Invite Sharing
Ask the children to talk about something they did this week to share the light of the Lord with someone—perhaps by being a good example or showing love and kindness.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Before matching tell the children that Jesus sat on a mountain and taught people all these things. What they should do and blessings they will receive. Read each match-up while they make the matches, when they are all done pull out the peacemaker match-up and review that one again. Tell them that "this is what we are focusing on today. What do you think it means to be a peacemaker?"
Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
I can be a peacemaker.
The children you teach can have a powerful influence at home as they treat others with love and kindness.
Possible Activities
Read Matthew 5:9 to the children, and explain that peacemakers make any place peaceful, no matter where they are. Write on strips of paper some examples of contentious situations the children might face (for example, siblings fighting over a toy). Invite each child to pick a strip of paper. As you read each scenario, ask the children to share how they could be a peacemaker in that situation. Or share a few fictional scenarios, and help the children identify whether or not the people involved are being peacemakers.
Put these pictures on opposite sides of the room. When you read a scenario have the children choose which one it is by moving to the side of the room. When it is a "peace-breaker" situation have the stand under that picture and then correct the situation by saying what they should have done. When they have done this they can move to the "peacemaker" side.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Challenge your children to find opportunities this week to be a peacemaker. This can be a reminder. If you are looking for stickers Dollar Tree or Walmart have them.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
And of course we can't learn about the be-attitudes with a bumble bee.
(Click on the picture)
Invite a few of the children’s parents to visit your class and share examples of times when their children were peacemakers in the home.
Click on this picture to be take to the churches website.
Click on this image to be taken to the churches website. I love how it says "Being a peacemaker doesn’t mean you let other people hurt you. If someone is being really mean to you, tell a parent, friend, or trusted adult right away. You are an important child of God, and you deserve to be treated with respect!"
Jesus wants me to be a light to others.
Little children can have a powerful influence for good on others. How can you inspire them to let their light shine?
Possible Activities
Show the children several items that give light, and show a picture of children. Read Matthew 5:14–16, and tell the children that their good examples can be like a light for others to see. How can we use our light to bring others to God?
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
I did make this printable, but I recommend just showing this from your phone or iPad ...save on ink. This is from the churches website.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Shine a flashlight around the room, and invite the children to follow the light with their eyes. Use the light to lead their eyes to a picture of the Savior. How does light help us? How can we be a light to the world? Cover the flashlight. What happens if we don’t share our light or if we hide it?
Hide a flashlight in the room, and turn off the lights. Let the children try to find it. Review Matthew 5:15, and talk about why we shouldn’t hide our light.
I think it would be a good idea to hide a bunch of glow sticks (one for every child) in a canvas bag, something they can't see through. After you turn out the lights and they still can't find them open the bag a little more to give off some light. Testify why we should not hide our light.
If you would like a gift tag for the glow stick, click on the image.
Help the children find and color the hidden candles in this week’s activity page.
Sing with the children a song about being a light for others, such as “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” “Shine On,” or “I Am like a Star” (Children’s Songbook, 60–61, 144, 163).
Here is an interactive primary song.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Jesus Christ wants me to love everyone.
Younger children can begin now to practice showing love, even when they are treated unfairly by peers or siblings. As you read Matthew 5:44–45, consider how the Savior’s teachings apply to the children you teach.
Possible Activities
Restate Matthew 5:44 using words and situations the children will understand and relate to. Ask the children to share times when they showed love for someone even though it was hard. How did these experiences make them feel?
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
As a class, sing a song about loving others, such as “Love One Another” (Children’s Songbook, 136–37). What do we learn from this song about loving others?
If you would like to use this interactive primary song, click on the image to take you to the page to print it.
Give the children paper hearts labeled with the words “I will show my love for everyone.” Ask them to decorate the hearts and hang them in their homes as a reminder to love others.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
I can be happy when I live the way Jesus taught.
As you read Matthew 5:3–12, what words and phrases stand out to you? How will these teachings bless the lives of the children you teach?
Possible Activities
Create a chart on the board with two columns labeled Blessed are … and Blessing. Invite the children to search Matthew 5:3–12 looking for the qualities of those Jesus said would be blessed and the blessings He promised them. Then fill in the chart with what they find. Discuss with the children what each quality and corresponding blessing mean.
Write each quality from these verses on a card and its corresponding blessing on a card. For example, one card would say “meek,” and another would say “inherit the earth” (verse 5). Let the children match the qualities and the blessings. Ask the children to pick one of the qualities in these verses that they want to develop.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Our family played this game this week for our FHE, teenagers included. We played it like a normal matching game, but they didn't know if they made a match unless they were looking at the scriptures(:
I can be a peacemaker.
Jesus taught that peacemakers will be called the children of God. How can you inspire the children to be peacemakers?
Possible Activities
Invite a child to read Matthew 5:9 aloud. What is a peacemaker? What are ways we can be peacemakers with our families and friends? (For some ideas, see verses 21–24, 38–47.)
Ask each child to think of a situation that would need the help of a peacemaker. What would a peacemaker do in the situation?
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Invite the children to share times when they showed love for someone, even if that person was different from them or was difficult to love.
My example can light the way for others to follow Jesus.
Many of the children you teach have made baptismal covenants. Think about how the Savior’s words in Matthew 5:14–16 relate to their covenants. What messages might the Lord have in this passage for the children in your class?
This lesson teaches a lot about our baptismal covenants, click on the image to be taken there.
Possible Activities
Help the children memorize Matthew 5:16. Write the verse on the board. Read it together several times, erasing a few words each time.
The kids can practice the scripture as they put the puzzle together, then pull it a part little by little to see if they can do it with out the words and pictures.
(If you are having troubles printing, click here)
Invite the children to draw things they can do to be a light to others. Talk about how being a light to others helps us fulfill our baptismal covenants (see Mosiah 18:8–10).
Sing a song about sharing light with others, such as “Shine On” (Children’s Songbook, 144). How can we share the Savior’s light?
Ask the children to draw things that give us light. Read Matthew 5:14–16. Ask them why Jesus wants us to be a light to the world.
Invite two children to face each other, and ask one to try to make the other smile without touching him or her. Talk about the power the children have to bring happiness to others.
OBJECT LESSON
This is in the Junior Primary section, but it's a great object lesson for this scripture.
Review Matthew 5:15, and talk about why we shouldn’t hide our light.
I think it would be a good idea to hide a bunch of glow sticks (one for every child) in a canvas bag, something they can't see through. After you turn out the lights and they still can't find them open the bag a little more to give off some light. Testify why we should not hide our light.
Encourage Learning at Home
Challenge the children to watch for someone being a peacemaker this week. At the beginning of next week’s class, invite them to talk about who and what they saw.
Printing issues Note: I am so sorry for everyone that is having issues downloading or printing the printable as PDF files via the print links. The website company I work through is aware of the problem, but I don't think they will get it fixed till next week. As a work around, printing from a phone seems to have worked for some people. You can also try downloading the printable's image directly by right clicking on the image, select "save image as", and then printing the image after you have saved it to your computer. I am trying to get the normal pdf printing to work without issues as soon as possible!