Ponderize

I enjoyed our church General Conference this past weekend. One of the speakers gave members a challenge to ponder and memorize a scripture each week. He said

"I invite you to “ponderize” one verse of scripture each week. The word ponderize is not found in the dictionary, but it has found a place in my heart. So what does it mean to ponderize? I like to say it’s a combination of 80 percent extended pondering and 20 percent memorization.

There are two simple steps:

First, choose a verse of scripture each week and place it where you will see it every day.

Second, read or think of the verse several times each day and ponder the meaning of its words and key phrases throughout the week."

In an effort to encourage my children to also begin to ponderize, I created a puzzle that they can write their scripture on the back of a puzzle piece and put it up on a picture of themselves to symbolize how they are putting on the Armor of God through their scripture memorization.

The picture is a coloring page from here (waycoolbibleschool.com) and the jigsaw puzzle from here (birdscards.com).

I'm going to have them choose a topic they want to learn more about and we'll look for a scripture or scriptures together.

General Conference I Spy

Here's one more General Conference Activity. I've used so many that other people have done so here is my little contribution. We're excited to try it tomorrow! Let me know if you want me to send you the doc. Happy Conference. :)

General Conference I Spy Activity

General Conference I Spy Activity Page 2

Gospel Principles for Kids Lesson 11: The Life of Christ

The Life of Christ

This is a great lesson in the manual. Click here for the full lesson. However, I felt like one lesson to cover the life of Christ was not going to work for our family. I decided we'd do a timeline of the life of Christ. I found some great New Testament timeline cards on this website. There are 3 sets. Birth to Zacchaes, Holy Week, Empty Tomb to Ascension. If you click on them it will automatically download them. I also have them in a single email if you want to contact me with subject: New Testament Timeline Cards. It states these can be used for classroom or personal use.

Here is the website again for those who don't like links: http://catholicblogger1.blogspot.com/2009/11/birth-of-jesus-to-ascension-cards.html

I found a white roll of craft paper at walmart in the craft aisle that is like 3 'x 30' for $3 or $4 that we'll cut and put the pictures up on as we talk about the events in His life.  We'll also try to cover the topics put forward in the manual as we talk about His life.

I liked the artist depictions so also found this book on Amazon:

There is a companion volume entitled The Parables of Jesus for kids. 

So we're taking a break from the manual while we do this. Sorry for those who are following along. Hopefully we'll be back soon!

Gospel Principles for Kids Lesson 10: Scriptures

Scriptures

We had a good time with this lesson. I pulled out all the scriptures that we use in our family scripture reading as well as some flannel board stories. The kids were excited when the saw all of those things. 

The Scriptures Are Available to Us Today

I showed them a map of the world and talked about how God speaks to people in every land because we are all His children and He loves everyone. I showed them where the Bible was written, then the Book of Mormon. We then talked about Joseph Smith and how he also kept a record of revelation from God and it is called the Doctrine and Covenants. I pointed out to them the areas where that record was written. 

2 Nephi 29:11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

I then asked the kids what their favorite scripture story is and we took turns telling our favorite stories from the scriptures.  

I ended with my testimony about why we have scriptures and reminded them of the story of Lehi sending his sons back to wicked Jerusalem for scriptures and how if we want to know what God wants us to do we need to study and learn from the scriptures.  They are our guide back to Him.

Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual. Scripture and pictures come from lds.org. Click here for the full lesson.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Discussion

We have been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together with our kids.  Decided to make it a Family Home Evening discussion on character and why Willy Wonka could trust Charlie with his factory.  We will also discuss what would make Wonka not want to trust the other children.  Update: We then likened this to how Heavenly Father wants to give us all that He has and how we can earn His trust.

We will start with coloring this picture which is perfect aside from Mike Teavee missing a few pistols.

Then we'll discuss the characters, using the scenarios from the chart below.

I'll try to include questions along the way such as "Can you think of a time when a movie or show became more important than someone in your family?" or "Can you think of a time when winning became more important than a friend or someone in your family?"

We'll end with the question, which kid do you want to be like and why and hope the lesson sank in.. :)

Update: This turned out to be a super cool lesson on the plan of salvation. In the end we talked about who you would trust with your whole chocolate factory and who you wouldn't and why. We then talked about how Heavenly Father wants to give us all that He has too, so how can we show Him that He can trust us with it?

Gospel Principles for Kids Lesson 9: Prophets of God

Prophets of God

Prophets Are God’s Representatives on the Earth

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

I used this picture to explain how God calls prophets in each time period and that is how he speaks to his children.  Here is the link for the original picture: http://www.mormonshare.com/lds-clipart/lds-dispensations-handout-2

Then I used information from these two links for stories and pictures of the latter-day prophets.

http://intheleafytreetopsthebirdssing.blogspot.com/2012/03/latter-day-prophets.html

https://www.lds.org/friend/2001/02/sharing-time-president-gordon-b-hinckley-is-our-prophet-today?lang=eng

I used the pictures from the first link and put them inside the inner wheel for my illiterate children (if you use it, good luck sizing it ;).  I also put a picture of President Monson and a picture representing listening/following spiritual promptings just on the front of the wheel.

Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.

Gospel Principles for Kids Lesson 8: Praying to Our Heavenly Father

Praying to Our Heavenly Father

Prayer is a sincere, heartfelt talk with our Heavenly Father. As we pray to our Heavenly Father, we should tell Him what we really feel in our hearts, confide in Him, ask Him for forgiveness, plead with Him, thank Him, express our love for Him.

We did this prayer craft and then played prayer bingo to talk about the how, when, why, for whom, and for what.  It was a big hit at our house and we wished we weren't short on time. I kept the calling cards in their columns and we did one from each column before starting back with the first and talked about them while finding them on our cards. :)

Praying kids printable craft

Prayer Bingo Cards

For younger kids an activity that also works well is to put pictures of eyes, ears, arms, head, mouth, and knees into a bag or bowl and let the kids draw them out and then tell the group what these parts should be doing when praying.

There are so many wonderful stories about prayer in the Friend magazine archives.  I like this video and if you have time, a few stories would be great too.  Here is my favorite (but we didn't get to it): https://www.lds.org/friend/2003/07/miracle-of-the-fishes.

Quoted material, titles and headings come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Principles manual unless otherwise noted. Click here for the full lesson.