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Posts tagged teaching children
FHE Idea: King Benjamin
09 months ago
The story of King Benjamin addressing his people is great for a couple of reasons. King Benjamin was a great leader who was blessed and appointed by God. And the people who gathered to listen to him were righteous and knew the importance of listening and following the words of their king. (Plus, this lesson idea comes with an activity that includes marshmallows and you just can’t beat the awesomeness of those squishy yumtastic treats.)
FHE Theme: King Benjamin
Scripture: Mosiah 2:1-9, 17, 22, 34, 41, Mosiah 3:2-10, 13, 19, 20, Mosiah 4:6-8, 9-16, 30, Mosiah 5:1-2, 15 (This lesson has lots of scripture to read, so you might want to paraphrase if you have little kids.)
Songs: “Follow the Prophet” LDS Hymn Book and “Keep the Commandments” Children’s Songbook
Story: Start by telling the story of King Benjamin gathering his people (Mosiah 2:1-9). Everyone was called to gather at the temple to listen to the king before he died. There were so many people that King Benjamin couldn’t teach them from within the walls of the temple grounds so he had a tall tower built that he could stand on. People pitched tents all around the temple, facing their doorways towards the temple and where the tower had been built. Then they got their entire family together, from the oldest to the youngest members, to listen to what King Benjamin had to say. But there was still too many people to hear what the king was saying, so he had scribes write down all the words and pass them around to the tents in the back where the people couldn’t hear. King Benjamin wanted to make sure EVERYONE heard what he had to say.
The other scriptures listed above have great examples of what King Benjamin taught the people. I suggest reading through them ahead of time and selecting the ones you’d like to discuss as a family. Or simply read them during the lesson and discuss all of them. Here is a very brief breakdown of each scripture:
Mosiah 2:17- When you serve others, you are in the service of God.
Mosiah 2:22- If you keep the commandments you will be blessed.
Mosiah 2:34- Everyone has been taught about the commandments and the scriptures and can not use ignorance as an excuse for wickedness.
Mosiah 2:41- Remember that if you live righteously you will receive never-ending happiness.
Mosiah 3:2-10- An angel told King Benjamin that Christ will come to Earth, teach and perform miracles, provide the atonement, be crucified, and be resurrected.
Mosiah 3:13- God sends prophets to tell the world of the atonement.
Mosiah 3:19- Put off the natural man and become like a child.
Mosiah 4:6-8- Through God’s love, the atonement, and our righteousness everyone can have salvation.
Mosiah 4:9-16- God created the world and all the things in it, including us. Repent and have faith and you will feel the love of God and gain knowledge of Him. Live in peace and take care of your children, teaching them good values.
Mosiah 4:30- Watch your thoughts, words, and deeds.
After King Benjamin teaches the people these things he then asks the people if they believe that what he has said has come from the Lord. The people “cried with one voice” saying how they have felt in their hearts the change that King Benjamin’s words had on them. They want to “do good continually”. (Mosiah 5:1-2)
End the story of King Benjamin by reading Mosiah 5:15
Activity: Get bags of large and small marshmallows, some toothpicks, and a sheet of paper. As a family build a tower out the marshmallows and toothpicks. The fun part is seeing how tall you can get it before it starts tipping. Then cut the piece of paper into small sections and fold them in half to look like tents. Place the “tents” so that they are all facing the tower. Then you can quiz family members on the story, if they get the answer right they get to eat part of the tower!
You can liken the story of King Benjamin to modern day General Conference. People all over the world turn their thoughts to God and listen to Prophets and Apostles, just like the people listened to King Benjamin.
A simple and quick way to address this is by using “A Prophet Speaks: King Benjamin Primary Talk” from Green Jello with Carrots. With words and pictures, this isn’t just great for Primary talks, but for short attention spans during FHE.
Make sure to end your Family Home Evening with a song and a prayer (but you can skip the treats, because you should have all just devoured a very delicious marshmallow tower)!
FHE Idea: Little Pioneer Children
010 months ago
With tomorrow being Pioneer Day, I thought it would be fun to have a fun little Family Home Evening about it. My kids are still small so instead of focusing on dates, and places, and details about the suffering and hardships the pioneers faced, this lesson is about how children today can be pioneers too. It is based on the song “Pioneer Children Were Quick to Obey” in the Children’s Songbook.
FHE Theme: Little Pioneer Children
Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20
Songs: “Pioneer Children Were Quick to Obey” and “Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked” Children’s Songbook
Start the lesson by defining the word pioneer. Depending on the age of your family (or length of attention span) you can make this as detailed or broad as you’d like.
Story: For little kids I suggest including this story from the June 2008 Friend “What is a Pioneer?”
Now it’s time for family discussion which is the best part of FHE (besides the treats at the end)! Take the song ”Pioneer Children Were Quick to Obey” line for line and ask questions (words by Viginia Maughan Kammeyer):
”Pioneer children were quick to obey.” What does “quick” mean and why is it important?
“Walking along the wagons all day.” Why did they have to walk? How was this hard for them?
“Then in the firelight, kneeling to pray, little pioneer children.” Do you think they prayed like we do at our house? What do you think they prayed for? What do you think they were thankful for in their prayers?
“Carrying water and gathering wood, building a campfire and cooking the food.” What chores do you have to do? Would you rather have the chores of a pioneer child? Did you know they sometimes had to burn buffalo chips when wood wasn’t available? (eeew.)
“Learning and helping the best that they could, little pioneer children.” Do you always do things the best that you can? Are you trying your hardest to learn and help?
“Children today can be pioneers too.” What does this mean?
“Willing and cheerful in all that we do.” How can we be more willing and cheerful with our families, at church, or with our friends?
“Walking our pathway with heaven in view, little pioneer children.” Have each member of your family tell how they plan on walking “with heaven in view”.
If you’d like to include a little game in your lesson about pioneers, I suggest the “Day After Day” file folder game from Green Jello with Carrots.
Put the file folder game together as a family, or make it a challenge by placing each part of the game together after quiz questions.
And make sure to end your FHE with a song, prayer, and delicious goodies!
FHE: A YEAR of Lessons on Primary Theme!
01 year ago
by Editor
in family home evening
Do you have Primary-aged kids or grandkids? If so, we have found a treasure trove for you!
Instead of trying to thumb through The Friend looking for a few ideas for FHE here and there, you can now coordinate what your kids are learning at church with your family home evenings. Jessica Feth has written out an amazing year-full of family home evening lessons, all based on the weekly sharing time themes your kids are hearing in Primary this year.
Some people print out everything and create an FHE binder so it’s all ready to go on Monday night, and some just print out the lessons weekly as needed.
Click here for the lessons on Sugardoodle.
Super Handouts for Church Lessons
01 year ago
by Editor
in Teaching in the Church
Looking for handouts for your church lessons? We found a great site that has free printables, ideas, creations, lesson helps, and lots more stuff. There are things for activity days girls, young men and women, Relief Society, and more. Click on over and get some ideas for your next lesson!
See it at Emma’s Place to Be.
Primary Helps: Two-minute Talks
01 year ago
by Editor
in Teaching in the Church
It’s Saturday night, and you just got the “reminder” call that your child has a talk tomorrow. Only problem is, this is the first time you’ve heard about it! Oops, guess Junior accidentally lost the little slip of paper he was supposed to give to you last Sunday. What to do?
Proclamation on the Family Photo Book
01 year ago
From The Idea Door, here is a delightful way to teach “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” to children. Use your own photos in a 4″x6″ photo book for a personalized book that teaches the importance of families. Presenting the doctrine like this makes it more real and personal to children, and the photo book will also become a special family keepsake.
Get directions here.
How did it go? Let us know!
Train up a Child
21 year ago
by Joel Hiller
in parenting
yourLDSneighborhood News for Wednesday, 28 December, 2011
Discipline: an Opportunity for Christlike Parenting
by Joel Hiller
How do my wife and I teach our young children right from wrong and find the balance between justice and mercy? In our quest to learn what discipline is effective, I’ve talked to a lot of other parents and done a lot of soul searching, and I’ve come to a few conclusions that I hope others will find helpful.
Discipline is a hot-button topic. As teachers, parents, or grandparents, how can we do it with love and empathy? Leave a comment.
Children Should Begin to Set Goals
21 year ago
As we approach the end of one year and prepare to begin a new, we can talk for a moment about helping children to set goals.
The fantastic thing about setting goals is the importance it places on making step-by-step approaches to eventually accomplishing it. Simply stating, ‘I want to get an A in math by March’ doesn’t get very far if there are no guidelines to follow, or nothing to help mark one’s progress.
Read more by Laurie W. at LDS Blogs–Children.
How do you help children learn the steps of setting goals? Leave us a comment.
Teach the Children
01 year ago
We can use symbols of the season, like a candy cane, wreath, and Christmas tree, to teach children the true meaning of Christmas. This complete family home evening lesson from Tracy at Family Home Evening in a Snap has everything you need, from the treat to the story to a printable clip-art page. (more…)
How do you keep Christ in Christmas? How do you teach the meaning of Christmas to children? We’d love your comments.
Parenting with the Spirit
0yourLDSneighborhood News for Monday, 28 November, 2011
Effective Parenting, Part 2
by Russ Beck
Most of us tend to parent in the same basic fashion as our mother and father. It feels natural and right to us. We are emotionally invested in our parents and love them, which means trying to look with objective eyes at how we were raised is not easy. We tend to feel as if we are betraying loved ones when we even consider a different parenting style. Yet it is essential for us to predetermine what kind of parents we want to be—otherwise, we just end up “doing what comes naturally.” The results may not be what we truly desire for our children.
What parenting techniques have worked for you? Leave a comment.
