First Article of Faith

Gathering activity was once again a word search...they love them!  It keeps them occupied while everyone arrives.

This week for an attention-getter I wrote the following letters on the board and asked what comes next...

OTTFFSSENTET

It was really fun to get their answers and their reasoning for their answers!  The correct answer is "T", of course, for Thirteen.  There are Thirteen articles of faith.  

For the 1st Article of Faith we discussed the Godhead.  We talked about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost and the ways that they are alike and the ways that they are different.  It really was a great discussion.  They are so smart and they ask really great questions.

Next we learned the song, "The First Article of Faith" from the Children's Songbook.  Most of them knew it but some did not.  We played a fun game with a small ball.  We stood in a circle.  The child with the ball had to sing a portion of the song and then toss the ball to someone else.  Whoever the ball was tossed to had to sing the next portion of the song and then toss the ball.  It was a lot of fun.  If they dropped the ball they had to start the song over from the beginning.  I let them sing only one or two words if they wanted to because I didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable.  But everyone participated and had fun.  They wanted to keep doing it even when I told them it was time to move on to the next activity.

Next we did a puzzle game.  I had 1st Article of Faith cut into wordstrips.  One copy for each child.  They had to race to put the words in the correct order.  When they thought they had it, they were to raise both arms above their head.  In hindsight, I would have had a bell or something for them to press because I had a hard time telling who was first on a couple of the rounds.  This was fun and they also wanted to keep playing this game!

We had another birthday this week so we played Pin the Nose on the Clown and had cupcakes.

For our next Activity Day we will be making a Mother's Day craft.  I read a list of possibilities and told them to raise their hand if they heard an activity that they wanted to do.  The voting was unanimous.  However, I'm not going to reveal the craft until after Mother's Day!  You're going to love it!

Dawn

Take the Lead! Learning to Lead the Music

Developing Talents #2- Learn to lead a song and discuss how developing talents prepares us to serve Heavenly Father and others.

To begin, I wanted them to get a sense of listening for the beat so we sang several children's songs and clapped, snapped, or marched out the beat.  It was a lot of fun and it released some energy.

Learning to lead the music is a great skill to learn!  It is easy to teach as well.  Instructions are found in the back of the hymnal.  I chose the song "I Am A Child of God" because it is the theme for Primary this year.  It is found in the Children's Songbook #2 and also in they Hymnal #301.

We looked at the hymn and I taught them how to understand how many beats are in a measure...just a simple explanation of measures and beats.  There is an excellent resource here.

We sang and sang and took turns leading each other.  They were awesome!  So smart!

We had a discussion about how this is an important talent to have.  This is a talent that can be used at home as well as at church.  It is a talent that you can use throughout your lifetime and it is a great service.  We talked about Mosiah 2:17- And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

We turned to Hymns #29 and #128.  Both of these reference Mosiah 2:17  at the end of the hymn.  We talked about the meaning of the lyrics in relation to the scripture.  ("Our Primary Colors" and "A Happy Helper" from the Children's Songbook also reference Mosiah 2:17)

When I showed them the scripture references after each hymn, they were very interested.  As we were reading the lyrics, one of the children said, "Hey!  This is a poem!"  We talked about how hymns really are poems and usually rhyme.  If you use the scripture, the words to the song, and maybe a personal story, you have a talk all ready to give.

Today one of the children celebrated a birthday!  We played Pin the Nose on the Clown and ate cupcakes to celebrate!

See you next time!