Needed:

• Option 1: Make your own bed of nails contraption:
• 2 boards – 9.5″ x 4.5″
• 2 wooden dowels (1/2″ thick, 10-12″ long)
• 98 nails
• Option 2: Buy the kit from stevespanglerscience.com (not cheap though)
• 12” balloons (or bigger if available)

PREP:

• It does take some time to build this device but once it is completed you can use it for years to come. This uses the principle of the bed of nailswhich is the distribution of pressure. It spreads out the sharp points of the nails across a large area of the balloon which makes it much less likely to pop.
• Cut out the top and bottom and use a pattern of dots to layout the nail holes (on right). Glue this in place and then use a drill press to drill all the holes slightly smaller than the nails you intend to use. Once done, push or tack the nails into place.
• You will find that likely the nails are not all exactly the same height so when they are pushed in, you look across the plane of the nail tips and you may see a few of them sticking out more than others. This is not good so make them all the same height by tapping them down until they are all at the same level.
• Screw the two dowels in place on the bottom board and then drill the holes in the upper piece to align with the dowels (this takes some adjusting). At this point you can paint it or just use it as is.
• You will want to try the demonstration at home first, experimenting with a variety of different balloon types until you find one that works the best. I found that by using a 12 inch balloon and blowing it up no more than three or 4 inches in diameter it worked very well. If you blow it up too much or purchase too small a balloon size it will pop quite easily and ruin your lesson.
• Just put the balloon on the bed of nails, lower the top piece until it is in contact with the balloon and then slowly squeeze the 2 together. You will be astonished at how much it takes to pop the balloon.

LESSON:

“Today we are going to talk about a subject that we all deal with on a daily basis. It is the subject of pressure. Today were not just speaking of any type of pressure the we are speaking of the most difficult type of pressure to deal with… PEER PRESSURE! And today we are going to represent that type of pressure with this!”

Pull out the bed of nails contraption. Talk about it in dramatic terms.

“This contraption here can inflict pain like no one has ever seen before! At the bottom are 100 needle sharp nails which can cause unimaginable damage! If you don’t believe it, feel them for yourself!”

Invite a volunteer to feel the nails and to let everyone know that they are indeed real and sharp. Show your audience that the nails are sharp by easily popping a balloon with a leftover nail.

“Today we are going to represent you and I with this humble balloon.”

Pull out an un-inflated balloon, blow it up in front of everyone (only about 4” or so) and gingerly set it on the bed of nails acting as if it could pop at any second.

“Now we’ve got to be extremely careful because we know how balloons react to sharp objects. I’m going to set it on here but no one sneeze because we don’t want it to be jostled at all.”

Put the top piece in place and slowly lower it until it is resting on top of the balloon. The balloon should now be sandwiched between the top piece and the nails.

“The world wants us to act just like them. They want us to dress like them. “

Slightly squeeze the 2 pieces together pinching the balloon against the nails.

“The world wants us to talk like them.”

Squeeze the pieces closer together.

“The world wants us to listen to the music they listen to.”

Squeeze the pieces closer together.

“The world wants us to watch the things that they watch.”

Squeeze the pieces closer together.

“But no matter what pressure the world exerts upon us God will help us withstand it. It doesn’t mean it will not be uncomfortable but He will protect us.

God said He would never put more on us than we can bear. Though it feels like we are being squeezed to mercilessly God has got it all in control and all we have to do is trust in Him and He will take care of us.”

You can keep dragging this out more and more just make sure you don’t accidentally pop the balloon before you are ready to.

“God will never put more on us than we can bear but today I’m going to show you just how much pressure this balloon can take before it actually pops.”

At this point slowly squeeze the pieces together until the balloon does pop but make it dramatic and show the kids just how much pressure the balloon can really bear.