Object Lessons: A Great Teaching Method

Object lessons win the prize for a memorable family teaching method. An object lesson is a lesson where a physical object is used to illustrate a point. Here are my personal favorites: The Floating Orange, Is It Immersed?, Both Sides of the Stick, and Just Pick Up the Treat Already! There are more object lessons involving eggs, soda cans, money, food, and walking through paper in FHEasy: A Year of Weekly Teachings and Daily Devotionals.

The Floating Orange – The Importance of Keeping Your Standards (From FHEasy’s “Honesty and Integrity” Lesson, p. 110)

Did you know that unpeeled oranges float and peeled ones sink? Well, it’s a cool thing that you’re family will enjoy, but don’t tell them ahead of time – it would spoil the lesson!

Here’s how you do it. Get an orange, a fine permanent marker, and a pitcher or deep bowl that’s mostly full of water. Ask everyone to write a standard on the orange peel that’s important (or they can tell you one and you write it). Include things like honesty, gratitude, scripture study, going to church, etc. For ideas, see the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet topics.

When the orange is full and everyone’s shared a standard, ask them if they think the orange will float or sink. Then, put it in the water and watch it float. Then ask, “What if you abandon your standards? Then what will happen?” Peel the orange and let it sink. Tell your family that standards keep you safe like a life jacket. Just like taking off a life jacket removes your protection, you’ll have lots of trouble if you choose to shed your standards. It’s best to just keep your standards!

Is It Immersed? – Teaching about Baptism by Immersion (From FHEasy’s “New Year’s Day/Baptism Lesson, p. 177)

This is a fun way to teach younger children what immersion is. Get a container or pot and fill it mostly full of water. Gather a bunch of household items and yard items – everyone can help with this or you can do it ahead of time.

Teach your kids that being immersed means being completely surrounded by water. Then, get a wooden pencil and drop it in the water. It should float. Ask if it’s immersed. When everyone understands that it’s not immersed, push and hold the pencil completely under the water. Ask if it’s immersed. When they understand that it is, then poke the pencil part way in and part way out of the water. Ask if it’s immersed. Help them understand that it’s not.

Then, for fun, ask everyone if they think one of your gathered items will sink or float. Drop one gathered item in the water at a time and see if it IS immersed (sinks) or if it is NOT immersed (floats). Here are some ideas of what to gather: paper clip, penny, crayon, rock, piece of wood, leaf, and a plastic toy.

Both Sides of the Stick – Choices and Consequences (From FHEasy’s “Article of Faith 2” Lesson, pp. 25, 26)

While this is a common object lesson taught in Primary and other Church classes, the concept never gets old. When you make a choice, you don’t get to choose the consequence. It comes already attached, like one side of a stick is attached to the other side.

Get a stick (a pencil will do in a pinch). Pick up one end and tell your family it represents a choice you make. Show that the other side of the stick comes up too. The opposite side represents the consequences attached to the choice. Tell your family that everybody gets to choose what choices that make, but the consequences come along whether you want them or not. So, in essence, when you choose your choice, you also choose your consequence.

Ask your family to come up with a variety of choices and consequences. Include choices that bring enjoyable consequences (being nice to friends, eating good food, studying in school, selecting good friends, listening to good music, praying) and choices that have unpleasant consequences (being rude, doing drugs, ditching school, being immodest, ignoring standards). Make these things age-appropriate and have fun with it. 🙂

Just Pick Up The Treat Already! – Stand in Holy Places (From FHEasy’s “Sexual Purity” Lesson, pp. 141, 142)

Get a treat or some money and tell everyone that it will go to the person who can pick it up off of the floor without bending their legs or falling over. Tell them there are a couple more conditions. They have to have their backs to the wall with their feet touching at the ankles and their heels touching the wall. Have everyone try it. (It’s unlikely that anyone can do it.) Tell them that some things are easy to do in certain situations and much harder to do in others. In order to take care of your body, wear clothes and make sure to be modest. If anyone asks or tries to touch your body in any way that makes you feel uncomfortable, make sure to tell one of your parents about it even if the person tells you not to. (Adapted from Richard R. Eubank, Is There An Object to Your Lesson, p. 81.)

Bye for now!

I hope you enjoy these object lessons!

Happy Home Evenings!