“Additional Sharing Time Ideas, December 2006,” Liahona, Dec. 2006, N8
Additional Sharing Time Ideas, December 2006
The following are additional ideas Primary leaders may use with the Sharing Time printed in the December 2006 Liahona. For the lesson, instructions, and activity that correspond with these ideas, see “He Sent His Son” on pages F4 and F5 of the children’s section in this issue.
1. Display Gospel Art Picture Kit 113 (Isaiah Writes of Christ’s Birth) and 201 (The Nativity). Point out the similarities between the two pictures. Explain that the man who is writing in the first picture is Isaiah. Isaiah saw the birth of the Savior in a vision hundreds of years before the Savior was actually born, but Isaiah did not call the Savior Jesus. Isaiah used other titles for Jesus Christ.
Display wordstrips with scrambled letters of the following words: Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Divide the children into five groups. Give each group a wordstrip, telling them how many words are in that title and what letter the word or words start with. Because the puzzles may be difficult, give them a hint every few seconds. As the children solve the puzzles, write the correct word(s) on the back of the wordstrips. You may want to attach a large feather to your marker and let the children write with a “feather pen” just like Isaiah in the picture. Display the five titles. These are the titles that Isaiah used for the child in the picture. Have the children put the wordstrips in order by looking up Isaiah 9:6. Help them understand what each word means and how it is an appropriate title for Jesus Christ.
Sing a Christmas song or hymn about the Savior. Bear testimony that Jesus came to the earth as the literal Son of God.
2. Have the children read Genesis 1:16. Ask them what they think “the greater light” might be (the sun). Display a large yellow ball or a picture of the sun. Ask the children how they would feel if, when the sun went down, it did not get dark. Let the children share their ideas. Ask them how they would feel if the prophet told them that one day the sun would go down and it would not get dark. Would they be less frightened? Tell them that this really happened and that they will find out more about it in the scriptures.
Tell the children that even though Jesus did not live on the American continent when He had a mortal body, Book of Mormon prophets still prophesied of Him. Review Isaiah 9:6 and 2 Nephi 19:6.
Play a matching game by pairing Book of Mormon prophets who testified of the Savior with the scripture that records their prophecies. (Nephi—2 Nephi 25:19; King Benjamin—Mosiah 3:5; Abinadi—Mosiah 15:1; Alma—Alma 7:10; Samuel—Helaman 14:2.) Write each prophet’s name on the board. You may want to add pictures of each of these prophets from the Gospel Art Picture Kit or from the Primary 4 picture packet. Write the scriptures in a separate list. Give the children a few minutes to look up one of the scriptures. Have the children read the prophecy and then match the prophecy to the prophet.
For younger children: Display pictures of the same five prophets. Allow five children to wear simple costumes depicting the prophets mentioned. Read the prophecies from the scriptures. Let the children guess which prophet each child is representing.
Help the children understand the sign of Christ’s birth, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, by reading Helaman 14:3–4. You might want to explain to the children that because Christ is the Light of the World, having light even when the sun was not shining was an appropriate sign for His birth. Testify that Jesus came into the world to be an example and to atone for the sins of all people.