Object lessons are fun and quick ways to engage with the timeless truths of Scripture. These Bible object lessons for kids are quick and entertaining (and sometimes delicious) ways to teach a Biblical principle and make it stick.
What is a Bible Object Lesson?
An object lesson is a teaching method that uses a physical object in order to demonstrate a more general principle.
When you use a familiar object to demonstrate a Biblical truth, the lesson tends to stick.
Gummy Worm Object Lessons
1. God stretches us.
You can use a gummy worm to talk about the times when God stretches us and shapes us.
A gummy worm is made of gelatin and sugar. If we stretch him too much, we'll break him, but we can pull on him a little bit and stretch him out.
The Bible says, “you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8)
God made us and shaped us with his hand. Like the gummy worm, he might challenge us to grow by stretching us. Just like a potter, He has to stretch us in order to shape us. If a potter doesn't stretch the clay, then the clay just remains a big lump.
When God stretches us, he makes us into something beautiful. He won't break us.
2. Sweet vs Sour (Following God's Commands)
You can use sweet and sour gummy worms in this object lesson to demonstrate how life feels when we listen to God vs when we ignore him.
First, start with the sour gummy worms and read Job 20:14, “Yet his (the godless person) food will turn sour in his stomach.”
You can use this verse to talk about what happens when we live according to our own laws, instead of God's: life feels sour. You face challenges and difficulties and you have no one to help you.
Next show kids life with God. Read Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are your words to my taste, O Lord.”
When we walk with God and obey his commands, then our life will be much more like the sweet gummy worm than the sour one.
3. Even small things matter in the kingdom of God.
You can use a gummy worm to talk about how all things, even the smallest things, are important to God.
God’s kingdom is different from the kingdoms of the earth. He values everything, even if it is small, like this worm.
Ask the children what this gummy worm would do if he were a real worm. (Wiggle through the dirt, make room for seeds to grow into plants...)
We might feel small like the worm at times, but without the worm we wouldn't be able to enjoy the things that we love, like flowers, trees, fruits and vegetables.
All creatures have a place in God's kingdom and he values even the smallest ones.
Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
-Proverbs 30: 24-28
Holy Spirit Object Lessons
These are some simple Bible object lessons to help teach kids about what it's like to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
4. Holy Spirit Magic Trick
Object: a small scrap of fabric and a thumb cap. (Buy it here online.)
This simple magic trick turned object lesson lets you talk about how the Holy Spirit works in us even when we can't see him.
5. How being filled with the Spirit is like being a flashlight.
Object: a flashlight (with batteries).
You can use a flashlight to talk about what it is like to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Start with the flashlight without batteries. It doesn't give any light because it is empty. It has no source of power.
When we put batteries in the flashlight, it is like being filled with the Holy Spirit. God is our source of power.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5: 14-16)
You can also use a flashlight to talk about how the Bible can illuminate our lives. This can be turned into a whole youth group game + lesson.
Trinity Object Lessons
Explaining the Trinity to kids isn't the easiest task. (And frankly, neither is explaining the Trinity to adults.)
These simple object lessons help get kids thinking about what it means to have one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
6. Names of God
Object: a name tag.
How many different names do you go by? You might be a brother or a sister, a son or a daughter, a friend, and more. You have a first name and a last name.
Does this mean that you are more than one person? Of course not!
Just like you have different names that you go by, we have different names for God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
*Of course, God is not three persons in name only. (This is the way in which the names of God are different than our different names.)
7. The Trinity in a glass of water
Object: a glass of water.
You can start by asking if anyone knows what scientists called water. (Answer: H2O) They call water H2O because it is made up of tiny particles of hydrogen and oxygen (the H and the O).
H2O can exist in three different forms: solid, liquid, and gas. (Ask the kids what water is called in solid and gaseous forms.)
Like H2O can have 3 different forms, God can have 3 different forms: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
*Of course, God doesn't just change from Father to Son to Holy Spirit, like water changes. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time, all the time.
8. Parts of God from an apple
Object: an apple
How many parts of an apple can you think of? (There are actually four if you count the stem, but we could include the stem as part of the tree for this purpose.)
An apple is made up of seeds, flesh, and skin. Like an apple has different parts, so God has different parts: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
*Of course, these are not just three parts of God. God is different from the apple in that all of him is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (not just part).
9. The Trinity in a cube
Object: squares of paper and a cube (wooden or plastic or...)
Imagine that each of us is a square. We have all these different squares that are each different people.
One way that we can think of God is as three people together in one. God is bigger than us. He is bigger than the whole universe.
We can describe God as like a cube: when you put six squares together in a certain way, you get a totally new shape. It is still one shape, but made up of different parts.
(You can make this more visual by using paper squares and creating a paper cube to demonstrate how the squares come together to make something more complex.)
10. Object Lesson with Cake: God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28).
Object: Cake.
Use a whole cake, or a slice of cake, to talk about how God can take things that are yucky (e.g. painful experiences) and make something beautiful out of them.
What is a cake made out of?
Raw eggs. Oil. Flour. Salt.
Are any of these things things you would want to eat by themselves? (No!)
But when we mix them together and give them the right conditions (the right temperature in the oven), then they turn into something yummy and beautiful.
So too with our lives, God can take the yucky stuff, the painful experiences, and turn them into something beautiful.
11. Walking on eggs object lesson: God protects us
Object: 2-6 cartons of eggs
God protects us, even in the most impossible scenarios.
You can use this Bible object lessons to talk to kids about stories like Elijah in the lion's den, Jonah and the whale, Job as he faced his enemies, or so many other stories of people who needed to trust God in seemingly impossible scenarios.
As it turns out, you can walk on eggs without boiling them first, as long as you do it right (make sure they are all facing the right direction and that you apply pressure evenly).
Use this lesson to talk about how situations in our lives might seem impossible, but that God will protect us and guide us through.
12. Object Lesson on Trust
This is a fun Bible object lesson to get kids thinking about trust and trusting God.
Object: a Ziploc bag, water, and some pencils.
Have a volunteer come up. Ask them if they trust you. (Try to get someone who DOES trust you.)
What you do: fill the Ziploc bag with water and seal it. Tell them that you are going to hold this bag over their head and poke pencils (however many you have) all the way through it. Ask them to trust you that they won't get wet.