Week plan for APRIL 29 – MAY 5
Young children
A couple people have told me their difficulties in getting to my blog because the URL teachye.wixsite.com brings up an error. Use teachye.com instead and that should work! Sorry about that.
EDIT: Thanks to some valuable feedback, I've realized that the more elaborate, time-consuming activities are less helpful to families, and that it is the quick and simple activities that are the best for consistency and for fitting into busy schedules. Starting next week, I will make some changes in my plans again. I really appreciate feedback such as that, so if you have any other concerns or suggestions, I would love to hear them! I appreciate you all so much for the effort you're making to teach your families and bring up your children in light and truth.
Memorize during the week: “I do always those things that please him.” John 8:29
Song of the Week: Keep the Commandments CS 146
Put some props in a box that correspond to different commandments (e.g. a tie for Sabbath Day, a heart for love thy neighbor, a tithing slip for paying tithes and offerings, and more ideas in the link.) Have your family sit in a circle and sing the song, passing the box around. Whoever is holding the box at the end of the song gets to pull out an item from the box and try to guess the commandment it represents.
Make a fun visual aid using cardboard commandment tablets with pictures for the song lyrics.
Monday
Doctrine: Jesus knows me and loves me. John 10:1–18
Scripture story
Watch: The Good Shepherd, Illustrated New Testament Stories
Coloring page
Jesus Knows Me and Loves Me, Primary Handout
Activities
Before introducing the Parable of the Good Shepherd, play a guessing game (under the heading "Attention Activity") to have your children guess the occupation of a shepherd.
Give each child a picture of a sheep, a wolf, a robber, or a shepherd. Read the story of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18). Have the kids hold up their picture when they hear it in the story. Afterword, tell the kids that we are the sheep in this story and Jesus is the shepherd. He knows and loves each one of us. (Idea from Simply Family Home Evening)
Look at Yongsung Kim's beautiful artwork of the Good Shepherd and His flock. Ask your children how they know Jesus loves the lambs. How can we tell that the lambs love Jesus?
Tuesday
Doctrine: Jesus knows me and loves me. John 10:1–18
Scripture story
Watch: The Good Shepherd and Other Sheep I Have, Bible Video
Coloring page
Activities
Demonstrate the Parable of the Good Shepherd using cotton balls as sheep, little people as shepherd and thief, and whatever you can find to enclose the sheep. Faith Sprouts made a cute & easy setup with green cloth, wooden blocks, blue ribbon, and rocks. To make the story more personal, give each child a cotton ball with their initials on it, since the Good Shepherd knows His sheep by name. Throughout the story, use the names of your children as the names of the sheep, and have your children move their sheep around the scene. See the Faith Sprouts page for great ideas and pictures for this. Save your setup for helping teach about commandments on Saturday.
Dress up like a shepherd, learn about shepherds, and then make a simple shepherd's sling by attaching two cords to a small circle of cloth. Grab the cotton balls from the previous activity and go outside with the sling. Practice "protecting your sheep" by swinging tiny rocks cushioned inside of the cotton balls.
String cheerios onto a pipe cleaner to make a little shepherd staff while listening to The Lord is My Shepherd.
Wednesday
Doctrine: Jesus knows me and loves me. John 10:1–18
Scripture story
Coloring page
Activities
Print out these adorable masks from The Red Crystal for acting out the Parable of the Good Shepherd.
Give each child a piece of string at least twelve inches long. Ask your children to lay their pieces of string vertically on a table or the floor in front of them and try to push the string away from them. Then ask your children to pull their pieces of string toward them. Relate this experiment to how shepherds lead their sheep (John 10:4). Explain that in Israel the shepherds lead their sheep by walking in front of them. In some other countries shepherds drive the sheep. Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, leads the way and asks us to follow him. (Idea from here)
Play "Don't Eat Shawna the Sheep." Remind your children that we are the sheep in Jesus' fold and He knows us, loves us, and calls us by name.
Thursday
Doctrine: Jesus healed a man born blind. John 9
Scripture story
Watch: Jesus Heals a Blind Man, Illustrated New Testament Stories
Watch: Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind, Bible Video
Coloring page
Activities
Experience a bit of life as a blind man by leading each other on a blindfolded walk of the house. Try eating lunch or doing chores blindfolded.
Make a stick figure of the blind man with a front and backside paper face (closed eyes or sunglasses on one side and open eyes on the other) attached to a popsicle stick. Protect it with a layer of clear packaging tape, and then take it outside. Have your children mix together some dirt and water to make mud and apply it to the blind man's closed eyes/ sunglasses. Wash in a bucket of water and flip to the other side, saying "I was blind, but now I see!" (Idea from Raising Little Disciples)
Re-use the blindfold to play Pin the Mud on the Blind Man.
Friday
Doctrine: Keeping the commandments will help me know they are true. John 7:14–17
Scripture story
Watch: Jesus Declares: I Am the Light of the World, the Truth Shall Make You Free, Bible Video
Coloring page
Activities
Explain that commandments are "instructions" from Heavenly Father with an object lesson from Little LDS Ideas using shampoo, chocolate syrup, and cookie recipe/ingredients.
Play this Commandment Matching Game with fun illustrations (you may need to use Ctrl F to find the download link on the page.)
Cut out commandment tablets from cardboard and either write the 10 commandments on them, or make a visual aid for singing "Keep the Commandments."
Saturday
Doctrine: Keeping the commandments will help me know they are true. John 7:14–17
Scripture story
Watch: Go and Sin No More, Bible Video
Activities
Learn the 10 commandments with finger actions.
Have your children help you put together this bowling activity. Essentially you will be cutting 10 plastic water bottles in half, filling them with something to represent each of the ten commandments, taping them back together, and using them as bowling pins to knock down with a tennis ball.
Using your props/visuals from teaching the Good Shepherd parable, explain that commandments are like the fence that protects sheep from the dangers like wolves, cliffs, raging rivers, and thieves. What are some of the dangers for us if we don't keep the commandments?
Sunday
Conference Talk Sundaes! This week we will watch Sister Craven's talk, Careful versus Casual, while we eat ice cream in waffle bowls, which are now an addiction for us. Not only is a waffle bowl delicious and crunchy, but it means no dirty dishes except the ice cream scoop! Last week was difficult for our one year old, so I plan to make a Pom Pom Push Toy for him that someone suggested to me. Basically you cut holes in the lid of an empty sour cream container for the baby to stuff pom poms through. A great hymn to go with this talk is The Iron Rod (one of my three year old's favorite songs.) We love to unscrew our broom handle and walk around the kitchen and living room while singing, with everyone holding the "iron rod" tightly as it leads us to a tall lamp which serves as the Tree of Life. When we reach the tree, we pretend to eat its fruit and exaggerate how delicious it is.
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