Click the image to view the Object Lesson demo video
The Lord declares: “I know the plans I have for you…plans to give you hope
and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Object lessons are great! They entertain, and more than that they educate.
Here's what we'll cover...
Let's teach our kids that God has plans for each of us and that His plans are more important and more exciting than our own!
This object lesson works for just about any age. All you need is something to draw on while the kids watch.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the lesson, let's look at the downloadable lesson plan...
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EVEN GOODER BEST IDEA: The entire full version of The Adventures of Daniel will be posted for you to download, starting with next week's video. More about that in next week's blog 🙂
BREAKING NEWS: All of our object lessons from now on will be based on our Sunday School lesson plans, starting with The Adventures of Daniel. With Daniel and our two-year course on the Old and New Testaments, that's enough to keep us going for a looong time! Our object lesson videos and downloads will come once a week (well, as long as pizza is close at hand).
We will be cherry picking activities from all the Elementary age level lessons. You'll find at least three activities each time, one appropriate for each age level. And of course the Bible story is there, too.
AND SO, the Bible Story: Daniel's family was of the nobility. As a teenager, he must have had plans and expectations of serving God in some meaningful career. In Jerusalem. Well, God had pretty much those plans for him, with one minor change...it was Babylon, not Jerusalem, where God plopped Daniel for a series of adventures of biblical proportions! The story gives you a terrific jumping off point for a lesson on God's plans for our lives.
The Student Activity Pages
After telling the story of Daniel in Babylon, you have three printable Student Activity pages to add extra fun to the mix...
Let's start with the I'm Planning To activity. This one gets everyone laughing! Playing the game together gets the kids ready for a discussion about the plans God might have for them. The page features six sentences that describe things that kids might plan to do someday. Each sentence is divided into three phrases. By randomly recombining phrases, new and nutty plans are created. Each small group will need a pencil and paperclip for the game’s spinner. After everyone has had a chance to play, use the questions at the bottom of the page to lead a discussion about trusting God to have great plans for us. This activity is taken from our Upper Elementary age level.
The Daniel in Babylon activity is a maze that features Jeremiah 29:11, giving you a chance to discuss that key passage. This activity is taken from our Daniel CLAMazine take home comic, available when you download the full Daniel Sunday School curriculum (as said before; available next week).
The Heaven Coloring Page works great with young kids, but we find that kids of all ages like to relax and color in between more challenging learning activities. Same here!
Choose one or more of the activities to add a bit of fun and learning to your object lesson. We want you to!
The Object Lesson
This time around you perform the object lesson before telling the Bible story and handing out the Activity Pages.
As the kids watch, sketch the approximate shape of your classroom floorplan, leaving plenty of room to add more rooms outside your drawing. Point to the walls of your room one by one, each time asking kids to describe what's on the other side--what shape and what size in relationship to your room. Draw that out as per the kids' directions. Kids often have no idea where anything is except the classroom and restrooms!
Once you are satisfied with the final floorplan of your church (however much of it fit on the page), ask the kids what they think: Are the plans accurate to the inch? Would the plans pass local building codes? Would a building contractor laugh you out of town?
God's plans are perfect
Now you're ready to make the point that God's plans for us are perfect. Discuss Jeremiah 29:11. Tell the Daniel story. Alternately, the story of Jonah is a good one for showing how God's plans must take priority over our own.
Hand out your choice of Student Activity pages. Job done!
