PUMPKIN OBJECT LESSON

Materials Needed: Large pumpkins, moist towel, dry towel, carving knife, newspaper, small candle, clump of clay or play dough, and matches.

Preparation: Cut off the lid, loosen the gooey stuff inside but leave it in, and replace the lid. Draw a face on the pumpkin with a big smile. Set the pumpkin on a table with the face turned away from the children.

Display the pumpkin and say, “We’re going to pretend today that we are pumpkins!”

A pumpkin has an outside and an inside just like we do. The inside of us, which we are talking about today, is our soul or our heart. (Take off pumpkin lid and show inside.) What is inside this pumpkin? (Yucky stuff!) The Bible says that inside of us is yucky stuff, too. In 1 John 1:9 it says, “For all have sinned.” Jesus is the only one who can change our hearts. But in order for Jesus to change our hearts, we must become open to Him – just like this pumpkin has now become open.

Pull out the yucky stuff from inside and say, “We become open to Jesus by saying to Him that we are sorry for the wrong things we have done, ask Him to forgive us, and promise Jesus we will live for Him. Then Jesus scoops out all the yucky stuff inside of us and cleanses us from all impurities. We then become a shining light for Him.”

(Put candle inside pumpkin and light it.) When Jesus lives inside of us, we can glow for Him by being kind, honest, obedient, truthful and helpful. When the light of Jesus shines in our hearts, we want to tell our friends about Jesus, too.

(Turn pumpkin around so children can see the face.) Now that you have Jesus’ light shining inside of you instead of the yuckiness of disobedience, dishonesty, untruthfulness, and unkindness, you will have a smile on your face, too!

Close with prayer. Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps there will be children who would like to pray and ask Jesus to be their personal Savior.

 Song: “Pumpkin Patch” from Sing through the Year 

(Click on song title to hear a clip.)