-Hide items under seperate boxes or behind different doors (if you have that many in your classroom).
-Label each box #1, #2, #3 -Ask for volunteers & let them know if they do this, they will have agency to choose which box they want, but once they open it they must accept the responsibility that lies underneath.
-Let each volunteer come up & choose a box. If they get the windex, they have to clean the window. If they get the lemon oil, they have to dust the table/piano. If they get the candy bar, they can sit down & eat it.
-Explain: we all have our agency to choose whatever we want, but once we have made a choice we are committed to it, whether it be fun or not.
-Explain that women & Priesthood holders each have different roles, but each are of equal value & importance.
-Hold up Peanut butter jar & chocolate bar, explain that they each have different purposes & roles, but when they are used together, they make something more unique & exciting than the original.
-Hold up the Reese's Peanut Butter cup.
-Share peanut butter cups with everyone.
Explain that when we are free from sin we feel good, uplifted, free...like this balloon.
However, when we make mistakes or choose poorly we are weighed down by our sin.
As you discuss sin, place the rocks or blocks in a line in order on top of the balloon's ribbon so that they are holding the balloon down with the label side down.
Discuss the repentance process by lifting the labelled rock or block off the ribbon, reading and discussing that step for repentance until all rocks/blocks are read.
Point out we have not truly repented unless we have gone through all five steps of repentance as the balloon is still held down by one rock.
(Be prepared to grab the balloon if you are in a high ceiling room once the final rock/clock is removed!)
(This lesson could be likened to being burdened if we refuse to forgive, too. ~Jenny)
The story goes that a girl wanted to go to the movies, however it was rated R for some strong violence and strong language. The girl begged her father trying to convince him that it was a great movie with a good plot and exciting ending. Her Father finally agreed to let her go see it if she would eat his brownies before she went. That evening he made brownies and just before she was about to eat, her father told her she should know something about the brownies. He told her that he used her favorite brownie mix and added the most delicious chocolate chips. He however, added just a smidgen of dog poop. When he asked her to eat the brownies, she refused.
He explained that just like the brownies, the movie was probably exciting and good, however with a little bit of bad, it made the movie undesirable.
Experiment on the word, or feast upon the word. Challenging you to open your scriptures!
Start by asking who likes chocolate? Who loves chocolate? Who is an absolute expert and knows everything there is to know about chocolate?
Then pull out your bag of M&M's... Start asking...(can list on board) How many colors of M&Ms are there? How many are in a bag this size? How many of each color (can specify here?)are in a bag this size? Which color has the most? The least? How can we know if we're right? Aren't we just guessing?
Then point out that there is only one way to answer these questions truthfully - and that is to open the bag and see.
Give specifics of your bag. Colors, how many total - each color - most & least...
Now relate the bag of M&M's to the scriptures. Each story is like a single M&M. We've heard the story of Ammon, Alma, etc. These stories together make up our scriptures (the bag) But we don't truly know the scriptures and the truths contained until we OPEN them up and feast upon the words. We can become experts on our scriptures if we do as Alma challenged and experiment upon the word. And believe me --- it's sweet!
Take a ping Pong ball and place it in the funnel. Have a student hold the funnel in their mouth with their head tilted back, and blow hard. (This is an experiment about Bernouli's principle) The ball will spin, but not be blown out of the funnel.
When we stand steadfast and immovable, knowing exactly where we want to go with our lives and determined to live our lives by the teachings of the Savior, we will not be taken of our course when the winds off the world blow.
Start by holding up a relatively crisp bill (real, paper money).
Ask how much this bill is worth.
Then crumble it up into a ball, stomp on it, punch it down, do whatever you want to make it yucky.
Finally, unfold the bill and hold it up again. Ask how much it is worth now. Is there anyone who wouldn't want it now that is has been tarnished?
Point out that this is similar to our worth in Heavenly Father's eyes. Nothing we do can detract from our worth to Him.
This is a different version of another suggestion in this category. The original suggested having 2 people come into the classroom while a class member is blind folded, one known to the person the other a stranger. This suggestion might work better for time constraints, a very small branch or ward where there are rarely strangers or giving a talk in front of a group:
I printed up a picture of my dad (you could use a spouse or someone you speak with daily) and a picture of a man roughly the same age as my dad that I found off the internet. I asked the class that if I were blind folded and this first guy walked in (who is my dad) how would I know him? Then repeat the question for the second picture. How would I know a complete stranger? I wouldn't. I'm always talking to my dad. He raised me to live righteously and sets the best example for me. I know him because of the relationship I have built with him.
I will know my Heavenly Father because I talk with him daily through prayer and have worked to build a relationship with him.
Put all the rocks in the bowl.
Ask two people to fill the bowl with the apples. They will see that they can only fill the bowl with the apples if they first take the rocks out of the bowl.
Follow with one or both of these lessons:
1. Read and mark Alma 22:15 together. It says: "And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy."
Explain that this verse contains the words of a king who repented for rebelling against the Lord. The king offered to give up his kingdom and all his possessions in order to receive the Spirit of God (the Holy Ghost). What did the king really need to give up to feel the Spirit? (See Alma 22:18.)
Just as the rocks needed to come out of the bowl before the bowl could be filled with apples, the wickedness in the king needed to leave before the king could be filled with the Holy Ghost. What do we need to do to be filled with the Holy Ghost? (We need to rid ourselves of unrighteous thoughts and actions.)
2. How can sincere fasting be one way to "empty" ourselves of unrighteousness so we can be filled with the Holy Ghost? Even though our stomachs are empty when we fast, we can be filled with the Holy Ghost. Being hungry for food when we fast is not wrong, especially if it reminds us to “hunger and thirst after righteousness, [so we can] be filled with the Holy Ghost? (3 Nephi 12:6 - And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.)
From - Lesson 10: Fasting--ﾔHungry or Full?, Preparing for Exaltation: Teacher's Manual
Tell the story of "The March of the Penguins". Talk about how the penguins had to endure together through the worst conditions in order to live. We as ward members will all go though hard times in our lives but if we can endure together our reward will be great.
Like the penguins who's reward is their offspring.
I also had little chocolate penguins to hand out at the end of the lesson.
