Ideas for Teaching Children
Jesus Christ will judge in righteousness.
To help your children visualize these verses, see if you can find a tree that has been cut down or a branch growing from a tree (or use the picture below). If the “branch” in 2 Nephi 21:1 represents Jesus Christ, what do verses 2–5 teach us about Him?
For older children:
For younger children either print it in B&W and let them draw their own plants or print the plants on sticker paper and let them stick the plants all over the stump. If you would like to do a blind fold activity. Bring different objects that they can touch and try to guess what the object is. If they are very young they will not make the connection to the next scripture, except maybe that they have eyes like Jesus(:
Wow teaching Isaiah to Sunbeams(: They will just love to see that they are like Jesus: their brains that have knowledge, eyes, ears and mouth. I think it is still good for the to hear the words of the scriptures, even if we struggle to understand them.
For older students, or if you would like them looking in the scriptures. I believe it is really good for even small children to see us reading from the actual scriptures.
Easter candy is in the stores! Easter is on Sunday March 31st this year. Click on the images to be taken to Etsy.
Jesus Christ brings peace and joy.
What does 2 Nephi 21:6–9 teach about what can happen when everyone follows the Savior? (see also 4 Nephi 1:15–18). How can we make our home more like this? Your children might enjoy looking at pictures of the animals mentioned in verses 6–7—animals that are usually enemies but will not hurt each other when Jesus comes again (see this week’s activity page). Your children could also draw pictures of themselves and these animals living peacefully with Jesus.
Reading the scriptures will help match up correctly, but it's ok to let the students experiment with different match ups, with the predators that would normally eat them.
For movement: Put these animals on different walls and corners of the room. Read the scripture a couple of times (slowly) while the children find the animals and stand under them. Make sure you explain a kid is a goat and a fatling is a cow.
The Lord is gathering His people.
Isaiah said that the Lord would set up an “ensign for the nations” to help people gather to Him (see 2 Nephi 21:11–12). Help your children understand that an ensign is like a flag. Perhaps they would enjoy drawing their own flag. They could include pictures or words that represent reasons they come to Jesus Christ and His Church. Let them talk about their flags, and help them think of how they can help others “gather” to Jesus Christ.
After reading 2 Nephi 22:4–5 together, you might talk with your children about some of the “excellent things” the Lord has done. What are some of the Lord’s “doings among [us]” that we can declare? To help your children think about this question, you might sing together a song about the Savior, like “I Believe in Christ” (Hymns, no. 134). You could take turns completing a sentence like this one: “I believe in Christ; He .” How can we help other people know about what the Savior has done for us?
Click on the image to be taken to Etsy. You can send these home with the students to play with their families, and save the time in class for the teaching of the doctrine.
“We rejoice in Christ.”
How can you help your children “rejoice in Christ”? Maybe you could tell a story about Jesus Christ bringing joy to others, or you could show a video such as “Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind” or “Suffer the Little Children to Come unto Me” (Gospel Library). Your children could point out joyful moments in the story or video. Then, as you read together 2 Nephi 25:26, they could talk about why they “rejoice in Christ.”