Lesson 1
I Am a Child of God
Note: I’ve included the words from the manual that each of the below visual aids goes with.
We lived in Heaven: (Click on the below picture. Print the picture, or show it on an electronic device.) Explain that before we were born on earth we lived in heaven with Heavenly Father.
We were spirits there. A spirit is what is inside of us that makes us alive. When we were spirits, we didn’t have flesh and bones like our bodies have now, but we looked the same.
(Use these puppets to demonstrate what it means to be a spirit. See here for assembly instructions.)
Show the first picture again and explain that Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, and we are his spirit children
Sing: I Am a Child of God. Tell the children they are going to sing the song “I Am a Child of God.” Explain that God is another name for Heavenly Father. (I like the Red Headed Hostess visual aids for the first verse of this song, but it does cost money. Jolly Jen has a flip chart that would work too, or you could use the below visual s from the Nursery Manual. Also see lds.org for the music)
Who is a child of God? Do the bean bag activity in the lesson. Print and cut out this activity. Show the pictures one at a time and ask the following:
Is a policeman a child of God?
Is a grandmother or grandfather
Is a bishop
Is a soldier
Is a mailman or missionaries
Is a mom or dad
Is someone who doesn’t go to our church
Is someone who lives in a different country or culture
Have the children take turns posting each picture under the title “Child of God.” The title can be written on the board or in a file folder or display board. You can also bring up people they know such as a neighbor.
Help the children understand that everyone is a child of God even though we may be different in age, hair color, what we do, where we live, skin color, or the church we attend, we are all children of God.
We can be like Heavenly Father
(Print and cut out these images pdf.) Use the following questions with the images. They could also be made into a matching game.
- What is a baby dog called?
- What will that puppy grow up to be?
- What is a baby chicken called?
- What will that chick grow up to be?
Explain that just as animals grow up to be like their parents, we will grow up to be like our parents.
Friend January 2017 “Kylie’s Parents” Kylie is like her earthly parents, and she is also like her Heavenly Parents. PDF version
Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, so we can grow to be like him. Heavenly Father is loving, good, and kind. When we are loving, good, and kind, we are being like Heavenly Father. We should try to become more like Heavenly Father every day.
Have children tell or act out ways they can be loving, good, or kind.
Review Game: I really like the Red Headed Hostess folder game as a review, but it does cost money.
Resources Used:
The images for the activity “Who is a Child of God?” are from the Friend magazine. Soldier 6/16, Bishop 1/16, etc.
The images for the animals are from Pixabay: Free Images