We have new printing solution for the 2024 year! I'm hoping everyone will be able to print now. Let me know.
Here are some ideas for getting to know you activities. You can send these to the parents/children to fill out early and read them to the class to see if they can guess which child you are describing.
Here is a getting to know you activity that you can do with the students, but go by your inspiration, this may be challenging for very young children. I recommend this more for a "Meet your teacher" activity that primaries will do not on a Saturday before they meet their teachers.
Ideas for Teaching Children
Ideas for Learning at Home and at Church
Questions like these can help you as you ponder: Why do we have the Book of Mormon? How is the Book of Mormon different from other books?
I think it is a good idea to have two books available for the students to handle and read. I suggest choosing something short, because the students will want you to read it. Read some of your favorites from the Book of Mormon too. How are these books different?
For older children I recommend something like Harry Potter, I think almost every one has read or heard of that book and knows who the author is. Then you can compare the two books from what the students know. If your like me a new book came of with Harry Potter and you read it for 24 hours, hardly sleeping(: God doesn't want us to over do it, but what if we were that zealous in reading the Book of Mormon?
MOVEMENT:
Put the books on opposite sides of the room and tell the children to stand by the one that you are describing. Then say something like "This book is about a dinosaur" or "Joseph Smith translated this book" or "This book is another testament of Jesus Christ." You can look at the clue game at the bottom of the page for more facts about the Book of Mormon.
Reading the Book of Mormon helps me have faith in Jesus Christ.
Let your children look at and hold a copy of the Book of Mormon. Help them point to the subtitle, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. You might also help them find, on the title page, the phrase “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.” Help them understand that this means the Book of Mormon teaches us about Jesus Christ.
Younger children can complete the puzzle while you tell the stories.
Older children and families can look up the scriptures and discuss them together as you complete the puzzle. Talk about what we learn about Jesus from these stories...for example the Brother of Jared saw His finger, we learn that God has a body like us.
This is the under-sheet.
Briefly tell them how the Book of Mormon has strengthened your faith in Jesus Christ. You could also ask them about their favorite Book of Mormon stories. Singing “Book of Mormon Stories” (Children’s Songbook, 118–19) could remind them of some of these stories.
This video shows pictures of the stories to the song.
This is the 2024 Friend magazine article. This one is more geared to the older children Click on the image to be taken there.
...And this one is more geared for younger children. You can also click on the image to be taken there.
Click on the image to be taken to Etsy.
Here is a free reading chart and book mark.
Click on the images.
The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion.
This week’s activity page and the image below can help your children understand these words of Joseph Smith in the introduction to the Book of Mormon: “The Book of Mormon [is] the keystone of our religion.” It might also be fun to build or draw an arch with a keystone at the top. What might happen if the keystone is removed? What would happen if we did not have the Book of Mormon? You might read together the last paragraph of the introduction to find out what else we learn when we accept the truth of the Book of Mormon. How can we make the Book of Mormon the keystone of our faith in Jesus Christ?
It would be ideal if you can build a keystone arch, but if you don't have the blocks or supplies to do that. Here is a very short video of children doing it.
For older children we have Clue. I'm sure they will figure out that these clues are about the Book of Mormon, but have them listen to all of them to make sure. Also, you can hide these around the room before class, so the students can find them and take turns reading them.
This idea is from Mitzi @ comefollowmekid.com check out her page!
Click on the image to be taken to Etsy.
I can be a witness of the Book of Mormon.
To help your children understand what it means to be a witness, you could describe to them something you have seen that they haven’t. Then let them do the same for you. This could lead to a conversation about the 11 people who saw the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. As you read the testimonies together, you could talk about why these witnesses wanted other people to know about their testimonies. Who do we want to tell about the Book of Mormon?
OBJECT LESSON
This is a super cute idea from Katie Flaniken:
My family did this activity yesterday to help illustrate the Testimony of the 3 and 8 Witnesses. I brought out a box that I'd put one of their stuffed toy elephants inside. After we'd read the testimonies, I brought out the box and excitedly told the kids (ages 3 and 4) that I had an elephant in the box. As I'd hoped, they didn't believe that I had a great big elephant in this little box. So I let grandma look in the box. She bore her "witness" that there was, indeed, an elephant in the box. I asked them again if they believed that there was an elephant in the box now that two of us had seen it. This time they said yes!!
We explained how this was just like the golden plates. We haven't seen them, but because of the testimonies of these men, we have greater trust that they are indeed real. That's why we have these testimonies and why they are important.
As expected, the kids were begging to see in the box for themselves. This allowed me to teach about faith and that we believe in things we cannot see. Throughout the rest of the night, each time they asked to see inside the box, I asked them if they still believed that the elephant was inside. They did. So just before bedtime I asked one more time if they believed. Once again they said yes. I explained that sometimes we don't see evidence of something until after the trial of our faith. And them being patient enough to see inside for themselves was a trial of faith. They laughed when they saw the toy elephant inside.
This simple lesson turned into multiple teaching opportunities for our family and was so easy to prepare.
You can use your own creativity with what you can put in a box. Works great for older children too, they just might guess that it's a small version earlier.
The Book of Mormon was given to us by the power of God.
To help your children learn how God gave us the Book of Mormon, you could read parts of “The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith” to them. You might also use “Chapter 1: How We Got the Book of Mormon” (in Book of Mormon Stories, 2–4). Your children might also enjoy acting out the story a few times.
Here is a song they can sing together, that shows how the golden plates came to Joseph Smith. Point out how the angel and the guy bearing the plates are the same person...Moroni.
Click on the image to be taken to my Dec 11th lesson where you can print it.
Click on these images to be taken to Etsy.
