Using Visual Aids in CCD Lessons
From Altoids to Zoo Animals, Everyday Items Can Be Teacher’s Props
Oct 1, 2008
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the best way to teach a religion lesson might be by using something children see every day around the house.
A CCD teacher can use everything from toys to food to capture the attention of a class, and show analogies, symbols and visual aids to help teach a lesson.
Some of these everyday items can be used as quick visual aids when teaching CCD.
Altoids – When we eat strong foods, our breath can be offensive, so we have an Altoid or a mint. When we speak strong, unkind words, they can be offensive, too.
Band-Aids – Give a bandage to each child to think about someone they know who is sick or hurting. Tell them to carry the Band-Aid with them all week in their pocket and pray for that person.
Cards – Take out the face cards from a deck and play concentration. When students get a match, they must say what the commandment is that matches the number on the cards.
Dice – Use dice or dominoes to show how our actions impact others, either positively or negatively.
Etch-A-Sketch – When teaching about forgiveness, show students that when we ask God for forgiveness, our sins are magically erased.
Food – Use animal crackers to tell the creation story, goldfish crackers to teach about the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes, and pretzel twists to teach about prayer.
Gloves – When we put gloves on our hands, the gloves touch others, but the hand does the movement. We are like gloves and God is like our hand. God reaches others through our touch.
Hands – Teach a hand prayer, in which each finger reminds us of someone or something to pray for.
Ice – To add speed and silliness to a getting-to-know-you game, put students in a circle and have them introduce themselves while shaking hands and passing an ice cube to the person next to him. See if you can get all around the circle before the ice cube melts.
Jack-in-the-Box – A jack-in-the-box is like God in that He pops up unexpectedly and show us he’s so much more than the outside suggests.
Kleenex – Tissues are used to dry tears. Tell students to carry a Kleenex with them to remind them to be kind to others.
Light – God is the light of the world. A flashlight can be used to demonstrate that God helps us find our way in the darkness.
Mustard seeds – These tiny seeds can illustrate the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), which is the smallest of seeds but grows into a large plant.
Newspaper – A newspaper contains all the things we should pray about – good news, bad news, people and everything in our world.
Optical lenses – Glasses, sunglasses and 3-D glasses can all be used to demonstrate how our world changes when we see things through God.
Phone – Just like both ends of the phone are necessary, in prayer it is important to both talk and listen.
Quilt – A quilt is special because it is made up of many different squares. Our world is better because it is made up of many different kinds of people.
Radio – Radio waves can’t be seen, but we know they exist. Likewise, God can’t be seen but evidence of his existence can be seen.
Stones – Stones can weigh us down. Have students write a sin, a problem or something that’s bothering them onto a stone and then give it over to God by throwing the stone into a pond or a rock bed.
Trick candles – Put a trick candle onto a cupcake and tell students to try to blow it out. Like God’s love for us, it never burns out.
Unpopped and popped popcorn – In a lesson on discrimination and judging others, show students a pile of unpopped popcorn. You may not be able to tell what’s inside until it’s popped.
Veil – Women wear veils in many religious contexts throughout the world. Show how veils are used in our faith practices and in others.
World globe – Use a globe when in a prayer circle or around a prayer table. Students can spin the globe and wherever his index finger lands when it stops spinning is where the child prays for.
X-ray – We have our bodies x-rayed to see what lies beneath. What can you see about a person in an x-ray? What can’t you see?
Yo-yo – God is the yo-yo master and we are the yo-yos. No matter how far we fall away from God, we are always connected to him and he is always working to bring us back to Him.
Zoo animals – Small plastic toy animals can help teach about God’s creations.
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