Friend August 2019 “Done with Swim Team” Some girls on Ava’s swim team make fun of her body. Ava wants to quit swim tea, but her mom helps her understand that not all bodies look the same just like temples don’t all look the same, but they are all beautiful, and the important thing is what goes on inside. Her mom also teaches her other important truths, and Ava feels the Holy Ghost telling her that they are true.
A Body is a Gift from Heavenly Father
Friend June 2022 “Amazing Grace” Grace could run fast and dance and her mom said her body was a wonderful gift. Sometimes it didn’t feel like a gift, especially when she compared herself to other kids at school. Thinking of her body as a gift helped her deal with a kid that said mean things about her body.
Taking Care of Your Body
Friend July 2020 “Lila’s Choice” Lila wanted to always choose the right, so when coffee was put in the milk at school, she decided not to have any milk that day. She was happy to choose the right and take care of the body Heavenly Father gave her.
Friend August 2019 “Amelia’s Growing Body” Amelia is learning to take care of her body by eating healthy, exercising, etc.
Friend May 2018 “Helping on the Farm” Liam uses different parts of his body to help on the farm.
Friend May 2017 “At the Playground” Emilie uses different parts of her body while at the playground.
Friend August 2019 ” My Body” An action rhyme about the things “my body” can do.
Safety from Abuse
Friend June 2017 “Tickling Trouble” Lizzie and Max learn that we should respect each other when we don’t want to be touched (including being tickled). We should also say stop if we don’t want to be touched, and tell a parent if someone doesn’t stop when told.
You could use this story to start a conversation about what is appropriate touch, and how it’s OK to stand up for yourself if you are being touched in a way you don’t like or a way you have been taught is wrong. Ensign June 2017
Body Needs Lots of Things to Be Healthy
Friend March 2021 “The Adventures Just Outside” After playing a math game on her tablet for a long time, Rylee’s mom explained that doing math is good for her brain, but too much screen time isn’t good for her brain, or for the rest of her body. They decide to go for a walk to the park, and Rylee finds lots of things to do that helps her brain grow stronger.
Help the children repeat “I, God, created man in mine own image” several times (Moses 2:27). Explain that Heavenly Father created our bodies to look like His. Invite the children to point to parts of their bodies as you name them, or sing a song about our bodies, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” (Children’s Songbook, 275).
Invite the children to act out things they can do with their bodies, while the other children guess what they are doing. Invite the children to share why they are grateful for their bodies.
Draw an outline of a body on paper, and make a puzzle by cutting it into parts. Pass the parts out, and let the children work together to put them together to form a body. Ask the children to share the things they can do with each of the parts. Share your testimony that our bodies are created in God’s image.
[Using the picture below invite the children] to point to His eyes, mouth, and other parts of His body. Then invite them to stand and point to those same parts of their own bodies. Read from Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones … ; the Son also.” Testify that our bodies are like Heavenly Father’s and Jesus’s bodies.
Read together Moses 2:26–27. What do these verses teach us about our bodies? Show the video “God’s Greatest Creation” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), or play the game “Your Body Is a Temple” (Friend, Aug. 2019, 24–25). You could also read together related quotations from President Russell M. Nelson’s message “Your Body: A Magnificent Gift to Cherish” (New Era, Aug. 2019, 2–7) that will help the children feel gratitude to Heavenly Father for their bodies.
Draw a figure of a body on the board, and invite the children to choose a part of the body and write next to it why they are thankful for it. Express your gratitude for your body, and testify that we were created in God’s image.
Show the children pictures of temples (see this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families), and read these words from 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Help the children understand that Heavenly Father wants us to keep our bodies clean and holy, like a temple.(Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “1 Corinthians 1–7”)
Ensign August 2019 “Our Sacred Bodies” Ideas on how to teach children about the importance of their bodies, and that that their body is a temple where the Holy Ghost can dwell. Included in the article are ideas about how bodies are a gift, caring for our bodies, preventing abuse, saying kind things about other’s bodies.
Friend August 2019 “Your Body is a Temple” Activity comparing how the body is like a temple.
Display a picture of a child, and put pictures around it of things that are good for our bodies and things that are bad. Invite the children to take turns identifying the good things and removing the bad ones.(Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “1 Corinthians 1–7”)
Gospel Living “Activity: Caring for Our Bodies“ (See link for additional teaching ideas.) Help children understand how our food and sleep choices affect our bodies. Bring in examples or show pictures of a lush, green plant and a wilted plant. Talk about how plants need food from the soil, water, and sunlight to grow. If they don’t get those things, they wilt. We need good food, water, and rest to be healthy too.
Explain that eating healthy food, drinking enough water, and getting enough sleep all help us to have the energy we need to work and play during the day.
Play a game where the children line up on one side of the room. When you say something that helps us take care of our bodies, have the children start running to the other side of the room. When the children hear something that’s not helpful for taking care of our bodies, have them stop. Try to get all the children to the other side of the room. For example:
It’s fun to use the below images for the song, and then have the children take turns mixing them up and singing it again. Also, you could have each child tell why they are grateful for their bodies before their turn mixing up the cards.
I should treat my body with respect and keep it holy. (Sr)
Talk with the children about how we should treat a temple. If our bodies are like temples, how should we treat our bodies? Singing or reading the words to a song about temples, such as “The Lord Gave Me a Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 153), can help answer this question. When we make mistakes, how can we make our “temples” clean again?(Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “1 Corinthians 1–7”)
For the Strength of Youth April 2024 “24 Hours” A lot can be accomplished in 24 hours. Your body does a lot for you in 24 hours. What can you do for it? Make a goal to do something healthy for your body.
Our Amazing Bodies
Friend June 2022 “Find It” Heavenly Father gave us wonderful bodies. We can use them to play and have fun and to help others. Can you find the items hidden below?
Friend August 2019 “Cover” Compilation of clipart of some things our wonderful bodies can do.
LessonPix “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” Song idea. Print the pictures, cut them apart into cards, and then use them to sing the song. To make the song more interesting, have the children mix up the pictures on the top two rows and/or the bottom two rows and then have them do the actions and sing the words in their mixed up order.
Friend October 2018 “What’s on Your Mind?” Question: “Sometimes I don’t like the way I look. How can I learn to love my body?” Response from Friend magazine: Focus on what your body can do.. When you look in the mirror, pick one thing about your body that you’re grateful for. Also, your body is a temple. Think of it as a house for your spirit.
Friend May 2018 “Every Body is Beautiful” Bodies come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. All bodies are beautiful gifts from God. Look at the children in the picture. What do all of these children have in common? (For example, they all have eyes.) What is different?
Media Messages About the Body
Friend August 2019 “What’s on Your Mind?” A child writes to the Friend this question: I don’t look like the people I see on TV and social media, and sometimes it makes me feel bad about myself. What should I do?” The Friend responds: “There are messages all around that tell you that how you look is the most important thing about you. But that isn’t true! There is so much more to who you are.” (Also included is a quiz that helps sort out the truth from the lies about the body.)
Friend June 2017 “Tickling Trouble” Lizzie and Max learn that we should respect each other when we don’t want to be touched (including being tickled). We should also say stop if we don’t want to be touched, and tell a parent if someone doesn’t stop when told.
Friend August 2022 “No Poking!” Lily likes to poke Cait when they are playing. Cait doesn’t like it. Her mom tells her ““If someone touches you and you don’t like it, you can tell them no.”
Taking Care of Emotional Health
For the Strength of Youth July 2024 “Emotional Wellness Kit” Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you and want you to care for your body. And “caring for your body includes caring for your mental and emotional health” Here are things you can do to help yourself be emotionally healthy too!
Items needed: a flashlight, sticky tack, clear page protectors, a brown piece of cardstock, tape, magnets, and a yellow permanent marker or a piece of yellow paper.
Print the visual aid pictures. Place the boy figure on top of the spirit figure and hold it up to the light. Cut out around both figures so the cutouts match. Place the spirit figure on top of the brown piece of cardstock, trace, and then cut out the brown cardstock outline. Write the word “Sins” on the brown cutout.
Take one sheet of the page protectors and tape the boy figure to the right, bottom corner. Cut the page protector in a rectangular shape around the boy figure to form a pocket. When done it should be sealed on the right and bottom, with an opening on the top and left side. (If you don’t have a page protector, use some other kind of clear plastic and tape together the right and bottom edges.)
Cut out another sheet of page protector 7 X 7½ inches. Place the boy figure under it, and using a yellow permanent marker (Sharpie) draw rays of light on the page protector around the boy figure. If a yellow Sharpie is not available you can use a small sheet of yellow paper in place of the rays of light.
Cut out the temple outline around the rectangle and glue it to a heavy piece of paper.
Cut out around the outline of the mother and baby, the temple, the small sun, and the grave. Cut off some of the bottom of the sun and tape it to the back of the gravestone. Attach a small magnet or piece of tape behind each figure (removable double-sided tape works great).
Place the earth and heaven scenes on the board. Put the word pages in a row on top of the board as you discuss each one.
The Lord gave me a temple to live within on earth. Explain that this song isn’t talking about the temple buildings we normally think of when we hear the word temple. Ask the children what they think the song is talking about. (Our bodies) Show the picture of the boy and put it on the earth scene.
Why is the body considered to be a temple? Remind the children that a temple is a place where the Spirit of God (the Holy Ghost) can dwell. Read the scripture 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
Point to the words that say “to live within” and ask the children to explain what it means to live within your temple. (Your spirit lives within your body.) (Put the spirit figure into the clear pocket behind the boy figure.)
Once in Heaven I was spirit. Take the spirit figure out of the body and put it on the page labeled heaven. Explain that we lived in heaven as spirits before we came to earth.
But I left my home at birth. Take the spirit figure off the page labeled heaven, and put the picture of the mother and baby on the earth. Tell the children that when they were born, their spirit left heaven and entered into their body on earth.
I’ll make my temple brighter; To make something brighter you would fill it with light. (Attach the top of the boy figure to the flashlight with sticky tack, and turn the flashlight on.)
What does the light represent? The light represents the gospel. Explain that just as light reveals things when turned on, through the gospel, truth is revealed. So in order to make our temples brighter we need to fill our lives with gospel truths, such as honesty, love, etc.
I’ll keep my spirit free.
What should we keep our spirits free of? (Sin) Because sin would extinguish our desire for truth in our lives, and put out the light of the Holy Ghost within us, and bind us in darkness. (Show the dark brown cutout labeled sin and put it in front of the spirit figure. Insert the spirit and the cutout into the body to show how sin would extinguish the light from the body. Emphasize that we need to keep our spirits free from sin.)
My body is the temple my Father gave to me. Place the boy figure on the outline of the temple, and discuss how we would treat a temple of God. We would keep it clean – uncontaminated from sin and dirt.
After discussing the song, have senior primary sing the song as you operate the visual aids. Then take off the first word page, and have a volunteer do the visual aids for that part as the primary sings the song again. (You will do the rest of the visual aids as they sing). After that take off the next two lines, and have another volunteer do that part of the visual aids. Sing the song again. Then take off the next two word pages and choose another volunteer to do the visuals for that part. By this time you will have three people helping with the visual aids. Be sure to situate them so everyone can see what they are doing.
For junior primary you may need to break the song down so they sing each part after discussing it. After you have discussed all the parts, do the above activity.
VERSE TWO
Preparation: Print the word and activity pages for the second verse. Cut out the yellow signs with their words. Put a small magnet behind each yellow sign.
Presentation
(Place the earth and celestial glory scenes on the board. Place the word pages on the top of the board as you discuss each song line.)
If I keep my body clean and pure and habit free, (Place the boy figure on the earth scene.)
How do we keep our bodies clean and pure, and habit free? By being careful about what we take into our bodies and minds. We need to be selective about what we listen to, read, and watch because some things can encourage unclean thoughts and actions. Some things that are taken into the body and mind can also become habit forming and addictive.
What does addiction mean? Addiction is an extremely strong craving for something that can become so powerful that satisfying it becomes a top priority, which can interfere with things we should be doing. (Place the happy and sad face signs on the board across from the boy figure. Show the yellow signs one at a time and discuss if the item would or would not lead us in the direction of keeping our bodies clean, pure, and habit free. Attach each sign in a row, heading from the boy to either the happy or sad face.)
I may in Father’s temple claim blessings promised me. (Put the picture of the temple on the earth scene next to the boy figure.)
If we keep our bodies clean and pure we will be worthy to go to the temple and receive ordinances that are necessary for salvation. In the temple we can also be sealed to our families forever. (Write on the board these blessings, preferably near the temple picture.)
On resurrection morning, I’ll take my body bright. (Take off the boy figure and put the gravestone on the earth scene.) Explain that when a person dies, their body and spirit become separated, but when they are resurrected their spirit and body come together, never to be separated again. (Put the spirit figure into the boy figure.) If we endure in righteousness to the end (meaning until death) we will be resurrected on the morning (meaning beginning) of the first resurrection. And if we are worthy to be resurrected on the morning of the first resurrection, we will receive a glorified celestial body. (Put the light rays (or yellow piece of paper) behind the boy figure.)
And in celestial glory forever live in light. (Put the boy figure on the page marked celestial glory.) Remind the children that the celestial kingdom is compared to the glory of the sun. In celestial glory we will live forever filled with the light of truth, knowledge, happiness, love, and in the light of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Note: You may need to simplify the discussion and activity for the first line of this verse for Junior Primary. One idea would be to put all the yellow sign pictures on the board, and have the children take off the pictures of things that would not keep their bodies clean, pure and habit free. Read all the signs to the children first. After the activity, do a simplified discussion about addiction and about keeping our minds, actions, and words clean and pure.
Print one copy of each page of the song words and pictures. Cut apart the pictures and the words on the dotted lines.
Song Activity
Put the words of the song in order on the board or wall. Randomly put one of the pictures next to each word card.
Read the first word card to the children, and have the children look at the picture next to it to see if the picture matches the words. If it doesn’t match, ask a volunteer to find the correct picture to switch it with. Continue doing that with each set of words. When each picture is with its matching set of words, sing the song (but do not sing the chorus). (CD music accompaniment can be checked out from the meetinghouse library if needed.)
After singing the song, have a child choose one set of words to turn over or take off. Sing the song again. Have another child choose a different set of words to turn over or take off, and then sing the song again. After all the words have been taken off, take off all the pictures and see if the children can still sing the song. If not, put up a few of the pictures of parts they are struggling with and try again.
What does the Word of Wisdom say is bad for our bodies? – Game
Preparation
Print the Word of Wisdom game pictures. Cut apart the picture of the boy and the picture of the garbage can on the dotted lines. Also cut the smaller pictures apart on the lines.
Items needed: D&C Scriptures for each person, blindfold, tape.
Lesson and Game
Ask the family members to close their eyes and imagine they have a baby sister (or have them think about a baby sister or brother they have). Tell them that they love their baby sister very much and have lots of fun playing with her. One day the baby gets sick and won’t eat or play. You take the baby to the doctor and he says that the baby is sick from something she swallowed.
How would you help your baby sister so she doesn’t get sick again? (By keeping her away from the items that could make her sick.)
What could happen if you put something in your body that was bad for it? (Your body could be harmed.)
Heavenly Father and Jesus love us very much. We are Heavenly Father’s sons and daughters, and Jesus’ brothers and sisters. They don’t want us to be sick and unhealthy. They want us to be happy and strong. They know what things will hurt our bodies, so we were given commandments to avoid those things.
Ask the family members if they remember what these commandments are called and where they are located in the scriptures. (Word of Wisdom, D&C 89)
Have the family look up and read D&C 89:7.
What item does the Lord say is not for the belly? (Strong drink)
What does it mean by strong drink? (Have the family read the top half of D&C 89:5. Strong drinks mean alcoholic beverages.)
Show the picture of the beer and wine to the family.
Tape the picture of the boy onto the wall. Tell the family that according to this scripture, alcoholic beverages are not for the body. Tape the garbage can to the wall about five feet away from the picture of the boy. Put a piece of tape on the back of the alcohol picture and hand it to a volunteer. Place the volunteer several feet away from the pictures on the wall, with no obstructions in the way.
Blindfold the volunteer. Tell them the object of the activity is to keep the alcoholic beverages away from the body (the picture of the boy) and put it into the garbage. Spin them around once and point them in the right direction. Tell them if they would like help they can ask one family member to give them directions. Explain that we can always get help in life from the Lord and from people in our lives that we trust.
After the family member has finished his/her turn have everyone read D&C 89:8.
What does this scripture says is not for the body? (Tobacco) Show the family the picture of tobacco products. Tell them that this commandment also includes chewing tobacco.
Do the same blindfold activity with the tobacco picture. Afterwards explain that in Joseph Smith’s time, people did not have the medical knowledge that we now have. They didn’t know about the bad effects of smoking and alcohol use. But the Lord knew about these bad effects and he warned the people.
Next have the family read D&C 89: 9.
What does this scripture says is not for the body? (hot drinks)
Show the family the picture of the tea and coffee. Explain that prophets have told us “hot drinks” refers to tea and coffee. When this revelation was given, tea and coffee were the hot drinks being consumed at the time.
Give the picture of tea and coffee to another family member and do the blindfold activity again.
Afterwards ask if they know what other item is harmful to us that recent prophets have warned us not to use. (Illegal drugs) (If the children ask about medicinal drugs, explain that some drugs can help us when we are ill, but they should be used only with a parent’s or doctor’s supervision.)
Show the picture of the drugs and do the blindfold activity again.
(Going in order, read the numbered paragraphs below as you show the corresponding numbered Doctrine and Covenant Stories picture to the family.)
1. How did we get the Word of Wisdom? In Kirtland, Ohio the Lord instructed Joseph Smith to form a school to teach the leaders of the Church about the gospel and prepare them to serve the members of the Church. This school was called the School of the Prophets.
2. The school was held in the evenings in an upstairs room of Newel K. Whitney’s store.
3. Many of the men smoked pipes or cigars which filled the room with smoke. Some of the men chewed tobacco and spit it all over the floor making it very dirty. People at this time did not know that tobacco was bad for their bodies. Joseph Smith did not like teaching the school “in a cloud of tobacco smoke,” because the meetings there were sacred.
4. Emma Smith, Joseph’s wife, cleaned the room after each meeting. She and Joseph became concerned about the brethren’s use of tobacco, and Emma did not like cleaning up the mess the men made with their pipes and chewing tobacco.
5. On 27 February 1833 Joseph Smith entered the room where the School of the Prophets was held. The room was filled with tobacco smoke. Joseph had just come from the clean outside air, and the smell of smoke was offensive to him. He left the room and asked the Lord what he should do about the situation. The Lord answered Joseph’s prayer with the revelation we now call the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89). In the Word of Wisdom the Lord tells us what things are good for the body and what things are bad for the body.
Where do cars come from? (From the manufacturing plants that make them.)
Who knows more about cars than anyone else? (The people who make them or repair them.)
Show the car manual) The people who make the cars provide an instruction book. The instruction book tells a car owner how to take care of their car so that it will last a long time and give good service. The car manual tells what kind of fuel to put into the car.
If someone put water in their cars gas tank, what would happen? (The car would not run, and it would probably be damaged.) A car needs the right fuel to run properly. It also needs other proper fluids and care.
(Show the picture of the family.)
Who created the earth and our bodies? (Jesus, under Heavenly Father’s direction)
Who would know more about our bodies than anyone else? (Our creator)
The Lord wants us to keep our bodies in the best possible condition so that we can be healthy, happy, and accomplish all that we need to do on the earth. Just as makers of cars provide instructions on how the cars should be cared for, so has the Lord provided us with instructions on how to care for our bodies.
What are these instructions called? (The Word of Wisdom)
The Word of Wisdom is found in the scriptures, in D&C 89. The Word of Wisdom tells us what things are good for our bodies and what things are not good. Just like a car can be harmed with the wrong fuel, so can our bodies be harmed by putting things in them that are not good for them.
Our Heavenly Father gave us the wonderful gift of a body. We need to show our gratitude by following His instructions and taking good care of our bodies.
