Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
I can be kind to my family.
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and treated him unkindly. How can you help the children understand the importance of being kind to others, especially family members?
Possible Activities
To tell the story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis 37, you could use the pictures in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families or “Joseph in Egypt” (in Old Testament Stories). Let the children help by sharing details they know about the story. Ask them questions such as, “How were Joseph’s brothers unkind to him?” Help the children think of things the brothers could have done to show love to Joseph. What should we do when we feel anger toward members of our family?
If these are not big enough for your class, then instead of printing, send the pdf to your favorite copy center, and they can print it in the size you like.
Show a picture of a family (see Gospel Art Book, no. 112), or invite the children to draw pictures of their families. Ask them to share ways they can be kind to their family members.
Sing together a song about loving our families, such as “A Happy Family” (Children’s Songbook, 198). What can we do to help our families be happy?
Let the children color this week’s activity page and, in the space provided, draw a picture of family members being kind.
God can help me when bad things happen.
Many bad things happened to Joseph, but he chose to keep the commandments and the Lord was with him. Young children can learn from this that God wants to help them during hard times in their lives.
Possible Activities
Describe some of the difficult things that happened to Joseph (see Genesis 37:23–28; 39:20; or “Joseph’s Inspired Dreams” and “Joseph in Egypt,” in Old Testament Stories). After you tell the children about each difficulty Joseph faced, invite them to repeat, “The Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2).
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Share pictures of the Savior helping people who were facing challenges (see Gospel Art Book, nos. 40–43). Invite the children to share how the Savior was helping the people. Share your testimony that the Lord can help us when bad things happen to us.
Sing a song about the Savior’s loving care for us, such as “Jesus Is Our Loving Friend” (Children’s Songbook, 58).
Share an experience when you have felt God’s love during a challenging time. Show a picture of Jesus, and invite the children to share how they feel about Him.
The children can color the picture while you write down in the corners what they say about their feelings for Jesus Christ.
God can warn me of danger.
God helped Joseph understand that Pharaoh’s dreams were a warning to prepare for hard times coming in the future. Help the children understand that God can warn them of danger, including spiritual danger.
Possible Activities
Scatter pictures of food around the room, and invite the children to gather them and “store” them in a container. Use this activity to tell the children about how God warned Pharaoh to prepare for a time when there wouldn’t be food (see Genesis 41:15–36, 47–57).
I think it would be good to "store" this paper food in a tuba-wear container with a sealed lid.
Let the children draw pictures of the things Pharaoh dreamed about and then use their pictures to teach their families at home.
Show a picture of the current prophet. Tell the children about teachings or warnings God has given us through him.
Explain that we will be blessed and protected as we follow the prophet. Invite the children to act out things they can do to follow the prophet’s counsel.
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
If I am faithful, God will help me during difficult times.
Even though Joseph had many difficult trials, he remained faithful and “the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3). His experiences can help the children feel confident that God will help them during trials.
Possible Activities
Ask the children to find words or phrases in Genesis 39:1–3, 20–23; 41:38 that show that God was with Joseph during his hard times.
For the older children you will pass out the pieces to the colored coat and have them look up the scripture, if they isn't enough pieces you can team up some kids together.
Print at the top.
If possible, invite the children to make a small sign displaying one of the phrases they found. Encourage them to take their signs home to remind them that the Lord will be with them during their trials.
Invite the children to share what they think the phrase “the Lord was with Joseph” means (Genesis 39:2). Invite them to share experiences when they felt that the Lord was with them or their families during a hard time. Share similar experiences from your life.
I can be happy when good things happen to others.
Jealousy led Joseph’s brothers to make terrible choices. Their wrong choices hurt Joseph and broke their father’s heart. This story can help the children choose to be happy when others are blessed by the Lord.
Possible Activities
Invite the children to review Genesis 37:3–11 and draw pictures of Joseph’s coat and his two dreams. How did Joseph’s brothers feel about Joseph? How could they have responded differently? Discuss why it is important to be happy when good things happen to other people.
Ask the children to share some situations in which a person might feel jealous of someone else. Sing together a song about showing love to others, such as “Love One Another” (Children’s Songbook, 136–37). Emphasize that Heavenly Father can help us replace feelings of jealousy with feelings of love.
With the Lord’s help, I can flee temptation.
As the children you teach face temptations throughout their lives, they can gain strength from Joseph’s example of fleeing temptation.
This video is an object lesson idea of how to avoid temptation.
1. As you sprinkle the pepper you (or they) can name some things that are temptations to them. (gossiping, being mean to family members, or cheating in school).
2. Have one of the kids put their finger in, notice how they got some pepper on their finger? They weren't protected or prepared to fight against temptation.
3. Have another child put dish-soap on their finger and try again. Now it repelled the temptation. Make a list of things that help us fight against temptation. (Scripture study, prayer, having good friends, or our love for Jesus Christ.)
Possible Activities
Show a picture of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (see Gospel Art Book, no. 11), and share the story in Genesis 39:7–12. How did Joseph resist temptation? Help the children find words in Genesis 39:7–12 that answer this question—for example, Joseph knew that being with Potiphar’s wife would be a “sin against God” (verse 9).
Invite the children to think of situations in which children their age might be tempted to make wrong choices. Ask them to role-play how they could follow Joseph’s example in these situations—for example, what are some ways we can remember God when we are tempted?
Display two magnets, representing God and Satan, and a small metal object like a paper clip, representing us. Use the magnets to illustrate that the closer we are to God, the stronger His influence will be on us, and the same is true of getting closer to Satan. What can we do to draw close to God? How can the Holy Ghost help us?
Encourage Learning at Home
Invite the children to share ways to complete the following sentence: “I can be like Joseph by .” Ask them to share with their families how they completed the sentence.
I have a cute St. Patrick's Day gift tag, for sale on my etsy page. Thank you for your purchases, the money goes to supporting the website and programs used to develop the art.
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See you next Week.
Love
Crystal