Use Garbage to Teach Honesty
A creative and hands-on way to teach children about being honest
He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.
Proverbs 12:17 WEBTruthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Proverbs 12:19 KJV
Supplies:
- Bag of candy with a wrapper you can’t see through
- Dirt, rocks, or garbage
Preparation:
- Carefully open the bag of candy. Remove the candy and save for later.
- Fill the bag with dirt and/or garbage and re-seal.
Lesson:
Offer your child the bag of candy. If they are like my children they will be very excited.
Have them open the bag.
Ask:
How did you feel when you saw the garbage (dirt or rocks)?
Was it what you expected?
Did you like that it was full of garbage (dirt or rocks) instead of candy?
Help them identify and name their feelings. This is a great time to build some emotional vocabulary. They may have felt angry, hurt, or confused.
Explain:
Getting a bag of garbage that looks like candy is like being lied to. (If you told your child it was a bag of candy clarify that you did lie because you were teaching this lesson. To avoid lying you can simply say you have something for them. With older children you could talk about how leaving out information or the intent to deceive is lying or at least dishonest. We can lie without saying a word!)
Ask:
If I gave you another bag that looked just like this how would you feel? Even though it was just a lesson there is a good chance they wouldn’t be fully confident it was going to be candy.
Read Proverbs 12:17, 19 (typed above)
When we lie it hurts others. The ones getting the garbage are hurt. It also hurts ourselves. We want to be trusted. If we lie to someone they are not as likely to trust us and we will be hurt.
Did you try the lesson?
Did your children gain an understanding?
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