Show the seed and read the following story:
"The Bible, or another book of scripture at my father's place at meal times, was the order of the day in our home. He would read a chapter aloud and lead the discussion. "But one day as we assembled for our meal, there was no book of scripture but a single watermelon seed. He appeared not to notice the missing book but recalled something he had discussed concerning faith several days ago. We all joined in on the lively discussion.
"Then very carefully he picked up the watermelon seed and held it so we could all see it. " 'Boys,' he said, still studying the seed. 'Do you believe that there is the possibility of several watermelons here in my hand?' We all agreed there was. " 'Do you believe that I have the beginnings of a whole wagon load of watermelons here?'
"One of the older brothers said that he couldn't say that, but he'd like to plant the watermelon seed and see. We all agreed with him.
" 'Boys,' Father said with a twinkle in his brown eyes, 'you have the right idea. You have faith that watermelons will come from this seed but with out your work of planting and caring for this seed you will never know for sure. James 2:17 'Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.' "
This would make a good attention getter at a Primary or youth activity where you have a lesson on faith and serve watermelon as a refreshment, or refer to Alma 32.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html
See how easily this stalk of celery took on the color of water in which it was sitting? Small children are just like that stalk of celery. They take on all the characteristics of the family around them. Is your home colored with anger, yelling, sarcasm, and criticism? Or is your home colored with patience, cooperation, soft tones and laughter? Children will absorb examples they receive at home.
You can also use this lesson to teach regular attendance, scripture study, or as an encouragement for teachers. It took a few days of constant exposure to the food coloring for the celery to change its color. We also need constant (you fill in: scripture study, church attendance, exposure to the Spirit in our church lessons, etc) to become colored with good influences.
Another obvious application is sin/pornography/bad movies/bad music/immoral friends--when we constantly (or often) expose ourselves to bad influences, we take on the characteristics of that evil. This lesson could also be taught with a carnation soaked in food coloring.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html, some additions by Jenny Smith
Start this object lesson by holding up the sheet of paper. Tell the group that it represents our lives. We do all have many problems and disappointments in our lives; (ex. having a flat tire in the middle of the desert, having to care for a sick relative, missing an airplane or bus, or losing a father or mother). Be specific with these problems.
As you name each problem (or better yet, ask students to list difficulties they are facing), tear a small piece of paper off. Do this until the entire sheet has been torn into pieces.
Some might look at this pile of paper and say, "Look at this. My whole life has been nothing but problems." Yet others would look at this pile of paper, pick up the paper, and toss it in the air as confetti to celebrate the gift of their lives and the problems they have overcome.
If you'd like, you can actually throw the confetti in the air. Share your desire for them that they might find joy among the trials, for these trials strengthen you and bring blessings. Read D&C 121 7-8
Source: http://www.eprimary.dk/ - (visit the Primary Object lessons section)
Items needed
I taught the children the subject "Jesus Christ is my Example" by using 2 object lessons. I first displayed 2 exact plants planted in 2 different containers. One container was beautiful and the plant looked wonderful.
The other container was chipped and awful looking and the plant appeared less desirable. I then had the children choose which plant they liked best. Of course, they chose the plant in the nice pot.
I then read a story from the Friend called Tin Pot.
Tin Pot
By Rebecca ToddMan looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
Nine-year-old Annie peered through the chain-link fence. Where is he? she wondered. The shrill bell had announced the end of the school day. Children ran across the playground, clinging to a backpack, a spelling list, or a work of art. But Carl was nowhere to be seen. He was always the last one to leave school. A few more children trickled out.
Finally the gray door of his special-education classroom opened, and Carl plodded across the black pavement. When he saw Annie, he started waving excitedly. He smiled so big that it made his face look lopsided.
“Hi, Carl,” Annie said, walking over to meet him. Ignoring his excitement, she grabbed his elbow and started for home, gently pulling him along. “Hurry up—we’re late.”
Carl’s large feet turned in, and he limped as he walked. Annie was careful where she walked so that she wouldn’t bump him and throw him off balance.
As they made their way up the hill, Annie thought of the cold grape juice bar in the freezer at home. She was eager to get home and relax on the couch. But at the rate Carl was going, she’d probably miss her favorite television show. If only Carl could walk faster! His large shoes stumbled along the sidewalk. He was just so clumsy.
“How are you doing, Carl?” she asked. Carl smiled. “Good, then let’s keep going.” Annie marveled at his twisted hands. On Monday she had tried to open a clenched fist and hold his hand, but she couldn’t unfold his fingers. Today she just guided him by an elbow. When he grunted and rubbed his face with his fist, Annie leaned away, afraid that he might fling his arm at her as he had yesterday. Finally they neared the top of the hill and Carl’s house.
“Here’s a step, Carl. Step up,” Annie said as they reached his front porch. He just stood there. “Come on, Carl, you’re almost home.” She stepped up and tried to pull his large body after her. He resisted. “Come on, Carl.” He didn’t budge. “Oh, Carl!” Annie whispered in despair, throwing her hands up.
Carl turned and headed for the grass. He sat down clumsily and began rubbing his fists over the green spears. The grass tickled his hands, and he began giggling.
Annie set her backpack on the porch and walked over to him. “Get up, Carl, it’s time to go inside,” Annie said. She tugged at his arm, but he was much too big for her to lift. “Oh please, Carl!”
Now what do I do? she wondered as she looked down at the chunky boy gleefully stroking the grass. She felt totally helpless.
The door opened, and Mrs. Rich walked outside. “Oh dear. I hope Carl hasn’t been too much trouble today,” she said. “The people at school are still strangers to him. When he gets to know them better, he’ll be as good as he is at home.” She took Carl’s face in her hands. “Carl, you need to stand up.”
Carl slowly pushed himself to his feet, almost falling over as he stood. Mrs. Rich took his arm and led him up the stairs to the door.
“Thank you, Annie dear,” she called over her shoulder. “You’re a tremendous help!”
Annie managed a smile, grabbed her backpack, and said good-bye. When she entered her house next door, she didn’t even bother to turn the television on. She knew that her favorite show was over. “Mom,” she called. “Mo-o-o-om!”
“I’m out here!”
Annie opened the back door and went over to the greenhouse. Her mother was on her knees, packing black soil into a pot. The greenhouse was warm and smelled of fertilizer and plants.
“Oh, Mom, I’m through!” Annie exclaimed. She paced the greenhouse as she let off steam. “I don’t think I can do it one more day! He’s so big and clumsy, and his hands are all twisted. It was horrible today!”
“Whoa, Annie. Settle down,” Mom said. “I suppose you’re talking about Carl.”
“Yes! This is only the third day I’ve walked home with him, and I’m going crazy! He’s just so … so strange!”
Mom turned over a wooden crate and motioned for Annie to sit down. “Honey, you’re just not used to him yet. It’s only the third day. Carl is mentally disabled, and in that respect, he is very different than we are, but he is cheerful and kind. He just takes some getting used to.”
“Mom, if I keep walking Carl home, I’ll always be the last kid to leave the playground, I’ll never get to go to a friend’s house after school, and I’ll miss cartoons every day!”
“You’re right—it is a bit of sacrifice. But if you think of Mrs. Rich taking care of Carl every day and night, maybe a fifteen-minute walk home will seem bearable.”
“Oh, Mom, it’s a three minute walk that ends up taking fifteen minutes!” Annie said, shaking her head. “I want to help Mrs. Rich, but I just don’t understand Carl. He doesn’t talk, he slobbers, and sometimes he suddenly makes strange noises. He scares me.”
“Annie, Carl is different, but. …” Mom stopped and looked around the greenhouse. Her eyes stopped on an old tin pot. She smiled and picked it up. The silver tin was rusted and dull, but inside was a brilliant fuchsia-colored begonia plant. “Annie, what do you think of this?”
Annie smiled at the beautiful flowers. Of all the plants in the greenhouse, this one always caught her eye because of its beautiful color. “I love your begonias, Mom!”
“But do you think it’s beautiful even in this old pot?”
“You don’t even notice the pot because of the flowers.”
“Exactly! That is why I put this flower in this pot. It’s the same with Carl. His spirit is so beautiful that it shines brightly even in an imperfect body.”
Annie stared at the flower.
Mom held up the clay pot she had just filled with soil. “We were given bodies that are whole and nice-looking—like this one,” she said, running her gardening glove over the soil. “There is a flower buried deep inside, but you can’t see it yet. With a little light, water, and tending, it will be beautiful too. It’s the flower that counts, not the pot.”
“Do I have a flower in my pot?”
Mom smiled and reached over to give Annie a hug. “Of course! You have a beautiful spirit too. I just think that you and I may need to work a little to make our spirits as loving and kind as Carl’s.”
“Give ourselves some water and light?”
“Exactly.”
“Mom, do you think that walking home with Carl will give some water and light to the flower in my pot?”
“Definitely! Whenever we do the right thing or help others, our spirits become more beautiful.”
Annie picked up the tin pot. “Well, it was nice when he was so happy to see me. … I think I’ll keep walking with Carl.”
Mom smiled. “I thought you might.”
“But Mom, Carl will still act crazy and stumble up the hill. He’ll still make strange noises. Will I ever be able to see the beauty inside him?”
“I think you already see it at least faintly—and you’ll see it more and more clearly as you help him each day.”
It told of a boy with disabilities and how his friend Annie learned an important lesson from her Mom concerning how things can look so different on the outside, but still be the same inside. We then, discussed examples Christ did while on the earth to make everyone feel of their Father in Heaven's love and how the kids could use his examples today.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html
Design a menu that would really be difficult eating with only one kind of utensil. The discussion during this meal would focus on talents.
Everyone has different talents and gifts. All are valuable at one time or another and we should use and share our talents and acknowledge that they are valuable. A spoon may not seem too important but sometimes you need a spoon, and only a spoon will do.
You may not know you have a talent for eating spaghetti with a spoon until you try.
Themes to discuss: developing talents takes practice, everyone has different talents, talents may be hidden or unknown, talents are valuable, you may see someone else's talent and wish to develop that in yourself, you can share your talents with others (give Johnny your spoon for the Jell-o), etc
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html, some additions by Jenny Smith
I have 2 small drawstring bags, one filled with Legos and one filled with junk (broken Popsicle sticks, small rocks, broken hunks of concrete, twigs, etc.)
I have 2 children each come to the front of the room, in view of all, and build a house out of their materials, so we can then compare the different "houses".
Our good, carefully thought out decisions are like the Legos. If we make a good choices, we have a strong, healthy, safe future and life. If we make poor choices, our building materials are poor, and we end up with a shaky future that won't take more than one shake to send it toppling to the ground.
Questions to ask: Which house do you want to live in? How can you make choices that will result in strong testimony?
ALTERNATE:
Choose three or four children to come up to the front and try to build a house out of the contents of the first box. (Obviously it will not work very well) Then choose three or four children and have them come up and try to build a house out of the contents of the second box. (Hopefully, if the kids cooperate, it will work much better)
This can lead into a discussion about how we use the very best to build the House of the Lord. You could show pictures of various rooms inside the temples to give them an idea. You might also be able to use the song, "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" or "I love to see the temple." Source: http://www.eprimary.dk/ - (visit the Primary Object lessons section)
Source: http://www.eprimary.dk/ - (visit the Primary Object lessons section), additions by Jenny Smith
Items needed
Have a volunteer come up and put his/her arm in a sling then stand there while you give the rest of the object lesson.
Ask the group or volunteer: What would happen to your arm if you left it in this sling and didn't use it for a year? Listen to all comments and weave them into the rest of your presentation.
Here is the direct quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley from which this lesson comes from:
"The Church will ask you to do many things. It will ask you to serve in various capacities. We do not have a professional ministry. You become the ministry of this Church and whenever you are called upon to serve, may I urge you to respond and as you do so, your faith will strengthen and increase. Faith is like the muscle of my arm. If I use it, if I nurture it, it grows strong; it will do many things. But if put it in a sling, and do nothing with it, it will grow weak and useless and so will it be with you. If you accept every opportunity, if you accept every calling, the Lord will make it possible for you to perform it. The Church will not ask you to do anything which you cannot do with the help of the Lord. God bless you to do everything that you are called upon to do."
This lesson also applies to using our talents wisely
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html
Items needed
From https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/cookie-experiment/
The first batch of muffins were light and fluffy and everyone fights for the last one. The second batch seems to be taking a long time to bake and doesn't look the same as the first. When they cool off they are hard and heavy. It is discovered that the missing ingredient, baking powder, Baking powder is the ingredient that is used in the smallest proportion when making muffins. Yet, it was of critical importance.
If you are part of an organization and think your contribution is only a tiny part, you may be underestimating your importance to the organization. You never know where your volunteer help is making a big difference to someone.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html
For an object lesson regarding marriage, partnerships, working together, etc. I used a simple clothespin. I showed the class that if I only have one side of the clothespin it does not perform it's full function.
However, with the two sides of the clothespin being bonded together by the Lord the clothespin can perform it's full function. In relationships if one side is trying to do it all, the relationship will not always work. But by working together with the Lord it is amazing what can be accomplished.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html
Decide beforehand which "theory" you are going to test. It could be something simple like theory of gravity, or something else that both you and your audience understand very well. I will use gravity for my example here.
You say, "I am going to test the theory of gravity today. I have here some different size and weight of balls and marbles."
Now leave the items and go to the other side of the room.
Say, "It's like I was suspecting, that this gravity thing is not like I thought. People must have been lying. Those balls and marbles aren't doing anything, therefore the theory of gravity is a hoax."
Discuss with your class what is wrong with this picture.
"Testing a theory" means that you get in the middle of it, try it, experience it. Only then can you say with any truth that you believe it or not. It is the same with "testing the gospel." You cannot test it by staying away from church and seeing what comes of that. You test God's word by getting in the middle of it and trying it out and living it.
Bear testimony about experimenting upon the word from scriptures like Alma 32, expecially verse 27. See also Alma 34:34.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/4746/lessons.html, additions by Jenny Smith
