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Monthly Theme: I know that Jesus Christ will come again.
Monthly Scripture: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." Job 19:25
Week 1 The Prophets foretold that Jesus Christ would come to earth.
* HERE is a Primary 6 lesson with lots of scripture references for this weekly theme. There is also a nice coloring page to go along!
* HERE is a link with lots of resources for teaching children about the prophecies of Christ. The Christmas in the America (under stories) link would be a great/easy felt board story!
* Have a child come up front and guess what is in a paper bag with a bow. We can guess all we like. We could even guess what would happen tomorrow. But it's different with prophets. When it's the will of Heavenly Father, He speaks through prophets to "foretell" what will happen. What is the difference between guessing and a prophet "foretelling"?
Have the child open the bag to show a picture of baby Jesus. Prophets foretold that Jesus Christ would come to earth.
* Do you have a toy bow and arrow set? They sell them at the Dollar store. Invite a child to come up and share the story of Samuel the Lamanite. Samuel prophesied and foretold that Jesus Christ would come to earth. Have 10-12 different questions, songs, and scriptures about the birth of Christ on strips of paper for children to choose. Once they answer the question correctly, they can shoot the arrow at a paper circle on the blackboard. We'd never shoot at Samuel, but our answers to questions are always right on the mark!
* Have a sleeping bag and pillow. Invite a child to put on a Nephi's slippers and cozy robe and fall asleep. In 1 Nephi 11 we learn all about Nephi's vision of when Jesus would come to earth. Have little paper thought/dream bubbles (about 6-8) with pictures about the life of Christ from his vision. Read scripture excerpts and then invite a child to come choose which dream bubble it's talking about. Then invite another Nephi to fall asleep... etc. You'll have a lot of children coming up this way.
* Bring in a copy of the week's weather report for where you live. Ask the children if they have ever seen the weather man predict snow and then there was no snow? Is it pretty hard to guess what the weather will be like?? Heavenly Father did not want people to be confused when it came to Jesus coming to earth. He spoke to prophets and prophets foretold the coming of The Savior. It wasn't like the weather... what the prophets spoke happened!!
Have a small umbrella with strips of paper inside. On the papers have questions, scriptures, and songs having to do with the weeks theme. Let a child come up front and spin the umbrella to mix up the papers and then choose one. Weather changes, but the prophecies of Christ do not!!
Week 2 Jesus Christ will come to the earth again.
* Ask the primary children to raise their hand if they enjoy reading a good book. Go ahead and raise their hands again if they ever get to the end and wish there was more! Sometimes books continue and have sequels!! If we were thinking about the life of Christ like a book, what would be His sequel??? What would come after His chapter when He was resurrected? It's a pretty tricky question!! Was He resurrected and that was just it?? Jesus Christ will come to the earth again!!
Go over a couple scriptures of what the 2nd coming will be like. Focus on the positive!! Need help finding scriptures... click HERE for great information from Doctrines of the Gospel Institute Manual.
Have a piece of paper with a clip art open book on it for each child. Invite children to draw an image of Jesus' life on the left hand side. On the other side they can draw His sequel!!! The next chapter/book is the glorious 2nd coming.
* Is this idea possible? I really don't know. Hang about 6-7 envelopes from a string from the ceiling. When the children walk in they will all be looking up. When it's time to start tell the children you noticed a bunch of them looking up. Why would they be looking up, that's kind of weird? Is there something... oh, there is something up there!! Just as we were looking up, a long time ago so were the apostles!! Show a picture of the Ascension.“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” Acts 1:11
What does this scripture tell us? What goes up must come down!! Have children choose an envelope and answer questions, scriptures, and sing songs about Jesus Christ's 2nd coming.
* HERE is a lesson from the Primary 7 manual. It has a good matching handout for older children
* Have children draw a picture of what it will be like in the Millennium! All the animals will be peaceful, Christ will be our King, Satan will be bound! It's an exciting time to look forward too!
Week 3 I will prepare to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again.
* HERE is an awesome sharing time from The Friend having to do with the parable of the 10 Virgins.
* Invite a doctor into primary. Yes, a real doctor if you have one. Or a nurse. Ask them if they were able to just start healing people when they decided they wanted to become a doctor. What did they have to do to become a doctor? It takes a lot of hard work and preparation! And they don't just stop preparing, they are constantly learning and striving to do better to help others. It's the same with Eternal Life. We can prepare to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again.
After the doctor leaves, have a medical bag with things like a band aid, Neosporin, stethoscope, tongue depressor... etc. Invite children to come choose things from the doctor's bag and name ways we can prepare to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again. Just like a person prepares to be a doctor, we must prepare for Eternal Life and help others along the way!
* Have an attention activity of guess the letter. Just like hangman, but we don't draw a man hanging we just get 4 X's. You'll need 7 blanks for the word prepare.
Have someone read D&C 1:12 "Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh"
Break into groups and have the children guess letters again within their group. You'll need teachers to help. Give them each papers with blanks for the following phrases-
Study Scriptures Often
Pray Daily
Get Baptized
Go to the temple
Make good choices
Serve others faithfully
After a few minutes, invite a child from each group to share a way in which we can prepare to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again! If there is still time, have a primary friend share another way to you and put blanks on the chalkboard for others to guess!
* Bring in some items from your food storage supply. Ask the children if they have food storage at home. Invite a primary friend to share what food storage is and why the prophets have asked us to have some extra food at home.
Is it good to be prepared? Have some questions, scriptures, and songs attached to different food storage items for the children to choose and do.
End with a brief recap of the story of the brother of Jared. Show a picture. The Lord told him that they would cross many deep waters. The Brother of Jared was worried because they wouldn't have light. The Lord said, "And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" (Ether 2:25) We know that the Brother of Jared then got some stones and The Lord touched them and they were able to cross the sea with light.
The Lord will help prepare His children! And we need to prepare ourselves, with His help, to return to Him!! He'll never leave us in the dark if we turn to Him.
* Alma 34:32-33 "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."
According to that scripture, when are we supposed to prepare to meet God? When we're 50? Only on the years that end in a 3? Every other day? Why is preparing to meet Heavenly Father and Jesus something we must do always?
I will choose one primary friend to sit on the end of a row. They will think of something we must do so we can prepare to meet Heavenly Father and Jesus. They will then whisper it to the friend next to them, who will whisper it to the next friend until we reach the end of the row. Let's see how much time it will take! Continue for the next row, and the next. Record each time. Wow! Time flies when we are thinking and doing the things that will bring us closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus!
"Brothers and sisters, we have to stay with it. We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint—this is a race of endurance. We have to apply and reapply the divine gospel principles. Day after day we need to make them part of our normal life." Elder Uchtdorf The Way of the Disciple Apr. 2009
Week 4 I have a testimony that I am a child of God.
* Have children write down their testimonies or draw a picture of something they know is true about the gospel.
* Have a primary friend come up front and volunteer to do as many push ups as they can. Wow! That's amazing. Would our arms be weaker or stronger in the long run if we practiced doing push ups?
How about a testimony? Would our testimony be strong if we shared it once or many times?
Have strips of paper with different questions, scriptures, and songs about testimony on them. Invite a child to come up front and do a push up with a piece of tape on their nose to pick up the paper.
If you have girls volunteering, make sure their skirts are not facing anyone!!
* Have large paper hearts. Invite children to fill in the heart with ways they know that Heavenly Father loves them. What has He given you that you can know how much He loves you? Have children share their different answers.
* Invite a few different ward members in to share a time when they gained a testimony that they were a child of God. Ask the children to remember that they can pray sincerely and know the truth of all things. Joseph Smith's first prayer was answered!! Our prayers will be answered too!!
11 comments :
Thank you for all of these ideas that enhance the church provided outline so well!! :)
I always come to your site when planning Sharing Time, but I think the manual is really good for Week 3 this month and doesn't need embellishment other than a scripture reading for the Senior Primary. My testimony of keeping it simple is increasing. You have many wonderful ideas. Thank you for blogging them.
Thank you so much for your comments.
I'd just like to state that part of the reason I do this blog is to have ideas for Family Home Evenings with my children and one day for their children. I have a testimony of also keeping things very simple.
I love the outline and all the ideas in it. And I'm very grateful for the flexibility of teaching by the spirit and letting the spirit guide and direct us in all that we do.
I'm not sure how appropriate it is to use the saying "what goes up must come down" when comparing Christ going up to heaven and then one day descending for Week 2. Maybe I just misunderstood what you were trying to teach.
Thank you for sharing your opinion Karen. It made me think and I appreciate the opportunity to delve deeper.
First off, I recognize that I am just an instrument in the Lord's hand. I don't teach, the spirit does. I NEVER tell anyone to teach what I write. I know that I am not an authority, I know that I'm just a lame-o... but I do take doctrine very seriously.
The scriptures/general conference talks are FULL of examples of Christ descending below all to save all. The definition of humility is coming down. When Heavenly Father, Jesus, and Adam were organizing the earth, they said, "Let us go down." Why is that a negative thing? Christ coming to earth was called the "condescension".
In Alma 30:44 it says, "The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."
Gravity itself is a manifestation of God's power. There is something important in recognizing that being brought down is a good thing! We will all be resurrected... and we will be brought down again to live on earth for the Millenium.
Christ has been resurrected and has gone up to Father. But, as part of the plan, it is Father's will that Christ come down again. The earth will be cleansed and Christ will reign in glory.
If we look at the opposite of the saying, what goes down must come up... we can also find some beautiful truth. When we are at our lowest, Christ can raise us up. All will die, all will be resurrected.
Was Newton inspired for this phrase? I don't know. But I am grateful to know that Christ loves us so much, that He would do anything to bring us back to Father's presence. I am grateful to know that He is perfect and yet He was willing to come down and suffer all to end all suffering if we would just turn to Him.
Not sure why others have criticized, but I'd like to thank you for having the courage to share your ideas! I'm grateful for any ideas that can help spark further inspiration and I have enjoyed reading the ideas that you share! The awesome part of the Gospel is that we can all receive personal revelation for our specific callings, families and circumstances and answers to prayers often come in a variety of different forms...finding your blog has been an answer to me! :)
I think you are fabulous...love your ideas, and your testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. I try to be as creative as you are and agree, we should all seek for inspiration in our lives and callings!! Thank you...wish I personally knew you, you inspire me to be better! Love, Donna
What I love most about your blog are the alternative ideas.Children with adhd or autism need more tactile lessons. I come looking when I feel the manual ideas are not quite enough for the little ones I will be teaching. The manual encourages this.
Your blog is like brainstorming with a friend. Thank you!
I just found your blog through a link in latter day village. Thank you so much for your time and clever ideas. December, week 3 with the DR idea was a hit. Children sitting still waiting for their turn-priceless. I look forward to using your ideas to make sharing time more rewarding for me and the kids.
I'm sad you've had a little criticism on here. Just know there are so many of us using and loving your ideas. I am grateful you take the time to help us each week. I have used your ideas many times and they are always a hit! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a great new year.
Thank you so much for all of the wonderful ideas! I always come and check out your blog when I'm preparing my sharing time lesson. I may not always use your ideas exactly but I do always find inspiration for my own! For instance: this week (dec wk 3) we are going to collaborate to fill a heart drawn on the board with ways that we can know that we are children of God.
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