Exercises with words can provide a clear lesson on forgiveness. For instance, give each person a piece of paper with a different question on it, including such queries as, "Is there anything that can't be forgiven?" "What would life be like if there were no forgiveness?" and "Should powerful world leaders publicly seek forgiveness?" Have each person answer his question, then go around the room for different answers. Alternatively, study the lines in a poem on forgiveness, such as "Enemies" by Wendell Berry, or write an essay about someone for whom forgiveness was fruitful. Examples include Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama.
Sometimes, anger can't be seen until it reaches a boiling boiling point. Ask students to write a list of the people who have caused them harm or made them angry. For each person on their list, each student must blow one breath into a balloon. Ask them to think about what happens when anger is allowed to build up inside them and they do not forgive. Or, students can use the basis for the eight and ninth steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and make amends to people they have harmed and even those who have hurt them. Have students list a person to whom they have caused harm. List other columns with the headings "Am I willing to make amends?" "How can I make amends?" and "Can I make amends without harming myself or the other person?"
Sunday school classes can learn about forgiveness through an activity involving the biblical figure Joseph. Provide, or have the children draw, the figure of a Joseph and a coat that can be put over the figure to cover him. Ask them to glue Joseph to one side of a large piece of construction paper. Instruct the class to put Joseph's coat on him, draw four or five stripes of different colors across Joseph's coat, and help them assign a good quality to each color by listing them next to Joseph. While traits such as love and trust can be used, assign a color to forgiveness and ask each child to share about one time they forgave someone.
What does it mean to forgive someone? In this game, divide the group into teams of three or four and provide each team with a chair and several rolls of toilet paper. Ask one member of each team to sit in the chair, and instruct the other team members to wrap him completely in the toilet paper. Time them and declare a winner when the first team is finished wrapping. Carefully look at each person in a chair and point out areas which are not covered. Segue into a discussion of how an Old Testament meaning of "forgive" means to "cover up." If a player is completely covered in toilet paper, they have been completely forgiven. Add that if any area is left bare, forgiveness is not complete and may resurface later and lead to more problems in a relationship.