Children’s church object lessons from the Bible make worship and Sunday school come alive. It’s awesome when kids are fully engaged, hanging on every word. They’re at the edge of their chairs, waiting to see what happens next.
Kids love to have their minds blown. They’ll keep thinking about children’s church object lessons over and over, trying to figure out how everything was done. They’ll be talking about the lesson during Sunday lunch with family.
Years ago, I was leading a kids’ service in our church’s main auditorium. My big object lesson was a needle through the balloon. Pretty cool, right? I thought so, but to be sure I tested the illusion. I practiced it and nailed it every time in my office. Then I stepped on the stage and proceeded to pop five balloons in succession. I wanted to crawl under the stage and escape. (Needless to say, this is no longer on my list of children’s church object lessons!)
Truthfully, I’ve had hits and about 10 times as many misses. Some children’s church object lessons I’ve tried have rocked; others have landed with a thud. That’s why I want to share some favorites with you. I hope this list saves you time and helps you create fun, meaningful worship for kids.
10 Bible-Based Children’s Church Object Lessons
1. Miracle Berries
This is fun because most kids, and adults, have never experienced it. It works great when you’re teaching on Job or how God can turn around bad situations. All you need are lemons and Miracle Berries. These all-natural tablets that dissolve in your mouth basically change your taste buds. Things that taste sour become sweet. Lemons become as sweet as oranges, while apple cider vinegar tastes like apple juice.
Before the object lesson, choose a volunteer. Have the child place one tablet on his or her tongue. Let the tablet fully dissolve. Then have them taste items there on stage. The child will start devouring the lemon. It’s a great reminder that God can take a sour situation and turn it into something sweet.
2. 8-Foot Appearing Candy Cane
This is one of those children’s church object lessons that requires a purchased illusion. It’s easy to overuse magic tricks, so I use them sparingly in services. I do believe they make an impactful statement. A well-performed illusion is a great addition to an outreach event or special Sunday.
This plastic 8-foot appearing candy cane rolls tightly into a cylinder. When fully rolled up, it can easily fit inside a small brown paper bag. Place a regular peppermint stick into the bag, and then pull out an 8-foot peppermint stick. Kids will have no idea how you got an 8-foot object inside that bag. It’s a reminder that God can take something small and turn it into something big. Looking for a great object lesson for Christmas Eve or family Christmas service? This is it!
3. 1-Foot x 1-Foot Boxes
We love one-foot by one-foot brown cardboard boxes in our kids ministry. You can do tons of children’s church object lessons with them. Plus, they work great for building props.
To teach about David vs. Goliath, we built a life-sized Goliath out of boxes. It stood about 10 feet tall, so we needed only about 20 boxes to make a sturdy tower. As the Bible storyteller stood next to the box, it was easy for kids to grasp how tall Goliath stood over David.
When the teacher explained how a stone hit Goliath and the giant tumbled to the ground, the teacher knocked the boxes down with force. Boxes flew across the stage. The visual definitely stuck with kids. These boxes are at uline.com for about $0.74 each.