Visual Aid: A basket suspended by its handle from a strong rubber band; a work glove; a small bag of toys such as marbles, a doll, and a stuffed animal; a mathematics textbook; a music book; a baseball; a can of pet food; a Bible; a box to hold all this stuff.

Lesson: Stress; making choices; helping one another.

As the children come to the front of the sanctuary, I take the work glove and basket out of the box and ask one of the taller boys if he will help me out this morning. He agrees, so I hand him the glove and ask him to put it on. Then I hand him the basket with instructions to hold it up by hanging onto the rubber band attached to the handle.

By now the rest of the children have become quite intrigued. Addressing the young man holding the basket, I say, "Adam, we're going to put …