God’s Big Love Object Lessons

I love God and I want the kids I teach to love Him too. One aspect of God that brings me comfort is His bigness. Yes, He is small enough to fit inside a child’s heart, but large enough to love the entire world. Like many of God’s attributes, grasping this one is challenging to anyone — especially a child. Convey the truth about God’s ability to love “big” with these three, easy-to-use object lessons. Visual aids make demonstrating these special attributes easier than ever. Tie each object lesson to loving scriptures like John 3:16 or Romans 5:5.
Daddy Shoes and Baby Shoes: You’ll need two pairs of shoes for this object lesson. Show God’s bigness by showing first the baby shoes, keep the big ones hidden. Talk about small the shoes are and compare them to our hearts. Say, “When we love someone, we think that love is really big. But compared to God’s love, our love is very small.” Show the second pair of shoes, and say, “These shoes are like God’s big love.” Place them next to the small shoes, then say, “See how small our love is compared to God’s? God’s love is so big He can love everyone at one time. Can you do that?”
Seeds and trees: You’ll need a pack of small seeds and a potted tree for this object lesson.  A silk tree is okay but kids are pretty sharp so bring a live tree if you can. Talk about the tree and how tall it will become. Let the children stand next to the tree one at a time. Compare the height of the tree and the height of the children. Sprinkle seeds in the children’s hands. Tell kids that these little seeds are like God’s love. When we accept Jesus, God’s love is like this little seed. Planted in our hearts, the seeds grow into large trees. Explain to the children that we love like the tiny seeds before God lives in us. After we invite Him into our heart, we love big, just like God.
Ping pong and a giant beach ball: Show kids the difference between man’s love and God’s love in a playful way. Bring out the ping pong ball but keep the beach ball hidden. Taking the beach ball out will get everyone excited and not focused on the lesson. Bounce the ping pong ball on the table and show it to the kids. Tell children, “You know, I love all you kids so much! So do your friends. But as much as we love, God’s love is so much bigger. Let’s take a look at this.“ Uncover the ball and bounce it up and down. Tell the kids that God’s love is like this big beach ball, huge and goes everywhere. Spend some time bouncing the ball back and forth with the kids.
I love these fun object lessons. I’ve used them and they really do work.
Read more from Mimi by visiting her blog, Encouragement for Christians or check out her latest prophetic book for children called, “The Prophet’s Code.”