HELP!!!!
I have been asked to teach a class tomorrow night at church on object lessons that teach a gospel principle. I have many of my own and I have been on Mormonshare.com to get other ideas
BUT...
when I really need some great input I come to the smartest, most creative women I know...
YOU!
Does anyone out there have a favorite object lesson you have used to teach a gospel themed principle?
I am going to use my favorite one right at the beginning of my lesson. It can be used for many things but my focus will be on being prepared.
First I will bring a beautifully decorated cake and tell them that it is a sweet experience to be asked to teach this class and I wanted to share the blessing with them. I will look around for a knife, spatula, plates and forks. I won't find any in my bag. "Oh dang...I forgot them! I was rushing around to get things together, I had it all sitting on the counter and totally forgot to bring it. Oh well...." Then I will just grab a big ole chunk out of the cake and offer it to someone.
The cake is still good, it's just not quite as appetizing when it isn't "served correctly". Same with other preparations in our lives, lessons we are asked to teach and forget about and prepare in Sacrament meeting. Might be able to pull it off, but how much better could it be if we had taken the time to present it to the class better? This can be used for TONS of gospel applications.
Do YOU have a favorite you can share with me?
Oh, come on...I KNOW you do!!!
13 comments:
I really liked the one I used in YW on motherhood, again can be used a bunch of different ways. It was Kelli's idea. Got a big bag of fake jewels all different sizes and colors. Can be all different sizes and shapes and colors of moms - doesn't matter. We are all beautiful and priceless. Girls liked it.
I had a girlfriend once who made a cake and in one corner she put a big plop of kitty poo. She offered some cake to her family and no one would eat any of it. She said, "come on, the rest of the cake is okay. it's just this one little part that is gross." She then compared it to the media that we watch, listen to, etc. and that just because most of it is appropriate doesn't make it okay.
Here is one I used.
"What if I told you that for now on, this will be your entire diet. All you will eat is mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes on Monday. Mashed Potatoes on Tuesday. And so forth.
What would happen? You’d get tired of eating mashed potatoes!!! Maybe even lose your appetite all together.
How else can potatoes be made? French fried, au gratin, baked, boiled, hash browns, scalloped, dill potatoes, twice-baked, potato chips, potato salad, tator tots.
What if every Sunday you went to class and your teacher taught you the same way?
Just as there are many ways to make potatoes, there are many ways to teach gospel principles. To spark the children’s different appetites, or learning styles, we need to use a variety of teaching methods."
I had a good one I used in Primary. I took a small cassette player and turned it on, softly playing Primary songs. I told the kids that this little music player was like the still small voice -- we had to concentrate to hear it, we had to listen carefully but we could still hear it. Then I put it in the bottom of a deep bag. I had folded bath towels that I'd attached words on like "told my parents a lie" and "fought with my siblings" and "looked at someone's paper during a test." I put each towel on top of the little tape player one at a time, describing the situation and had the kids notice how much harder it was to hear when we make even a tiny mistake. When all of the towels (aka sins) are piled on the radio, you can't hear the music at all. Then I took each towel off one at a time and likened that to repentance, saying "I confessed to my parents that I lied and told them I'd never do it again" explaining that when we repent of our sins, it is easier to hear the promptings from the Holy Ghost. Anyway, it was a great demonstration of the Holy Ghost and the kids got a lot out of it. (Not my idea by the way -- thank you great internet.) Good luck!!
I've always like the brownies with dog poop:
I made this lovely pan of brownies for you! (cut and pass out) Don't eat them yet! (then tell them about the ingredients) finally I added a 1/4 cup of dog poop. then you make the analogy to movies, songs, books, web pages, friends who are really fun and nice but just have a little bit of bad stuff.
Oh - I just read Lisa-Marie's post. Same thing.
i'm sure you have so many good ideas of what to do, that i will give you the what NOT to do:
let's never use the analogy of the dirty candy. you take something yummy, somehow make it dirty (rub it in dirt, pass it around and let everyone touch it, etc.) and then you ask if anyone wants it now? no, it's dirty. so let's keep our bodies from getting dirty by not passing them around or defiling them with dirty things. law of chastity 101, gone totally wrong.
also, please PLEASE emphasize that object lessons in sacrament meeting, as well as visual aids, are totally inappropriate. the unwritten understanding is that we don't use them. it drives me crazy when someone gets up and starts taping pictures to the pulpit, or pours a glass of orange juice and "doesn't share it with the congregation"... when trying to teach about missionary work.
i should quit now before i become even more negative. good luck with your class.
I always liked the rocks in a jar one. Where you have a bunch of big rocks and and a bunch of small rocks. The big rocks represent the important things in our life like church, scriptures, family, etc. The small ones are everything else. The jar represents our time. When you put the small rocks in first it's hard to fit the big ones in, but if you put the big rocks in first all the small ones make their way around it and you're able to fit them all in.
P.S. We'd love to have you come stay with us. The Nielson kids are staying with us that week as well, but I was planning on putting them in the back-room futon. We would still have Olivia's full sized (and very comfy) bed available for you and some floor space for the boys if you want.
Email me! erin.scarborough@gmail.com
You are awesome and I'm sure whatever you do will be so great. I'm glad others are giving suggestions cuz I got nothin.
I love your cake one.
I saw one recently where a lady had a magnet (like a big horseshoe magnet: red with gray edges) and she talked about the value of work. That if a magnet doesn't get used it loses it's strength and how we must use our faith and works to keep our testimonies strong.
Also, I have seen where someone takes cornstarch and mixes it with water and molds it into a ball. As long as you knead the cornstarch it stays in a nice ball but if you quit it will ooze all over the place. Kind of like faith. Faith takes action to keep strong...you need to read, pray, go to church, etc. or you will just be an ooze of mess. The gospel takes action.
I love the other ideas here, too. I am totally stealing Jeanelle's.
One of my fav's is about Repentance. I filled a jar/glass with water and a couple drops of blue food coloring. I added bleach to the blue water and with in a few seconds, the water became clear again. The Young Women oooo'd and awwww'd. They also think you are a genius.
Another favorite is the "Parable of the Popcorn". You can find it on YWConnection dot com. It basically talks about how some kernels don't "pop" to their full extent, some kernels get a little hot in the oil then don't pop at all, and some will pop big and plump (just like me...well the big and plump part). You can serve popcorn with the lesson!
I like your cake idea! I'd much rather have that object lesson than the poo on the cake lesson. Not only would you have to deal with the poo clean-up, you'd have to deal with vomit clean-up. Ick.
I have 2. The first is an oldie. You take a clear glass of water, see how pure we are...yadayada. When you make bad choices...add food coloring, the water gets dirty. Then talk about repentence, add a little bleach....
Next one is better. A friend of mine has 4 sons, I can't even fathom that. Anyway the oldest is very gifted, and had figured out a way around a few rules. He would get his younger brother to do his dirty work and therefore take the blame. Mom caught on and used this lesson: Jacob, you know how much you loooove ice cream? Oh yeah, I really love ice cream! Well would you eat ice cream with poop on it? Ewww, no way, that's gross! Mom: well a lie is like poop, it's bad stuff...his ears perk up. But Mom, it was just a little lie. Mom: well Jacob, it would only be a little poop on your ice cream, that wouldn't be to bad, would it? What if it were all dried up and I just sprinkled a tiny bit on top? Jacob: MOM, THERE WOULD STILL BE POOP ON MY ICE CREAM! I would know it was there! Mom: Jacob, a lie is a lie, no matter what size it is.
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
Ice cream sundaes all around.
oh I think I am too late.. but loved reading all the ideas.. love your cake idea.. perfect.. this makes me want to be a better teacher! I am going to have to borrow some of these ideas for sure!
This is like when Mom had to give a talk on angels.
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