Count Your Blessing or You Might Lose Them | Object Lesson

This is an object lesson that can help you teach your class about appreciating the things God give us! Don’t take them for granted!

Needed:

• A single cough drop (preferably unwrapped for visibility)
• A small bag or basket filled with various “blessings” (small items that represent good things: toy car, house key, toy food, plastic coins, cross, small Bible, etc.)
• A piece of paper and marker for writing a “thankful list”
• Optional: music or lighthearted intro to set a fun tone

Lesson Setup: This lesson uses humor and perspective to teach children how important it is to recognize the blessings God has already given them. It starts lightheartedly, with one person acting disappointed and focused on what they don’t have, and ends with a strong message about gratitude and contentment.

Begin by holding up a single cough drop as if it’s the only thing you have. Act dramatically disappointed, sighing and complaining about how everyone else seems blessed while you’re “stuck” with nothing but a cough drop. The sillier you make it, the more engaged the children will be. Say things like how everyone else seems to have so much, friends, cool stuff, fun, and yet all you have is this “nasty” cough drop.

Teaching the Lesson: Explain that sometimes we act just like this. We focus on the one thing we don’t have instead of all the blessings we already do have. Then, begin to “help” yourself (or your volunteer) realize all the things to be thankful for.

Start by writing down or naming one blessing at a time. As you do, hold up the corresponding item from your bag or basket:

• A small toy figure or family photo for family.
• A toy car for transportation.
• A key for a home.
• Plastic coins for finances or God’s provision.
• A small Bible or cross for truth, salvation, and the Holy Ghost.
• A heart or smiley face for health and happiness.

As the list grows, lay each item on a table or altar in front of the kids so they can see how the blessings pile up. By the time you’re done, that one lonely cough drop will look small compared to all the good things surrounding it.

You can even say something like, “If I had to give up everything I forgot to thank God for, I’d want to make sure my list was long!”

Explain that it’s easy to look around and think someone else has it better, maybe a nicer house, cooler toys, or more friends, but comparison steals joy. God has blessed each of us in different ways. We just have to take the time to notice it.

Remind the class that every blessing comes from God. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Talk about how being thankful changes our attitude. When we focus on the one “cough drop” we don’t like, we forget all the wonderful things God has already done. Gratitude helps us see life clearly again.

End with a short challenge: tell the children to make their own “thankful list” at home this week. Encourage them to write down or draw everything they can think of, family, food, friends, church, the Bible, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, and to pray a short prayer of thanks for each one. Close by saying that when we stop focusing on what’s missing and start thanking God for what’s already here, we realize just how blessed we truly are. Remind them: don’t let one cough drop block out a whole basket of blessings.

*Tags: Appreciation, be thankful, blessings of God, count your blessings, grateful heart, thanks, Thanksgiving