Hershey Nugget Scriptures (Fun gift for Primary kids)

We are giving these to our Primary children for their birthday this year. These are made up of two Hershey Nuggets, and then have a scripture on top.

1. I used a scrapbook paper cutter to make the black squares.

2. I glued two nuggets and a red ribbon to the black squares. I learned from personal experience that hot glue does not work well. Use a soft liquid glue like Elmers. The nuggets fall off the black card stock too easily with hot glue. I also reinforced with tape along the edges.

3. I then followed a tip from The Scouters Wife to use address labels instead of trying to glue paper to the nuggets. She uses one label individually on each chocolate, which looks much nicer, but I did not have a lot of labels to spare.

4. I then bent the red ribbon over the scriptures and added a little more glue to the center of the "scriptures."

I am sharing this little project because if you would like to use the labels that I made, I am happy to email them to you. You will need Avery Template 5160. Or, you could do it the painful way and just print onto a sheet of paper and glue this onto the nuggets. It just takes a lot longer to glue individual pieces.

I'd like to give these to the children each time we celebrate a birthday in Primary, and then have them read (or help them read) the scripture chocolate they take out of the box. This will be a fun way to learn more from the scriptures, as we focus on this year's theme about the scriptures.

I Can Live with Jesus Christ Again

I Can Live with Jesus Christ Again

Christmas!

We have a special lesson planned this Sunday around our Savior, Jesus Christ, and how he is a light to the world.

I am grateful for the many resources about the true meaning of Christmas here:
https://www.lds.org/children/resources/topics/christmas?lang=eng

I also felt that this talk, Be an Example and a Light was very appropriate.

Week 4: My love for Jesus Christ grows when I study the scriptures

It took a while for me to really have a good feel for how I wanted to teach this week's Primary lesson from the Sharing Time manual (September lesson, week 4) so I wanted to share how I finally organized the outline. It was actually really simple once I started putting together the visuals - a lot more simple than I had originally planned.

I printed out pictures of Jesus, then wrote the scripture references on the back. I specifically made sure to print out the pictures that correspond to the two stories of Jesus that the outline references.

I'll have children choose pictures that are face-down, then ask the class to raise their hand and tell me the story if they know it. I'll also have the scripture reference on the back. I'll have the children read the scriptures depending on time and the difficulty of the scripture (for Junior vs. Senior Primary). I want to encourage discussion and involvement from the children as I think they learn best from each other, and from thinking about questions.

Our primary chorister has been teaching the children an amazing song called The Miracle by Shawna Edwards. There's a gorgeous video that goes with it on YouTube. We'll probably sing this song during Singing Time, but if not, I might have us sing this, or a number of other appropriate songs about Jesus, during Sharing Time. The music helps cement the lesson into their minds.

This  picture of Jesus blessing the children goes with Mark 10:13-16. For 3 Nephi 17:7, 9-12, 20-24, you could use this one.

The other pictures of Jesus that I chose were from this selection from the Gospel Art Library. Most of the pictures have scripture references that I looked up. I wrote the references and some notes on the back, so I could easily tell the story, or just have them look them up in the scriptures.

I specifically wanted to choose some of Jesus when he was younger - Primary-age :)

I will also try to follow this part of the outline, "Show a picture of Jesus blessing the little children. Have the children imagine how they would have felt if they had been there. Invite a few children to share their thoughts. Explain that they can feel close to the Savior by reading about Him in the scriptures."

Lastly, depending on how the lesson goes, I want to give the children and their teachers opportunities to raise their hand and share their favorite stories about Jesus.

April Week 2 Lesson: Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God.

I just finished re-reading the Book of Mormon a couple of weeks ago. I feel so blessed that I get to teach this lesson in church just after having finished reading this great and wonderful history. We have so much we can learn from the Book of Mormon. 

This time around, I was especially moved by the brother of Jared, to whom the Lord said, "and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou has" (Ether 3:9), and of whom Moroni wrote, "there never were greather things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared" (Ether 4:4). Joseph Smith was a modern man of great faith, and I am so grateful that because of him and his faith, we have this history from which we can be inspired, and from which we can learn the teachings of God.

I have a few visuals and interactions to help enhance this week's lesson.

1. Gold plates that I made a few years ago - this is super easy - just spray-painted some cardboard "pages" gold. I think I payed $2 for a small spray bottle. You can't tell from this picture but it's a stack of cardboard "plates," all painted gold, and the exact same size, that saved out of some packaging material. I want to also hold up an example of what type of characters were probably on the plates, which is that paper to the right.

2. Some fake trees for effect (we had a counselor teach a lesson last week who had children hold up branches to emulate being in the forest where Joseph Smith prayed. It was awesome!).

3. For Junior Primary, because they can't read, I'm going to use the symbols and shapes below but make them huge on the board, so that even if kids can't read, they can match the letter to the shape.

     a. I'll hide the letters underneath the chairs with the matching symbol on the back
     b. I'll have the kids come up 

     c. Then, the kids just have to put their letter next to a blank spot that has the matching symbol.

4. For Senior Primary, I'll hand out sheets for them to fill out with their classes OR just have it on the board and have them figure it out as a large class. Depends on time. I included the scripture though, because we'll reference it next, and I want the children to be able to take the scripture home with them.

At this point, I'd like to use the suggestion to have children share what they know about how the Book of Mormon was translated focusing on:
1. Joseph used the Urim and Thummim to help him translate
2. Joseph translated while Oliver wrote it down
3. Joseph translated the Book of Mormon in

There's a great talk on lds.org called, "The Translation Miracle of the Book of Mormon," by Robert K. Dellenbach to supplement this lesson. I am considering making some sort of "spin the wheel" fact wheel or some drawing on a poster board for children to pull items off to learn fun facts about the Book of Mormon, that this article helps teach. Some of the fun facts include:

80 - over eighty languages in which the Book of Mormon is currently in print
4 - average number of years it takes the church to translate the Book of Mormon in a new language, even with translators, scholars, computers, etc.
24 - Joseph's age when he completed translating the scriptures
3 - Likely number of years that Joseph was in elementary school
Joseph Smith was the first person in over 1400 years to read the words of the Savior as written by these prophets, like Nephi, Alma, and Mormon.
First published in 1830.
More than 150 million printed copies
3 months - length of time it took him to translate the Book of Mormon

Also, I love Oliver Cowdrey's quote in this same talk: "Oliver, reflecting on this miraculous event, testified, “Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated … the history, or record, called ‘The book of Mormon’” (Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, pp. 14–16).

Week 2: Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God.

Encourage understanding: Write power of God on the board using a code (for example, you could replace each letter with a symbol). Ask if anyone can read the message. Write a key on the board that shows which letters the symbols replaced, and have the children work in groups to decode the message. (Remind the children not to call out the answer.) Read the phrase together. Read Doctrine and Covenants 1:29. Explain that Joseph Smith could not read the writing on the gold plates without the help of the Lord. Invite the children to share what they know about how Joseph Smith was able to translate the Book of Mormon. Invite several children to share how they feel about the Book of Mormon.

Introducing Doctrines

Clearly introduce the doctrine you are teaching. This helps the children understand and apply it better. Consider ways to have the children see the words of the doctrine and commit them to memory.

Writing to our missionaries in Primary!

Our ward has a special emphasis on "missionary month" every February. The young men and young women in our ward get to experience a little of what it's like to serve a mission full-time, and to share the good news of the gospel with others.

In Primary, we do some fun things to support the overall theme. We have had missionaries that have returned recently, folks who are serving a mission currently, and folks who joined the church, come and share their experiences.

We wrote the names of all of the missionaries currently serving full-time around the world, and in some cases, pointed to where the missionary is now, on the map. We gave the children stationery so that they could write letters to the missionaries, and put their letters in the envelopes. 

2015 LDS Primary Lesson 1 - God is the Father of My Spirit

'Found some great talks to support today's Primary lesson!

You are a Child of God from President Gordon B. Hinckley on 2003.

Behold Your Little Ones by Boyd K. Packer on April 1973.

Pretend, my little friends, that my hand represents your spirit. It is alive. It can move by itself. Suppose that this glove represents your mortal body. It cannot move. When the spirit enters into your mortal body, then it can move and act and live. Now you are a person—a spirit with a body, living on the earth.

It was not intended that we stay here forever. Just for a lifetime. Little ones, you are just beginning your lifetime.

... Little children, our Heavenly Father knew that we would need help. So, in the plan, he provided for someone to come into the world and help us.

Four Titles by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf on April 2013.

One title that defines all of us in the most fundamental way is son of Heavenly Father. No matter what else we are or do in life, we must never forget that we are God’s literal spirit children. We were His children before we came to this world, and we will be His children forevermore. This basic truth should change the way we look at ourselves, our brothers and sisters, and life itself.

Heavenly Father Has a Special Plan by Elder Yoshihiko Kikchi on April 2000.