This visual sin object lesson will be stuck in kids’ heads for all time and one day it just may click not to take Jesus on the cross for granted.

Disappearing Sin! Was Jesus really the final sacrifice for our sins? Did he really take on all of our sin? These are big questions and often a difficult concept for a child to wrap his mind around. Help kids make sense of this with a very simple object lesson, especially perfect for the visual learner (which is over half the population). If you haven’t read it, you may go back and read my article about visual learners and teaching these children most effectively. You can read about it here. To sum it up, most of our children are visual learners, meaning, they learn by seeing. This may be through pictures, video, puppets, objects or object lessons. Get creative with your class and they will not only love you for it, they will remember more of what you taught them than ever before. Today I will share one of my favorite object lessons about Jesus taking on our sins. Supplies: A plate, a coin, a candle, matches (or lighter), cup of colored water (any color can be used) and a clear drinking glass.

1. Show the penny to everyone telling them that the penny represents us. Place the penny on the plate, off to a side.
2. Now pour the colored water, which represents sin, onto the plate covering the penny, just like in life we are covered with sin. (Experiment with the water to see how much to put on the plate for it to work right. You don’t want to use too much water.)
3. Then, take the candle that represents Christ and place it in the middle of the plate.
4. Jesus is the Light! So light the candle. (A lighter works best. I used matches and after class the hallways smelled of smoke so everyone was wondering what was on fire.)
5. Take the clear glass and place it over the candle onto the plate. Within seconds the water will begin to draw up inside the glass, off the penny (us).
6. Wow! Jesus took ALL our sin at the cross and continues to this day, forgiving us. What an amazing, loving Savior we have.

I have done this with kindergarten through fifth grades and they all loved it so much they begged to do it over and over again! It is a simple, but highly effective visual for showing our kids how Jesus took on all our sins that day at the cross. That means every sin was on him. Can you imagine how painful this was for him? But he did it because he loves us and wants us to be with him one day. This visual will be stuck in their heads for all time and one day it just may click not to take Jesus on the cross for granted.

This article originally appeared here.