Come Follow Me: John 13-17 (June 3-9)

This week for Come Follow Me we are covering John 13-17.  This went really well with two of my primary lessons from last year so I am reusing a lot of those activities.  They are kind of my favorite so I'm excited about that.  I'd love to know what activities work for your family and what you would like to see more of.  I'll try super hard to work those things in these lessons.  Oh and if you happen to have any pictures or something that worked for you pop in and share on my facebook page or tag me on instagram (and while you're at it someone give me a lesson on how to use instagram haha).  Anyway I'd LOVE to see you and your family :)  You are all the greatest and thanks for stopping by!

Love One Another Tic Tac Toe: Print out your tic tac toe board, the page of x's and o's, and question cards.  I recommend cardstock for durability. Divide the class into two teams.  One side will be the x's and the other the o's.  The teams will take turns picking and answering a question.  If they get it correct they will place their X or O on the board.  First to get 3 in a row wins.  There are enough cards and some blank ones that it can be played a few times.

Coloring pages: I have three options for you. I have some extra ideas for these two pages.  The first can be colored and cut into puzzle pieces.  Hide around the room.  Let your kids find them and work together to put the pieces together.  You can also make one for each person so they can have their now puzzle.  The second page is a fill in the blank coloring page.  Help your kids answer the question "I can show love by..." and write their answers in the hearts.  The third page is just a regular coloring page :)

Sing or watch this video of the song "Love One Another."

This would be a great activity to start the week!  Letter Hunt: I hope this activity will help the children see that Jesus served others throughout his life. 

Prep-print and cut out letters. I also suggest that you bring pictures that go with each example if available.

 There are a few ways you can do this:

1. Treasure hunt and follow clues around your home or church. On the back write the clues to each spot-one reverence suggestion would be to have the clue on a separate piece of paper that way they are not leaving to find the next clue before you are ready for them to go. And Hide your clues before class- try to mix up the order of the letters.
*I did not include clues because I’m terrible at coming up with them haha .  You will need one to start and I suggest before the last clue is given say something to let them know there is only one left. Some sample clues: This is where you go if you get thirsty, Lights out its time for bed, The final clue can be found if you need a little shade. You can get a lot more creative with these…did I mention that clue writing is not a talent of mine 😊

(example of how to start your lesson)
While on earth Jesus provided the perfect example of how we should live. As we follow him we become more like him. Read John 13:15 (mini printable included). Today we are going to follow the clues and discover what he is asking us to do. At this point give the first clue. Quietly walk to the first spot and let them look for the letter. Once found read the example on the front. Ask your family/class if they can tell you the story-show the picture if you brought one. Once done read the next clue. Don’t forget to take the letter with you. Continue until all the letters have been found. Take the letters back to class and work together to put them in order to spell “service”.

This would be a great time to tell the story of Jesus Washing the disciples feet or watch this video (about the first 50 seconds-we'll cover the Last Supper next week). You can pick up again at minute 3:30 to hear him teach the 12 to love one another and additional parts of these chapters.

Story Cards-in last years primary manual there was a story about Joseph Fielding Smith serving his mom.  I included the story and some cute story cards.  Print the cards and cut apart.

Service Go Fish or matching game: Each picture corresponds with a question or scenario.  In both games when the full set of matches are found ask the question that goes with the card.  For the match game print 2 of each page on cardstock.  Take turns finding a match.  Go fish will take a little more time to play but it will be something fun and new.  You will need to print 4 of each page on cardstock.  The instruction are in the download in case you need a refresher.  *If you are short on time OR have young kids print 2 instead of 4 sets for the go fish game.  I played this with my class last year and they loved it!  I look forward to pulling out this week and playing with my kids.

"super server" cards: Print and let your  kids color and pass out as they serve (or leave anonymously).  Let them know as they serve others they are like a super hero to the person they help.  There is a boy and a girl option with 4 cards per sheet.  These are black and white and made to be colored.  Print one page per child.  My 5 year old helped me color these samples on the computer-I think she did pretty good!

I love this video clip .  It from the Church's Light the World initiative.  Its a pretty amazing way to show the Saviors examples of service next to ways we can serve like him.

I also love this video clip called Dayton's Legs.  Another great video about service.

Holy Ghost Match Game:  I will admit I have camping activities swirling through my head and as a result we are playing a camping themed game to learn more about the Holy Ghost.  Its a fun matching game using camping supplies to learn ways the Holy Ghost helps us. Lets fill our backpack with these tools so we can recognize the Holy Ghosts presences in our life.   Print the 3 pages on cardstock or back with construction paper.    Mix the cards up and play like a regular match game EXCEPT if you pick an animal card your turn is over. You don't want to take any animals home in your bag! Pull the animal card out and the next player tries to find a match.  Once a match of camping supplies is found think of a way it relates to the Holy Ghost.  See if you can find all 6 matches before all of the animals are found!  How fun would it be to finish the night with smores!

(UPDATE: I've added an extra page to include a flashlight and some more animals if you want to use them.  It came as a request and she plans to use it to teach that the Holy Ghost can be like a light to guide us)

As always if you have any questions or trouble with the download please let me know.

Download your free lesson helps here!

20 Fun Holidays to Celebrate with your kids in June

Its just about summer break for us and I can't wait. I love the slower pace, free time, and of course my kids being home.  My hope is this holiday calendar will spark some really fun ideas for a summer full of memories. I've found if I can start them off with one activity they will often find fun ways to play all day instead of heading towards the tv or complaining about being bored.  It takes a little effort on my part but it is so worth it.

Download your copy here

Download a copy of the calendar, print, and display.  You do not need to celebrate all of them (we probably won't) just pick and choose what works for you and your family.

I'll be posting ideas as I finalize my plans and also as we celebrate some of these holidays.  My hope is that this will be something fun for your family and a way to create some special memories.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see pictures of your celebrations!

Holiday's came from here and here. 

Amazing graphics from

 Creative Clips,  Prettygrafik, , my cute graphics,  revidevi, Chirp Graphics, Melonheadz,P4 Clips Trioriginals ,  Winchester Lambourne,  Creating4 the Classroom, Miss Pickle's Graphics and fonts from Hello Literacy

Humpty Dumpty Bingo

My kids love to play bingo and it is such a great learning tool.  This time we added a little something extra.  We raced to see if we could get a bingo before Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall (aka the jenga blocks tipped over). 

To play we stacked our jenga blocks and taped a plastic egg to the top.

 Print your bingo boards and cards.  There are 3 sets of cards-print and use the ones that work for the concept you are teaching.  Cards included:capital letters, lower case letters, initial sounds.  Cut the cards apart and stack in a pile.  

 Take turns drawing a card.  Find the letter that matches on your board.  

BUT if you get a humpty dumpty falling card you have to pull a jenga block!

 Set the block aside and keep going.

 Maybe someone will get a bingo

 or maybe humpty dumpty will fall!

 This is a fun game with a lot of learning happening!  

Download your bingo game here!

That face when the tower fell still cracks me up :)

Come Follow Me: Joseph Smith Matthew 1, Matthew 25, Mark 12-13, Luke 21 (May 27-June 2)

This week's Come Follow Me Lesson covers Joseph Smith—Matthew 1; Matthew 25; Mark 12–13; Luke 21 (find it here).  There are so many topics so pick what works for your family or primary class.  As always the free lesson helps can be found in one big download at the end of this post.  

The Widow's Mite-This would be a great time to talk about tithing, fast offerings, and other ways we can contribute money to the church.  If you have a tithing slip show your little ones how to fill it out.  I think its also important to mention that money is not the only thing we can give.  We also can give time, talent, service.  Any thing I'm missing?  Most of these activities go with the topic of tithing and are from one of my past primary lessons.  I added them to this download for convince but you can find that post here.  

Bible Video-found here

Cute one told by kids-found here

A Modern-Day Widow's Mite-(found here)  I plan to share this story with my family.  

Tithing File Folder Game- Print the pages and cut out the coins.  You can use real coins or I have a page of cute coins you can print out.  Glue inside a file folder or you can skip this step and just lay them side by side.

Have the children place 9 coins on the save or spend page and 1 on the tithing page.  I also included  a page of cards with different amounts of money and extra page of coins (you'll need to print 3 if using the cards).  It would be a fun way to practice.

Coloring page or decorate and put the envelope together.

 I had a request for this song to be made into a printable-I love how it turned out.  It would be fun to learn the words to this song.  Found here.

 A cute story and and story cards about tithing.  Print the cards and cut apart.  Use while telling the story.  The story is from last years primary manual.  They are getting harder to find on lds.org so I did include the text in the download.

Here's a fun way to learn how our tithing money is used by the church.  I have 9 cards with a different way on each that you can print and cut apart.  Here are 2 ways to use them...#1 print 2  of this page on cardstock and use as a match game.  #2-use for pictionary. Make sure you discuss the cards as you play either game.

The Parable of the 10 Virgins

I've used this idea a couple of time and will probably use it again-it's a favorite.  Prepare: Print one board (lamp) per person, (color, black and white , and 1/2 page option included), Print and cut the cards.  Place the cards in a bag and mix them up.  You will also need to bring something to cover the circles ex. m&ms, cereal, or even buttons.

 To play pass out a lamp to each person.  Take turn drawing a card.  If it is a good action "add a drop of oil" to the lamp (cover one of the circles with the candy or item you brought).  If the action is not good then no action is taken and move on the the next turn.  Keep playing until everyone fills their lamps. These cards were made for the topic of preparing for the 2nd coming but they should work for building a testimony as well...if you don't think one fits pull it out.  There are also blank cards so you can add your own.

For the older classes I included a couple of zap cards.  If you draw this one then you have to clear your board!  There are also a few blank ones in case you want to add some of your own.

This next idea come from the Individual and Family Manual "Would family members enjoy hunting around the house for paper drops of oil that you have hidden? You could attach drops to objects that represent things family members can do to strengthen their testimonies and be prepared for the Second Coming, such as the scriptures, church clothes, or a picture of the temple."  I did change it a little bit.  I added numbers to the drops and included a recording sheet.  So when you find the drop with number 1 you will color the #1 on your lamp.  You can add them to object like the manual suggested or just hide them anywhere and discuss different ways you can strengthen your testimony. (The lamp of testimony comes from Elder Bednar's quote in the Sunday School Manual)

 Printables from President Monson's quote also found in the Sunday School Manual.  Sometimes the signs of the 2nd Coming be a little scary and I love these comforting words.  In the download there are two options and they are full page and ready to print.

If you would like a different size right click on the image below. Save to your computer.  Insert into a word document and size to fit your needs.

Parable of the Talents

Scripture Story- The printable has 2 pages (one with the 3 men, and the other with the talents/money).  Cut the money out ahead of time-you do not need to cut the men apart.  As you tell the story place the appropriate number of talents under each person.  This is especially helpful for little ones to see it multiply!

 During the Saviors time talents referred to money.  Now we also use to to mean our talents and abilities and are asked to develop our talents.  We are going to talk about some of these amazing talents we have been blessed with.  Point out that not all talents are like drawing or singing but they can be things like being a good friend, a good listener, etc.  Use this coloring page to draw or write a few of your talents.

 If you have time put on a talent show!  My kids LOVE America's Got Talent so I took a little inspiration from that show :)  I included a schedule and invites in the download.  Have your family members take turns sharing one of their talents.  It can be something they can do, something they made, if its something they can't really show then have them bring something that represents their talent or share a little about their talent.

Parable of the Sheep and Goats

Sheep and Goat Sort- Print the sorting page and the circles on the next page.  As you read through the parable sort the actions of the sheep and the actions of the goats.  What do you notice about them?

We are going to talk about when we serve others we are serving God.  What better way to teach this then to do some service!  You can plan a family service project or use on the ideas below.

Service tree- Cut and glue your tree together.  Cut out the hearts provided (or your own).  As you serve someone during the week add a heart to the tree.  Lets see how full your tree can get!  You can use one tree for the family or make one for each person.

Service Scavenger Hunt-This week find 5 people to serve.  Use the page to write down who you served and how you served them.  

Service Hearts- Cut and decorate the hearts included or make your own out of felt.  Each family member needs 1 heart.  Look for someone in your family you can serve.  Such as making your brothers bed or doing the dishes for your mom.  After you complete the service leave your heart so they know someone served them.  They will now find someone to serve and leave the heart.  You will have several hearts floating around and lots of service happening.

Here's a fun game that works as a great reminder that we want to be a sheep not a goat :)  Its played a similar to the game Don't Eat Pete but I did have to make some adjustments.  Print the page with the sheep and the goat on cardstock (if you do not have cardstock you will want to back your pictures with colored paper).  Cut your sheep and goat apart.  To play send one person out of the room.  Flip your cards face down and mix them up.  The person will come back and flip one card over at a time.  If they pick a sheep they are safe and can another card.  If they pick a goat their turn ends.  The goal is to find all of the sheep before you pick the goat.  Once their turn is over send another player out and start again!

There was a really cute story in the Friend this month called The Red Cupcake.  Read this story and make some cupcakes.  Maybe make a few extra to share with some friends :)

The Primary manual really emphasized the scripture- Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:31.  Before Jesus comes again, the gospel will be preached in all the world. So we are going to talk about ways we can help spread the gospel.  

Elder Uchtdorf gave a great talk this past conference on this topic (you can find it here)!  I've include a printable with his 5 ways to share the Gospel.  Use the coloring page to write or draw how you can help spread "the good word."  

Another idea I had was to have a missionary night.  If you or your spouse served a mission bring out the pictures and share some of your experiences.  You can also get your family and friends involved by asking them where they served their mission.  Maybe they have some pictures or a story they can share with you.  As you find out where they served pull out a map and locate it on the map.  It will be really cool to see how far the gospel has been spread by people you know.  You can use the map included to mark the places they served.

Want a quick way to ask friends and family?  Post this little letter on your facebook page and see who responds.  Click on the image and save to your computer.  

As always if you have any questions, trouble downloading the lesson helps, or anything else please don't hesitate to contact me in the comments or email me!  Thanks so much for stopping by :)

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