God freely offers all of us the gift of salvation– but we actually have to take it! In this Christmas object lesson, students will learn how to accept the gift of salvation. This object lesson is super simple; all it takes is a wrapped gift and a student that you can get on your side before the lesson starts. 

Some lessons stick in our minds better than others– and this one has stuck with me for years! I was in children’s church at about age 7 when my teacher did this lesson, and it has stuck with me until now. 

That’s a good lesson. 

This lesson tells all about the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation– and how all we have to do is accept it!

To make this lesson the best, I suggest using a wrapped box that looks like a gift. That being said, however, when I saw this lesson at age 7, the teacher just used an Expo marker– and it wasn’t even Christmas time! That means that you can use whatever is helpful for you, and you can use this lesson any time of the year. 

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What you need for The Gift Christmas Object Lesson

• A wrapped present
• A student that will go along with it

Memory verse:

Here are 3 memory verse options for the lesson: 

• Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
• 2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

How to do the Gift Christmas Object Lesson

Before you start the lesson, get one student who will be your helper. Explain to this child that you are going to pretend to give them a present, but they should NOT take it. Every time you ask them to take it, they should refuse. To make it more fun, you could have them come up with silly excuses why they won’t take it. (I’m about to get into the shower, I don’t have room at my house, I have enough presents, etc.).

To begin the lesson, ask the student to come up to the front. Pull out the present and try to give it to them. They will refuse. Try to convince them to take it (very important– make sure that they do not take it!). 

Continue this for a few minutes. The kids will get more and more confused and annoyed. 

Finally, let the child sit down.

Say, “Wasn’t that weird? I had a present, and all that they had to do was reach out and grab it. Why do you think they did not take the present?”

“With Christmas coming, I wanted to share the best gift of all with you– better than toys or candy or game systems. That gift is the gift of salvation from Jesus. Jesus gave us an enormous gift when he died on the cross to forgive our sins. Because he did this, we can all be saved, but we have to reach out and take the gift of salvation. It’s there, it’s free, and it’s ready for us if we will just reach out and take it.”

Tell the students the steps to salvation. These are the things that we must do in order to accept our present. It helps to use the ABC acronym

• Admit that you have sinned (repent)
• Believe in Jesus
• Confess that Jesus is Lord

Just like I was trying to give the student a gift, God is trying to give all of us the gift of salvation. All you have to do to accept it is to pray to God and do those 3 things.

Game suggestions for The Gift Object Lesson

Wrapping race

Materials:

• Boxes in similar size
• Wrapping paper
• Tape
• Scissors

This is a simple racing game to see who can wrap a present the fastest. The boxes are empty, so they don’t have to be wrapped well. The only rule we have is that ALL of the cardboard of the box is covered.

If you really want to make it fun, give them construction paper, tissue paper, and other non-traditional wrapping supplies so that they are forced to get creative!

Present relay

First, split the class in half. Wrap some small boxes or purchase prewrapped little presents (they often have them at the Dollar Store or Walmart). Put one large box on either side of the room for each team. Put half of the little presents in each box.

Then, one at a time, each team has to take one present to the other box and come back. When they come back, the next person may go.

The first team with all of their presents in the other box wins!

Here you can get those little prewrapped presents on Amazon.

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