: Today is Mother’s Day, and my mother is still very special to me. Start looking in cupboards and cabinets and under the table and in your handbag. I’m looking for where I put my love for my mother! I can’t find it anywhere! Would you guys like to help me find my love?

Younger kids may help you; allow them to. Older kids will immediately become cynical and tell you that you can’t see love.

I’m always losing something; I’d forget my own head! Where on earth did I put that love?



Kids should insist you that you can’t see love.

My love is the strongest thing that I feel! I can pick up this chair with one hand. Pick it up and hold it high. My love for my mother is stronger than my arm. I just know it is. So why should I not be able to see it? What on earth are you trying to say?

Some kids should say that love is something you feel or something you do. Ignore it for the moment.

But, wait a minute. I found it!

Pull out of your handbag a crumpled RED HEART made out of construction paper. Shake it out.

Here it is! This is my love for my mother. If I stuff this red heart into my pocket, close to my body, that will mean I love my mother. Won’t it?

Kids should say no, that the paper heart and real love are not the same thing.

I think what you’re trying to say is that this heart is just a symbol of love. But keeping a heart in my pocket won’t actually make me any more loving. Will it?

Answer: No.

[Note: If you have a student in your class who bursts out below that she doesn’t have a mother, respond that on Mother’s Day we can honor a grandmother or an aunt or any woman that child loves.]

Let me ask you some questions. Do you love your mother?

Answer: Yes

How do you know that you love her?

Answer: I can feel it.

How have you shown her that you love her?

Answer: Hugs, kisses, doing what she says

What are some ways that mothers show their love for us?

Answer: Doing stuff for us; hugging us

When you fall and injure yourself, who do you shout for?

Answer: My mother



And what does she do then?

Answer: She fixes it, puts a Band Aid on it.

At night, if you start to feel sick, who do you wake up?

Answer: Mom

And what does she do?

Answer: She finds the right medicine and takes care of us.

What are some of the other things your mother does for you?

Answers: Washes my clothes, packs my lunch, fixes dinner, drives me to places I have to go.

So, what are we really saying about a mother’s love? Is it best shown in something she feels? Or in something she does?

Answer: Mother’s love is about doing. Mothers do so many things.

Love is like God. We can’t see him, but we know he’s there, especially when something good comes our way. We feel like God sent it. He did something. We can show our love best by what we do. And you can show your mother how much you love her by doing something in return.

Pass out the red hearts, some pens.

These red hearts are surely not love. But we can write on them to express our love. Let’s think of something we can do for Mom. We’ll write it on our cards.

Guide them as they write HAPPY MOTHERS DAY on one side of the heart. On the other side they should write TO SHOW MY LOVE, TODAY I WILL…and they should write down one chore they know will help mom. Guide them to make sure it is nothing too big for them to handle. Let them see an example so they don’t make the first letters too big and not have room for the rest. Here are some choices if they can’t think of anything:

• Sweep the porch

• Pick up all my shoes

• Feed the cat or dog

• Help fold the laundry and put it away

• Load or unload the dishwasher

• Sweep the kitchen

• Clear the table

• Help put groceries away

• Take out the trash

• Pick up all my toys



• Put the crayons back in the box

• Weed the garden

• Help plant Mother’s Day flowers in the ground

• Make Mom’s bed

They can sign anywhere and add flowers or little touches. As they are finishing up…

Can we all make a promise to do this thing for Mom?

Get confirmations.

And while we’re thinking…oh! I forgot. I know where I really put my love for my mother

Bring out a pretty snack or an arrangement of candy on a plate. Now that I’m a grown-up, I can’t always be with my mother. But there’s a famous saying that mothers have: When you can’t be with me to do something nice, pass your love for me on to others by doing something nice for them. So right now, I’m showing my love for my mom by giving nice cookies (or candy) to you! While you’re eating we’ll talk about some ways to make sure you get that chore done to show love for your mom!

CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, we thank you for mothers who do so much for us. Help us, on this one special day of the year, to do something nice back for her. Amen



MOTHER’S DAY OBJECT LESSON: SEEDS

MOT H ER I S LIK E A G AR DEN ER

MESSAGE: A child is like a beautiful spring garden in the sense that it requires constant care to thrive in spite of weeds, disease, thorns, drought - and all sorts of pests, like slugs, that attach the roots. For a garden to thrive and survive from one summer to the next, it must have care, nourishment, and devotion

RELATED SCRIPTURES: Galatians 6:7, Matthew 17:20, 2 Corinthians 9:6

MATERIALS: A packet of flower seeds

PREPARATION: None

LESSON: Hold up a package of flower seeds.

What is this that I’m holding in my hand?

Seeds, flower seeds, etc.

What kind of flower seeds? Do you know?

Let them guess.

This packet of flower seeds tells you that I’m going to grow marigolds (or whatever it happens to be). What do you think of that?

Nice, Okay, etc.

How many packets of seeds do you think it would take to make a huge garden with flowers of



every kind and description?

Lots, about a hundred.

Have any of you seen gardens that had flowers of every possible variety? In pictures, in magazines, like Better Homes and Gardens, they have pictures of gardens like that. Well, in those pictures, I count many different kinds of flowers. Lots and lots, and some don’t show. Do you know why?

Accept whatever answers you get and move on.

Some flowers bloom in the spring, and others don’t bloom until later. In the spring, usually in April, we get tulips and daffodils. Lilacs bloom after that, usually in May, then roses in June, and so forth through July and August, and then in the fall we get chrysanthemums.

So how do you get a garden full of flowers that bloom from spring ‘til fall?

You plant seeds.

Like these? Hold up a packet of flower seeds.

Yes.

But with these seeds we’d only have one kind of flower. They would start blooming until July (or whenever this variety starts to bloom), so we wouldn’t have anything in the spring, would we?

No—

How do we have a continuous garden, one that starts blooming in the spring and runs through fall?

We plant lots and lots of different kind of seeds.

Then what happens?

They grow.

Suppose it doesn’t rain? Will the garden die from lack of water?

We have to water it. Turn on the sprinklers.

And if we give it too much water, then what?

Accept any answer and move on.

If it gets too much water, it gets root rot and all the pretty plants will die. For a garden to grow, it needs care. Lots of care.



What about weeds? Weeds will take over and choke out all the pretty flowers unless you pull them out. Some plants will grow so big, they kill other plants, and how do we control that?

Accept any answer and move on.

It’s called pruning. So the big ones don’t choke out the little ones. Taking care of a garden is a lot of work, isn’t it?

Yes, it sure is.

And caring for a garden is like a mother raising a child. While it must have enough nourishment, too much fertilizer can burn a plant, just like too much nourishment can hurt a child. As a garden must be nurtured and have constant care, so must children, and that’s why mothers are so vital to a family. As if each plant had a soul and must be nurtured, so must a child. Weeds are like bad habits, and a mother can’t let them take over her child. Just like a gardener must be alert for insects that attack the plant and pests that attack the roots. A mother must be alert for every danger.

With a mother’s constant loving care, the children grow healthy and strong, and become magnificent adults; like prize-winning roses in a flower garden As a flower graces a garden, a mother raises a child to grace the world.

CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, we thank you for mothers who watch over us like a gardener watches over his flowers. We thank you for our mother’s love and the way she cares for us until we have become strong and productive adults. The kind of adults you want us to be. Thank you for our mothers and bless them today and every day. Amen

Galatians 6:7 A man reaps what he sows.

Matthew 17:20 I assure you, that if you have the faith as big as a mustard seed…you can do anything.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.



THANKSGIVING OBJECT LESSON: TANGERINE

THE SU P ER -TOP-SE CR ET TAN G ER IN E & LES SON S IN T HAN K S

MESSAGE: God gives us thousands of things to be thankful for each day. Yet sometimes we can only think of a few things at a time, or we keep thanking him for the same few things over and over while not even seeing the rest. Thanksgiving is a time for thanking God for all the blessings in our lives. A simple tangerine can help us see lots of ways to be thankful and can trigger us to think of more.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: James 1:17

MATERIALS: • One tangerine for each child, plus one for demonstration (If you don’t have tangerines,

navel oranges will do.) Make sure the fruit is ripe enough to peel easily

• One paper plate for each child

• One container of squeeze-out chocolate syrup

• One cup of rainbow jimmies or coconut

• One spoon

PREPARATION: • If the fruit is not peeling easily, peel it yourself with a paring knife before the start of

class

• Put out paper plates

• Keep the fruit in a bag where it won’t distract



LESSON: James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

So who should be the Person we thank for all our blessings on Thanksgiving?

Answer: God.

Let’s talk about some of the things we are thankful for today. Who wants to say something they’re thankful for?

Take various answers; it will generally be things like toys and clothes.

We remember to give thanks, but often, it’s for things that seem really big and expensive or time-consuming. Like that giant toy, that electronic gizmo, that great grade in school. When we remember to be thankful, we are thanking God for the same things over and over, and we’re not seeing the rest. God’s incredible blessings are all around us. It’s easier to see when we remember to thank him for the simple things, too.

For one, he made this simple, little tangerine (or orange). It looks like no big deal, but there’s a secret behind it. Lots of secrets, actually. You see, often God tries to tell us things about himself in the things that he makes for us. But you have to believe in him and be receptive to what he has to say about himself.

Hold your tangerine up.

Look at this almost-perfect piece of fruit. Do you think, by looking at this, that God cares about color?

Answer: Yes!

When God created the world, it was important to him that we have interesting things to look at. He is quite an artist, the way he designed fruit, isn’t he? That’s one secret. God is a great painter, who likes having fun with colors. Let’s touch it. What does a tangerine feel like?

Pass it around the class.

Tangerines are kind of miraculous. They’re kind of wrinkled, but they’re also kind of smooth at the same time, aren’t they? How is it that something can be opposite things at once? Kind of rough, yet kind of smooth?



Let them either answer or think about that.

And tangerines are also kind of soft, but feel the nice protective shell that God gave to it. He’s trying to protect it, so that by the time we eat it, it won’t be all bruised and torn up. Hence, its shell is kind of soft, but it still protective.

By looking that this tangerine, would you say that God cares about the way things feel?

Answer: Yes.

Secret Number Two: God is sensual. He cares about how things feel to us. He could have made us out of metal instead of out of flesh and blood. But he wanted us to know soft and hard, and warm and smooth. He had some fun making those sensations and making us. Let’s peel the skin away and start seeing what’s underneath.

Begin to peel your tangerine. Stick it to your nose. Pass it around and tell them to do the same.

Do you think, by putting this to your nose, that God cares about how things smell?

Answer: Yes!

God could have created people without noses, but we can be thankful for all the great smells of life! I can still remember how my mom smelled like perfume when I was a little girl. When she was getting ready to go out, I used to stand behind her and breathe in deeply. MMM! She smelled good!

And how many of you do this? You come home after being outside or at a friend’s house and you walk in your front door, and …breathe in deeply. You can smell supper cooking, and tell it’s meatloaf, or one of your other favorites!

Let them announce some of the things they like to smell from the kitchen.

We surely can thank God that he created noses, and that some great smells from our childhood will stay with our precious memories into adulthood. And let’s move along.

Break off one section of the tangerine and chew and swallow it.

Based on how a tangerine tastes, do we think that God cares about how things taste?

Answer: Yes!

God gave us so many great tastes that we can be thankful for. What are your favorite things to taste?



Let them announce some things they like to taste the most.

We can thank God for giving us mouths and taste buds. He could have created a race of beings where, if we needed nutrition, we just shoved some rock-shaped thing into our sides and started digesting it. But God wanted us to know “sweet” and “sour” and “buttery” and “chocolate-y” and “cheesy.”

With this one, beautiful little tangerine, God has given us reasons to give thanks for touch, sight, smell, and taste.

Give out tangerines to all.

Now you can peel your own tangerine. Stop to touch, see, smell - but only taste ONE section! We have another way to understand God by using the rest.

Oversee, and make sure no one eats more than one slice. Tell them to thank God as they touch, smell, taste.

One final thing we can do each time we eat a tangerine. We can use the sections to think of things to thank God for.

Start separating the sections of your tangerine, laying them down one at a time. As you go, say

God, we have so much to thank you for, just for today! Thank you for…

…the nice soft blankets that I woke up to this morning that kept me warm all night. Lay down a slice

…the hot water for my shower, since many people don’t have hot water! Lay down a slice

…the cool air blowing in my window that already smells like snow, to remind me that Christmas is coming! Lay down a slice

…for the sounds of my family around me, since many people are lonely Lay down a slice

…for the warm, good muffin I ate for breakfast and the butter that melted into it Lay down a slice

…for my car that got me safely to church so I didn’t have to walk for miles Lay down a slice

…for my friends, whom I enjoy seeing in church Lay down a slice

…for our warm and cozy church building, as many people around the world have to



worship outside or in tents or in basements! Lay down a slice

…and finally God, thank you for giving me the gift of teaching and all these wonderful kids to teach every Sunday Lay down your last slice.

Everyone, silently peel away your slices, one by one, and think of the things to be thankful for that are simple like my things - the things you can easily forget, maybe just since you woke up this morning.

Allow them time to do this.

Being thankful is kind of magical. When you give thanks to God, he gives more back to you. There is the old saying to do with both giving and gratitude: “You can’t out-give God!” For all your thanks, he wanted you to have something even more special today.

Get out the chocolate syrup and the jimmies. Put some of each on each child’s plate so they can dip their tangerine sections before eating them.

Let’s give thanks and enjoy!

CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, thank you for all you give to us, and especially on Thanksgiving, we’d like to remember the simple things that we find so easy to forget - like the gifts of sight, the gift of great smells, the wonder of touching your creations, and the wonderful joys of eating them! Amen.



VALENTINE’S DAY OBJECT LESSON:

PAPER CUPS WE’R E AL L A LI TTL E LIK E PA PE R CU PS

MESSAGE: We’re all a little like paper cups—not worth much until we’re filled up with something. Valentine’s Day is a time to be filled with God’s love and to spread it around.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: 1 John 4:8

MATERIALS: • Enough paper cups for yourself and every child

• A pitcher of lemonade containing enough for every student to have a glass and perhaps a refill (Pink would be great, given the holiday!)

PREPARATION: • Fill the pitcher with ice-cold lemonade and hide it in a cabinet.

• Pass out one paper cup to each child and keep one for yourself.

LESSON: We often hear the statement: God is love. 1 John 4:8 says, “He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.” I want to love like God loves. That’s what he wants from us. But how do I do it?

I know I should always love my kids. And I do. But some days, when they’re arguing or making huge messes, I just don’t feel it. How about you? Do you always feel like you love your brothers and sisters?

Answer: No.



The Bible says sometimes Jesus needed to give an important speech like the Sermon on the Mount. Other times he knew he was coming to a place where he would have to heal a lot of people. He would do something so he could give away God’s love to those people. Do you know what that was?

Let them take guesses.

Jesus would retreat to someplace quiet and he would pray to God. What exactly is prayer?

Let them guess. Correct answer is “talking to God.”

We can ask God for things, surely. But for some of us, the only time we try to “get with” God is when we want something. Sometimes, a better answer is to just sit and try to feel how much he loves us.

Hold up your empty cup.

Some days, I feel like this cup. I’m a good item. I could drop and not break. But what’s the problem with this cup right now? Hold it upside-down and right-side up.

Let them guess. Correct answer is “there’s nothing in it.”

There is a poem, and the first lines go like this:

“A bell's not a bell ‘til you ring it.

A song's not a song ‘til you sing it.”

What can we say about a cup? A cup isn’t a cup until…

Correct answer: “Until you fill it.”

Go and bring out your pitcher of frosty lemonade. Hold up your own cup.

This pitcher is a lot like God, and the lemonade inside is a lot like his love. God holds all the love. When we pray and ask him to just come and talk to us, he brings his love.

Bow your head as if to pray. Father, the Bible says you love me. That is such great news. How much do you love me?

Pretend to be God and answer in a whisper: “I love you so much that I gave my only begotten son. Now, you can come up to heaven someday and spent eternity with me, and that makes me happy.”



Wow. I am starting to feel God’s love!

Pour a little lemonade into your cup.

That was fun. I think I’ll go back for more. Father, sometimes I get scared in the middle of the night. How can I know you’re there with me?

Pretend to be God and answer in a whisper: “I love being there with you at night [say your own name]. My word says, ‘The God of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.’ I watch over you all night. And do you know what else my word says? ‘I will give my angels charge concerning you, so you won’t even stub your toe.’ My angels enjoy watching over you [say your own name].”

WOW! I’m feeling God’s love now.

Pour some more into your cup.

Father, I know my parents love me. Is that how you love me? Is it sort of like that?

Pretend to be God and answer in a whisper: “It might be hard for you to understand, but I love you more that your own parents. Yes. My word says, ‘Can a woman forget the baby she is nursing?’ She is more likely to forget her own baby that I would be to forget about you for a moment.”

Pour into your cup so that now it is full.

With just a little time spent with God and hearing his word, I am filled up with God’s love.

Being filled with God’s love means I now have love to share with… (name of the student to your right).

Pour all of your lemonade into [student’s] cup.

Don’t drink from it yet! I have a little more to share on love before we’re allowed to drink! I could have been a little selfish and kept some of that love for myself, couldn’t I? But the rest of that poem goes like this:

“I believe what the wise men say

Love's not love ‘til you give it away!”

I want to give away all my love on Valentine’s Day, and that’s not a problem. Why not? There’s plenty more love where that came from.



Refill your own cup from the pitcher.

God has enough love to go around for all of us. If we share it, we can always get more where it came from. [Name of student whose glass you just filled with your glass]…I want you to pass all of God’s love on to the next person.

If she doesn’t quite understand, show her how to pour all her lemonade into the next child’s cup. Pour all the lemonade you just refilled with into that first child’s cup. Refill from the pitcher.

Repeat, having the last child with a full cup fill up the empty cup of the child next to him. Then, the next child can refill his cup.

Keep reminding them not to drink yet! Say repeatedly, “Now pour all your love into the cup of the person beside you” until every child has a full glass.

While you are in the process of filling all cups:

Sometimes we spill a drop, don’t we? Even if we’re being careful. We’re not as good as God is with our love. But that’s okay. Spots dry.

Even if we spilled our whole cup on the floor, what could happen?

Answer: We could get a new cup and fill it.

There’s always enough of God’s love to go around. You’ll notice that as our cups get filled with God’s love, what’s happening to the love in the pitcher?

It’s getting smaller.

But God’s love doesn’t really get any smaller. How does God fill up on love? We don’t really understand that. We know that he never stops loving. It’s probably something like he goes off to the heavenly spigot, puts more love in his jug and adds more love powder. We don’t really know and we don’t have to. God says that he loves us more than our moms and dads do, and we can believe it without understanding it.

Once everyone has their full cup: See? What happened was that I spent time with God, in prayer and in his word, and I was filled up with his love. Once I was filled, I could pass it on to you, and you could pass it on to each other.

Let’s remember on Valentine’s Day where love really comes from. If we want to share God’s love and God’s power in our lives, it all starts when you speak directly to him.

Raise your glass in a toast. Here’s to God’s love on Valentine’s Day! Now we can drink!



CONCLUDING PRAYER: Father, we thank you for loving us more than our parents, more than we can possibly understand. Help us to spend time with you and get filled up with your love. Help us on Valentine’s Day to share it. Amen.



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