Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
Keeping the commandments will help me know they are true.
Jesus taught that we can gain a testimony of the truths He shared as we live them. The peace we feel when we obey the commandments helps us know they are true. Consider how you might teach the children this truth.
Possible Activities
This is a 10 commandment life size board game. You set up the commandments like a snake like board game on the floor. Then have the child/ren roll the 4 sided dice (you don't want them to move too fast, there are only 10 commandments.) They count their spots and you ask them the question. Have the next child roll and repeat. If two children are on the same spot you can tell them to both put one foot on the spot (or three) But ask them all the same question tell them they need to come up with a different answer, if they can. At the end of the board game is a star that reads "finish." After everyone is finished lift up the star and show the picture of Jesus on the other side. Bear your testimony that as they keep the commandments they will feel/come closer to Jesus Christ.
Summarize John 7:17 in words the children will understand. Help them know that obeying the commandments helps us feel closer to Jesus Christ. For example, you could sing together a song like “Keep the Commandments” or “Choose the Right Way” (Children’s Songbook, 146–47, 160–61). Ask the children to listen for how we will be blessed when we keep the commandments.
Share an experience when you gained a testimony that a commandment was from God because you lived that commandment, such as paying tithing or forgiving someone who was unkind. Invite the children to think of an experience they had when they obeyed a commandment. Ask them to share how they felt when they obeyed.
To go to the churches website and see a list of stories about tithing, click, tap on this image.
Ask the children to draw pictures of themselves obeying a commandment. (Help them think of examples.) Invite them to share their pictures with each other and talk about the happiness they get from obeying that commandment.
(Click on the image to be taken to the churches website to watch this.)
Jesus obeyed His Father.
Jesus Christ always did things that pleased His Father in Heaven. How can you help the children find ways to follow His example?
Possible Activities
Help the children repeat what Jesus said about Heavenly Father in John 8:29: “I do always those things that please him.” Ask them to share things Jesus did that made Heavenly Father happy. Show them some pictures from the Gospel Art Book to give them ideas.
Here is the puzzle under sheet. Place this on the floor (All of you can sit on the floor) and talk about it with the children. (Optional) Ask the children if it made God happy to see Jesus suffer in the garden? No, but it made Him very happy that Jesus saved all his children, because He really loves us. Then hand out the pieces to the puzzle and have the children place the puzzles leaving the last one "I do always those things that please him." After every piece is placed have them say that scripture with you, until the puzzle is complete. (Repeat, if there is an interest). With the completed Heavenly Father ask them if there are things they can do to make Heavenly Father Happy like Jesus did.
Cut out and pass out the pieces. With each piece placed say the scripture together, so that when the puzzle is complete the scripture is memorized.
Ask the children what makes them happy. Or invite a parent of one of the children to share an experience when the child did something that made the parent feel pleased, or happy. What can we do to make Heavenly Father happy? Invite the children to draw pictures of themselves doing those activities to take home and remind them.
Here is a drawing coloring page that covers this part of the primary lessons.
Jesus knows me and loves me.
The parable of the good shepherd can help the children understand that Jesus loves them and knows who they are.
Possible Activities
Give the children pictures that represent something in the parable of the good shepherd, like sheep, a shepherd, or a wolf. Select some verses from John 10:1–16 to read to the children, and ask them to hold up their pictures when they hear you read about the things in their pictures. Help the children think of ways Jesus is like a shepherd to us. Bear your testimony that the Savior loves us and will guide us back to Him.
It would be fun, to hold up these masks on their faces as you read these verses.
Show the picture of Jesus and the lambs in this week’s outline in Come Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. How do we know Jesus loves the lambs? How can we tell that the lambs love Jesus? How can we show Jesus that we love Him?
Here is a precious primary song that works well with this.
Click on the image to be taken to Etsy.
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
Keeping the commandments will help me know they are true.
You and the children you teach may have had experiences living gospel truths and learning that they are true. How can you build on those experiences as you teach?
Possible Activities
Write each verse of John 7:14–17 on different pieces of paper, and display them in random order. Ask the children to put them in the correct order and check John 7:14–17 to see if they are right. Invite the children to split into pairs and share their understanding of each verse with their partner. How has obedience to God’s commandments helped them know the commandments are true?
Share examples from the scriptures showing how people were blessed for living gospel truths, such as Daniel (see Daniel 6) or Elisabeth (see Luke 1:5–14). What blessings have we been given for obeying commandments?
A few days before class, invite one of the children to write about a time when he or she gained a testimony of a commandment by living it. During class, ask the child to share what he or she wrote.
Click on the image to be taken to the churches website to watch this video.
The truth can make me free.
Some people think that living the gospel restricts them. How can you use John 8:31–36 to help the children understand that living the gospel actually makes us free?
Possible Activities
Invite the children to read John 8:31–36 and share what they think it means to be a servant of sin. How do the teachings of Jesus help us be free?
Show a lock to represent sin and a key to represent how truths of the gospel can make us free. For example, knowing about the Savior’s Atonement can give us freedom to repent and be forgiven of our sins. Or knowing about the Word of Wisdom can give us freedom to avoid addictions.
Elder Renlund, tells a story about a firecracker and the joy of repentance.
Jesus is like a shepherd to me.
As you study the parable of the good shepherd, look for truths it teaches about our relationship with the Savior. How will knowing these truths bless the children?
Possible Activities
Write good shepherd and hireling on the board. Explain that a hireling is someone who is hired to do a job for money. Ask the children to list differences they find in John 10:1–18 between a good shepherd and a hireling. Why would you want to follow the good shepherd rather than the hireling? How is Jesus like a shepherd to us?
It is a good thing to show the children after they make their list.
I love this scripture, have the children draw a picture of themselves on the sheep and bear testimony that He gave His life for them.
Draw or show a picture of a door. Read together John 10:7–9, and ask the children how Jesus is like a door. According to verse 9, what blessings come to those who “enter in” the door? How do we enter the door that Jesus Christ provides us?
Encourage Learning at Home
Help the children think of a commandment they can obey more fully. Ask them to try to obey that commandment during the coming week.