These object lessons for teaching kids about sin are not original to me, but I have used them for so long, I have no idea where they originally came from. Many of these ideas come from our Sunday morning small group curriculum that we use at Westwood that was written by our team.
6 Object Lessons for Teaching Kids About Sin
Teaching Kids About Sin #1. Slimy Sin:
This is super messy, but really drives home the idea that sin is disgusting. We had a volunteer stand in a baby pool and poured a bucket of slime over their head. Definitely an attention getter with the kids! We made the slime out of large cans of vanilla pudding and green food coloring. We talk about how no one really wants to hang out with that volunteer, and how God can’t hang out with us because sin makes us that disgusting on the inside.
Teaching Kids About Sin #2. Get Rid of the Sin:
Divide the room down the middle using masking tape. Divide the class in half, and put them on opposite sides of the division. Give each side 25 paper wads. Instruct the teams that their job is to get as many of the paper wads or “sins” off of their sides and onto the other team’s side. Allow teams to play for four to five minutes before calling time. Count how many paper wads each team has. Say: Just like this game, it is impossible for us to ever get rid of all of our sin all by ourselves. As much as we try to just stop doing bad things, we keep messing up. We have a sinful nature, or a part of us that always leads us to sin, because of the very first sin by the first people that God created.
Teaching Kids About Sin #3. Tricky Kool-Aid:
Display tray of cups with Kool-Aid made with salt instead of sugar. Offer the kids a cup (make sure they’re on the tile and near the sink). Allow them to drink the Kool-Aid and express their disgust. Ask: What’s wrong with the Kool-Aid? It looks like normal Kool-Aid. Are you sure that there is something wrong with it? How can it be bad if it looks OK? Sometimes Satan tricks us with sin in the same way. It looks great on the outside, but it really is bad for us.
