Set the mouse trap and set inside the box on one side.
Place the candy or other object on the other side of the box.
Beforehand explain to someone what you will be doing because they need to be willing to help! They will stand behind the box and place their hand through the curtain. They cannot see what is inside the box (you have told them beforehand, but they do not know what side you placed the objects). Your job is to represent the role of the Holy Ghost and guide them to the candy. You will do this by quiet whispers. The person must listen carefully and think about their actions beforehand or they could get in the mouse trap.
Talk about how the mouse trap represents the traps Satan sets for us and if we are not careful, and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we can easily be caught in one of his traps. But by following the Holy Ghost we will always be led to that which is good and wonderful!
(Be very careful doing this object lesson! You may want to disable the mousetrap by soldering it before beginning, or place it upside down inside the box. You could even use one of the humane mouse traps found here to protect fingers. Just place it so the opening of the mouse trap is toward the back of the box. ~Jenny)
I was going to have one or more girls stand up and hold tote bags on each shoulder for a few minutes at the beginning of my lesson, while we read a few scriptures or while I introduce the lesson.
Then after we take off the bags I will ask the YW how her shoulders feel. I will then relate that to repentance and how it feels like a load of weight is off our shoulders when we repent.
This is useful with a lesson about how unkind words can hurt others and how hard they are to take back once they have been said and the damage has been done.
Have students squeeze toothpaste out on the paper plate to symbolize hurtful words that we use against someone, i.e., you little brat, fatso, freckle face, stupid, etc. Then have them attempt to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
Beforehand, fill the jar with large rocks, then pour rice into the jar with the rocks until the rice fills all the empty space between the rocks. Then pour the rice and rocks out of the jar and put them into separate containers.
LESSON: It is hard to fit everything in our lives. Almost everyone struggles with finding enough time. This object lesson demonstrates how putting the things of the Lord first, will allow Him to bless us with time for other things and help us manage our lives.
Pour the rice in the jar. The rice represents things that we want to do (work, spend time with friends, vacations, hobbies, etc.). Now put the rocks in the jar. Only a few will fit. The rocks represent what the Lord asks of us (prayer, scripture study, family home evening, temple worship, fulfilling our callings, etc.). When we do what we want first, there is rarely enough time left to do what the Lord asks of us.
Now empty the rocks and rice back into their separate containers. This time, put the rocks in the jar first, then pour the rice into the jar with the rocks. When we do what the Lord asks us to do first, then we are blessed and we are able to find time to do both.
Show the puzzle box and ask the girls how they would feel doing this puzzle. Hopefully you'll get answers such as it looks difficult, it would take a lot of time, there are so many small pieces...
Then relate the puzzle to Personal Progress. It may look difficult, it may look like it will take a lot of time and there may seem to be so many value experiences that will take all that time.... But all it takes is a little bit of effort every day/week.
How would you start the puzzle? You'd start with the easy parts - the outside, or a significant part of the picture that looks a little easier. It's the same with Personal Progress - start with the "easier goals" - the smaller value experiences (rather than the large projects). A little bit of regular effort will slowly complete the puzzle... a little bit of regular effort on Personal Progress will slowly but surely complete the program!
You could do a handout with a piece of a puzzle, or create your own puzzle piece with something like "Personal Progress is like a puzzle. All it takes is a little bit of regular effort!"
(Jenny: You could use this same lesson to teach any difficult task: stopping swearing, learning more about the scriptures, serving in a new calling, doing family history work)
A lego Set with instructions
Get the group into two groups and then choose one person to be the third solo group
Dump the Legos on the table, and instruct the group to work as teams to complete the Lego project.
Have them explain how hard/easy it was to accomplish their goal of building the Lego set.
(Jenny - You could also use this lesson to teach the principles of apostasy and restoration.)
At the start of the lesson I had each person write on their Popsicle stick something that they enjoyed spending their time on. (hobby, sports, etc.) We talked about the importance of spiritual things and how the world tends to pull our focus away from those things.
Have them look at the picture that your brought. (do this from a distance of at least 7-10 feet)
Now ask them to hold up their Popsicle stick and put it in their field of vision.
While focusing on Christ you can still keep in line other things.
What would happen if you changed all your focus off of Christ and only on your stick?
As you do this you will notice that your spiritual focus can be thrown off because you are focusing to much time on the other.
(Jenny - You could talk about spending time in a church calling, spending time with family, time management, or sin)
Ask the student to hold out his fist (representing either himself or the world).
The teacher then holds his fist above the student's fist (representing Heavenly Father).
Ask the student to follow the movements of your fist as you move it around and about. Pretty easy.
Then instruct the student that we can not see God and therefore know not His will for us.
Ask the student to now close their eyes and follow the movement of your fist. This cannot be done without seeing where you move it.
Then hold a pen and instruct the student that the pen represents a Prophet.
Place the pen in the student's fist and hold the top of the pen with your fist.
Ask them to once again close their eyes, then move the pen around and about, guiding the student's hand in motion as you do so.
We can learn our Heavenly Father's will for us through a Prophet and follow Him.
(Jenny - You could also teach the importance of studying the scriptures, or about listening to the Holy Ghost with this lesson)
Focusing on the negative keeps us from being grateful about the positive.
After everyone in the room has had a sufficient time period to look for everything in the room that is red, ask them to close their eyes. Then ask them to keep their eyes closed and tell them they can raise their hand if they can name the yellow items in the room.
Most will not be able to name anything unless they are wearing the color themselves. Of course any color can be used.
Does that mean that the color did not exist when they were looking around? Of course not.
Explain that our mind when focused on something particular has a hard time concentrating on anything else. If we are always looking at all they negative things in our lives and all of our problems (red) we will probably miss all the things to be grateful for.(yellow)
Beforehand set up two tables next to each other.
On one table build a structure with one set of blocks (the more complex the better); place a box over it to make sure it cannot be seen. On the other table provide a stack of blocks identical to the ones used to build your structure.
Choose a child to come up to the table with the stack of blocks. Try to describe to him/her how to build the structure like yours.
Once they have attempted it, remove your box and compare the two structures (theirs will differ considerably from yours.)
Next have them try again to copy the structure with the box removed and looking at your example.
They will be able to do it exactly. Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants us to return home to Him, not only did he give us the scriptures to describe how to do it (like the first example), but He also sent His Son to show us what we need to do to gain eternal life (second example). Just like the blocks we are better able to copy something when we are shown how versus just being taught how.
