Service #3- Qualities I Admire in a Person and Showing Respect and Kindness

We started our activity with a Seek and find all about qualities that we admire in others.  They love seek and finds!  It keeps them busy while everyone arrives.  Here are the traits I included in my puzzle:  friendly, good personality, sense of humor, frugal, caring, no gossip, talented, kind, spiritual, hard worker, good listener, honest, smart, fun, creative, athletic, reaches goals, clean, modest.

Service #3 is as follows:  "Make a list of the qualities you like in a person.  Choose one quality to develop in yourself.  Discuss how showing respect and kindness strengthens you, your family, and others."

After the seek and find puzzle we listed the qualities that we admire in others.  They had some good ideas!

Next I had them think about these qualities and name one that they would like to work on and to develop in themselves.  I had them write in in their books.  We discussed these and talked about why they thought these would be a good traits to have.  Trying new things can help us find our talents!  I asked them what kinds of things they may have been scared of trying at first but later discovered it to be a talent.  Sports, dance, singing, talking to others, etc.

I had them fill out a questionnaire about themselves.  Included in this was a question about talents they'd like to develop.   I told them that they would get this back when they turn 12 and they could look to see how much progress they made over the years.

We talked about what it means to have respect and what it means to be kind.   We talked about ways that having respect and kindness strengthens ourselves, our family, and others.  Then they signed this activity off in their booklets.

Finally, we talked about the Gospel Standard:  "I will seek good friends and treat others kindly."

Today was the last Activity Day for one of our girls who is turning 12!  We passed around a paper with her name at the top and each person listed something they admired about her.  We will really miss her!!

What character trait would you like to develop in yourself?

Dawn

Mother's Day Craft

Our Mother's Day craft was super fun and I think they turned out great!

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!

Easter

Tonight we started with coloring!  I printed off  and egg shape and let the children design their own Easter eggs.  As they finished, I hung them on the wall for everyone to admire.  They were very creative!!

Next we had an Easter egg hunt.  I had gone to the church early to hide the eggs.  There were twelve eggs to find.  Since we have 7 children, some of them were able to find two.  After all twelve eggs were found, we sat in a circle and I told them the story of  Easter using visuals from the LDS picture kit found here.

Inside of each egg was an item that went along with the story of  Easter.  We discussed each item and its significance. The children are so insightful and eager to learn and we had a really wonderful discussion filled with the spirit.

  

Here is a copy of the lesson that I used as an outline.  (I don't know the original source.  I've had this in my files for years.)  However, it's much better to just tell the story with visuals than to try to read to them.

For a treat we had these "empty tomb" treats.  Found here:  empty tomb rolls.

Happy Easter everyone!

The Sacred Sacrament

I love this activity because it could really count for 3 different activities....LLG #1- "Explain how taking the sacrament helps you renew your baptismal covenant   In FHE, teach other about things we can do to remain faithful."  It could count as Serving Others because we are making the bread for the congregation to use in the Sacrament service.  Finally, this lesson could be used as Developing Talents because they are learning to make bread!  I love it!

This activity is based on an idea I found in this book, "Faith in God Activities" by Lori Hogge and Mitzi Deeter copyright 2003.

We started the activity by making sure the table surface was clean and that everyone had washed their hands!  I told them that we would be having a very special service project tonight.  We would be making bread for the sacrament!

I had gathered all of the ingredients and supplies beforehand so that I could divide them into 3 groups.  We would make 3 loaves of bread.

Since the gathering activities have been working so well for me, I created another word search using words that had to do with making bread and the sacrament.  The link is here.    These are the words that I used:  sacrament, bread, water, Savior, love, repentance, priesthood, yeast, milk, oil, flour, sugar, reverent, prayer, hymn, quiet, rising, salt, Last Supper, remember, forgiveness, promises.  A couple of them really got into a little competition to see who could complete it the fastest.

We made the bread together adding each ingredient one by one.  We also discussed each ingredient as  it was added and why the ingredient is important  and also how it could relate to the sacrament.  It is always fun to hear their responses!

This is a very good and very easy bread recipe!

Here is the recipe:

1 TBS yeast................makes the bread rise..................Jesus rose from the tomb making it possible for all of us to rise again.                                                                

1/4 cup warm water........bonds the ingredients together

1 C warm milk     ........ We "bond" ourselves to Christ when we take His name upon us.

1/4 cup oil                                                                                                         

                                                                                                             

1/4 cup sugar...............makes the yeast work..............We make the atonement "work" when we repent.

1 tsp salt......................adds flavor.............................The gospel adds flavor to our lives.

3 1/2 cups flour...........gives body and substanance to the bread.....The Savior sacrificed His body for us.

                                     
Combine the yeast, water, sugar, and milk and let stand for 5 minutes.  Add salt, flour, and oil.  Knead for 5 minutes.  Place in greased loaf pan and let rise til doubles.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  1 loaf.

While letting the yeast sit for 5 minutes, we reviewed the purpose and comparison of each ingredient.  Let them think up other comparisons!  They are so smart!

Once the loaves were rising, we went on with the lesson.  We discussed the Last Supper and the events surrounding the Last Supper.  Matthew 26.  We discussed loving one another as found in John 13.  And finally, we discussed the meaning of the sacrament by reviewing the sacrament prayers (Moroni Chapters 4 & 5.) and how we should behave as the sacrament is being administered and passed.  I was so pleased at how many questions they had and what a great discussion was sparked!  They asked some very thoughtful questions!

Just as each ingredient has an effect on the outcome of the bread, so do the promises we make at baptism and renew at the sacrament table have an effect on the outcome of our lives!

For refreshment, we had a slice of bread from a loaf that I made beforehand.  This is a delicious and hearty recipe!