← Home / Activities

What's In Your Hand?

preschoolelementary

Activity: What's In Your Hand?

Type: Interactive Object Lesson / Discussion
Time: 10 minutes
Group Size: Any
Materials:

  • A small bag or box containing several ordinary, everyday objects (e.g., a pencil, a shoe, a paperclip, a spoon, a small stick).

Purpose

To help children realize that God doesn’t require us to have “superpowers” to do His work. He can use the ordinary things we already have when we surrender them to Him.

Setup

Place all the objects out of sight in the bag or box before class begins.

Exact Instructions

  1. Tell the children: “When God gives people an important job, we usually think they need special tools. If God wanted someone to save a whole country, what do you think He would give them? A sword? A crown? A million dollars?”
  2. Pull the small stick out of your bag.
  3. Say: “When God called Moses to lead millions of people to freedom, Moses was scared. He didn’t feel special. So God asked him a very simple question: ‘What is that in your hand?’ Moses was holding an ordinary shepherd’s staff. It was just a stick. But God said He was going to use that stick to do miracles.”
  4. Pull out another ordinary object (like a pencil) and hold it up.
  5. Ask: “What is in my hand? Just a pencil. How could God use this ordinary pencil to help someone or show them His love?” (Answers: Write an encouraging note, draw a picture for someone who is sad, do homework honestly).
  6. Continue pulling out the other objects one by one (a spoon, a shoe, a paperclip) and brainstorm with the children how God could use them for good.

Discussion

Ask: “Do you have to be a superhero, a king, or a grown-up for God to use you?” (No). “What is something ‘in your hand’ right now? Maybe it’s not a stick—maybe it’s a talent, like singing, or just the ability to be a good listener. Can God use that?” (Yes).

Connection Back to the Bible Story

Remind the children that Moses had a lot of excuses. He told God he wasn’t a good speaker and that nobody would listen to him. But God didn’t ask Moses to be perfect. God just asked Moses to trust Him and use the ordinary staff he already had. When we give our ordinary things to God, He can do extraordinary things with them.