We all know how important it is to teach children about God and his amazing love. Sometimes we need a little help getting the messages across to our children. Through my early childhood training and experience, I have found that object lessons are the best way to teach a small mind about God so that they truly understand. Object lessons and kids sermons are simply a way to use an everyday object to illustrate a message or Bible story.
Object lessons and kid sermons can be used for your own children, as a Sunday School lesson, at vacation bible school or at kid’s worship on Sunday mornings. Anytime you want to teach children about God, use object lessons and kids sermons to drive home your message.
Below are 3 objects that all teach one theme: God looks at the heart!
Objects: Choose one of the following objects to use for your object lessons or kids sermons and then implement as many of the other ideas and activities as you see fit or as time permits.
God looks at the heart!
Mirror for Kid Sermons and Object Lessons:
Get a hold of a hand held mirror or a framed mirror that is light enough for children to hold during your object lessons or kids sermons.
Let the children pass the mirror around as you ask questions about what the children look like. You could ask.. Who has green eyes? Who has blond hair? Who is wearing pretty earrings today?” Go on to explain that a mirror is the perfect thing to use to look at ourselves on the outside. During your object lessons or kids sermons, talk about what we look like on the inside. Be sure and explain that often our inside is not as beautiful as our outside or we are beautiful in the inside but not on the outside. Go on to explain that it is okay to work on looking good on the outside but that God cares about our hearts more than anything else. Even the most beautiful person in the world can have an ugly inside by the way they treat others etc. God examines our hearts. During your mirror object lessons or kids sermons, mention that God looks at the heart several times.
X-rays are often part of a child’s toy vet kit or a doctor’s kit. You can also make an x-ray by drawing with chalk on black paper.
For this object lesson, hold the x-ray up and ask the children if they know what it is. Field answers and then explain that an x-ray is a picture of our insides to identify a problem such as a broken bone. Talk about things that can go wrong inside a body and as they are talking about ailments, add inside problems like cheating, stealing and acting mean towards others. Go on to explain that even if an x-ray can’t show an ugliness in the inside that God sees it. He looks at our hearts instead of our outward appearance. During your x ray object lessons or kids sermons, mention that God looks at the heart several times.
God looks at the heart!
Troll for Kid Sermons and Object Lessons:
Troll toys can be found at most toy stores and are often sold as key chains or coloring books. A picture of a troll would work too for your troll object lessons or kids sermons.
Pass the troll or picture around as you teach the object lessons or kids sermons. Ask the children who is their favorite actor or famous person. Go on to ask if the troll looks anything like that person or Zac Efron or Hannah Montana. When they say no, ask why. Finally explain that even though the troll has a crazy hair color and extra large eyes that God loves him as much as Zac or Hannah. God looks at our insides so it doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside. God gives us all a fair shot at being beautiful since it is about our actions not our outward appearance. During your troll object lessons or kids sermons, mention that God looks at the heart several times.
1 Peter 3:3-4 Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.
God looks at the heart: Prayer
Dear God,
We ask that you help us to be less concerned with how we look to others on the outside and more concerned on how we look to you on the inside. May you help us not to judge other people by what they look like but what is in their hearts.
Amen
You can even use all 3 objects through a series of God looks at the heart object lessons or kids sermons over a longer time period. If you need to set up a room for the children to play in, you can implement these same ideas. Have a whole slew of trolls and outfits for the kids to play with as you play along and mention the ideas that you will talk with them about later.
Mirrors, brushes, barrettes and combs could be set out to play dress up to help you illustrate trying to look better on the outside before you actually teach on it. You can set out a vet kit with stuffed animals, tweezers, x-rays, animal carriers and bandages as an activity that will foster thought on animals being hurt on the inside for future discussion. Children learn very well when they are playing and participating in hands on activities during their object lessons or kids sermons.
Provide as many opportunities for the children to “get” the concept or message as possible during your object lessons or kids sermons.
