Come Follow Me: 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon (October 28–November 3)

Thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragement in regards to the changes I'm making with these posts.  I love and appreciate all of you so much.  This week I am focusing on 1 Timothy 4:12 (Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.) One of the talks referenced was 

 President Monson's talk Be an Example and a Light.  I loved studying this talk.  It walks you though this verse step by step and decided to use it for our Family Home Evening this week.  (You can easily adapt this to primary)
To start I am going to share this intro page and talk about what it means to be an example and why being a light is a good reference for being an example

Next I made a mini book. Cut all the pages out and hide them around the room (expept the first page).  Read the begining of the scripture on the first page then let your kids hunt for the other 5.  When one is found read the words on the top.  Share the quote from President Monson's talk and discuss ways they can be an example regarding that attribute.  Write the ways shared on the page.  Continue until all the pages have been found.  If you want you can give each person their own book to write or draw ways they can be an example.

 One suggestion in the primary manual is to sing "Do as I'm doing."   I thought it would be fun to try a Halloween version by using the dice in the download.  Print and cut along the solid line.  Fold on the dotted line and tape or glue together to create a dice.  Start by asking your family to follow your example.  Roll the dice and do the action while singing the song.  Then let your family take a turn to roll the dice and be the example.  Finish with the last quote from the talk (its the long one on the right side of the quote page).

Bonus activity: 1 Timothy 3:1–2; Titus 1:7–9 talks about the roles of a bishop.  I thought it would be so fun to make a treat and take it to the bishop.  I included some thank you hearts that can be used as a card.  Or if at church let the kids write or draw a thank you note on the back of the hearts for the bishop.  They can decorate the front.  Or if you have extra time decorate the hearts (and add some more) and heart attack his office door or home.  The bishop and his family will love it :)  If you don't have time this week it would be a great activity for Thanksgiving or Christmas too.

That's all for this week.  If you have any questions or trouble with the download please let me know.  Also if you have signed up for my newsletter watch for a bonus activity in your email tomorrow! Just my way of saying thanks for hanging out with me :)  You can sign up on the side bar if you would like.  I'm not very good at sending emails so I promise you won't be overwhelmed by tons of emails.

Download the Free Printables here

Free Spider Shapes File Folder Game

I have a fun Freebie for you just in time for Halloween.  

Practice shapes with this adorable spider themed match game.  You can glue the two pages to a file folder or use as is (that's what I do). Print the two pages full of webs and the page of spiders.  I recommend cardstock and laminate if possible.  Cut out the spiders and you are ready to go.  Help the shape spiders find their matching webs.  You can also add Velcro or magnets so your pieces don't slide. 

Download your free game here!

I am sure you are here looking for the next week's come follow me lesson.  I'm really sorry but I will be skipping this week. Colds and other family obligations and responsibilities need to be my priority right now.  I appreciate all of you and hope to see you soon :)
-Crystal

Come Follow Me: Ephesians (part 2) September 30–October 13

With General Conference we are covering Ephesians for 2 weeks.  Last week we talked about prophets and apostles and this week we are covering the rest.  I loved Conference and the special spirit that it brings to our home and the renewed commitment it brings to my heart.

As always I try to use the the individual and family and primary manual to direct my study and preparation.  

First we are going to learn more about the Armor of God. Ephesians 6:10–18 There is a great video in the individual and family manual that your family may enjoy. I made this cute labeling activity.  Print the knight of your choice and the page of labels and quotes.  The quotes come from the Friend article referenced in the primary manual.  As you read through the scriptures label the different parts of armor and read the quote that goes with it.  I'm hoping this will help my kids visualize what we are talking about.

 Next we are going to talk about ways we put on the armor of God.  They can decorate this shield with ways they can put on their armor.

Next up is a match game.  We are going to match up the different pieces of armor and try to avoid the dragon!  Print 2 of the game (preferably on cardstock).  Cut apart and flip over.  If you find a match you get to go again.  If you find one of the dragons your turn ends.  Try and find the 5 pieces of armor before you find both dragons (the breastplate and girdle are one one picture but make sure to mention both!).  The dragons represents obstacles or trials that we meet.  These are the reasons we need to make sure we put on the armor of God and that there are no weaknesses (there is a great quote that goes with this in the sunday school manual).  I love that president Uchtdorf mentioned facing dragons in his talk today.  If possible we may watch or read some of his talk this week :)

Next are a few activities that go with Ephesians 2:19. "Members of the Church should be friends and “fellowcitizens.” We are going to talk about ways we can be friends with the others in our class and ward.  I remember when I was a young teenager my family was called attend the Spanish branch in our town.  I did not really know anyone, did not speak Spanish, and it was difficult to leave my friends and ward.  I will forever be grateful for the kindness and love that the branch members showed me.  They opened their arms and hearts to me and my family.  I learned and grew so much from knowing them.  while I haven't seen them in years I still think of my branch family often miss them very much.  This is something I hope to teach my children.  To open their hearts to others and help others feel welcome and loved.  First I have a letter template they can write/draw a letter to a friend they missed at church.  If you are teaching primary this may be something you can to together as a class.  

 Another idea that is more for a primary class but can certainly be done at home is a get to know you game.  Before class print and assemble to dice.  Cut along the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.  I like to tape mine together but glue would work too.  Sit in a circle and take turns rolling the dice.  Have the person answer the question with the coordinating color.  If they have already rolled that color let them roll again.

 this week would also be a great time to discuss or take the time to reflect on talks that were shared during General Conference.  I included a journal page for notes.

Last we are going to talk about obeying our parents.  Ephesians 6:1–3.  There  is a cute video in the primary manual about a little girl named Chloe.  It teaches why we need to obey and why we have rules.  Last year we had a lesson on obedience that I thought would go perfect with this topic.  I love the first story and the x marks the spot game.  You can find these and more ideas in this post.

That's all for this week!  Thank you so much for stopping by.  as always if you have any questions or trouble with the download please let me know :)

Download here

Fun General Conference Activities for your little ones

I'm really excited to share some fun ideas to keep your little ones entertained and dare I say listen to General Conference.  Its a long time for little ones to sit and it can be difficult for you to hear the speakers if they do not have something to do.  There are so many amazing resources available with Conference themes that I didn't really want to reinvent the wheel (is that the right saying haha) and took a little bit of a different approach.  I did link to a ton of great ideas towards the end of the post as well.  My main goal with these activities is to keep the kids in the room and to hopefully listen.  You never know what will touch their hearts.  I decided to take some pictures of the activities in action this time instead of my normal digital images.  I'm not a photographer but hope they help.

The first activity is 2 puzzles.  Print and cut on the lines.

My kids love word searches so I did include one.

 This next activity will have your kids listening for key words.  If they hear that word they can color, cross out, use dot markers, etc in one circle.  See if they can fill out the whole page or turn it into a race and see which word is said the most.  (Words from top to bottom: Jesus Christ, prayer, temple, baptism, sacrament)

Another listening activity.  This time when they hear the word they can color the boxes with the correct number.  I know many can't read so I included a key with pictures as well. For example if they hear they word prophet.  They will color all of the number 4's.  To make it harder only let them color one box each time they hear the word.

The next two ideas go with our preparing for General Conference Hot Chocolate idea.  To stick with this theme I made some recipe cards.  You will need to gather some supplies but use what you have.  For the hot cocoa I used  brown pom poms, white poms for whip cream, mini marshmallows for marshmallows, and glass gems for sprinkles.  Again use what you have your kids won't care and will love it.  The idea is to pick a recipe card and count out the ingredient into the cup.  They can stir and pretend to drink it.  Then sort back into place and create another cup of hot chocolate.  My kids love these and it keeps them entertained for a while.

You can also open a Hot Chocolate shop.  There are some fun printables for them to play with.  I like to tape the open sign to the table.  The menu has a spot for them to write their prices.  The order form I laminate (or use a sheet protector) and they can write on it with a dry erase marker over and over again.  You can use with the recipe cards above, any play food your may have, or I might try some hot chocolate play dough I think i saw on pinterest once.

Speaking of playdough I have some fun playdough mats.  print, laminate (if possible), and then create the design right on top of the mat.

Last is the treat buckets.  This is not a new idea but I wanted to create some quick and easy labels to print (there are 6).  The idea is to have key words they are listening for and if they hear it they get a treat from that bucket.  I am really loving having a listening aspect to a lot of these activities.  I think I will use 3 the first day and the other 3 the second day to keep them on their toes and so they aren't completely stuffed with candy :)

We also love to have a puzzle going and I plan to make some fun fall desserts and we are still deciding on a craft.  It rarely goes as planned and that's okay. I just tuck the activities away for next time.  As always if you have any questions or trouble with the download please don't hesitate to ask.  Have a wonderful conference weekend :) 

Download all of these printables here

If you are looking for some additional ideas here are some fun ideas

   This is what we've done in the past.  Find the details here.

I also wanted to share with you some fun ideas I found

Cute Activity Books found here 

Word Searches (there are a couple of options)  My kids love these!  found here

My kids would love this!  Idea found here

Cute Matching game and treat bags found here

Amazing list of activities found here

I've used these in the past and my kids liked them.   Found Here

Adorable Treat buckets found here

Melonheadz is a favorite of mine (I use a ton of her clipart).  She has this cute coloring page you can find here.

Awesome ideas for older kids & teens found here

and these coloring pages!  found here