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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