Teaching Tip of the Week

Ordinary things make for great object lessons. Keep an eye out for things that you can use to illustrate points, grab children’s attention or arouse their curiosity. They might be things that break down at home that you might be tempted to throw away – I keep two telephone receivers among my teaching things that can serve as an object lesson on prayer or props for a skit used as an introduction. You may happen upon some inexpensive items at a second-hand shop – My wife just found an old brass “treasure chest” (four or five inches tall) for a couple of dollars. Great for prizes or memory verse tokens! A little polish and the children will ooh and ah. Objects can sure help those visual learners and are fun for everyone. And preschoolers will, of course, want to touch them. They make for more creative teaching sessions.