March 18–24

Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13

“Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear”

Parables are simple stories that can be engaging for children. This outline and Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families can help you use the Savior’s parables to teach children important truths.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Bring several items that could help the children remember some of the parables in Matthew 13, such as a seed, a pearl, or a treasure box. Invite the children to share what they remember about the parables.

Teach the Doctrine

Younger Children

Matthew 13:1–23

I need to prepare to learn the teachings of Jesus.

Younger children may not be able to understand all of the symbolism in the parable of the sower, but they can learn the simple gospel truths it teaches. How can you help them better understand how this parable relates to them?

Possible Activities

• Display different kinds of soil (or pictures of soil) as you summarize Matthew 13:3–8. Give each child a seed to plant in soil. Ask the children what we can do to help our seeds grow. Explain that having faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is one way we help our testimony “seed” grow.

• Use this week’s activity page to help the children understand what each type of soil described in Matthew 13 teaches about our hearts. Ask the children which type of heart Jesus wants them to have in order to learn His teachings.

• Read Matthew 13:9, 15, and invite the children to point to different parts of their body when they hear them mentioned. How can we use these body parts to learn the teachings of Jesus?

Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43, 47–48

Heavenly Father wants me to choose the right.

Some of Jesus’s parables teach that at the last day, God will separate the wicked from the righteous. How can you use the parables to inspire the children to choose the right?

Possible Activities

• Let the children act out the parable of the wheat and the tares (see Matthew 13:24–30). Explain that the wheat represents people who make righteous choices, and the tares (harmful weeds) represent people who do not. One day, Heavenly Father will gather the righteous people to live with Him.

• Tell some simple stories of children making choices. Ask the children to say “wheat choice” when the children in the stories choose the right and “tare choice” when the children make a wrong choice.

• Bring pictures of stalks of wheat, and let the children draw on the pictures some ways they can be righteous.

• Create a game in which children match details from the parable of the sower with the interpretation in Matthew 13:18–23.

Matthew 13:44–46

My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a treasure.

How can you use the imagery of treasure and precious pearls to help the children understand the value of belonging to Christ’s Church?

Possible Activities

• Hide pictures of a treasure chest and a pearl in the room, and let the children find them. Use the pictures to help you teach about the parables in Matthew 13:44–46. What would the children give to have a beautiful pearl or treasure in a field? Explain that sometimes we give up something good for something better. Tell the children why the gospel is valuable to you.

• Place in a box or chest several objects or pictures that represent “treasures” in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as temples or the Book of Mormon. Ask each child to choose an object or picture and talk about why it is a treasure.

• Sing together “The Church of Jesus Christ,” Children’s Songbook, 77, and ask the children to listen for blessings that come from being a member of the Church. Testify of the blessings you’ve experienced because of your membership in the Church.

Teach the Doctrine

Older Children

Matthew 13:1–23

I need to prepare my heart to receive the teachings of Jesus.

How can you help the children recognize the importance of having a soft and willing heart so that Jesus can teach them?

Possible Activities

• Assign each child to read about one of four types of soil in Matthew 13:4–8. Invite them to look for and share what happens to the seed in the type of soil they read about. How can our hearts be like the different types of soil? (see Matthew 13:19–23).

• Give each of the children two seeds, and invite them to plant their seeds in soft soil and in a pile of rocks. Which seed will have a better chance of growing? How can we make sure our hearts are like the soft soil so that we can receive the Savior’s teachings?

• Invite the children to read Matthew 13:9–17. Draw an eye, ear, and heart on the board. How do we use each of these body parts to learn the teachings of Jesus?

Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

I can choose the right even when those around me do not.

When you read these verses with the children in mind, what impressions come to you?

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to draw different scenes from the parable of the wheat and the tares, found in Matthew 13:24–30, and share their drawings with the class. Ask them to label their drawings using the interpretation of the parable found in Matthew 13:36–43. Explain that tares are harmful weeds.

• If possible, display a picture of wheat and tares. Explain that the wheat and tares will grow together until the end of the world. This teaches us that we live with both good and evil around us, and we must be careful to choose the right. Ask the children to share how they can tell the difference between good and evil.

Matthew 13:44–46

My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a treasure.

Do the children you teach see their membership in the Church as a valuable treasure? Perhaps the parables in Matthew 13:44–46 can help them.

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to read Matthew 13:44–46 to themselves and share the parables in their own words with another class member.

• Cut out several circles to represent coins, and put them in a treasure box. Invite the children to pick a coin and draw or write on it one thing they love about being a member of the Church. Ask the children to share what they put on their coin.

• Invite a ward member to share his or her conversion story with the children and tell what he or she sacrificed to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to teach their families about one of the parables they learned in Primary.

Improving Our Teaching

Children like to share what they are learning. Although they are young, children can strengthen their family members. Encourage them to share with their families the things they learn in Primary. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 30.)