Materials
Prepare a list of actions of Elijah and Elisha.

Possibilities for statements
* Fed by ravens
* Increased a widow’s supplies
* rebuked kings
* Challenged the prophets of Baal
* Didn’t die.
* Wore a mantle as a symbol of his office as a prophet
* Raised a woman’s dead son
* Parted the Jordan River
* Slain captains and men by calling down fire
* Removed poison from a stew
* Fed 100 men with 20 barley loaves
etc.

Activities
1. Have youth correctly identify which actions belong to Elijah . Elisha. As a competition you might divide the class into two teams and the first team to correctly match the prophets with the actions wins. Some actions will apply to both Elijah and Elisha.
2. Call out the statements and have youth perform an action associated with each prophet. For Elijah have them spin around in place representing the whirlwind in which he was taken to heaven. For Elisha, have them rub the top of their head with the palm of their hand, representing his baldness. (Elisha was mocked by youth for his baldness and those mocking him were slain by bears.) In instances where the statement applies to both, they must do both simultaneously.

Scripture
2 Kings 1:1-4:44

Summary
Elijah mentored Elisha. God used both Elisha and Elijah to teach the Israelites.

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…

Materials
None

Preparation
Make a list of professions. Some possibilities might include:
a lawyer
a dentist
an astronaut
a baker
a policeman
a mechanic
an engineer
a pilot
a doctor
a fireman
an architect
a counselor

Activity
You can play charades with your list, pin the names on the back and ask kids to discover their occupation, or make a list of equipment and tools that each occupation uses and have children match the tools with the occupation.

Application
Discuss how we trust each of these people to do their jobs. While we cannot be experts in all areas, we trust those who ARE the experts. We may not understand why the doctor chooses a specific medicine or a mechanic uses a specific tool, but we trust their expertise. In the same way we do not know everything about God or understand everything God understands, but he is our Creator and as such we can trust him with our life. (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22)

Use this creative teaching activity as a reminder to youth or children that we cannot know everything so we place our trust in various experts. We need to place the sme kind of trust in our Creator.

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…

Materials
None

Activity
Divide the group into two or more teams. As a series of characteristics are called out, you must carry the team member with those characteristics to the front. First team to do so gets a point. If the person being carried touches the ground he / she must return to the start. In the event that more that one person has the same characteristic the team must choose one that has not been carried yet. If all with the same characteristic have already been carried then the team may choose one.

Possible Characteristics:
(use care to not embarass anyone unduly)
1. Person on the team with the largest shoe.
2. Shortest person on your team.
3. Person on your team with the longest hair
4. Person with the birthday closest to today
5. Person on your team with the darkest skin
6. Tallest person on your team
7. Person on your team with the longest fingernails
8. Person on your team with the most siblings
9. Person with the greatest number of letters in his / her name
10.Person on your team that travels the farthest distance to come to church
11.Person on your team who hasn’t been carried yet
12.Person on your team with the longest pinky finger
13.Person on your team with the most worn socks
14.Person on your team with the most pointed nose
15.Person on your team with the greatest number of pets
16.Person on your team with the ugliest big toe
17.Add your own here……………………

Application
We need to carry others to God in prayer, and lift them up with our words and actions. That is what brings us all together in unity.

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…

Materials
Find a balance scale or make one using paper plates, string, and ruler with a hole the middle. You can hold it with a string attached to the middle hole. Sheets of scratch paper for each participant. Wooden Cross.

Activity
1. On each sheet of paper kids / youth should write one positive thing they have done this week.
2. On other sheets they should write the other things they have done – unspiritual. No one else needs to see what is written.
3. Have everyone wad up the pieces of paper and place them on the appropriate sides of the scale. Which side is heavier?
4. Discuss things that someone might have put on each side of the scale. Make list on a whiteboard or poster of the things that are possibilities as kids / youth mention them.
5. Discuss things that could be removed from the unspiritual side and the things that could be added to the spiritual side. Have participants choose one thing they wish to change to get their life into better balance this week.
6. Now bring out the wooded cross and place it on the good side. Explain that when Jesus died on the cross, he tipped the scales in our favor. God no longer compares the good with the bad. With Jesus on your side you will not be found wanting. With Jesus on your side, your sins are forgiven and instead of having everything taken away, you will be rewarded with heaven.

Application
God evaluates our lives today in light of what Christ did on the cross.

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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

Materials
Provide Bibles, paper, and pencils.
Optional: Provide Bible costumes.

Preparation
On a sheet of paper write one of the scripture references below these questions:
* Who are you?
* Why did you pray?
* How did God answer you?
* How did you feel?

Scripture references
Possible answers are in parenthesis. Do not include these on the student sheets
1. Genesis 24:42-46, 52
(Abraham’s servant; to find a wife for Isaac; provided Rebecca; bowed down before God).
2. 1 Samuel 1:2,10,11,27; 2:1
(Hannah; no children; son; praised God).
3. 2 Kings 20:1-5
(Hezekiah; sick; health).
4. Jonah 1:17; 2:1,10; 3:3
(Jonah; swallowed by fish; fish spit me out; obeyed God).
5. Luke 18:13,14
(tax collector; I was a sinner; forgiveness; God forgave me).
6. Acts 9:39-41
(Peter; Dorcas’ life; raised Dorcas).
7. Daniel 9:1-20
(Daniel’s prayer follows the pattern of II Chron 7:14)

Details of Daniel’s prayer
1. KNEES – Humble yourself
….v7,8 – Acknowledge shame is your fault, a result of your sin
….v16 – Our sin affects others
….v18b – Admit we have no righteousness
2. HANDS- (hands with palms together in a praying hands position) Pray
….v2-3 Daniel was reading the scriptures… and discovered that something there pertained to him, so he asked God to do what he had already promised.
….v16-18 Asked for God’s mercy
3. EYES – Seek God’s face.
….a. v2-3 Daniel was seeking God through reading the scriptures…
….b. Meditated on God’s attributes
…….NOTICE all the characteristics and attributes of God mentioned in verses 4-18.
….c. Sought God’s favor (v13)
4. BODY – Turn from your wicked ways
….a. points out the wickedness they have committed… and includes himself – “we” (v5, 6, 10, 11)
….b. was a time of personal confession v20

Application
God answered prayers in Bible times, and He answers prayers today. These stories are about people who prayed and about the answers God gave. Guide them as they answer the questions regarding each Scripture. Assign one youth the part of the reporter. He or she will ask the questions. Assign the parts of the Bible people to the other pupils. They will answer the questions. Practice the interviews. Have the groups share one or more interviews.

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…