Additional Sharing Time Ideas, July 2009

The following are additional ideas Primary leaders may use with the Sharing Time printed in the July 2009 Liahona. For the lesson, instructions, and activity that correspond with these ideas, see “Our Family Will Be Strong” on pages F4 and F5 of the children’s section in this issue.

1. Family home evening strengthens my family. Hold a bundle of sticks in your hand. Break one of the sticks in half. Tie all the sticks together with string. Show how difficult it is to break the sticks when they are tied together. Tell the children that the sticks represent members of a family. Emphasize that when we are alone we are not as strong as when we are with our family. Explain that family home evening can be like the string that unites and strengthens the family. Teach the children that they can help their family home evenings be successful by helping plan them and willingly participating. Tell the children you are going to help them prepare a story about Joseph Smith’s First Vision that they could share during a family home evening. Help them make a simple visual aid they could use to tell the story of the First Vision. (For example: drawings, cutouts, or finger puppets. See resources below.) Using the same visual aid the children have prepared, briefly tell the story of the First Vision (see Joseph Smith—History 1:5–20). Then invite one or two children to tell the story using their visual aids. Bear testimony of the importance of family home evening in strengthening our families. Encourage the children to tell the story in an upcoming family home evening (with their parents’ permission).

   For older children: See the second activity under “Learning and Living the Gospel” in the Faith in God booklet, page 6.

   Resources for visuals of Joseph Smith’s First Vision: Behold Your Little Ones (nursery manual), lesson 21; “Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” Liahona, Feb. 2001, F2–F3.

2. Reverence and keeping the Sabbath day holy strengthen my family. Beforehand, write on small pieces of paper different activities we could do to keep the Sabbath day holy. Put the papers in a container. To begin sharing time, have the children read out loud Exodus 20:8. Explain that the Lord has promised great blessings when we keep the Sabbath day holy. Have the children listen for one of those blessings while you read Doctrine and Covenants 59:9. Ask: “What does the Lord promise if we keep the Sabbath day holy?” (We will be able to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.”) Emphasize that if we keep the Sabbath day holy, we are promised the strength to keep ourselves clean and unspotted from the world. Show the container with the pieces of paper, and explain that on each paper is an activity we could do on the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Have the children count off by saying the days of the week. When a child says, “Sunday,” have him or her choose a paper from the container and act out the activity for the others to guess. Continue as time allows. Sing a song or hymn about the Sabbath day. Bear testimony that by keeping the Sabbath day holy, we will draw closer to the Lord and to our family.