Friday, December 30, 2016

Lesson 1: I Am a Child of God

Welcome to my lesson resources for the Primary 1, I Am a Child of God manual used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have developed an art or craft activity to accompany each lesson. You are welcome to use the activities for your lessons, free of charge, or as a faith-based activity for preschool aged children.

The first lesson in the manual, "I Am a Child of God," uses the analogy of a princess or prince to describe the child's relationship with Heavenly Father. In the enrichment activities for the lesson it states, "Heavenly Father is the king of heaven and earth. Because we are his children we are princes and princesses." I took this idea of being a prince or princess and made a small storybook starring each child. The first page is a cover where the child can draw their face under a crown, and on the following pages the teacher can write in information about the child.

I also created a brief note to send home with the children for their parents. It provides a summary of the main points of the lessons so the parents know what their child learned in class. The files for the booklets and note for parents are available to download here.



Below is the text of the booklet with suggestions for filling in the blank lines where the intention isn't clear. Most of the lines are taken directly from the lesson. Teachers can either ask the children the information in class and fill it in, or they can talk to the parents of the children beforehand. The example text is for a girl. There is also a version for a boy available to download.

Once upon a time there was a girl named _______________ and she is a child of God. Heavenly Father knows her and loves her very much. He knows she __(admirable characteristics from the lesson)__He knows she has ______________ hair and _____________eyes. He know she lives in ____________________ and that her favorite __(use any favorite thing here)_.  
He knows she is ________________ years old and that her favorite animal is a ___________________________________________Heavenly Father even knows that when she grows up she wants to be a____________________________________.
He knows she is sad when _________________________________.He knows she is happy when _______________________________He also knows she likes to come to primary because ____________________________. 
_(child's name)_’s family also loves her very much, including her   _(parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.)_.  
Heavenly Father is the king of heaven and earth, and because she is His daughter, she is a princess. _(child's name)_ should always remember she is a spirit child of Heavenly Father and He knows her and loves her. She can become more like Heavenly Father and she has a very important work to do here on earth that only she can do. 
In the frames on the pages between the text the children can draw in pictures that complement their answers, like their family, animals, and favorite things. When the children are finished I punch a hole in the top corner of the pages and tie them together with yarn or a curling ribbon bow. The children can take the booklet home and read again about how much Heavenly Father loves them.

The lesson manual also suggests giving the children crowns with "I am a child of God" written on them. There are several good crown templates online. I use the one available at Skip to my Lou.

LDS.org has a cute video of the song "I am a child of God" you can use to supplement the lesson. The video can be downloaded here.

Finding out the answers to the blank lines in the text of the booklet gives the teacher an opportunity to get to know each child better as they begin the year, and helps each child feel valued and important.


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