Heavenly Father will bless me when I pay tithing.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Malachi” Even if the young children you teach don’t earn money yet, they can still learn about the blessings of paying tithing.
- Help the children count 10 small objects, such as the coins on this week’s activity page. Invite them to separate one of the objects from the rest, and explain that this is like the tithing we give to the Lord. We give Him one-tenth of what we receive. Share your testimony of how the Lord blesses us as we pay tithing. Sing with the children a song about tithing, such as “I Want to Give the Lord My Tenth” (Children’s Songbook, 150).
Friend December 2022 “Tithing Pie” A bishop explains tithing by drawing a pretend peach pie and then asking if any of the children would want some. He then says he will give the whole pie to them, but he just wants one piece back.
Friend October 2020 “Funstuff: Tithing Time”Count the coins. For every 10 that you count, color one.
- Draw a window on the board, and read Malachi 3:10 to the children. Invite them to point to the window when you read the phrase “windows of heaven.” Explain that this means that Heavenly Father gives us great blessings when we pay tithing. As the children color this week’s activity page, talk about some of the reasons why we pay tithing.
- “I Choose the Right by Living Gospel Principles” (June 2012 Liahona and Friend)
An activity that encourages families to discuss the blessings of tithing. Includes a short story and illustration of a tithing slip.
- Share a story from the Friend magazine or from your own life about paying tithing. Invite the children to listen for blessings that can come from paying tithing.
Friend April 2018 “An Amazing Lesson”When Elder Cordon was a child he learned that the Lord blesses us when we pay our tithing. His parents had to choose between paying for food or paying tithing. They paid their tithing and later his father received work and a prepayment for that work.
Friend April 2016 “Pesos for Heavenly Father” Ana’s grandmother has faith to pay tithing even though there is no food, and she is blessed.
Family members might enjoy drawing pictures to represent these blessings and hanging the pictures on a window.
“Lesson 44: Malachi Teaches about Tithes and Offerings,” Primary 6: Old Testament
Heavenly Father will bless me when I pay tithing.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 ” Paying tithing is more about having faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ than it is about finances. What do the children you teach understand about tithing? How will you help them have the faith to pay tithing?
- Write on the board questions about tithing like the following: What is tithing? How do I pay tithing? What is tithing for? What are the blessings of paying tithing? Invite the children to search Malachi 3:8–12 and “Tithes, Tithing” in Guide to the Scriptures (scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org) and write down answers they find. Invite them to share their answers with each other. What kind of people do we become by paying tithing?
- Show the video “Jesus Teaches about the Widow’s Mite” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), or read together Mark 12:41–44. What does this story teach us about how the Lord feels about our offerings?
- Draw a window on the board, and invite the children to write inside the window blessings that someone might receive for paying tithing (for ideas, see Malachi 3:10–12). Invite the children to share a personal example of how they or their families have been blessed by faithfully paying tithing. Or you could share an example from your own life of how paying tithing has increased your faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Latter Day Kids “The Law of Tithing” Lesson ideas
We are sealed as families in the temple.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 ” Because of the priesthood keys of sealing that Elijah gave Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple, families can be united for eternity. As you teach this truth, be sensitive to the feelings of children whose families have not been sealed in the temple.
- Read Malachi 4:5 to the children. Then tell them that this promise was fulfilled when Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple (see “Chapter 40: Visions in the Kirtland Temple,” in Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 157). Show a picture of this event (see Gospel Art Book, no. 95), and invite the children to point to Elijah and to Joseph Smith. Explain that because Elijah came, we can be sealed as families in the temple. Share your testimony of the importance of being sealed as families.
- Tell the children about your love for your family; show a picture, if possible. Invite a few children to share their feelings for their family. Sing together a song about families, such as “Families Can Be Together Forever” (Hymns, no. 300), and testify that Heavenly Father wants families to be sealed together and that this is one reason we have temples. Help children understand that because of Jesus Christ, we can even be sealed to family members who were not able to go to the temple in this life. Invite the children to draw a picture of their family together in heaven.
“I will send you Elijah the prophet.”
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 ” Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah the prophet was fulfilled when Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple and gave him the priesthood keys that allow families to be sealed together forever. You might consider inviting someone in the ward who has responsibility for temple and family history work (such as a member of the elders quorum presidency or Relief Society presidency) to help you teach this doctrine to the children. Remember to be sensitive to the feelings of children whose families have not been sealed.
- Write each phrase from Malachi 4:5–6 on a separate slip of paper. Give the slips of paper to the children, and ask them to put the phrases in the correct order. Read the verses together, and discuss questions like these: Who did the Lord promise to send? When did He say this person would come? What did the Lord say that this person would do? Why would this person need to come? Where was this prophecy fulfilled? (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16).
- Write on the board a question like What does it mean for the hearts of the children to turn to their fathers? (see Malachi 4:6). Invite the children to ponder this question as they watch the video “Their Hearts Are Bound to You” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Then invite the children to share their thoughts about the question on the board. Discuss together experiences you or the children have had learning about family history.
- Show the picture of Elijah from this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me–For Individuals and Families. Invite the children to share what they know about the event this picture depicts (see also Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16). Testify that the sealing power Elijah restored allows families to be united eternally—including families who didn’t have that opportunity in mortality. If you have participated in a sealing, either for yourself or for a deceased person, talk about what you felt during that ordinance. Ask the children to share their feelings about their families and about God’s plan to help families be together forever.
Explain that when we learn about our ancestors and do temple work for them, our hearts are turning to our fathers.
Friend August 2002 “The Heart of the Children” Fold the hearts in half, and glue each half to a half of a different heart (see illustration).
Friend October 2019 “The Temple Challenge” Temple Scramble: This girl has taken a family name to the temple. Can you put the pictures in order?
