Direct and Indirect Objects

Who is the sentence's subject?: Lucas

What is he doing?: He is kicking something.

What does he kick?: He kicks a ball.

In this order of ideas, ball is the direct object because it is receiving the action. 

Sasha paints landscapes.

Shannon loves traveling to Europe.

The teacher explained the rules.

The company is considering my proposal.

Tina ate apples and bananas.

Who's the subject?: Marcy

What action did Marcy do?: She "gave" something. 

What did she give?: A painting 

At this point, we know that the object is the painting.

To whom does she give the painting?: To her mother. 

By answering to whom, we understand that her mother is the indirect object. It is the recipient of the direct object.

James built Marie a tiny house on the beach.

The sun gave the garden a pocketful of sunshine.

Alan finally gave her the engagement ring.

She gave her dog a bath before they went away on vacation.

Early the morning, I baked Bryan cupcakes to take to class.