Aug 1 2010

Missionary #3

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“The Gospel – The Greatest Gift We Could Give”

Preparation

  •  Print and cut out the pictures and gift boxes.  Cut off the grey parts under the gift box lid and in the box opening.  Evenly space and attach all four boxes (not the lids) to a piece of card stock by taping or gluing down the two side edges and the bottom edges of the boxes. Read the game clues and then put the pictures into the top opening of their correctly colored box. Put non-permanent double sided tape on the edges of the lid and attach them to the top of their matching box.                                                                                                                                                                       

Game

Show the family the gift boxes, and tell them that when they share the gospel with others they are sharing all the restored parts of Jesus Christ’s gospel. It is the most wonderful gift they can give. It is a gift of love for friends and family. These gifts help them attain the greatest gift of all which is the gift of eternal life.

Read the clues below and see if the family can guess some of the restored gifts that are available to our friends and family when we share the gospel.  When the clue is correctly guessed, take the lid off and pull the picture up so that most of the picture can be seen but the bottom edge is still in the box.

 Have the family member that is in charge of the stories read or tell the listed story after each match has been made.

 Clues:

Red Box  Because of this gift we have the privilege to hear Gods words and direction about current issues and challenges we face. This gift is God’s living spokesman. What is this gift?  (THE LIVING PROPHET)  

 Yellow Box Because of this gift we know the purpose of life. We also know what we need to do to gain eternal salvation and how to live happy lives.  What is this gift?  (LATTER DAY SCRIPTURES) Book of Mormon D&C and Pearl of Great Price 

Purple Box This gift allows us the opportunity to receive saving ordinances for ourselves and our dead. We can also be sealed to our family so that we can be with them forever. What is this gift? ( TEMPLES)

Green Box Because of this gift we can receive healing blessings for the sick, blessings of comfort and guidance, and have authority to act in Gods name and perform saving ordinances, such as baptism. What is this gift? (PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY)

What other wonderful gifts were available when the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored? Some ideas might be….

Baptism Because this gift, when performed by proper priesthood authority, we can receive a remission of our sins and enter into the gate that leads to eternal life.

Holy Ghost Because of this gift we can receive personal revelation and guidance throughout our lives. We can also receive comfort during difficult times.

Imagine what your life would be like without all these wonderful gifts in your life. Explain to the family that they have these blessings in their life because somebody shared the gospel with a family member.

 Share how the first person in your family line was taught the gospel.

Jul 26 2010

Pioneer: Songs

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Friend July 2020 “I’m a Pioneer Too” Song and Sing-Along Music Video

  1. From England to Samoa, From Kenya to Peru, Brave pioneers in every land Helped spread the gospel true.
  2. Some pioneers pulled handcarts; Some sailed across the sea. On plains and shores and mountains, they Blazed paths for you and me.
  3. They listened to the prophets, Built towns and temples too. Their faith was strong in Jesus Christ. Their courage saw them through.
  4. Chorus: The Lord has trails for me to blaze And work for me to do. Each time I bravely walk with faith, I’m a pioneer too!


Friend July 2016 “When I Hear of Pioneer Children”

  • When I hear of pioneer children,
  • Of trials and courage and faith,
  • I want to be willing as they were
  • To look to the Lord for my strength.
  • I’ll follow the prophets as they did,
  • For I want to build Zion too!
  • I’ll try to have faith to do hard things
  • When that’s what He needs me to do.
  • When I hear of pioneer children,
  • I want to be strong for my day.
  • I’ll try to keep all the commandments
  • And be a true Latter-day Saint.
  • I’ll stand as a shining example
  • That others who follow will see,
  • I’ll be like those pioneer children;
  • The Lord is depending on me.

Friend July 2017 “Come, Come Ye Saints” Simplified sheet music and music video

Friend July 2019 “To Be a Pioneer” Simplified playing version and music video.

  Pioneer Choosing Activity

Since it was Pioneer Day this week, I decided to have the children sing pioneer songs for music time. I started out with a choosing activity. I used the crickets and seagull idea from Sugar Doodle. I covered the outside of a metal bowl with green tissue paper to make it look like a green hill. I printed off some crickets and a seagull from clip art on Microsoft Word.  I used double sided tape and taped a strong magnet to the back of each cricket. I also wrote the name of a pioneer song on the back of each cricket. I put the crickets on the bowl. I taped one end of a string to the back of the seagull. I taped the other end to a dowel rod. On the back of the seagull’s beak I attached a paper clip.

In Primary I told the story of the crickets and the seagulls. After that I had a child “fly” the seagull to the crickets and pick one up with the beak. We sang what song was on the back. I chose the following songs to put on the back of the crickets:

Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked

For this song I had the senior primary children get up and move over one seat every time they sang the word “walked”. This only works if you have all the children sitting in an even number of rows and in one section with no aisles. The children in the front row will move to the left, the children in the second row will move to the right, and so forth. When a child comes to the end of their row, they will go to the row in front of them. If they are already on the front row, they will move to the back row.

The children loved this activity. The teachers even wanted to participate, which was good because they helped any children that were unsure of what to do. (I had pages of a flip chart made by Jolly Jen posted on the board just incase someone didn’t know the words.)

For junior primary have them slowly walk randomly around the room as they sing the first two lines. Then have them stop and do the following actions: rub their hands together for washing in the stream, hammering action for work, jumping rope for play, making a tent with finger tips pressed together for camped, making a book with open palms together for read, and making praying hands for the word prayed. Then have them start walking again as they sing the last line, but this time have them walk back to their seats. On the last walk word have them sit down.

The Handcart Song

For the handcart song, I used the hand cart racing activity -July Friend 1981 Funstuff.  Since we aren’t supposed to use competition in Primary, I had the teachers do this activity. The kids thought that was funny. I tied the two strings to two empty chairs in the front row. I had the words/flip-chart made by Laurie Lee posted on the board. I told the teachers they could begin racing when we started singing the second half of the song. (The children knew the second half of the song better than the first, so they were able to watch the race and sing at the same time.)

It is really hard to get those pictures to move along the string, so it was funny watching the teachers try all kinds of ways to make them

To Be a Pioneer

For this song I used the pictures found on page 3 of the July 2010 Friend (flip-chart). I posted them on a display board. You could put the do’s and don’ts on different sides. I had a child wear a bonnet to represent a pioneer. She did the actions to the first part of the song such as: pretending to push a handcart, waving goodbye, walking. Then when it came to the part “to be a pioneer” she pointed to herself.

I told the childen they could develop the characteristics of a pioneer such as courage, faith, and working for a cause that is right. I used a boy with a missionary tag to be a modern pioneer. He pointed to himself when we came to the ending part “to be a pioneer”

Fun to Do

We also did Sugardoodle pioneer actions to the song Fun to Do. I had them start off with bouncing on their chair to represent riding in a wagon (Riding in wagon is fun to do). Then I asked if they could think of any other actions pioneers did. I gave them some suggestions. They came up with “getting warm by the fire is fun to do”. They put their hands out like feeling the warmth and then rubbed their hands together. They also wanted to do milking a cow.

Jul 20 2010

Song: Come Follow Me

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Friend October 2020 “I Can Play It: Come Follow Me” Also includes a Sing-Along video.

Teaching Idea: Walking in His Footsteps Activity

To introduce the song “Come Follow Me”, I did the song “Do As I’m Doing” with the children.  We did cleaning (washing windows and dishes), and we did praying (folding arms, bowing head, closing eyes). We also did jumping jacks, but singing the song three times was a little much.

I had the children guess what action we were doing. After they guessed, I asked if it was important that we do that thing and why? After the song, I pointed out that they had followed my actions during the song, doing important things we should do every day. Then I explained that following Jesus’ example (July’s theme) means doing the same things Jesus did. I asked the children, “What things did Jesus do when he was on the earth?”.

I had made copies of the footprints found on page fifteen of the 2010 Outline for Sharing Time (click on blue words under the footprints). On the blank side, I had put one of the following labels on each footprint: forgave, prayed, loved, was baptized, taught, obedient, served, humble. We talked about the ways Jesus did each one of these things. 

I used the flip chart from Primary Singing Ideas  to introduce the words to the song. We talked about how “following in Jesus’ footsteps” meant to follow him and to do the same things he did.

We also discussed the part where it talks about being one with the Savior. I explained that being one with the Savior means having the same purposes, desires,and goals he has. I asked the children what his main goal is. They responded that it was to help people return to Heavenly Father’s kingdom.  I expained that as we do the same things Jesus did, our hearts gain that same goal, and that it was the only way (for thus alone) to become one with the Savior.  

Activity                                                                                                                                                                                                                               After we were done reviewing the words to the song, we sang the song once, and then we did the activity that would help them learn the song. I put the footprints on the floor in a circle, with the words of the song facing down and the labels of things Jesus did facing up. I picked four volunteers. I had them walk around the footprints while everyone sang the song.  The pianist stopped playing half way through, and the kids stopped walking. I had folded papers in a small bowl with the same labels that were on the footprints. I picked one out and whoever was standing on that footprint picked it up. That child then told how they could follow Jesus by doing the thing that was on the footprint. Sometimes they had a hard time thinking of things, so I told them they could call on someone else to answer.

The child then showed the words that were on the bottom of the footprint, and we took those words off the flip chart. (In order to make the words removable, I had cut the words off the flip chart pages and had put the pictures into page protectors. I taped the words to the outside of the page protectors so they could be removed.)

After we took those words off, I had that child stay and pick the next word from the bowl when we stopped singing again.  When there were four footprints left, I had another four children come up. This group could only walk on one foot print at a time.

The activity was an effective way to teach the meaning of the song and have repetition so they could learn the song.

Note: The children do have a hard time singing at first when they are watching the other children walk around the footsteps. Tell the children you are watching for good singers to be the helpers in doing the footstep activity. This well help them sing.

Jul 18 2010

Song: The Holy Ghost

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The Holy Ghost – Lifesaver Candy Activity

To teach the second verse of  The Holy Ghost, I used Bridgette’s flip charts to initially introduce the verse. I did change the picture on the page “by sacred priesthood power” to a picture of  the Melchizedek Priesthood being restored to give the visual aids in the first part of the verse more variety and more teaching moments.

When I teach a song I like to explain each line and visual aid. When I came to the part “and with his light I’ll do what’s right”, I showed the picture of the lighthouse and explained what lighthouses do; they guide ships away from danger. Then I explained that the Holy Ghost can light the way in our lives to guide us away from spiritual and physical danger.  

I told an abbreviated version of the story Turn Upside Down and Push, found in the July 2010 Friend. The story is about how the Holy Ghost helped a boy in a dangerous situation. I showed a picture of a life saver/preserver and talked about its purpose. Then I told the children they were going to do a choosing activity using lifesaver candies to help them remember that the Holy Ghost, like a life preserver, can help keep them safe from physical danger (and spiritual danger).

 I had put different colored backgrounds on each picture of the flip chart. I had a baggie with eight corresponding colors of lifesavers in it. I put a blindfold on a volunteer and had the volunteer tell what color the lifesaver was by tasting it. If the child got the color right, I only covered up the words on the matching picture. If they got it wrong, I took down the picture with its words. 

The children loved the activity and tried to guess the color correctly so they would at least have the picture to help remind them of the words. We sang the song each time after the words were removed. By the end they had it memorized.

I gave each of the children an individually wrapped lifesaver when we were done.

I got the candy choosing idea from the primarysingingtimeideas.blogspot.com/ skittles game idea. 

Many thanks to the blogs and websites that help inspire fun ways to teach!

Jul 15 2010

Sabbath Day: Lesson Item 1

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It is a Commandment to Keep the Sabbath Day Holy 

Game and Object Lesson

Preparation

  • Items needed: a pitcher of water, a bowl, and a clear plastic cup or a glass.
  • Either print a copy of the game and cut out the game pieces, or download and open the game in Microsoft Word. If opened in Microsoft Word, the game pieces can be moved by clicking on the center of the image or label and then dragging it to where it should go on the chart.
  • Alternative visuals: Cut out the game cards and the picture of Moses. (Optional: color cardstock can be used for the game boards.) (Game cards are from “My Creation Book” pictures – Friend, March 2002 “For Little Friends”

Game
Divide the family into two groups or more. (More copies of the game board and creation pictures will be needed if if the family is divided into more than two groups.)
Give each group a game board and a set of creation pictures.
Have each group try to put the correct pictures in each square according to which “day” it took place in the creation account (one square will get two pictures). After they are done, tell them the correct order and have them check their answers.

• On the first day God made light and divided the light from the darkness.
• On the second day God made the sky (firmament).
• On the third day God made the flowers, grass and trees.
• On the fourth day God made the sun, moon, and stars
• On the fifth day God made the birds, fish and whales.
• On the sixth day God made the land animals… and man.

Discussion or PowerPoint
After they fix their boards, ask the family what day of the week is missing on their chart. (The seventh)

• What happened on the seventh day? (Read Genesis 2:2-3) God sanctified the day and rested from his labors.

Since the beginning of the world, one day a week has been set apart for us to rest from our labors, and to focus on worship and spiritual matters. We call this day the Sabbath.

• What day do we observe the Sabbath? (On Sunday)

(Show the picture of Moses)
When Moses was on the earth, the Lord gave him some stone tablets.
• What was written on those tablets? (The Ten Commandments)

Read Exodus 20:8 Explain that keeping the Sabbath day holy was one of the Ten Commandments. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is a commandment.

Object Lesson Discussion or Video

• Why are we to keep the Sabbath day holy?

In the bible dictionary, it says that something that is holy is set apart for a sacred purpose.

• What purpose was the Sabbath day set apart for? (For worship, and to get spiritually strengthened and physically rested)

Read the scripture Exodus 31:17. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” So on the Sabbath we are to rest and refresh. We know what rest means, so what does refresh mean? (It means to be re-energized, reinvigorated, replenished.)

Heavenly Father knew we would need to be physically re-energized and spiritually replenished after a busy week, so he gave us a day to recharge and refresh our bodies and spirits.

Object Lesson:

Show a full glass of water and explain that the full cup represents being spiritually replenished and physically rested and recharged after a Sabbath day of attending our church meetings, resting our bodies, and focusing on gospel activities.

During the week we are involved in activities that may drain our spiritual and physical reserves. (Pour water from the cup into the bowl as you name several possibilities such as work and chores, sports. school and responsibilities, disagreements with a family member, or making  wrong choices.)

We can replenish our cup a little each day as we read the scriptures, pray and keep the commandments (pour a little water from the pitcher into the cup for each item mentioned), but the Lord knew we would need more.

So on Sunday we are commanded to use the entire day for spiritual refreshment and physical rest so that we can have the spiritual strength and physical renewal to help us make good choices and keep the commandments throughout the week. (Fill the cup with water) So the Sabbath tops of our spiritual and physical reserves and we are recharged and replenished for the next week. (Object lesson from Primary 6 manual, Lesson 20, Enrichment Activity #1 )

Jun 16 2010

Missionary #5 – Song

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“Because I Have Been Given Much” – Hymn # 219 (First verse)

Preparation

  • Print the song pictures. Cut out the boy and girl figures, the word strips, the word bubble, and the gift boxes. Fold the box lids on the lines and glue or tape the lid down.
  • Items needed: a display board, tape to post pictures on the display board, a CD player, and the music CD’s of the hymns. (This song is not on the church website because of copyright issues, but CD’s of the hymns can be found at meeting house libraries or church distribution centers.)

Song Instructions

Post the main picture of the two girls on the display board. After discussing a line of the song, put up the word strip under the picture.  Also add the pictures called for that go with that line.

Because I have been given much

Discussion – Ask the family what are some of the gifts and blessings we enjoy because we are members of the restored church of Jesus Christ?

Picture – As the family gives their answers, put  a couple of the gift pictures next to the child with the scriptures. 

I too must give.

Discussion – Because we have been given the knowledge of the gospel, we  must share that gift with others so they too can enjoy the blessings of the gospel.

Picture -Take one of the gifts off and put it next to the other child.

Because of thy great bounty Lord

Discussion – Bounty means generosity.

Picture – Put two more gifts next to the child with the scriptures to represent bounty.

Each day I live.

Discussion – Because of these gospel gifts, we live in happiness. Point out how happy the girl on the right looks, and that she wants to share that happiness with her friend.

Picture – Point to the girl’s happy face.

I shall divide my gifts from thee

Picture – Put one of the gifts over by the child on the left.

With every brother that I see,

Discussion – Who are our brothers and sisters? (Everyone in the world, because we are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father. )

Picture – Put the other children next to the child on the left.

Who has the need of help from me.

Discussion – Why would others have need of help from you to learn about the gospel?   (In D&C 123:12 it says that they are kept from truth because they know not where to find it.)

Picture – Put up word bubble next to the children on the left.

Sing the Song.

Use the CD for accompaniment. Take off the pictures before singing the song, and add them as you sing.

After singing, remind the family what the first two lines of the song are, and then take those word strips off. Using the picture aids as reminders, sing the song again. Do this with each two lines of the song until the family can sing the song without word reminders.