Creative Teaching Ideas

What We Need

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Materials
Various items that would be useful on a journey or simply the names of items written on index cards, or pictures of the items.

Beach: beach towel, sunscreen, swimsuit, sunglasses
Fishing Trip: boat, fishing rod, bait or lure, net
School: books, paper, pencil or pen, backpack
Snow Skiing: snowskis, coat, gloves, snow boots
Scuba Diving: snorkel, air tank, boat, wetsuit

You can also include other locations such as: Desert, Space station, etc. Of course if you can bring in items needed for the various trips you can ask the children to sort them according to the trip that will need them.

Activity
Have children sort items according to the trip they are going to make.

Application
In John 20:19-23, Jesus sent the disciples to tell others about him. He told them they would need two things for this trip: The Holy Spirit and a message of forgiveness.


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Evangelism Ideas

The Key

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Materials
Many different kinds, sizes and shapes of keys: old-fashioned keys, keys on funny key rings, car keys, a huge honorary key (as “a key to the city”), hotel keys (both the traditional kind and the plastic card kind with the electronic code), etc. Have a one lock which can be opened by one of the keys.

Activity
Ask kids to identify what all the objects have in common. Of course they are keys. Then ask them what each key might open?
The keys represent things to us
House keys – a home
Skeleton key – something old/ antique
Key ring – lots of opportunities
Car Key – going places
Hotel Key – Vacation / Holiday
PadLock Key – Security for your valuable possessions

Then show them the padlock and let them identify which key might open the lock?

Application
Some people say there are many different ways to GodBut the Bible says the only way to God is through Jesus. Which is what Jesus meant when be said, “I am the way” in John 14:6.

He is the key to heaven and eternal security with God. Like the house key, he is the key to our heavenly home. Like the car key, he is our way to go there. Like the padlock key, he opens up the riches of God to us. Jesus didn’t say he pointed to the way, or that he knew the way, or even that he could teach the way. He said he is “the way.”


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Creative Teaching Ideas

Bubblemania

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Materials
Soap bubbles and various types of wands to use to blow bubbles. You may wish to have a bowl that all the kids can use instead of individual bottles of bubbles. Some thin wire can be used to make bubble wands. You can also use many things found around the house such as egg beaters, strainers, cheese graters, etc. You could provide wire and wire cutters and allow older kids to design their own bubble wands.

Activity
Tell the youth / children you will give prizes for the most interesting looking bubble, the most bubbles, the largest bubble, the longest lasting bubble, biggest group of bubbles, etc.

Application
Explain that each bubble is filled with air. While you cannot see the air you know its there because it gives the bubble its shape. Jesus sent his comforter, his Spirit to be with us (John 14:16) While we cannot see him, we know he is here because he affects us and the things around us. We can see him by what he does.


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Object Lessons

Invisible Helper

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Materials
Bring a variety of items that involve air in some way. Possibilities are: balloons, a bicycle tire, a hair dryer, various types of inflatable balls (such as basketballs, soccer balls), an air pump, a water floatation device, an aerosol can, a fan, a paper windmill, soap bubbles, a super soaker water gun which uses air pressure, etc.

Activity
Ask kids to identify what all the objects have in common? The answer is that they all use air. While we can’t see the air, we know it is there because of the affects it has on each of these objects.

Application
After Jesus left earth, we couldn’t see him anymore. But he promised to be with us forever. He also promised to send a help John 14:16. We can’t see the helper but we can see the things he does, the affect that he has on us and other people. We know he is there by the things that he does. The same is true of the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

 

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Creative Teaching Ideas

Unseen Helper

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Materials
Balloons


Have a balloon carnival by having various games involving balloons:
1. BANG: Have a competition to see who can be the first to blow up a balloon until it pops.
2. AIR RACE: The objective is to have the balloon reach the other side of the room. Kids can only reach it by blowing up a balloon and letting it go. Where ever the balloon lands, they pick it up and fill it and release it again until someone reaches the goal.
3. BALLOON POP RELAY: Kids must grab an inflated balloon, race to a chair at the opposite end of the room and pop it by sitting on it. This can be very funny as some balloon refuse to pop easily and the kids are hopping up and down on them to pop them. First team to complete the relay wins.
4. BALLOON BUMP: Divide into two teams and give each team a different colored balloon. The team must hit the balloon in the air and not allow it to touch the ground. If a balloon touches the ground the other team gets a point. To add to the excitement, add more balloons.
5. BALLOON BUMP 2: See how many taps or how long a team can keep a balloon in the air without it touching the ground.
6. BALLOON VAOLLEYBALL: Set up a divider across the room and play a game of volleyball with balloons.
7. BALLOON STOMP: Using a small peice of string or a rubber band, tie a balloon to the shoe of each child so that it drags on the floor a few inches behind their feet. Then they must run around the room and try to pop each other’s balloons by stepping on them while also trying to prevent their own balloon from being popped. Last person to have their balloon unopopped wins.

Application
In the book of John, as Jesus prepared to leave the disciples they were afraid to be alone. Like an empty balloon they were a little sad and their spirits were deflated. Life seemed flat, joyless, empty. It had lost its bounce. But Jesus promised he would send a helper. (John 14:16-17) It wasn’t someone they would be able to see, just like you can’t see the air in a balloon, but they would be able to know the helper by what he does. This is the Holy Spirit.

You can’t see the air in a balloon, but it makes the balloon larger. It allows it to bounce and float. God’s Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter, can make us joyful instead of sad. And while we can’t see the Holy Spirit, we know he is there by the way he affects other things in our lives.


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Object Lessons

Magnifying Glass

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Materials
Magnifying Glass

Lesson
Magnifying glasses are fascinating and lots of fun. Let the children play with it for a minute – making their EYES big, looking at plants, etc. Point out that magnifying glasses are very useful. They are found in microscopes to help scientists & doctors see the “invisible,” and they are in telescopes to help us see things far, far away. The principle is easy – we look through them and can see things better.

Application
Questions are like magnifying glasses for our understanding. When we don’t understand, we ask questions and things become clearer. And just like in a microscope – sometimes the things we cannot see or understand become clear. We can see the “invisible”

 

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Creative Teaching Ideas, Icebreakers

Who Am I?

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Materials
One slip of paper for each child containing a name of a famous cartoon character, movie star or character from a movie, Bible character, or historical figure; adhesive tape

Activity
As children/ youth enter the room, tape one of the nametags on their back. By asking “yes” or “no” questions youth must discover their identity as indicated by the slip of paper. You may restrict the number of questions they can ask a single person in order to encourage them to mingle more.

Variation
If you use an equal number of cartoon characters, movie personalities, etc. you can use these categories to divide the participants into groups.

Teaching Point
We learn the identity of God as we take our questions to him. The admonition of the preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 is that as children of God we need not have all the answers to life in order to live. Because we have a God who is a soveriegn Lord, we can trust him completely for our future. We can live our lives one day at a time, facing the perplexities as they come without falling into dispair. We can ask our questions of God as he is not threatened by them.

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Object Lessons

Does It Work?

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Materials
Bring in a variety of electronic and electrical appliances. Some ideas are: a mixer, a calculator, a game boy, a hair dryer, a telephone, a watch, a camera, a computer, a toy car, etc.

Activity
Ask kids to describe what each device is used for and how each works. Ask them really tough questions about each so that they discover they really don’t know all the details about how they actually work. You can discuss electricity, power generation, motors, microchips, and many other very difficult details.

Application
The fact that we do not know all the details about how something works does not mean we cannot use it. There are many people driving cars that could never fix a car. Many people are using computers that don’t know how all the hardware works or how a computer chip works.

In the same way, we may have lots of unanswered questions about God and life, but that mean that we cannot believe in God and put our trust in Him. The question is not HOW does it work, but DOES it work?

 

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Creative Teaching Ideas

Mirrors

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Materials
None

Activity
Form pairs and have partners sit facing each other. Tell one person in each pair to mirror the other’s actions. After a minute, reverse roles. Instruct pairs to each make up a short skit in which they do mirror-image movements. For example, partners could wave with one hand, wave with the other hand, shrug their shoulders, then fall backward.

Debrief
Have volunteers share their skits.
* How did you feel being a mirror?
* How did you feel being a model?
* In what ways does a Christian disciple mirror Jesus?
* How would you define a Christian disciple?

Application
* What does Jesus say about discipleship in Matthew 28:18-20?
Being Jesus’ disciple is kind of like the activity we just did. Just as we mirrored others’ actions by watching them, we become a disciple of Jesus by watching and following what we see him doing.

Varaition
For younger kids you might ask kids to mirror you in all your actions.


MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Object Lessons

Advertisements

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Materials
Bring in a variety of photos from magazines or advertisements.
1. Foods
2. Tools
3. Clothing
4. Electrical devices

Activity
Create category labels. These could be simple lettered signs or envelopes with the categories printed on them. Have children sort the images according to categories.

Application
While the images point us to objects and cause us to think of specific items, they are not real items. If you eat a picture of a banana it does not taste like a banana and does not give us the nutritional benefits of a banana. If we try to drive a nail with a picture of a hammer we will not be successful. A picture of a car will not bring us to church. These are only images.

Reality–real objects are very different from the images. The same is true about God. Sometimes we have difficulty understanding God because we cannot picture him in our minds. While we can read about him in the Bible and visualize what He is like, He is far greater than what we can imagine. It is a mistake to see God as a simple image. That is why the Bible forbids us to make models and figures to represent God. There is a tendency to worship the image instead of what the image represents. This is like eating photographs instead of real food!

God is not a picture hanging on the wall. He is real! He is much greater and deserves respect.

 

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
Learn More…

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