Materials
A large opaque cloth sack in which you can place fruits (a dark colored pillow case works fine), and a variety of fruits that can be identified by touch (and maybe smell).

Here are some fruits you can use if available in your area:
Apple, Apricot, Atapi, Avocado, Breadfruit, Banana, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Chempadak, Cranberry, Custard Apple, Cherry, Chiku, Clementine, Coconut, Date, Dragonfruit, Durian, Fig, Grapefruit, Grape, Guava, Jackfruit, Jambu, Kiwi, Kumquat, Lemon, Lime, Loganberry, Longan, Lychee, Mango, Mangosteen, Mulberry, Nectarine, Orange, Papaya, Passion fruit, Peach, Pear, Persimmon, Pineapple, Plum, Pomegranate, Pomelo, Rambutan, Raspberry, Quince, Satsuma, Snakefruit, Soursop, Starfruit, Strawberry, Tangelo, Tomato (yes it is a FRUIT), Wolfberry

Activity
Place all the fruits in a single bag. You should have as many fruits as possible but you can vary the number of fruits depending on the age of your group and the appropriate difficulty. If you wish to expedite this activity you might prepare several bags of identical items. Without looking inside the bag, have youth touch the items in the bag and then go back and write down all the items. Award kids who get them all correct or the most correct.

Variation
Blindfold the participants and ask them to identify and write down the various fruits according to the scent or give them a sample to identify by taste. You could also make a fruit salad and have youth identify the various fruits in the salad.

Application
Just as you identified by touch the presence of items that you could not see, we can identify the presence of God in the ways he touches our lives. Many times he uses other people to touch our lives. Even today, you may not see Jesus, but you know he is there and has other people to take care of you. Sometimes we cannot see, but we can smell or taste. Our spiritual gifts and our relationship with God can serve as a taste or smell to entice others to taste and see that the Lord is Good. (Psalm 34:8) Our lives can be the scent of life to others. (2 Corinthians 2:16)

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…

Introduction
On valentine’s day, people often show their love to each other. Someone who is special is called a “sweetheart” or a “Valentine.” Chocolates and Flowers, especially roses, are also given to sweethearts on Valentine’s Day. Sweethearts often send little notes to each other with messages of love or with the simple question, “Would you be my Valentine?” But the Greatest Love was not shown on Valentine’s Day, but when Jesus opened the way to heaven for us 2000 years ago!

Description
Use this evangelistic Valentine’s day object lesson as a children’s sermon or teaching activity. Based upon the “wordless book” concept, it uses black, red, white, green, and gold (or yellow) hearts to explain the key points of the gospel message. It is similar to the Jelly Bean Evangelism idea found elsewhere on this website.

Preparation
Create several hearts from colored paper. You will need black, red, white, green, and gold (or yellow)

What to Do
Hearts are the main symbol of love seen on Valentine’s Day. Today I have some special Hearts to tell you a story of a very special love.

Yellow Heart
Our hearts are treasures, which we lay at the feet of God when we get to heaven. The yellow heart also reminds us of Heaven itself. Do you know what Heaven is? Heaven is God’s home. Heaven is filled with the glory, the shining brightness of God. There is no night there. The Bible says, “God is The Light and in Him is no Darkness at all”(I John 1:5). The Bible tells us that in Heaven, the street of the city is pure, clear gold-like glass (Rev.21:21). God tells us many other things about His home. No one is sick there. No one is crippled or blind. No one ever dies. Every person in Heaven will be perfectly happy-always (Rev. 21:4-2Psalm 16:11). The most wonderful thing about Heaven is that God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus will be there. God made Heaven. He made you too. He loves you very much. Because he made you and loves you, He wants you to belong to Him and be with Him in Heaven someday. Jesus promised long ago, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 3:16; John 14:1-3).

Black heart
The black heart is just like our hearts are before Christ comes in to be our Savior. It is black with sin. There is one thing that can never be in Heaven. That is sin. Because you and I are sinners we want to have our own way instead of God’s way. Wanting our own way is sin. Doing, or saying, or thinking bad things is sin. Sin is anything that displeases God. Sin has caused sorrow and sadness in our world. God tells us in the Bible that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). All means every one of us.

This black heart reminds us of our sinful way – that we walk in darkness (Proverbs 4:19). When it is dark, you stumble and cannot find your way. Because of your sin, you cannot find God. Your sin separates you from God, who is holy (I John 1:5). God cannot allow sin where He is. I am sure you can think of a sin which you have done. God has said that sin must be punished. The punishment for your sin is death-to be separated from God forever (Rev. 6:23). The Lord Jesus, God’s Son, said that if you die in your sin, you cannot go to Heaven where He is (John 8:21, 24). God knew there was nothing you could do to get rid of your sin. He knew you could not be good enough to please Him. But He loves you and He made a way for you to be forgiven.

Red heart
The red heart shows the way God made for you to have your sins forgiven-taken away. God loves you. He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, from Heaven to take the punishment for your sin (John 3:16). Wicked men nailed the sinless Son of God to the cross, but while He hung there God put all of your sins on Him. The Bible says, “…God bath laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). (Iniquity is another word for sin). All your bad temper, all your lies, your meaness-all your sin-was laid on the dear Son of God, and He suffered and suffered until He cried out with a loud voice and said, “It is finished.”

When you finish a job, how much is left? Nothing. What did the Lord Jesus come to do? He came to save us from punishment for sin, didn’t He? And He finished the work. When He was nailed to the cross, what came from His hands, and His feet? His blood. God calls it the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and He says “…the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7). There is no other way, for God says, “Without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sin]”-no forgiveness, no payment (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus not only died for you, but He was buried, and He rose again. He is a living Saviour (ICorinthians 15:3, 4). God showed His love for you by sending His own Son to die for you. Now he says there is one way for you to be saved from your sin.

White heart
Tears cannot wash away sin. Prayers cannot wash away sin. Doing good cannot wash away sin. But the blood of the Lord Jesus can wash away all sin (Psalm 51:7; I John 1:7). This white heart reminds us that Jesus has healed our black hearts by washing away the sin with his blood. A white heart is pure again. It is clean again. Did Jesus die for everyone? (YES!) Is everyone going to Heaven? (No, because some do not believe that Jesus died for them. They have not received Him as their Saviour from sin.) God’s word says, “…as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name” (John 1:12). God has promised you when you receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, you become a child of God. The Lord Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins. He wants to clean your heart and live in your heart and give you power to obey God. Are you sorry for your sin? Do you believe Jesus died for your sin? Would you like to receive Jesus today? You must decide.

(Ask the Holy Spirit for discernment. Question the person to respond carefully. Encourage them to express to you before they pray: why they need to receive the Lord Jesus; what the Lord Jesus has done for them; what they want to tell God. When dealing with a group, emphasize what each person must personally believe and receive the Lord Jesus. Give opportunity for prayer. If possible, question each person individually after the prayer to clarify the meaning of His decision. Where is Jesus now? Where are your sins? What took them away?)

Any one of the following verses can be used effectively in helping to know what God has done: John 1:12; I John 5:13; Rev. 3:20.) God promises to you when you receive Him, “…I will never\leave nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Ask Him to help you each day to please Him. When you do sin, tell God that you have sinned. He will forgive you right away (I John 1:9). Ask Him and trust Him to help you not to do it again. (Lead the person in offering a prayer of thanks.

Green heart
Green is the color of plants. It is the color of growth, of life. The green heart reminds me of the new life, everlasting life, you have received from God. The color green reminds me of things which are growing outdoors, like leaves, grass, flowers, and trees. When you receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour from sin, you are like a newborn baby in God’s family. The Bible tells you to “grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18).

(As the time permits, talk with the person about those things which help him grow as a member of God’s family. Explain you are not talking about growing taller or gaining weight, but the kind of growing which will help others know that he loves the Lord Jesus.)

• Listen to God- Learn God’s Word reading and memorizing it (II Timothy 2:15; Psalm 119: 11).
• Talk to God. Pray (I Thessalonians 5:17).
• Talk for God. Witness or tell others (Mark 16:15).
• Worship God. Go to Sunday School and Church (Hebrews 10:25).

Blue heart (Optional)
Some will add a Blue heart to represent Baptism

Applications

1. Use the various colors of the hearts to present the plan of salvation.
2. Use this as a presentation of the plan of salvation for Valentine’s Day.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…

Resources

• a sheet of clean, unwrinkled paper.

What to do

• Give each youth a clean, unwrinkled sheet of paper.
• Ask the youth to close their eyes, and imagine this piece of paper represents the person in their life they love most.
• Order them to wrinkle it up into a ball.
• Then ask the youth smooth it out back to the way it was.
• “How do you feel?”

Take it to the Next Level

• • Who was the person you thought of when holding the piece of paper?
  • Were you hesitant to wrinkle up the paper? Did you find crumpling up the piece of paper difficult? Why or why not?
  • In what ways does this paper represent relationships in life?
  • Think about a time in your life when you felt like this wrinkled piece of paper? What happened?
  • How did you feel when you tried to restore this piece of paper to its original state?
  • Think about a time when you did something in a relationship and wished you could have set things back to the way they were before. What happened?
  • Why is it so difficult to repair damaged relationships?
  • What lessons does this simple object lesson hold for us when it comes to relationships in our own lives?

• In what ways do people ruin relationships?
• What can be done to put things back to the way they were?

The saying says “forgive and forget” but it is rarely that easy. In some relationships, people have greatly suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse. How can they forgive? Sometimes we wonder, “How can I ever forgive this person for what s/he did to me?” How do we forgive? How do we receive forgiveness? How do we restore things back to the way they were?

It is impossible to smooth everything out when the paper has been damaged. Wrinkles and rough areas will remain. In the same way, when we take the important relationships in life lightly, there is a great potential for us to create rough areas and other areas that are difficult to smooth out. While forgiveness may take place, scars may still remain. Sometimes only God and time can repair the scars.

Things we do can damage our relationship with God AND with people. “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, or his ear too dull to hear, but your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9)

But fortunately, God can mend broken hearts and he himself is forgiving and eternally loving. Sin has the same effect on our lives.. especially in the area of sexual purity. But when we go to God seeking forgiveness he restores the relationship with Him completely. We can find NEW life in Christ. In this lifetime there may still me some scars, but in the life to come everything will be made new. When we confess our sin, His blood washes us white as snow, and purifies us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)

And in the same way God forgives us, we need to forgive others. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…

Resources 
Ear Plugs (or Cotton)

Getting Ready
No advance preparations needed.

What to Do

1. Give each student some cotton or ear plugs.
2. Ask them to wait until you have demonstrated how to put them in before placing the cotton in their own ears .
3. Explain that it will be more difficult to hear with cotton in your ears.
4. Put cotton in your own ears and ask, “Can everybody still hear me now?”
5. The answer will be yes because they don’t have their cotton in yet, but pretend that you can’t hear them.
6. Ask other questions & have fun with this.
7. Take the cotton out of your ears and tell them to put cotton in their own ears.
8. Ask them to listen carefully because you’re going to say something important. Then ask them a question or two.
9. Be sure to speak softly so that they cannot hear you or can only barely hear you.
10. After a few tries (and have lots of fun with them on this) get them to remove the cotton.

Take it to the Next Level
Point out that it’s hard to hear when your ears are stopped up. Then, ask:

• Do you think God’s ears are ever stopped up?
• Does God always hear us?
• Is there anything that might prevent God from hearing us?

Even when it may seem like God is not listening, we can have confidence that He is listening and that He cares. God is not deaf, nor is he ignoring us – we need to keep praying and have faith. Sometimes when we pray we may get the impression that either God is not listening, doesn’t hear or worse, doesn’t care. Assure them that God does hear, He does care. We need to have faith and continue to pray because God will answer in His time in the best way.

Scripture
Luke 18:1-8 – Persistent Prayer

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…

Resources

• Order a pizza for your Sunday School Class or group meeting. (you can order it in advance microwave it to control the arrival time..)
• Alternatively, you can just bring in a pizza box or pizza coupons.

What to do
Enjoy pizza with the youth if you brought one. If not, just show the pizza box and coupons to the group.

Take it to the next level
Have volunteers read aloud Psalm 50:15; Matthew 7:7-11; 21:22; and Mark 11:24.

• How is prayer like ordering pizza?
• How is prayer different from ordering a pizza?
• Do you think of God as a delivery person? Why or why not?
• Is prayer like the pizza guarantee “Delivery in 30 minutes or your pizza is free”? Why or why not?
• What’s wrong with calling on God the way we call for Pizza?
• How do you think God wants us to view prayer?

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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
paper or Styrofoam cups and a rubber / foam dart gun. A ladder with steps at different heights. In place of Nerf darts you can use pink pong balls, small rubber balls or even wads of paper.

What to do

1. Give each youth a cup and allow them to write their name on the cup.
2. Line the cups up for target practice from across the room.
3. If a youth’s cup has been knocked off, they must shoot down another cup in order to place their cup back up.
4. Each time they shoot another cup down they can raise their cup up one level (step) on the ladder.
5. When a cup is knocked off, it begins all the way at the bottom again.
6. Continue for a specified amount of time and then reward the victor(s) at the top of the ladder

Take it to the Next Level

• How is this activity similar to life and being at the top of the ladder?
• What are some ways we knock others down in order to raise ourselves up?
• Is this part of life and acceptable for Christian behavior? Explain.
• How did you feel at the top? When knocked down?
• Is it the proper Christian response to knock others down in order to be lifted up, or to simply lift others up?

Scripture
Ephesians 4:29

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…

Introduction
Life is filled with standards. We have standards of measurement for time, weight, size, length, distance, etc. Standards make life easier by providing a commonly agreed upon reference for measurement.

Description
By looking at some common standards of measurement in this object lesson, youth will consider the standards we use to measure the life we live.

Materials
Bathroom scale, food scale, measuring cup, ruler, yard stick, tape measure, thermometer, barometric pressure gauge, clock, dictionary, calendar, a teaspoon & tablespoon, a chalk line, a plumb line, a level, One dollar bill, a Bible, etc.

Preparation

1. Gather as many common “standards” as you can find.
2. Standards can be pulled from a bag, laid out on display, or incorporated into a game so that the youth identify what each standard is used to measure.
3. You could add items to the standards that are unusual or maybe don’t even fit at all. Some unusual ones might be a battery (voltage), ring (ring size), t-shirt (small, med large), an egg, a dozen, a street sign, a law book, light bulb, radio (volume), etc.
4. Make sure a Bible is included among the items.

Demonstration
You can use a variety of methods for this object lesson:

• Have youth identify which standard of measurement they would use to measure a particular item.
• Have youth identify what units each standard uses.
• Have you identify what things can be measured with each standard.
• Have students identify which items are standards of measurement from a group of items.
• 5. Reveal and discuss each standard of measurement.

Discussion

• What are the advantages of having standards?
• Why are standards necessary?
• How are standards decided?
• Who decides the standard?
• Are there different standards in different countries? Why?
• Do standards allow you to cheat? (As an example, how can one cheat while using a scale to measure weight?)
• How do you measure a person’s life? What are some standards people use to evaluate their lives?
• In what ways is the Bible a standard?
• What do we measure with the Bible?

Closing Application
When there are no standards everybody thinks they are right and there can be a lot of misunderstanding and arguments. Its hard to compare anything unless you have a standard of comparison. The Bible is a standard to evaluate a person’s life. We can compare ourselves with God’s law, with God, and with Christ. When we look at God’s standard we realize that none of us measure up. Not of us can meet his standards. We learn what is right and wrong and because we can compare ourselves to God’s standard we know we have done things that are wrong. The Bible is a standard for living, for life. But no matter how far we fall short, Jesus has already bridged the gap between where we are and the standard of God. He has filled the different so that God can accept us according to his standard of righteousness.

Application
We need to know God Word, his standard, so that we can live our lives accordingly. We need to look to Christ, seeking forgiveness for our shortfall, so that he will bridge the gap for us.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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…