(I know one of the above pages has a word wrong, but I changed it in the printable file.)

My Heavenly Father Loves Me – Verse One

Preparation

• Items needed: tape, magnets, items to make a large Valentine card, 15 sheets of pink heavy paper.
• Print and cut out the visual aids. Put a magnet on the back of each item, but first tape together the word “rushes” with the picture of the woman rushing, and tape together the words “walk by” with the girl walking. Put the words on a word strip chart or tape them to a posterboard. Before Primary begins, hide the six hearts under the children’s chairs.
• Make a large Valentine card (I taped two sheets of pink construction paper together and added some paper doilies and a glittery heart.) Print these pages  and tape or glue the first two pages inside the card.
• Cut out about 15 large hearts. I used pink construction paper.

Verse One   (The following is exactly what I said to the children as I taught this song. The items in parenthesis are directions concerning what to do at certain parts.)

* What holiday do we celebrate in February? Valentine’s Day. On Valentines we celebrate love.

This month’s song is about love – our Heavenly Father’s love for us.

* What do people give to each other on Valentines to express their love for each other? Candy, cards, flowers…

Our Heavenly Father has given us many things that demonstrate his love for us. Look under your chairs to find some of those things. There are six items. If you find an item put it on the board.

All these items are mentioned in the first verse of the song. Our Heavenly Father has given us….(Shortly discuss each one of the items with the children.)

In the song these items are in pairs. Can you guess which items go together? (Have children come to the board and put the items in pairs. Discuss why the pairs go together and put them in the right order on the board– each pair about a foot apart from the other pairs.)

There are words that go with each of these items too. (Show the children the word strip chart or posterboard) For example, which of these things can make musical sounds? The bird ( Put the song notes near the bird.)  All these things (point to wordstrips) are also things Heavenly Father has given us and demonstrate His love for us. (Quickly read and discuss each word)

Raise your hand if you think you know where one of the words go. One to two words go with each item. (Have the children take turns putting a word strip next to the item that it goes with. If an item gets put in the wrong spot, another children can move it during their turn. Make any necessary corrections after all the words have been placed.)

(Tell the children the words of the first two lines of the verse, pointing to the pictures and wordstrips when you come to those parts, then have them sing the first two lines. Do the same with the other two pairs. Afterwards have them sing everything together.)

(Show the children the homemade Valentine card and ask the following question: )

• If you were to make Heavenly Father a Valentine card what would you say in it? Answers might include:  I love you. Thank you for all the wonderful blessings.

(Open the card, read the inside, and explain that they might say something like that. Put the card on the board.)

In the last part of the verse we express our appreciation for this wonderful world Heavenly Father created. (Put the last page on board.)

(Have the children sing these last two parts of the song, and then have them sing the whole verse. Point to the pictures as they sing to help the smaller children.)

That is the first verse of the song. Now let’s memorize this verse.

When someone cares about another person they sometimes do a fun activity for that person called a heart attack. They cover something that belongs to that person with hearts such as their bedroom, their car, their house door, etc.

Today we are going do a heart attack and cover the song with hearts –as a way to show our love (for music time, Heavenly Father?) by memorizing this song.

While we sing the song I’m going to go around and see who is singing really well. If I give you one of these hearts (show them the big cutout hearts), you will go to the board and cover a part of the song with it.  I will only give out 2-3 hearts each time we sing the song.  (Attach a piece of tape to each heart as you give them out.)

(After singing the verse, discuss which parts of the song were covered up. Sing the verse again while giving out more hearts. Continue until the verse is memorized. )