Additional Sharing Time Ideas, February 2008

The following are additional ideas Primary leaders may use with the Sharing Time printed in the February 2008 Liahona. For the lesson, instructions, and activity that correspond with these ideas, see “The Power That I Get Each Time I Read” on pages F4 and F5 of the children’s section in this issue.

1. Explain that we live the gospel both by what we do and what we say. Write Live the Gospel on the chalkboard. Make two columns under Live the Gospel. At the top of one column, write the word Do. At the top of the second column, write the word Say.

   Share several scripture stories from the Bible (Daniel, Moses, Noah, John the Baptist, and so on). Ask the children to listen for how the people in the scriptures live the gospel by what they do and say. Write responses on the chalkboard.

   Review the children’s responses. Create several case studies so the children can demonstrate how they can live the gospel (see Teaching, No Greater Call [1999], 161–62). Divide the Primary into groups, and give each group a case study. Provide enough time for each group to discuss the case study and determine what they would do and say. Then share their ideas with the Primary. Write their ideas on the chalkboard. Reinforce the concept that we live the gospel by what we do and say. Sing “I Want to Live the Gospel” (Children’s Songbook, 148). Bear testimony that Bible stories teach us how to live the gospel.

2. Using “Follow the Prophet” (Children’s Songbook, 110–11) or the optional verses of “Book of Mormon Stories” (Children’s Songbook, 118–19), create a guessing game with clues to help the children identify the scripture characters and the gospel principles they lived and taught (see Teaching, No Greater Call, 169). (For younger children, you may want to provide pictures from the Gospel Art Picture Kit to help identify the scripture character.)

   Play the guessing game. As the children discover the identity of the scripture characters, briefly tell the story, and discuss a gospel principle that each character lived. Sing the verse of the song about that scripture figure, and talk about ways the children can live the gospel principles in their lives. Continue until the scripture characters have all been identified and the corresponding verse has been sung. Testify that the scriptures teach us how to live the gospel.

3. Song presentation: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus” (Children’s Songbook, 57). Bring a picture of a young child, and ask the children to share what they think a child might ask a parent to do for him or her. Sing the last line of the first verse for the children, and ask, “What is this child asking for?” Take responses from the children. Invite the children to sing that line with you. Say the title of the song, and explain that it is a request to hear the stories of Jesus.

   Display the words of the song on a large chart. Sing the first line of the first verse to the children, and ask them to listen for the phrase “I love to hear.” Discuss why it is important to hear with our ears and our hearts.

   Sing the second line to the children, and then sing the line together. Invite the children to share ideas of what they would ask Jesus “if he were here.”

   Sing the third line to the children. Show New Testament scenes from the Gospel Art Picture Kit to give the children visual clues for the third line. Sing the third line together. Help the children understand the meaning of the words.

   Sing the first verse together. Remind the children that the stories of Jesus are found in the scriptures. Testify how the stories of Jesus have blessed your life.