Lesson 28: HEAVENLY FATHER BLESSES ME THROUGH THE PRIESTHOOD

 I had the kids say the word "Priesthood" out loud to me and then I asked if any of them knew what that word meant?  I explained to them that the priesthood is God's power.  God gives the priesthood to older boys and men so that they can bless other people.

I showed them a few pictures of the priesthood being used, a baby's blessing, a baptism, a confirmation, a father's blessing, the sacrament, and I talked about how the priesthood was used in each of those pictures.

 I also brought in a picture of my wedding and told them that when you are married in the temple you are married through the priesthood, and that is what makes our weddings sacred and different from other weddings.  It is through the priesthood that our families are sealed together for eternity.

We had a crazy amount of kids in class and none of them were sitting and listening to my lesson, so I wrapped it up there with my testimony, but I had plans of doing a couple of other things.

 

 I made this little book that I got from here.  If I was really ambitious, I would have made one for each of the kids, but I thought the hand out from the manual covered it well enough.

 I had planned to show this to them and review each one, using the flaps to try to get them excited about getting their own to color.

Lesson 27: THE SACRAMENT HELPS ME THINK ABOUT JESUS CHRIST

 I borrowed some sacraments trays to show the kids and asked them if they knew what they were.  They all identified them with "sacrament" and volunteered which one held bread and which one held water. I opened my scriptures and explained to the kids that Jesus told us something very important and I needed them to listen while I read what he said.  

Luke 22:19 "Jesus said, 'This do in remembrance of me.'"

I explained that Jesus wanted us to think of him when we were eating the bread and drinking the water.  I told them that it is a special and sacred thing and since it is special and sacred it is important that we are reverent during the time when the sacrament is being blessed and passed.  As I explained all of that I showed them a picture of a family being reverent during the sacrament.

I introduced my husband to the kids and explained that he was a priesthood holder who often blesses and passes the sacrament.  My husband took a little bit of time explaining to the kids that you have to be a worthy priesthood holder to bless and pass the sacrament.  He also talked about how we sing a reverent song while the priesthood holders break the bread, and the reverent song helps us to think of Jesus and invite the spirit.

When he closed, I bore my testimony.

I drew up this little handout for the kids to color.  In between the two trays I wrote the scripture, "Luke 22:19 Jesus said, 'This do in remembrance of me.'"

In addition to that, I had made each of the kids little sacrament books.  The point of these books was for them to bring them to sacrament and look through them when the sacrament is being passed to help them remember that they need to be reverent and to remember to think of Jesus.

I used the handout from the manual to make the books and just put craft foam in front and back to protect them a little better.

November 2011 Lesson Schedule

November 6: Lesson 27 - The Sacrament Helps Me Think About Jesus Christ

November 13: Lesson 28 - Heavenly Father Blesses Me Through The Priesthood

November 20: Lesson 15: I Will Be Thankful

November 27: Giving To Others

Lesson 26: I WILL BE BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED

 I pretty much just followed the lesson manual.  I showed the picture of Jesus being baptized and asked the kids what they saw in that picture.  They all knew he was being baptized, which is great.  They also pointed out water and mountains, and I pointed out the white clothes.

I then showed the picture in the manual of the girl being baptized and asked what they saw in that picture.  They said it was a girl being baptized and that there was water and white clothes.  I pointed out John the Baptist and how he held his hands while baptizing Jesus, and then showed the man in the other picture and how his hands were the same.

I explained that when they are 8 years old they will get to be baptized.  A couple of the kids mentioned cousins or siblings that had been baptized.  I told them that when they are baptized they make a covenant with Heavenly Father.  I asked them if they could say the word, "covenant" and explained that a covenant is a promise.  So when we are baptized it washes away our sins and we make a promise with Heavenly Father that we will be like Jesus and choose the right and make good choices.

I showed them a picture of a little girl after baptism receiving her confirmation blessing.  I told them that after we are baptized, we receive a blessing.  Priesthood holders put their hands on our head and say a special prayer and it is during this prayer that we receive the Holy Ghost.  I explained that the Holy Ghost helps us know right from wrong so that we can make good choices in our life.

I had them color this picture from the manual.

October 2011 Lesson Schedule

October 2: General Conference

October 9: Lesson 24 - I Will Follow The Prophet

October 16: President Monson, Our Prophet Today

October 23: Lesson 25 - I Belong To The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

October 30: Lesson 26 - I Will Be Baptized and Confirmed

Lesson 21: JOSEPH SMITH SAW HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST

  I got this from the manual and colored it to use to teach the kids.  We went over each one in order and told the story of the first vision.  I opened the scriptures and read Heavenly Father's words when Joseph Smith saw Him.  "This is my beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  The kids were reverent while I was giving my lesson.  They definitely know when the spirit is present. I love it!

After the lesson they colored their own first vision.

August 2011 Lesson Schedule

August 7:    Lesson 21 - Joseph Smith Saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

August 14:   Joseph Smith Was a Prophet

August 21:   Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon

August 28:   Joseph Smith Restored the Gospel

I thought it was really important to focus the whole month on Joseph Smith.  One lesson from the manual just doesn't cover enough about how detrimental he is to our church, so I made three extra lessons up to teach about the things I felt were important for the kids to know.

Lesson 20: I WILL BE REVERENT

We did the handout from the manual.  We focused a lot on quiet mouths, folding arms, and when are appropriate times to do that.  Pretty basic.

Lesson 19: I CAN BE HAPPY

 I was out of town for this lesson but these are the handouts that I left for my substitute.  I gave her a choice of which ones she wanted to use because I wasn't positive if balloons would be a little too much for chaos for the kids.

Lesson 17: I WILL SHARE

The only thing different from the manual that I did, was that I brought treats and shared them with everyone.  I had the kids come and get their treats and share their treats with someone else until everybody had their own.  I think the kids really got it.  It was fun.

We did the handout from the manual.  It was a hard thing for them to color because I had already made them into the cubes, but it worked out okay.

Lesson 16: I WILL SAY I'M SORRY

 We followed the manual and I added this little story from Sugardoodle.  The kids loved the story.

Instead of making the necklaces from the manual I thought it would be a fun idea to make them more my own.  I got these little bears at Hobby Lobby and made them into necklaces with yarn and a hole punch.  I bought some fun bandaids and had the kids choose which bandaid they wanted to put on their bears, which is to indicate that saying sorry is like putting a bandaid on a wound so it can heal.  The kids really liked this.

Lesson 14: I WILL OBEY

I followed the manual on this one as well.  We had a bag with a few items inside: a hair brush, a tooth brush, a banana, a toy, etc.  The kids drew the items out and we talked about what kinds of "chores" those items represented and we talked about how when their moms and dads asked them to do those things that they needed to listen and obey.  We sang the song "Quickly I'll obey" from the children's songbook.  Then we also talked about the religious things we needed to do that were obedient.  Saying our prayers, attending church, serving our families and neighbors, etc.

I printed these characters out and put them on popsicle sticks that said, "I Will Obey".  The kids colored those to take home.

July 2011 Lesson Schedule

I am in my first trimester of pregnancy and it is taking a toll on me... therefore I am not as on top of my nursery stuff as I'd like to be.  This month we are just doing things straight from the manual.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just usually dedicate more time to being creative and finding better crafts and activities than I feel like I'm able to do right now.

July 3:  Lesson 14 - I Will Obey

July 10:   Lesson 16 - I Will Say I'm Sorry

July 17:   Lesson 17 - I Will Share

July 24:   Lesson 19 - I Can Be Happy

July 31:   Lesson 20 - I Will Be Reverent

Lesson 13: MY FAMILY CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER

 I mostly followed the lesson from the manual, but added my own little bit with these links.

 Each link is a member of a family - there are mom's, dad's, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents.  We talked about how the temple can seal our families together, and linking us as a family unit for eternity.  If even one person doesn't make it to the temple, although everyone else is still in tact, that eternal family circle is broken.

I made the links myself on a word document using clip art from this LDS Clip Art website.  I put it around the kids necks like a necklace for them to take home.

 

 For their craft I used this print out from here because I liked that the family and the temple were in the same shot.

 The kids colored it and then I came around and put glue on each of the temple spears and let the kids put glitter on them.  They loved this and it was a nice extra touch to a plain coloring sheet.

Lesson 12: I CAN PRAY WITH MY FAMILY

I brought a picnic basket with a few items inside: a piece of play food, a picture of a house, a picture of the temple, a picture of Jesus, a book of mormon, some toy characters that represented a mom, dad, brother, sister, and grandparents.  We talked about prayer and the proper way of saying a prayer, who we are praying to, who's name we pray in, and the other things we say in a prayer.  After we discussed it I pulled out my picnic basket and had each of the kids draw something from it and we talked about each item and how we are thankful for those items and how we can say thanks to our Heavenly Father for those blessings.

They colored the handout from the manual.

MY FAMILY CAN FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST IN FAITH

I was out of town for this lesson, but I saw this from an Ensign magazine and thought it'd be a great lesson to teach to the kids.  Not only should they follow Jesus Christ, but they should encourage their families to follow Jesus Christ as well.  I think this is very important.

Lesson 11: I LOVE MY FAMILY

I pretty much just followed the lesson from the manual.

 

I colored the picture from the manual and used it to teach in the lesson.  I had the kids draw a family member out of a bag and then we discussed that persons roll in the family. We went over The Family: A Proclamation to the World and I just took little bits from it and read the basics of what a Father's roll is and basics of what a Mother's roll is.We also sang "We Are a Happy Family". 

 I had the kids color this picture from the manual.

As a gift to the kids I gave them this bag of skittles with this poem:

Families are like candied skittles

Each one uniquely colored

Some are red, some blue, some green

And some are even spotted

Each one's flavor is all it's own

Some tart, some sweet, some sweeter

Some get scooped up right away

And some get saved for later

Although each one is different

And some favored over others

Put 'em all in a basket and

They all go great together.