Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
When I make a wrong choice, Jesus Christ can help me change.
Help the children understand that mistakes are part of mortal life and that we can receive help from Jesus Christ to overcome them.
Possible Activities
Share a simple story, from your life or from the Friend or Liahona, about a child who made a wrong choice but received help from the Savior to be better (for example, see the video “The Shiny Bicycle” at ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Read Psalm 51:10, and share the joy you feel when the Savior helps you have “a clean heart” and “a right spirit.”
Here is an activity you can do from an old lesson. Just click on the image.
Show the children this week’s activity page. Point to each picture, and ask the children to describe what they see. Read the captions to help the children learn about repentance and forgiveness.
I can tell others about Jesus Christ.
The faith-filled words of a child have unique power to touch hearts. Give the children confidence that their testimony of Jesus Christ can help others.
We can talk with others about what Jesus has done for us.
Possible Activities
Read to the children Psalm 71:8, and draw a large mouth on the board. Ask them to help you “fill” the mouth with things we can tell others about Jesus Christ.
-God loves us.
-He loves us so he gave us prophets.
-God gave us the scriptures.
-God gave us the beautiful world we love in.
-God gave us our bodies.
You can cut out the extra paper and have the children add some of their own pictures to the mouth.
Pass around a picture of Jesus Christ. Ask the children to take turns holding the picture and saying one thing they know about Him. What has He done for us? (Pictures in the Gospel Art Book could provide some ideas.)
Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers.
Many of the psalms are like prayers to God for help, guidance, or protection. Consider how you can help the children build their faith that Heavenly Father hears and answers them when they pray.
Possible Activities
Ask the children how they talk with people who live far away. Show them things we can use to communicate, such as a phone or a letter. Read to them Psalm 86:7. How do we “call upon” Heavenly Father? How does He answer us?
It would fun to experiment with the phone cups. Then ask them what we need to do to talk to our Heavenly Father.
Invite the children to act out things they do every day, such as waking up, eating breakfast, leaving for school, or going to bed. Help them find times during the day when they can pray to Heavenly Father. Testify that we can pray to Him anytime, and He will always hear us.
Sing together a song about prayer, such as “A Child’s Prayer” (Children’s Songbook, 12–13). Tell about a time when God answered your prayers.
(Click on the image)
If you want a free prayer chart, here is this one:
“I will remember the works of the Lord.”
The scriptures can build our faith in Jesus Christ by helping us remember His “wonders of old.”
Possible Activities
Read to the children Psalm 77:11, and tell them how you try to “remember the works of the Lord,” including His works in your life. Invite the children to draw pictures to help them remember the great things He has done.
Show pictures from this book or from Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families to remind the children of stories they have learned in the Old Testament about great things the Lord has done for His people. Ask them which of these stories they like the most and why.
Here is a collection of pictures, that you can play a matching game with, and reflect on the stories this last year.
(Print Two for matching game)
Print two for matching game
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
Repentance is a change of heart.
Psalm 51 contains several truths about repentance. How will you help the children discover these truths?
Possible Activities
Assign each child to read one of the scripture references on this week’s activity page. Ask them to find words that teach them something about repentance. Let them write the words on the board. After everyone has shared, ask the children how they would answer a friend who asks, “What does it mean to repent?”
I think this is my new favorite, peek-a-boo wrapper cover, just click on the image.
Draw a heart on the board. Ask the children to name some sins that Satan tempts us to commit. Write those sins inside the heart. Ask the children to find the word heart in Psalm 51:10, 17. What do these verses teach us about repentance? (see also verse 6).
Help the children understand that even if we stop committing sin, our hearts need to change in order for us to repent. Ask the children to erase the sins in the heart on the board and to write new words that describe the change in our hearts when we repent. Share your testimony that God can “create in [us] a clean heart” when we repent (verse 10).
Here is a heart that you can print and cover in laminate, or cover in packaging tape, and draw with dry erase marker, and wipe off.
Here is a video about a boy in Honduras that changes his heart through repentance.
“I will remember the works of the Lord.”
The Israelites taught their children about the miracles God had done for them so that the children “might set their hope in God” (Psalm 78:7).
Possible Activities
Ask the children to share with you some of their favorite stories from the scriptures (pictures from the Gospel Art Book might help them think of stories). Why do they like these stories? What do these stories teach us about the Lord? Read together Psalms 77:11; 78:7. Why is it important to “remember the works of the Lord”?
If you want to review the stories from this year, you can print these off in the Junior primary section.
Ask the children to read Psalm 66:16 and think about or write down answers to the question “What has the Lord done for my soul?” Then let them share their answers, if they’d like. What can we do to “always remember” (Moroni 4:3; 5:2) what the Lord has done for us?
The Lord wants to forgive.
When we sin, Satan wants us to think that the Lord will never forgive us. Help the children build their faith that the Lord is “ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 86:5).
Possible Activities
Show a picture of the Savior (such as one in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families), and ask the children what words they would use to describe Him. Invite them to find words that describe Him in Psalm 86:5, 13, 15. If needed, help them define these words. What could we say to a friend who feels that God is angry at them when they sin?
This is fantastic! I think we will all be surprised how much mercy and grace our Heavenly Father has for us.
Sing with the children a song that you feel will help them understand the Savior’s forgiving nature, such as “I Stand All Amazed” (Hymns, no. 193). Share your testimony that Jesus Christ wants to forgive us.
All very beautiful! 😘