Wednesday, January 20, 2016

FHE Monday: Nursery Lesson #12

Poor GB was so wound up when we started FHE, it took a while to get his attention. It reminded me that it's important to present each point of the lesson in a different way-- if looking at a picture doesn't work, try singing a song or doing an activity verse.

Lesson 12: I Can Pray with My Family

Opening Song: I Am A Child of God

Scripture: 3 Nephi 18:21
Show a picture of Jesus. Jesus told us we should pray with our family.

Lesson: Show a picture of a family praying together. Show how they are kneeling with their arms folded and eyes closed.
Have Daddy demonstrate saying a prayer, and see if GB and Mommy can copy. We can be reverent during prayer.

Song: Family Prayer (189)
Let us gather in a circle (walk around in a circle)
And kneel in family prayer (stop walking and kneel)
To thank our Heavenly Father (fold arms)
For the blessings we all share.

Sing the song more than once if necessary.

Conclusion: Practice saying, “I can pray with my family.” End with brief testimony.

Because this lesson was so short, we did a lot of repetition. Husband Man demonstrated folding arms and closing eyes a bunch, and we sang the song about three times. As long as we were excited and sort of playful about it, he was engaged... for the most part, anyways!

Monday, January 11, 2016

FHE Monday: Nursery Lesson #11


This lesson is short and sweet. Wiggly boys like short and sweet!

Opening Song: A Happy Family (I love mommy, she loves me…)

Lesson: Show a picture of a happy family (or a family photo of your own). Is the family happy, or sad? Heavenly Father gave us families so we could be happy.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32… “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
(We emphasized the "be ye kind one to another" part, since that was pretty much all GB would sit through.)
We can show our family that we love them by being kind and helpful.

Activity: Go around each member of the family, and suggest ways we can help them. Act the ideas out as you say them. “How can we help mommy? We can give hugs! We help clean up!” etc.

Conclusion: Practice saying “I love my family!” Could also sing A Happy Family again.
 End with brief testimonies.

Closing Song: Families Can Be Together Forever

 We were a little bad at the roleplaying activity--for some reason being put on the spot to think of ways GB could help Daddy was difficult! Oops... A good idea might be to think of at least one or two things per person, just in case.

These kinds of lessons seem overly simple and short, but I love them because it brings me back to the basic essentials of the Gospel-- we have a family, and we love them! Sometimes those simple messages are what we need the most to fuel our spiritual flame.

FHE Monday: Nursery Lesson #10

We started off this lesson by reviewing the previous lesson.

Opening Song: I Am a Child of God

Review: Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Repeat the activity verse from last week:
I have a special body
Heavenly Father gave to me. (touch hands to chest)
He gave me ears so I might hear (cup hand around ear)
And eyes that I might see. (point to eyes)
He gave me hands so I can clap, (clap hands)
Two feet that turn around. (turn around)
And when I want, I touch my toes (bend over and touch toes)
Way down upon the ground.
When I think about my body, (put finger to head)
The best part of it is
That Heavenly Father planned it
To look very much like His. (sit down quietly)
Does Daddy/Mommy/GB have a body? Yes! It looks just like Heavenly Father's.

Lesson: Show a picture of a family. Who is in the family? (A mommy, daddy, brother, sister)
Can the baby walk? Talk? Jump? (etc- do things that GB likes)
GB was once a baby too, but then he grew bigger!

Song: Once There Was a Snowman
Sing the Once There Was a Baby verse:
Once there was a baby, baby, baby,
Once there was a baby, small small small!
Then he started growing, growing, growing,
Then he started growing, tall tall tall! 
GB was a baby, but then he started growing! Can GB walk? Talk? Jump? Yes!
As you get bigger, you need to take care of your body so you can keep doing those things.

Picture: Show the illustration from the manual. Point to each of the five images, and talk about how those things help you grow healthy and strong. Optional: color the picture.

Conclusion: Brief testimonies about how grateful you are for your body. Practice saying “I will take care of my body!”

GB had a great time doing the songs, but a tough time sitting down after all the wiggly stuff to look at the pictures. Another idea could be to use props and actions to talk about the five images, ie using play food (or real food) and running around and pretending to sleep, etc. I also made sure to emphasize that these things help him to grow healthy and strong. Repetition works great for little kids!