We Should Thank Heavenly Father for All Our Blessings

Normally I don't like the ideas (for toddlers) from Jill's Sharing Time Ideas. But for this week's lesson, I think it is a GREAT supplement to yesterday's Primary lesson!

I would suggest printing pages 9-15 of http://0e2adbce82be14fd6bcb-5584cc5742c63ca82c29a0709ec0b026.r46.cf2.rackcdn.com/Nov_week_4_thank_blessings.pdf and then cut them out and put them face up. Because your child can't read, I would go over each picture and have them identify it.

These are blessings Heavenly Father has given us.

Then ask HOW we can SHOW our thanks to Heavenly Father for each of these things. Go over some of the phrases and ask if it "matches" with the picture you have decided to talk about. When your child has found the right "match," move on to the next one until all the matches are made. Simple enough!

As an activity, you can draw a picture of something you would like to thank Heavenly Father for. Remind your child they can say thank you for it in their prayers tonight!

I am Thankful for Temporal and Spiritual Blessings

Last week was Veterans Day so hopefully you did something special with your family. This week I am combining sharing times from last week and this week because right now my oldest is learning the alphabet and I saw a great idea on Pinterest!

SONG: http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/thanks-to-our-father?lang=eng

If your toddler does not know the alphabet, you may need to help them out quite a bit, or tweak the lesson to their level of learning.

First, go over what are temporal things vs. spiritual things (some overlap-like family, so there will be some real teaching going on)

Click HERE for your ABC sheet. I would suggest having your child(ren) think of as many things as they can on their own. Then, go around the house and see if they can fill it out more as they see objects (or pictures of Christ, temple, family, scriptures, etc.) After that, you can help fill in the rest. Then go through each one and ask if it is a temporal or spiritual blessing. See how they do! Simple, easy, and a lot to teach! Great lesson for the whole family!

I am thankful for my body, and I know that it is a temple

SONG: http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/in-our-lovely-deseret?lang=eng (sing the second verse)

Since toddlers aren't able to grasp the abstract, I would try my best to explain that our body is a temple. Maybe show a picture in your house (every room should have a picture of the temple and one of Jesus!) or on the internet, or remind your children of a time you visited the temple. Remind them how beautiful it is and how clean. Then explain our bodies are beautiful and Heavenly Father wants us to keep them clean too!

After looking at some blogs, I finally found a GREAT one that has perfect toddler-appropriate activities to help teach the Word of Wisdom. AAAaaannnd, it comes with printables that aren't extreme or time consuming! Here it is:

http://teachldschildren.com/tag/word-of-wisdom/

I would choose from the first three ideas (we're probably going to use the first idea and incorporate it with the opening song).

My Testimony is Strengthened When I Share the Gospel

SONG: I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ

There are a few teaching opportunities we can do with this topic.

1.) First, WHAT IS THE "GOSPEL?"
You can explain that the gospel is the teachings of Jesus Christ.

2.) And the teachings of Jesus Christ are so wonderful that we can't just keep it to ourselves! We want to share it!

3.) And when we share it, our testimonies are strengthened.

So for numbers 1 and 2, we can teach our children what are the MAIN points of the gospel and of a testimony when we share it. To keep it simple and visual, I would recommend the Testimony Glove. If you are like our family, we have gloves around the house for gardening and cleaning. I know you can also get some at Dollar Tree.

Here are the pictures so you don't have to go looking for them:



For number 3, have each child put on the glove and go up in front of the family and practice giving their testimony! As far as understanding your testimony is strengthened each time you share it, our Primary used a jar of water and put food coloring drops into it. The more food coloring drops used, the darker (or stronger) the color got. I believe she might have gotten this idea from http://0e2adbce82be14fd6bcb-5584cc5742c63ca82c29a0709ec0b026.r46.cf2.rackcdn.com/Oct_week4_tesimony_strenghened_jr.pdf

Because I have boys, they like to fight (hiya!) and say they are "so strong." So I was thinking of the cliche: have a piece of thin string and see how easy it is to break, but with each finger of the glove, add more string so it's harder to break. So the more you share your testimony, the stronger the string is and can't break so easily. You can also use Popsicle sticks or whatever you have on hand.

Living the gospel helps me be a missionary now

Last week, we did this idea for FHE: http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10380

We made the puppets but we did not color them. We also made the puppets talk to each other about Jesus Christ (my sons' favorite gospel subject).

THIS week, we are going to color and talk about HOW we can share the gospel with others in the following situations:

Neighbors
School
In the store
At home
At the park

What would your puppet say to someone in those situations?

General Conference Oct. 2013

Again, my children are TODDLERS, so I've had to search out ideas that they would do during Conference, and not just busy work. Here are the ideas I've chosen:

1.) Conference Activity Packet   *pages 1, 2, 3, 9, and maybe 11
http://0e2adbce82be14fd6bcb-5584cc5742c63ca82c29a0709ec0b026.r46.cf2.rackcdn.com/Fall%202013%20General%20Conference%20Activity%20Packet.pdf

2.) Conference BINGO!
http://www.cressall.net/blogs/boe/General%20Conference%20BINGO.pdf

3.) Conference Basketball (I thought every time they find a bingo square, they can try to make a basket and when they get 3 points, they get a treat!)
http://pinningwithpurpose.blogspot.com/2013/04/general-conference-basketball.html

4.) Color the Tie (kids like coloring, so having them watch for what each apostle is wearing is almost like a matching game that they have to finish one end of)
http://www.occasionalcrafting.blogspot.com/2012/09/general-conference-handout-for-kids.html

5.) Yarn and Sandpaper (take some yarn pieces and lay them on sandpaper in shapes of the temple, a tie, a church house, the podium, scriptures, CTR, music note, etc.)

When I Serve Others, I Serve God-Part 2

Yesterday was my husband's birthday and I had a rough time at church without him there, so I didn't see what the Primary did, but they are supposed to stretch this lesson out over last week and this week. It's also surprising how little I could find in researching ideas for toddlers on service, but I came across this one that I like!

Object Lesson:
Materials Needed
One large box filled with several heavy objects.

Procedure
Have a volunteer try to lift the box. (Ensure the volunteer does not get hurt.) Ask: Is it easy or difficult to lift the box? Is it heavy? Ask for two other people to help the first person lift the box. Together the task will be much easier. 

Explain that the box and its contents are like the burdens we might experience in life. Discuss what some of these burdens might be. As members of the Church we have the responsibility to help each other. Offering service helps to lighten one another’s loads.

****Maybe see if there are any ideas or situations your child(ren) can remember from last week how they can help lift someone's burdens

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Object Lessons Made Easy, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010], p. 85.)

Activity:
Write a family letter to distant relatives, friends, and/or missionaries.