First Day of Spring Activities

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and here are a couple of activities from my blog that we plan to do.  You can find these printables in a free download at the end of this post.

Roll a flower:  Just print the page and grab a dice.  You can do one for each player or just share the main page and use your own blank paper.  The first player will roll a dice.  If they get a 2 they will draw a flower pot.  Then then their turn is over.  If they already have rolled the number they do nothing and it moves to the next person.  Continue taking turns until someone has finished their flower.

Nature Scavenger hunt you can use this page and check off items as you see them.  Another fun thing I've done in the past was to give each of my kids a paper bag and let them gather different items from outside.  We brought them in and made a collage with their collections.  I think we are going to take a camera and take pictures of the items as we find them.  After we will download and print and make a collage.

Our final activity is to make graham cracker bird houses.  You can find my post for this here.

Download Here

Come Follow Me: Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 18 (June 10-16)

This week we are covering Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, & John 18 during our Come Follow Me lessons.  All of the printables are in a free download at the end of this post.  The next few weeks we are covering the last few days of Christ's life and then his Resurrection. I've loved diving a little deeper with each event and I know my testimony has been strengthened. I do think some of these topics can be a little harder to teach younger children (even older children). My hope is you will find something that will help you teach your family about the great love our Heavenly Father and Savior have for us.  

The Last Supper:  This is a great time to teach about the sacrament.  We had a lesson last year on this topic and I thought a lot of the activities I made for that would be perfect for this week.  

Bible Video: Minute 2:20-3:24is . There are also two other great options in the primary manual.

 Cut apart and fold the words back so your kids can't see them. Read or tell the story of the last supper and when you get to the part about the bread pause and ask them if they know what it represents.  Do the same for the water.  After they answer the question you can unfold the paper and read that statement.  

This is also a good time to learn a few ways we can be more reverent during the Sacrament.  One way is to think of a favorite story about Jesus.  Take a few minutes and have the children draw a picture of their favorite story.  Then have everyone share their picture and story so we'll have lots of story ideas to think about during the Sacrament.  It would also be fun to compiled in a book that can be looked at during the Sacrament.

Older Kids may like to write down some stories, scriptures, or songs.  This printable and be cut and tucked inside their scriptures for easy reference. 

Reverence can be hard so here's a great way to review how we can be reverent during the sacrament.  Print out the Question page (the page with the boy) and print and cut the circles on the next page.  Place the circles in a bag and have the children take turns drawing them.  After ask if they have any ideas and write them on your page.

Here's another activity to teach more about being reverent during the Sacrament. Print and cut out the cards.  Take turns picking a card and decide if its something we should or should not think or do during the sacrament.  If it's something good have them give you a thumbs up or if its something we should do have them do a thumbs down or think of a different action like smiling and frowning. 

Mini coloring book with the lyrics to the song.  Print one for each child.  Cut the pages apart and bind either with staples or  hole punch the top corner and bind with a book ring or ribbon. They can color and make the book during the week and read during the Sacrament OR create the book now but let them color it during the Sacrament.

Primary suggestions: If you have an older class they can cut and staple the books together during class.  For younger classes I would have it ready ahead of time.  If you are like me and have a few kids that are not real interested in making one for themselves (this could also read as a couple of 8 year old boys that have no interest in any of my coloring activities haha)  encourage them to make one for their younger siblings. My hope is that they will bring this little book to church with them and look through it during Sacrament meeting.

Sacrament Puzzle: Print and cut into 5 puzzle pieces-make sure you have one question on each puzzle piece. Make sure you have one question per puzzle piece.  Place pieces on the table or hide around the room.  Answer the questions and put the puzzle together.  (B&W version also included)

A cute visual for the week :)

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Garden Of Gethsemane: Often we focus on our Savior suffering for our sins but he also suffered for all of our pain and saddness.  "Explain that Jesus, in some way that we do not fully understand, felt all the pain and sadness that everyone has ever felt. This means that He can help us feel better when we feel sad, hurt, or upset." (Primary Manual)I love the following two quotes:

Elder Bednar explain The Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that affected us.

There is no physical pain, no heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I love how sister Linda S. Reeves explained this-our Savior has taken upon Himself not only all our sins but also our pains and our suffering and afflictions so that He can know what we feel and how to comfort us.

Bible Video-found here.  For little ones this animated one is a good option.

Gethsemane song: This is one of my favorite Primary songs and a great way to talk about the events of the atonement.  I love this sweet version or this one from lds.org

I love the story President Hinckley shared years ago about a new teacher and two students named Tim and John.  He called it a modern day parable of sorts.  I think this story really helps illustrate what our Savior did for us.  He took our spot and "took our licking for us"  He did what we could not do for ourselves. 

Coloring Page: I felt my Savior's love coloring page.  There is a quote from the song "Gethsemane" and a spot to write or draw a picture about a time you felt the Savior's love.

I can follow the Savior's example game: Jesus provided the perfect example for us.  When asked to do a unimaginably hard thing the Savior did what Heavenly Father needed him to do.  There are times when we are asked to do hard things.  Things we may not want to do or are scared to do.  We can follow the Saviors example and respond with "Not my will but thine."  Another important part of this story is that Heavenly Father did not leave him but sent an angel to help strengthen him.  
After you share this part of the story you can play this fun game that also works as a great review.  Its simple.  On a players turn they can share one way they can or have follow the Saviors example.  After they answer they roll a dice and move the correct number of spaces.  Then its the next person turn.  The first person to make it to the finish line wins.  
To set up: print and tape the two pieces of the board together.  You will also need a game marker for each person (buttons or other game pieces work great) and a dice. 
If someone is having a hard time coming up a way they can follow the Christ's example remind them of some of the lessons we've had recently-how have they served someone, shown love to a neighbor, helped a stranger, blessed or helped someone, read the scriptures, shared the gospel, etc.

That's it for this week!  I hope you find something that works for your family or primary class.  As always if you have any questions or trouble downloading a file or find a mistake please let me know!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Download the Free Printables Here

Come Follow Me: Easter (April 15-21)

This week is all about Easter. There is not a specific set of scriptures for the week and I think we go over many of the suggested scriptures later this year as well.  With that being said I am not diving deep into any particular topic but I hope with the following activities my children (and primary class) will feel the spirit as we talk about our Savior and the precious gifts he gave us.  

For our scripture study this week we will be following this awesome outline I found in the Friend.  Each day has a couple of sentences about Jesus's life and a scripture to go along with it.  There is also a song for each day but I ran out of room so I didn't include it in the printable-if you are interested in the songs you can find them in the link to the Friend.

I have two options for this activity.  The first is paper eggs and basket (included in the download at the end of this post).  Print the basket, the eggs, and the 2 pages of quotes (the ones that are vertical).  Cut out the eggs and quotes.  You will not need the numbers above the quotes but they are there as a reference so you can glue the quote to the correct egg.  You can cut out the basket or leave it as is.  Tape the eggs to the basket.  (cut along the top of the basket to tuck them inside) Starting Sunday take off egg #1.  Read the sentences and look up the scripture reference.  Repeat each day ending with egg #8 on Easter Sunday.

The Second option to do this is to use plastic eggs and the full page of quotes (the ones that are horizontal).  Cut the word strips out and place one in each egg numbered 1-8.  There are NOT numbers on this page but they are in order.  So be careful as you place them in eggs to number them correctly.  We are doing ours this way and I made a set for each one of my kids.  There is also a little candy inside the egg.  

To set up for this activity I hid all the eggs and we went on an Easter egg hunt.  I didn't worry about the numbers until after all the eggs were found.  We sorted them to make sure every one had eggs numbered 1-8.  I am actually on top of it this week because we did this for Activity Days today and only had 2 girls show up-one being my daughter haha.  So I had quite a few extra.  I originally planned to use just one for my family and have an extra bag of candy so they would all get one each day.

For our craft we are going with the same egg and basket theme.  Print the basket that says "I'm trying to be like Jesus"for each person.  Color the basket.  During the week an egg can be added to their basket as they do different things to follow Jesus this week.  An couple of examples-help mom with an extra chore or play with someone that needs a friend at recess.  They can color the egg and glue it to their paper. (you can cut along the top of the basket to tuck the eggs inside)

Variations- 

1.instead of the paper eggs use dot markers to make an egg.

2. make just one for the family instead of individual ones.  At the end of the week share some ways you tried to be like Jesus.

3.  Print the plain black and white basket-instead of adding eggs for acts you do draw a picture on the egg that corresponds with your reading that day or your favorite stories of Jesus.  There are a couple of blank eggs but the back of the decorated eggs would work for pictures.

This week I will be sharing this book I made for my family last year.  It has the words from the General Conference talk Elder Utchdorf gave last year.  I love it.  The words are so powerful.  I do have little kids and I read it to them.  They may not understand all of it but I hope they can feel the spirit as we talk about our Savior and the wonderful gifts he gave us.

Here's a few more pictures

You can find the download for this book here.  

We are also going to use these awesome puppets (not sure what to call them) to tell the story of The Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection.  You can find them here.  I also included a smaller set you can use as a coloring page.

The post also contains a game to learn part of the 3rd article of faith, a coloring page, and questions for a game.  You can download all of these here.

Additional ideas:

"Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet"  a great video showing a story from one of Elder Holland's talk. It's a good one that I plan to share with my family this week. (Also referenced in the Sunday School Manual)

Gethsemane song: This is one of my favorite Primary songs and a great way to talk about the events of the atonement.  I love this sweet version or this one from lds.org

Easter story from the Friend that is perfect for little ones (found here)

Great video Clip called Because of Him (found here)

Bible Videos 

excerpts from the Living Christ

Download your Free Printables here!  

(Remember the Book and puppet links are separate and can be found above by their picture).

I have an awesome Bonus for you today!  Heather from My LDS Preschool has kindly offered her R is for Resurrection set free for my readers!  Her activities are so fun and perfect for Come Follow Me this week. 

Here's what she has to say about this set:

This week for Come Follow Me we have the special opportunity to reflect on Christ’s life and love as we celebrate His resurrection this Easter.

My LDS Preschool is excited to share part of their curriculum to enhance Come Follow Me this week. In “R is for Resurrection,” you will find free lesson plans and printables which focus on the Savior’s resurrection. While each lesson plan has many resources to combine gospel principles with a preschool curriculum, there are two sections that you will find most appropriate this week.

From Lesson 1 you will find their “Scripture Lesson” which provides an object lesson and helps teach about the resurrection of Jesus with an interactive cut out printable. In lesson 2 you will find their “Storybook Lesson” which tells a delightful story to illustrate the symbol of the Easter lily and what Jesus’ resurrection means for us.

Happy Easter!

R is for Resurrection Lesson Plan 1

R is for Resurrection Lesson Plan 2

R is for Resurrection Printables

These ideas are so fun and I'm excited to share the cute Easter Lily story to my kids.  Did you also see the Resurrection Roll recipe!  Thanks again Heather :)

Also the adorable graphics used in this weeks post are from Clever Cat Creations and fonts by Kimberly Geswein Fonts

Jesus Christ is our Savior (Primary 2 lesson 41) Primary Lesson Help

Here are some free primary lesson helps for Lesson 41, Jesus Christ is our Savior (found here).

Scripture story puppets.  These were made to stand on their own. There are two sizes-a large set for teaching purposes and a small set to be used as a coloring page for the children.  They can color and put together their own set to share with their families.    Print (preferably the large one on cardstock), cut around the rectangular base and then as close to the images as you prefer.  Fold the base forward on one side and back on the other side and this should allow them to stand on their own.  For the stone  attach it to the tomb with a brad so you can roll it.

Activity-Set up picture with the numbered paper like suggested in the lesson.  Print and cut out the questions.  Place in a bowl and have the kids take turns drawing a question.  Pull off paper that corresponds with the number.

Enrichment Activity #2: Print the word strips and cut apart.  Place in order and read through once.  Then take off 2 or 3 words and try again.  Keep going until all the words are gone.

Just in case you need an easy coloring page I made one for you.

Download Lesson Helps here and coloring page here.

Extra ideas:

I love these bible videos found here.  There is one for each part of the scripture story.

Another idea would be to use this FHE idea. It follows the words of Elder Uchtdor's April General Conference talk.

Adorable graphics from Melonheadz, Chirp Graphics and  fonts by Hello Literacy

Behold the Man FHE

This might be my favorite Family Home Evening we've done.  We used the General Conference talk Behold the Man! By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  I loved his description of the Atonement and Resurrection.  For our lesson I created a mini book using his words and beautiful photos from lds.org. 

We read through it and shared some of our thoughts and answered some questions.  I loved the simplicity and message of this lesson.  Here's a few more pages.

I printed mine with at Walmart using their photo flip book option ($6).  The quality is fine but if you want a nicer look I'd go with a different option. You can also print the photos and add to your own photo book or bind yourself.  If you want to save money or ink you can pull the images up on your computer and use it as a slide show...I tried including a power point option but I'm not sure how it will work on your end.

Download the book 

Jpeg (all images are 5x7s)

power point

After FHE I put our book in our church bag.  My kids loved looking at it during Sacrament.  Its such a beautiful way to keep the Savior in our thoughts.

I always like to create a printable that we leave up all week as a reminder of our lesson.  I love this quote.

To Print:

Click on the picture.  Right click to save to your computer.

Print at home or send it to your favorite place to print pictures.

If printing at home I like to insert the picture in a word document.  Size and print on cardstock.

These are formatted as 5x7 but can easily be resized to fit your needs.

You can find our other General Conference Family Home Evening here.