Materials
Balloons
Have a balloon carnival by having various games involving balloons:
1. BANG: Have a competition to see who can be the first to blow up a balloon until it pops.
2. AIR RACE: The objective is to have the balloon reach the other side of the room. Kids can only reach it by blowing up a balloon and letting it go. Where ever the balloon lands, they pick it up and fill it and release it again until someone reaches the goal.
3. BALLOON POP RELAY: Kids must grab an inflated balloon, race to a chair at the opposite end of the room and pop it by sitting on it. This can be very funny as some balloon refuse to pop easily and the kids are hopping up and down on them to pop them. First team to complete the relay wins.
4. BALLOON BUMP: Divide into two teams and give each team a different colored balloon. The team must hit the balloon in the air and not allow it to touch the ground. If a balloon touches the ground the other team gets a point. To add to the excitement, add more balloons.
5. BALLOON BUMP 2: See how many taps or how long a team can keep a balloon in the air without it touching the ground.
6. BALLOON VAOLLEYBALL: Set up a divider across the room and play a game of volleyball with balloons.
7. BALLOON STOMP: Using a small peice of string or a rubber band, tie a balloon to the shoe of each child so that it drags on the floor a few inches behind their feet. Then they must run around the room and try to pop each other’s balloons by stepping on them while also trying to prevent their own balloon from being popped. Last person to have their balloon unopopped wins.
Application
In the book of John, as Jesus prepared to leave the disciples they were afraid to be alone. Like an empty balloon they were a little sad and their spirits were deflated. Life seemed flat, joyless, empty. It had lost its bounce. But Jesus promised he would send a helper. (John 14:16-17) It wasn’t someone they would be able to see, just like you can’t see the air in a balloon, but they would be able to know the helper by what he does. This is the Holy Spirit.
You can’t see the air in a balloon, but it makes the balloon larger. It allows it to bounce and float. God’s Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter, can make us joyful instead of sad. And while we can’t see the Holy Spirit, we know he is there by the way he affects other things in our lives.
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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.