Flexibility and the Flip-Flop

For this activity, you will need flip flops that are too small for you to comfortably wear but that are large enough that you can get your foot in without breaking the sandal. You will also need a jacket that is too large for one of the children to wear.

Hand the flip flop to a family member and ask them to bend it. The flip flop is not rigid so it bends easily. Ask them what it would do if it were made of hard plastic and you bent it that much. Their answers should be some sort of “break”. Liken the flip flop to how we can react to what God wants us to do. If we are hard and stubborn, we break. If we are flexible and are willing to make the changes that God asks of us, we will bend and not break.
Now try to put the flip flop on. Show how uncomfortable it is. Now get out the jacket and ask the smallest child to put it on. Now hand them something and see how difficult it is to grasp when their hands are somewhere up in the sleeves. Sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone. Sometimes God calls us to do something we think is “beneath” us. Like wearing a flip flop, we have outgrown, it may not be comfortable to do. Sometimes God calls us to do something we don’t feel ready for, like wearing something that we haven’t grown into yet. We are afraid of the new and different. Both cases require us to be flexible. If we are asked to do something that we think is not right for us, we need to add Humility to our Flexibility to do God’s will. If we are asked to do something new, we need to add Courage to our Flexibility to do God’s will. In either case, being stubborn is not listening to God. For a craft to reinforce the lesson, have each family member decorate a pair of flip flops by tying (empty) water balloons (hey, they are flexible, too) to the straps. There are various ways to tie for different results. Your favorite search engine will show you lots of results or you can discover different ways by just experimenting. 

When the activity is over, ask a final question:

Will they remember flip flops (and balloons) the next time they are tempted to be stubborn?

How did this activity go when you used it with your group? Did you make any modifications that worked better for you? Share your experience below!