Display nice cake. Ask who would like a piece. Sometimes no one will take a piece as they smell a rat!
I'll then cut a nice piece for one of the leaders - given on the china with a nice napkin and fork. They usually tell me how tasty it is and then the girls all want a piece.
I then slash a hunk of cake off ;and toss it in the paper napkin squishing it a bit and handing it over without a smile. The object is how it's how we serve not what we serve. The cake is the same cake but tasted so much better when served in a kind thoughtful, manner.
You can either read the following quote in class and/or tie it to each pretzel as a hand out:
In about 610 A.D. a very creative Alpine Monk decided to make use of the pieces of dough left over from baking bread. The Monk formed them into thin strips folded into a looped twist to represent the folded arms of children in prayer. This scrumptious treat was given to the children as they learned their prayers. They began calling the treat "Pretiola", which is Latin for "little reward". Soon it was known the world over as a pretzel. The secret of making great pretzels is not only in the baking but also in the shaping.
We, like pretzels, are made from the best ingredients, by the best hands available, the hands of our Father in Heaven. Have you ever seen a broken pretzel, or one that's lost its shape? We too, can lose our shape when we don't pray always to keep our spirituality intact. Even in the midst of our greatest trials, we must remember, as did Job, to call on the Lord. The simple shape of the pretzel, arms folded in prayer, reminds us to pray each day. Our "Pretiola" or "little rewards" are the blessings we receive. Every time you see a pretzel, remember prayer. Check to see if your arms are often folded in prayer and have not lost their shape.
(You can make them large like the ones sold at Pretzel stands, or a bunch of small ones if you have a large primary/Sunday school class.)
You have a really good cake on the table. You ask if anybody would like a piece of cake.
Pick someone, tell them to come up to the front and put on the apron (it is a messy cake).
Then, grab a piece of cake with your hands, and throw it at the unsuspecting victim.
Ask the rest of the class if they would like a piece of cake. (hopefully they'll be too afraid to say yes)
Then clean up quickly, and delicately hand them and the rest of the class, the nicely presented piece of cake. Explain that teaching the Gospel, is like giving people cake.
The Gospel is inherently good, just like the cake. However if you "throw" scriptures and history at them, they are less likely to accept it.
I gave each girl a bowl of ice cream. I put out the toppings that are usually not used for ice cream, but were good when used as toppings on other things and asked the girls to come up and choose their toppings so that they could eat their ice cream while I taught the lesson. Hopefully no one wanted any of the things on their ice cream and just sat down.
"Oh, don't you like these things?"
I explained that some things are good choices for some occasions or things but not good choices for others.
Examples, clothing for the beach is not appropriate for Sunday. Loud, boisterous play is okay for sports but not in the classroom, doing homework is good but not on Sunday. You can come up with what is needed for your class situations.
I got their responses and then I put out the real ice cream toppings.
First ask for four volunteers and tell them that they are going to be deceived.
Ask each volunteer who they think that they can win, to distract them from the fact they are going to be deceived.
Tell them to kneel around the baking sheet.
Tell them you are dropping candy and whomever gets it the fastest gets to keep it, but they have to keep their eyes on the baking sheet.
Drop a piece of candy, they should all go for it.
Drop another, and another.
Drop them until they understand the game.
Then when they are comfortable and know whats going on, drop the egg or water balloon.
They should all go for it and get messy, or wet.
Tell them they can clean up. Point out that even though you warned them something bad would happen, they were conditioned to grab. You can liken this to how bad habits or mistakes can become sins because we're conditioned to act a certain way.
To begin the lesson, pass around the muffin box with a mix inside. Have students look at the box. Smell the box. Ask them what their opinions are. "It's just a box."
Next pass around the freshly made muffins in the basket. Ask the students to look at the muffins and smell them. What is the difference? "The second one is more interesting, desirable."
With the muffin box, it didn't take me any time or effort to bring it to the class. With the muffins, I spent time, consideration, caring thoughts, and came out with a finished product that the students are ready to enjoy.
It is the same with our lessons. We must prayerfully plan these to meet the needs of our students. Much of what they get out of the lesson depends on our effort and preparedness. We can't just show up with an old box and expect the lesson to go well. We must spend time preparing worthwhile lessons to receive the Spirit and be inspired.
Prepare a memory game by filling a box with 20 small objects. Include one very memorable object such as a $10 bill.
Tell the class you are going to play a memory game. Take the lid off of the box and use the timer to give the class members about one minute to observe and memorize what is inside.
Put the lid back on the box and then instead of allowing them to immediately write down what they remember allow some time to pass (either let them visit or proceed with the lesson) before handing out the paper and pencil. Ask them to write down as many items as they can remember from the box. They should remember some of the items - but not all. I include a $10 bill in the box and everyone remembers that.
Repeat the exercise, but this time allow the class time to write down everything they see. After closing the box once again ask them what was in the box. They should be able to tell you everything that was in the box because they have written it down/recorded the contents.
Describe to the class how this activity shows us the importance of keeping records and journals. Although we may try to remember everything - as time passes it becomes more difficult to remember all of the details. Of course some events are very memorable and we won't forget them (just like the $10 bill), but it is impossible to remember everything. However, if we record what is happening to us in our journals, we can remember everything - not just the major events- no matter how much time passes.
Have each student put a rubber band around his/her wrist and through out the week when they use inappropriate language, pop the rubber band. the pop will sting their wrist. This will be the consequence of using bad language.
Remove the label from a can of soup and put it on a completely different can of soup, such as put a label from a can of green pea soup onto a can of tomato soup. The labels are usually easy to remove and replace.
Ask the class what is in the can, then open the can and show that the label on the can was wrong. Instead of green pea soup, it turns out to be tomato soup.
I am comparing marriage to donuts and cinnamon rolls. A donut is like a temporal marriage, sweet and delicious but built around a big hole- till death do we part. The cinnamon roll is also sweet but has no hole. I also have a hand out of a donut for each girl with a note attached saying- "donut" settle- marry the right person in the right place at the right time.
