March 2010 LDS Primary Sharing Time Helps and Ideas

Image courtesy creative commons license flickr.com by Michael Dawes 9/2009
All time favorite prophet: Jonah. Because really. He was swallowed by a whale. How about you??

Monthly Theme: God speaks through Prophets.
Monthly Scripture: Luke 1:70 "He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began."

Week 1 Prophets are called by God.

* When a phone rings, what can you do? You can answer or ignore. Have someone (like the bishop) call you on your cell phone and have a child answer. What would have happened if you ignored the call? Heavenly Father doesn’t use cell phones to call His prophets, He uses His voice, the Holy Ghost and sometimes angels! The Lord called many prophets to leave what they were doing and then follow him.

Have a presidency member outside the primary room door. Throughout primary, have them call your cell phone and let a child answer. They will give the child hints about a certain prophet. Have the child share the hints with the primary and then guess what prophet the call is about!

* On the chalk board have the words PROPHET, MY JOB, and MY CALL. Have a bag for the children to draw a word out of to describe the names and different jobs of the prophets (ancient AND modern) and act it out. Then have the primary come up with the responsibilities/ duties/how the prophet was called to list under MY CALL.

For example: Amos- Amos 7:14-16 “Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit; And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord…”

Act out: Picking fruit

* “Role Call” -Take role call and have the children answer you when you say their name. Have them think about what they would say if the Savior called them by name. Put up a picture of Christ and have them share. Prophets were often called by name, by the Savior. Have 6 different prophets and their names written largely on strips of paper. Have speaking bubbles (like the ones in cartoons) with the prophet’s response. Try to have pictures of the prophets if possible. Have the children match the names and responses of the prophets up front on the chalkboard.

If there is time, have the children draw a cartoon of the story of one of their favorite prophets. There are also lots of cartoon prophet examples found in the Friend magazine!!

* “Calling On…” This is a game of finishing the story. Children will pass around a cell phone. You start off the story of a prophet by saying how He was called, then pass the cell phone to another child and have them add whatever they know about that prophet. They pass it on to another friend who can add and so on. No one should have the phone for more than 1 minute, thus giving lots of children the chance to participate. Ask the children what prophets they would like to talk about! Have a GAK close by!

* Learn the 5^th Article of Faith song SPARKLE style. This is for SENIOR PRIMARY. To play sparkle each person will have to say one word in the article of faith, if they don’t know the word, then they are out. Then the last person says, SPARKLE! You keep on going until everyone is out except for 2 people, then they are the article of faith sparkle stars!!

Have the article of faith posted on the board and let them practice a couple of times with the words up. Go to each child up and down each row. Then take it down!! Have the children stand, if they can’t think of a word they sit and are out. So first child says, We… second child says believe… 3^rd child says that… 4^th child says a… 5^th child says Bubba Gump, he/she got it wrong so they sit and the 6^th child says man… If other children shout out, they have to sit. Always encourage good listening and good manners.

Week 2 Prophets testify of Jesus Christ.

* Reader’s theatre posted HERE.

Week 3 There is safety in following the prophet.

* Prophet Safety Jeopardy

Personal opinion: I never (yes…never) had competitions in Primary. I never did teams or boys vs. girls. I always had the primary work as a family of friends, getting as many points as we could alll together. The world has too many divisions. I’m for being unified and working together. But to each his own, just food for thought. I’ll step off the soapbox and encourage you to alter the following any way you like. DON’T BE LAZY. DON’T CUT AND PASTE this unless you are going to study the questions, prepare, ponder and pray if this is what the Lord wants for your primary this week.

Categories and questions:

Warning!!! Danger up ahead!!!

100 This prophet warned the people and they didn’t listen. He and his family were kept safe in an arc while the earth was completely flooded.

200 Read Mosiah 17:9-10 Abinadi warned this evil King, but was stilled burned by fire. He sealed his testimony with his own blood.

300 How does following the word of wisdom, revelation given to Joseph Smith, keep us from danger?

400 Jacob warned the Nephites of “… every kind of sin, telling them the awful consequences of them.” (Jacob 3:12) Name 3 sins and the results that can happen from making those bad choices.

Hear my Words, Learn of Christ

100 Sing Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus (CS p.36)

200 Show GAK The Prophet Isaiah Foretells Christ’s Birth. Who is this prophet?

300 Spencer W. Kimball said this quote. Fill in the blank “ The ……… prophets, from Adam to Malachi are testifying of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ was the God of the ………, and it was He who conversed with Abraham and Moses.” (Ensign, May 1977, p.76) (Answer: Old Testament)

400 What does the prophet Nephi teach you about Christ? (Encourage Senior Primary to find actual scriptures!)

Stay on the Path

100 This prophet saw a strait and narrow path leading to the tree of life. Who is the prophet or prophets and what can you do to stay on the path?

200 Sing We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet (Hymns p.19)

300 Read Mosiah 2:36-37 What can we do to have the Holy Ghost with us to guide us in wisdom’s paths?

400 DOUBLE JEOPARDY! DOUBLE POINTS!!! Name your favorite prophet and something that prophet has taught you to keep you safe.

Buckle Up with Modern Day Apostles

100 President Eyring has said, “Now, here is my counsel to children. The Lord gave you a commandment with a promise: “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” It is the only one of the Ten Commandments with a promise.”(Ensign Nov. 2009 p.72) How can you show honor to your parents or adults in your life?

200 Show a picture of the first presidency. Name these 3 men.

300 Where do we read the words of modern day apostles?

400 Sing last verse of Follow the Prophet. (CS p. 111)

Final Jeopardy Category: Safety in Following the Prophets

Final Jeopardy Question: What is something you learned today and/or can bear testimony of?

* Bring in an umbrella stroller with a seat belt. Have a demonstration where a stuffed animal is placed inside without the safety belt and pushed. Try again with the safety belt on. Prophets keep us safe by securing us in the knowledge that Christ lives and strapping us in the strength of His revelations.

* Have a large paper drawing of a child. Hang it up and add things to make it safe like a helmet, knee pads, band aids, a coat, sunscreen, sunglasses… etc. On each of the safety items have questions, songs and scriptures having to do with prophets.

Week 4 God speaks through prophets.

* Bring in 4 pictures, 2 copies of each picture. Have the children match the pictures. Are the matches the same? Read D&C 1:38, “What I the Lord have spoken I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, IT IS THE SAME.” Now have a sign “voice of the Lord” and “voice of my servants”… according to the scripture are these 2 a match and the same?

* Have a large world map or globe. Have a bunch of small pictures (I would do 10-15) of different prophets. Let the children come up, name and tell different things about that prophet and then place him on the map. Maybe get some pictures of modern day prophets and where they served their missions.

Have there been prophets in every single country on earth?

Can most places today hear the words of prophets and if so how?

What do the prophets of old and of today say?

If the children could go anywhere in the world, where would they go and what would they say about prophets?

* Ask for a volunteer. Whisper something into the child’s ear and then have them tell it to the primary. Invite another child to come up and do the same. Just as you spoke through your primary friends, God speaks through prophets. Read Jeremiah 1:5-7, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.”

* Sing Latter-day Prophets (CS p.134) and give each child (in their chairs) a picture from the GAK. When they hear their prophet they stand then sit down! Collect the pictures and try again with different friends!