September 23–29

Galatians

“Walk in the Spirit”

As you read Galatians, what impressions do you have about what the children in your class need to learn?

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Give the children a few minutes to draw something they have learned from a recent gospel discussion at home or at church. Collect the drawings, and let the children try to guess what each drawing represents.

Teach the Doctrine

Younger Children

Galatians 5:22–23

The Holy Ghost helps me feel love, joy, and peace.

Young children can recognize the fruit of the Spirit. This will prepare them to seek the influence of the Holy Ghost throughout their lives.

Possible Activities

• Display or show pictures of several kinds of fruit, and ask the children to describe how each fruit tastes. Explain that just as fruits have different flavors, we can feel the Holy Ghost in different ways, such as love and peace. Ask them to describe how the Holy Ghost feels to them.

  

  Children of all ages can experience the fruit of the Spirit.

• Read Galatians 5:22–23 with the children, and explain words they may not be familiar with. Invite each child to select a fruit of the Spirit mentioned in these verses and tell about a time when he or she experienced that fruit of the Spirit. Invite the children to draw simple pictures of their experiences.

Galatians 6:2

Jesus Christ wants me to help those in need.

The instruction in Galatians 6:2 is similar to Alma’s teaching in Mosiah 18:8 to people who were about to be baptized. Take this opportunity to help the children prepare for the covenants of baptism.

Possible Activities

• Show a picture of a child being baptized (such as Gospel Art Book, no. 104). Ask the children what the child is doing. Explain that when we are baptized, we make covenants, or promises. Read Galatians 6:2 or Mosiah 18:8 to help the children learn one of the things we promise to do: bear one another’s burdens. Invite the children to draw pictures of ways they can help others who are carrying burdens.

• Read to the children this phrase from Galatians 6:2: “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” To illustrate what this means, give one of the children something heavy to carry. Then ask for a volunteer to help the child carry the object. Explain to the children that many things can feel like a burden, such as being sick or feeling sad or lonely. What could we do to help a person with this kind of burden?

Galatians 6:7–9

Our actions, both good and bad, have consequences.

It is important for children to understand that our choices have consequences. You can use Galatians 6:7–9 to illustrate this truth.

Possible Activities

• Display a seed and a vegetable. Read Galatians 6:7–9 to the children. Ask the children to pretend to plant a seed when they hear the word “soweth.” Ask them to pretend to pick a vegetable from a plant when they hear the word “reap.”

• Show the children several kinds of vegetables, and help them find the seeds in each. Put the seeds in a container, and let the children take turns choosing one and telling what vegetable will grow if they plant it. Help them see that just as the seeds we plant determine the vegetable we get, the choices we make determine the consequences and blessings we ultimately receive.

• Make a line on the floor with tape. Place a happy face and a sad face on opposite ends of the line. Invite a child to stand in the middle of the line, and let the other children name choices that will lead to happiness or sadness (you may need to provide a few examples). For each choice, ask the child in the middle to step toward the happy side or the sad side. Repeat the activity several times, and let other children take turns standing on the tape.

Teach the Doctrine

Older Children

Galatians 5:1

Jesus Christ makes us free.

Some people think the gospel of Jesus Christ limits their freedom. Ponder how you will help the children see that it actually brings liberty from sin and death.

Possible Activities

• Invite the children to read Galatians 5:1. In what ways did Jesus Christ make us free so we could return to Heavenly Father? Show pictures of Jesus’s suffering in Gethsemane and His Resurrection to help the children understand how Jesus freed us from sin and death (see Gospel Art Book, nos. 56, 59).

• Sing together and review the words to a song about the Savior, such as “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” (Hymns, no. 136). Ask the children to find words in this song that describe ways Jesus Christ can free us from spiritual bondage.

Galatians 5:22–23

If I “walk in the Spirit,” I can enjoy the “fruit of the Spirit.”

How will you help the children recognize when they feel the Holy Ghost?

Possible Activities

• Give each child a piece of paper shaped like a fruit, and ask the children to find a “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22–23. Invite them to write one of the fruits on one side of their paper and a word that means the opposite on the other side. (Help them understand words they aren’t familiar with.) Invite them to share their fruits with the class.

• Invite the children to read about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23 and write about or draw a picture of a time when the Holy Ghost helped them feel one of those fruits. Ask them to share their story or picture with another person in the class. Why is fruit a good way to help us understand how the Spirit influences us?

Galatians 6:7–9

Our actions, both good and bad, have consequences.

Help the children understand that consequences of our behavior sometimes come immediately and other times may come “in due season” (verse 9).

Possible Activities

• Read together Galatians 6:7–9. Invite the children to draw simple pictures in which someone plants the seed of one fruit and harvests a different fruit. Why would this be impossible? How is making wrong choices and experiencing positive consequences just as impossible?

• As a class, make a maze like the one on this week’s activity page. Invite the children to think of other words than those in the maze that represent good feelings from the Holy Ghost or bad choices that might drive Him away. Discuss the consequences of the choices they thought of.

• Invite the children to list some of the blessings they hope to receive from Heavenly Father. Help them think of the “seeds” they must sow in order to “reap” these blessings.

Encourage Learning at Home

Invite the children to watch for the good consequences, or “fruit,” that come because of good decisions they make this week. Tell them that next week they can share their experiences.

Improving Our Teaching

Modify activities for the age of the children. Give children opportunities to participate, but remember that their ability to do so will vary according to their age and maturity. Younger children may need more guidance and direction. As they mature, children can contribute more and may be better at sharing their thoughts. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 25–26.)