Lesson 7 - The Holy Ghost Helps Me

Please see my page on Sunbeams for an overview of my teaching system.

As I read through Sugardoodle, and other sites, I found a lot of neat ideas, and so this lesson came together quite easily, but it was different than any lesson I had done before.  It was much more symbolic.

To start:

I really liked some ideas posted by Sherri Boekweg on Sugardoodle.

 "To help them understand the Holy Ghost as a friend, I brought lots of stuffed animals (at least one for each child) and told them to choose a special friend (stuffed animal) at the beginning of class.  Then we did some movement activities with their "friend."  Then they sat down on the floor with their friend and we talked about friends and how Heavenly Father has given us a very special friend--the Holy Ghost.  They got to hold their "friend" during the class time as long as they listened and kept the friend close.  In helping them understand the Holy Ghost being a comforter, I brought a large piece of fleece fabric that we wrapped around each of them so they could feel how soft and warm it was.  Then we talked about how the Holy Ghost can help us feel soft and warm just like that blanket.  After I told the story of Harold B. Lee, we played this game.  I had all of the children stand on one side of the room and when I said "Walk" they started walking toward me.  But when I quietly said "stop" they stopped. Then I would say "walk" again and they walked until they heard "Stop".  (Idea by Sherri Boekweg)

I decided to incorporate parts of her ideas. 

Instead of the standard room layout, I decided not to have the children sitting at the table.  I moved the table and chairs against the wall, then laid out a blanket on the floor.  Building on Sherri Boekweg's idea, I had each child select a friend (stuffed animal), then we sat on the blanket, went over the class rules, and prepare for prayer.

After the prayer, we talked about friends, what friends do, then introduced the idea that Heavenly Father has given us a very special friend - the Holy Ghost.

I followed the second part of the manual attention activity, using the picture of the First Vision.

I explained that the Holy Ghost can do many things for us.  He can comfort us, he can guide us, he can warn us of danger.  "Today we're going to learn about these things."

Then I brought out the activity cards (5 this week).  The activities were:

• Story of Harold B. Lee - Taken from the manual (The Holy Ghost gives us comfort and help).  I found some clip art images of a shed and some fence.  I printed them out on card stock to make props for the story.  I acted out the story with action figures.  I also showed a picture of Harold B. Lee.  (You could also use the idea shared by Misti Lee on Sugardoodle.)  (Her idea is built on materials posted in the Friend from the life of Pres. Lee.)

 

• Do we feel happy or sad when we...? - Building on the second activity in the manual (The Holy Ghost helps us know what is right), I modified an idea by Julie K. Nelson.  Julie suggested putting sentence strips in a jar.  But since these young children cannot read, I decided to use visuals instead, to represent the ideas provided by Julie... and more.  I made them on cards using clip art pulled from Google.  Some of them had copyrights, or other identifying information on them... and I left them.  (I do not like removing identifying information.)  I laid the cards face down on the table, drew happy and sad faces on the board, and had the children take turns picking one.  We would identify what was happening in the picture, and the child would tell whether they would feel happy or sad and place the picture with the appropriate face. 

 
Not all of these pictures may be self explanatory... so from top left to bottom right...

o   Making a mess that mom has to clean up

o   Going to church

o   Folding clothes (helping mom)

o   Going to bed without saying prayers

o   Fighting over a toy

o   Saying prayers before bed

o   Fighting

o   Being mean to someone/saying something mean

o   Sharing

o   Telling a lie

o   Playing nicely with another

o   Giving mom a hug and a kiss

There are certainly many more options that could be used.  One thing I thought of after the class to get the children more involved, I could have given them each a smiley and frowney face.  After each picture was discussed, the children could have each held up their "vote".   

• If we can't see it, is it real? - Taken from the activity in the manual (The Holy Ghost helps us know what is right), using an object placed in a bag to show that just because we can't see something doesn't mean it's not real. I actually used a sock, and placed a few jingle bells inside.  With this, I was not only able to make the connection that just because we can't see it doesn't make it not real.  But I was also able to make the connection, that although we cannot see the Holy Ghost, we can hear him, and we can feel him.  I gave each child the opportunity to touch the sock and feel the bells inside and to shake the sock to make the bells ring.  I thought this also made a nice connection to the take-home materials below.  The jingle bells were small, so they didn't make much noise.  So we were able to also talk about how you have to be quiet to be able to hear His still small voice.

• A special gift - Building on the activity in the manual (We can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost), I showed the children a gift box.  Inside I had placed a picture of a child getting baptized (found on the LDS media site).  We discussed how receiving the Holy Ghost is a gift. 

• The Holy Ghost whispers - We played the game suggested by Sherri Boekweg, where the children walked from one end of the room to the other.  When I whispered "stop" they had to stop.   When I whispered "walk" they began to walk again.  They loved it!  And I used it as a good opportunity to praise them for good listening.

Snack & Story - I didn't have an appropriate story to use (though I found one that looks promising.  I may have to purchase it for next year:  The Holy Ghost is Like a Blanket, by Annalisa Hall).  But I found a beautiful illustrated book for the song "The Holy Ghost", on BasicPrimaryMusic.blogspot - a very nice blog I just discovered.  I printed and bound it as shown, then read it to the children during snack.

At the end, I went over some take-home materials I had made for each child.  This is where things were particularly different for this lesson.  I usually just send them home with printouts or crafts, but this week I wanted something special.  I found so many neat ideas about the symbolism of the Holy Ghost during my research.  The inspiration began with Sherri Boekweg's idea of wrapping the children in fleece.

• I made a booklet to remind each child of what the Holy Ghost can do for us.  I printed it out, cut each page in half, then stapled each booklet together.

• To go along with the booklet, I was going to just do what Sherri had done, and give each child a piece of fleece (because I've got a lot of fabric scraps), but instead, I found a cheap ($2.88) fleece blanket at Walmart.  I also found a cheap ($1.00) flashlight at Walmart for each child.  In addition, I put a small bell on a piece of ribbon for each child.  (Having only 5 children in the class, this was quite cheap and do-able, but may not be for those with more kids.)

Finally, we had prayer, then I had the children sit at the table to do their coloring page (the black and white poster taken from Sunday Savers).

Having the children sitting on the floor had some problematic aspects, though.  They kept "scootching" to get closer to me, so when there were visuals I would have to have them "scootch" back.  It was a minor point, and didn't really cause problems, but again, I only had five children.  One possible thing you could do if you have more children, or think that it's going to get out of control, you could take pieces of masking tape with a child's name on each piece, and place it on the carpet, or blanket.  Require the children to sit on their names, and remind them as needed to return to their names.

Lesson 6 - Heavenly Father and Jesus Love Me

Please see my page on Sunbeams for an overview of my teaching system.

After reminding the children that we have been learning about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I told them that today we would be learning about different ways that they have shown their love for us.

Selection Activity:  Children randomly selected cards for the activities.

• Song - My Heavenly Father Loves Me. (See manual:  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us blessings.)  After singing the song, we made the necklaces from Sunday Savers.  I had printed the colored pages onto cardstock and cut them out (and punched the holes, of course).  Each set was in its own baggie, with a piece of yarn.  I also brought beads to string between the hearts, so they wouldn't all bunch up.  But, there are some other things I should've done.  I should have put tape around the ends of the yarn to help the children thread the yarn through the hearts easier and also keep the yarn from fraying.  Fortunately I had masking tape with me and did it while they worked on the activity - but this took time.  Also, the children kept pulling the yarn completely through as they worked to add more hearts.  I came up with a bright idea to stop this.  I used some masking tape to tape the other end of the yarn to the table.  This stopped them from pulling the yarn through.  When they were done, I just pulled the yarn up and tied the yarn ends together.  I also should have put the hearts in order.  They spent a lot of time trying to find the right hearts.  And as some of the children worked faster than others, it was difficult to keep track of what the right order was.  But the kids absolutely loved this activity and were so proud of their necklaces!  Unfortunately, with the time it took, we ran out of time and didn't get to one of the activities (sheep), nor the coloring page.  So these suggestions should help with that.

• Puzzle - I only had 5 children, so I removed one of the puzzle piece cards.  But if you have more than 5 children, this is an easy activity to break into two separate activities.  I used the same visual on both cards, though, because you should do the activities in this order:  Puzzle, Creation.

For the puzzle, I took a clipart image of the earth, and overlaid it with a puzzle piece template.  I printed it on cardstock and cut it out.  When the child picked the card with the puzzle piece, she saw that it was a puzzle piece and got excited.  I told the children that we were going to put together a puzzle to show something that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had created for us, because they love us so much! (See manual:  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us blessings.)

I let each child take one puzzle piece to put in the puzzle.  I put the other pieces together to create a foundation for them.

Jigsaw puzzles are very difficult for young children, but they can enjoy them if given support.

There were some problems, though.  I should have glued it onto foam board or cardboard, or just something to make the pieces thicker.  They didn't stay together.  Or, I could have put tape on the backs so they wouldn't slip, or magnets and put it together on the board.

But because jigsaw puzzles are difficult for children, another option would be to just print out two copies of the earth.  If you increase the picture contrast on one of the copies, it will become "washed out".  Then just cut the other picture into 9 square pieces (no need for the "jigsaw").  Put tape on the back and have the children just match the piece with the appropriate place on the "washed out" picture.


For the second part (or the second activity if you break it into two), we very briefly went through the creation of the earth.  I used visuals by Pam at Keeping Life Creative, found on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I placed the visuals on the table in front of the children.  I put the day numbers on the board.  Then I told them what was created each day, and the children took turns finding the right visual and placing it on the board next to the numbers.

• Sheep - Jesus loves and cares for us as a shepherd does his sheep.  When one gets lost, he goes to find it.  On Sugardoodle, I found a cute activity from LDS.org that can help children understand the love a shepherd has for his sheep, searching out the lost sheep.  But because our classroom isn't large, I didn't think going on a search would work very well.  So instead, I took clipart images of a tree, a bush, and a rock, and taped them to plastic cups.  I had a little sheep from a Little People toy.  The intention was to have the children cover their eyes,  I would hide the sheep under one of the cups, and they would have to find it.  Unfortunately this was the activity we didn't get to because the necklace activity took too long.  I think the kids would have loved it!

• Gift - The greatest gift that we have been given, that shows how much both our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, is Jesus coming to the earth and giving His life for us.  But they have given us many other gifts, too.  I threw a bean bag to each child in turn and asked them to name something that shows how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them.  (See manual:  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us blessings.)

• Who? - Who does Jesus Christ love?  I showed a picture of Jesus with little children, and told the children how much Jesus Christ loves little children.  (See manual:  Jesus showed His love for children.)  Then, I had taken pictures of each child, cut them out, laminated them, and put Velcro dots on the backs of each.  I had taken another picture of Jesus Christ, laminated it, and placed Velcro dots on it, enough for each child.  I laid out the pictures of the children on the table, and let each child find his/her picture, then attach it to the picture of Jesus.  By attaching their pictures to the picture of Jesus, we created an image of Jesus with them, similar to the one of Jesus blessing the children.

Story & Snack:  I really wanted to use "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney, but I couldn't find my copy.  Instead, I used "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch.  That was OK, but I really wanted a story that represented a father's love for his child.  And "Love You Forever" is too long, so I didn't read the whole thing.


Coloring Page:  I again selected the black and white poster from Sunday Savers.  Since we ran out of time, I sent them home with the children to color at home.

Lesson 5 - Jesus Christ is the Son of Heavenly Father

This was a difficult week for me.  I didn't have much time to prepare, and so I sort of "winged it".  (I pulled activities from previous weeks that sort of fit, as well as followed the manual without many visuals or hands-on materials.)  This was not a good idea with young children.  Being prepared is essential to maintain a good flow for sustained attention, to know where you are in the lesson and where you're going, and to be able to anticipate and deal with challenges.  When you aren't prepared, you end up focusing more on what you are doing, and it's easy to miss the signs of inattentiveness, or not be able to handle those signs.  You can only really focus on one thing at a time.  As a result, it's easy to lose control of the class.  And that's exactly what happened.

So, this week's lesson wasn't one of my best.  I ended up having to correct a lot of behaviors.  It wasn't at all enjoyable.  I was frustrated and dissatisfied.  But it was my problem, not the children's.

Some things I did...

• I used the Plan of Salvation visuals I used last week.  I put them up on the board and reviewed the Plan.  But I should've done something different. I didn't involve the children.  I didn't have a clear goal for using the visuals.
• I used some visuals for the nativity that I found the end of last year (I will post about these later in the year).  This went OK, but again, without the preparation and thoughtful purpose, I didn't involve the children in ways that I could have, and somewhat lost their interest.
• We sang the song "Away in a Manger".  Better... except some of the kids didn't know the words.  When children don't know the words, it's hard for them to stay engaged if there is nothing to help hold their attention.
• Using the picture of Jesus being baptized, I told how Jesus was baptized.  Again, did not involve interaction.
• We sang the song "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus". Same problem as discussed above.
• Animal matching game (from Lesson 1).  The children enjoyed the game, but I tried to make the connection with this lesson by saying we were matching dads and babies.  That didn't work, because the person was obviously a mother, and (to me, anyway) many of the animal pictures were obviously mothers also.  The idea would have worked, but I should have made picture cards showing dads to replace the moms.  So although it was fun, and engaged the children, the connection wasn't there.  That connection is important for learning.  So the meaning of this activity may have been lost.
• For coloring, I again used the black and white poster from Sunday Savers.

So, I will post better ideas on this lesson next year, after I've had a chance to prepare properly.

Lesson 4 - I Can Pray to Heavenly Father

Please see my page on Sunbeams for an overview of my teaching system.

Attention Activity:  (See manual) I pulled out the visuals from the Plan of Salvation (from last week) to remind the children of what we had learned.  I had them help me put them on the board in the proper order.

I reminded them that our choices here on earth determine whether we get to return to live with our Father in Heaven or not.  But even though we may feel we're here alone, Heavenly Father is there for us, and we can communicate with Him through prayer.


Activity Selection: I again wanted to guide the lesson through a specific order, so had the children choose numbered cards in order.

(Other ways that you could pre-determine the order, besides numbering... Put a color schedule on the board and have them choose the matching color;  Or, a schedule with pictures, and have them choose the matching picture.  All of these options will work on developmentally appropriate cognitive skills.)

1.  When we should pray - Building on the manual (We can pray to Heavenly Father), I wanted to have children identify the many opportunities we can and should pray.  Instead of using the pictures identified in the manual, I wanted to show more opportunities to pray.  I printed out this page from the Friend (found on Sugardoodle) on cardstock, and cut out the pictures. The children took turns picking a card and identifying what it was.

2.  How we should pray (physical) - (See manual:  Jesus Christ taught us to pray to Heavenly Father.)  I considered using these pictures found on Sugardoodle, but opted to use our class stuffed monkey instead, to model how we should pray.  I had the monkey do silly things and have the children tell me what the monkey should do to get ready for prayer.  We discussed sitting still, folding our arms, bowing our heads, closing our eyes, keeping our mouths quiet (unless we are the one saying the prayer), and listening carefully.  (We did not sing the song, though it would be a good thing to include.)

3.  How we should pray (verbal) - Continuing with that section in the manual, we then discussed what we should say in our prayers.  (I should have used some visuals or some other way to engage the children for this, but didn't.  Having a discussion without some attention getter is a struggle.  I will definitely address this next time I teach it!)  But we quickly discussed how we begin a prayer, say what we're thankful for, ask for blessings, and then close.

I then pulled out a bean bag and threw to each child one at a time, asking them what they are thankful for.  With each response, I would tell them that is something they could thank Heavenly Father for in their prayers.

4.  Review - We then reviewed how to pray (both the physical and verbal) using a file folder game created by Kimberly Bourne, found on Etsy (for $2.50).  I had printed it on card stock, laminated it, and used Velcro for the pieces.  (I considered also printing copies out on plain paper, as I had done with the similar activity last week, but these pieces were more intricate, and I didn't want to cut so many out.  Besides, I had enough Take-Homes for the week.)  I placed the laminated pieces on the table in front of the children.  As we reviewed, they took turns picking out the correct pieces for the file folder game. 

5.  Daniel in the lion's den - I then told the story of Daniel in the lion's den.  I had looked for visuals for the story, but hadn't found any that I really liked.  I did like some visuals by Keeping Life Creative on Teachers Pay Teachers (I really love Pam's amazing talents!), but they were part of a larger set for $8.50, and I didn't want to pay that much... though I probably will purchase it at some point.

Instead I used a book, "The Beginner's Bible:  Daniel and the Lions" by Zonderkidz.  I didn't read the story, but instead told the story in my own words, but used the book visuals.


Take-homes:

Lion:  Thank you to Katie Evans on Sugardoodle, for finding this activity on LDS.org.  I loved the general idea, but wanted something more specific to what we had covered in class.  So I found a clip art image of a lion that would work, and I put together my own handout reviewing how to pray.  I used a brass fastener to connect the pieces.





















I considered doing prayer rocks, also, but felt that it would be too much. 


Coloring sheet:  I again used the black and white poster from Sunday Savers.  But there are typically some good coloring sheets posted on Sugardoodle that you could use instead.

Story during snack: I used a story called "This Little Prayer of Mine" by Anthony DeStefano.  Another option is "Does God Hear My Prayer?" by August Gold.

Lesson 3 - Heavenly Father's Plan for Us

Please see my page on Sunbeams for an overview of my teaching system.

Although the opening prayer was addressed in Lesson 1, it will no longer be explicitly addressed in each lesson.   Likewise, it is no longer included in activity selection.

We began the lesson by singing "I Am a Child of God" (see manual:  We are spirit children of Heavenly Father), and by briefly discussing what the song means.  We discussed that we are children of God, and we lived with God in heaven before we came to earth.  God wanted us to be able to get a body and become as He is, so He made a plan that would allow us to gain a body and return to live with Him.  We came to earth as part of His plan for us.  Today we would be learning about that plan.

I had downloaded visuals on the Plan of Salvation by Latterday Chatter, from Etsy.  It cost $3.  But there are plenty of free visuals available.  Do a Google search for Plan of Salvation visuals.  LDS.about.com has some nice visuals available for download, including this one and this one.

Activity Selection:  Because the Plan of Salvation cannot be taught in a random order, the Activity Selection was done similarly to Lesson 1, labeling the appropriate visuals in order.  We did not use all of the visuals that came with the download.  We used the following:

1.  Premortal Life - We lived in heaven before we came to earth.  Looking at the visual from Latterday Chatter (showing a family in heaven), I asked the question of what they thought it was like?  They were able to identify that there were families.  We discussed that we lived together as a family in Heaven.  (Asking children what they see and can figure out from a picture is a valuable tool for engagement, versus telling children what they see.  They have to use their skills of observation as well as think about what those images might mean.)

2.  Earth Life - Then we were born onto earth, gaining our bodies.  (See manual:  Heavenly Father sent us to live on earth.)  A veil was placed over our minds so we couldn't remember.  I likened this to being blindfolded, and gave each child the opportunity to be blindfolded.  We cannot "see" our memories from Heaven.  (Object lessons are a great way to involve and engage children.  But when you have object lessons, particularly with young children, you need to try to involve all of the children.  They will all want a turn.  They will all want to participate in an activity like that.  So think about how you can involve all of them, without taking too much time.  In this case, having enough blindfolds for each child was a simple way to accomplish this.  They each got to participate, and it didn't take the time required if they took turns one after the other.)

Gaining a physical body was then likened to a glove.  (The week prior, the children were introduced to this symbolism in Sharing Time.  See object lesson in The 2015 Outline for Sharing Time.)  I liked the idea of connecting what they had done in Sharing Time to this lesson.  The more connections we can make, the better.  I let each child put on a glove, with the hand representing the spirit, and the glove the physical body.

We went through activities 3 through 5 very quickly, as they are not really the focus of the lesson.  But I did it to briefly introduce the whole Plan of Salvation and help them understand and connect the process.

3.  Death - When we die, our spirits leave our bodies (had the children take off the gloves).

4.  Spirit World - Our spirits go to the Spirit World.

5.  Resurrection - The spirit and body comes back together again (put the gloves back on), and we become like our Father in Heaven.

6.  Judgment - This activity we spent more time on, helping the children understand that our choices here on earth determine where we go during Judgment.  (This set of visuals included a number of visuals related to some of the bigger decisions we must make, but other visuals could be used equally well.  Bigger decisions included:  baptism, going to the temple, etc.)  (See manual:  Heavenly Father wants us to return to Him someday.)  We looked at the three kingdoms we can be placed in (using the Plan visuals), likened to the sun, moon, and stars, and briefly mentioned that Heavenly Father lives in the Celestial Kingdom.


After going through the Plan of Salvation, we reviewed the main points with a matching activity using a file folder game created by Kimberly Bourne, found on Etsy (for $2.50).  I had printed one copy out on card stock, laminated it, and used Velcro for the pieces.  I also printed some copies out on plain paper - one for each child.  I placed the laminated pieces on the table in front of the children.  As we reviewed, they took turns picking out the correct pieces for the file folder game.  Once a piece was identified, I would give each child the same piece to glue onto their pages.

Review is an important part of the lesson.  Hearing the same message in multiple ways is a valuable way to reinforce that message and help the children retain it.  Additionally, by making it a hands-on activity, it involved them in a different way than before.  Different modalities are another way of reinforcing the message.  And being able to take it home will allow opportunities for further review and family discussion at home.

For another take-home, I gave each child the activity from Sunday Savers.

For the coloring sheet, I had two options I really liked:  the black and white poster from Sunday Savers, and one from LDS.org.  I opted to use the one from LDS.org.

Another take-home I considered using, also from LDS.org.

Here's one I would like to modify for a matching game rather than a drawing activity.  Thanks to Sugardoodle for having identified so many wonderful resources!

Lesson 2 - Heavenly Father has a Body

I was away on vacation for this lesson, so I didn't plan this lesson.  Next year...

Lesson 1 - I Am a Child of God

Please see my page on Sunbeams for an overview of my teaching system.

Activity Selection - Being the first lesson for the new Sunbeams, I wanted to introduce the concept of the activity selection I use with most of my lessons, but in a very structured way.  I wanted to use the activity selection for everything (not just lesson activities), to emphasize that class consists of a set of activities, not just one long lesson, and to help children understand and anticipate some of the activities that would be a consistent part of each lesson (e.g., prayer, snack, coloring, etc.).   Also, using the activity selection process would allow me to involve the children in the process, to increase engagement and attention.  But, I also wanted to introduce the activities in a specific order.  So, instead of having the selection random (letting the children select any card), I labeled each card with a number on the back and had the children select the cards in order from 1 to 11.  (Of course, some of the younger ones still cannot read their numbers, so needed some help.)

I included the prayers, snack, and book reading in the selection, though I don't usually do that.  The activities were in the following order, starting at the top left.

1.  Prayer- We briefly reviewed how to pray, then a child was called on to say the opening prayer.  Modelling and discussing expectations is important, even with something like prayer.  Not all children get the exposure at home, and we cannot assume, even if they get the exposure at home, that they are explicitly being taught how and why they should do certain things.

2.  Rules - We began by discussing the meaning of the symbol (something you shouldn't do), and used that to discuss why we need rules.  I then placed the following pictures (cut into individual pictures) in front of the children.  I went through the rules (in order), and had the children identify which picture matched each rule.  Once the appropriate picture was chosen, it was attached (by tape) to the rule, and placed on the board for a reminder throughout the lesson.


























After all the rules were on the board, I brought out our class "mascot" - a stuffed animal, a monkey with long arms and legs.  I had the monkey do various things (e.g., flail its arms and legs around, or fold its arms) and had the children identify whether the monkey was following the rules or breaking the rules and why.  

This was an important part of the discussion.  Rules are something that children seeking independence may struggle with, unless they have ownership and understanding of those rules.  Having the children discuss the rule breaking done by the monkey, we were able to think about why these rules are important (e.g., someone could get hurt, everyone wants a turn to be heard, you shouldn't be rude to others, etc.).  

Also, anytime the children begin to get restless or rowdy now, I can bring the monkey out and have him model appropriate and reverent behavior.  The children all love the monkey and following his example.

3.  Song - We then began to follow the manual.  We began by singing "I Am a Child of God" as shown in the first part of the attention activity.  I use the LDS Music app on my iPad to provide the music.  Although some of the children know this song and were able to sing along, not all children do.  So singing is not the most engaging activity for those who do not know the song.

4.  Ball -  The last part of the attention activity followed, using a soft squishy ball.

5.  World - See manual (We are spirit children of Heavenly Father).  We did not sing the song again as I was afraid we would run out of time.  Also, repeating something, unless the children are really excited about doing it, is inviting boredom and resulting behaviors.

6.  Like - See manual (Heavenly Father knows us and loves us).  I asked each child what he/she likes.  Then I told the child that "Heavenly Father knows you like _____, because you are His child.  He is your Father, and He knows you!"  We didn't do the verse activity, mostly for time reasons.

7.  (There were two of them, because we always do these two things together.) Book & Snack - The book I chose for this week was "Are You My Mother" by P.D. Eastman.  I chose this book because it provides a nice segue into the next activity.  Periodically during the reading, I would ask the children how the baby bird knew that _____ wasn't its mother.  By the end, all of the children knew that the baby bird knew its mother because she looked like him.

8.  Matching Game - After discussing that babies and mamas look like each other, we played a matching game of babies and mamas.  I made cards showing various babies and mamas.  I placed the cards upside down in two groups - one group being the mamas, the other group being the babies.  The children took turns each turning over one card from each group.  Because there were so many cards, I had the children leave the cards facing up that they had turned over.  When they turned over a new card, they had to decide if it matched any of the cards that were visible. 

Another option would be to reduce the number of cards.  After matching all the cards, we discussed that we can grow up to be like our Father in Heaven (see manual: We can be like Heavenly Father).

9.  Story of Moses - See manual (Heavenly Father has important work for us to do).  I used visuals by Phillip Martin to tell the story of Moses.  I then explained that, just as Heavenly Father had a special purpose for Moses, He has a special purpose for each of us.  I called each child by name and said, "Heavenly Father has a special purpose for you!"

10.  Prayer - We concluded the lesson with a closing prayer.

11.  Coloring - After the prayer, the children were given a coloring sheet to color until their parents came to get them.  I often use the black and white poster from Sunday Savers, but this time I opted for an activity page (I am a Child of God) by Betsy @ LDS Notebooking Pages found on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Many of the activities on that site cost money, but this one was free.