Why do I love children’s ministry so much? Because teaching with candy is my dream job. No seriously, it’s all about bringing kids to the cross and a few lollipops have to die along the way, I don’t mind. This week, I’ve brought you another object lesson. This sweet and visual lesson is about life without God and the verse I use is John 10:10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (NIV)
What You’ll Need
- Bag of Blow Pops
- Cloth
Prepare to Teach
Remove one lollipop from the bag but try to leave the bag as intact as possible. You want kids to think it’s brand new. Unwrap one of the lollipops but save the wrapper. Eat the lollipop or tap the candy off the stick. (I vote for eating the candy.) Rewrap the candy and place it near the bag. Kids shouldn’t see it. Cover the bag with a small tablecloth or towel.
Let’s Teach
Pull back the cloth and show the bag of lollipops. Look at this! I picked us up a little something for our take home treat. This kind of candy is one of my favorites. What about you? (Let kids answer. You could ask the children to raise their hand and tell you their favorite candy. This might not work with a large group though.)
I think I better test one of these out just to make sure it tastes okay. Let’s see. (Reach for the lollipop but make sure the kids think you got it out of the bag. Open the candy and appear shocked that the candy is gone.)
What? Oh no! Some thief ate my candy! I opened this wonderful bag of candy and got a dud! That’s disappointing. I wonder what happened. Do you know what happened? (Someone ate it!) Right! Someone already ate my candy. Well, you know what we have to do know. We have to get another one! Before we do that, I have to share a Bible verse with you. You know this whole missing lollipop thing reminds be of what Jesus said. Let’s read John 10:10 together. (Read the verse together.)
See there! This lollipop stick is like our life. (Hold up the eaten lollipop.) Without God, our life is like this old lollipop. The thief comes to steal it and we end up with this. But with God, (pull a fresh lollipop out of the bag) we can have a good life through Jesus.
Read more from Mimi by following her blog at Tools for Kids Church.
excellent kids friendly presentation