Primary
Lesson 6: We Have Special Families

“Lesson 6: We Have Special Families,” Primary 2: Choose the Right A (1995), 25–29

“Lesson 6,” Primary 2, 25–29

Lesson 6

We Have Special Families

Purpose

To help each child understand that Heavenly Father planned for children to grow up in families.

Preparation

  1. Prayerfully study Luke 1:26–38 and Matthew 1:18–25.

  2. Cut the following letters out of paper. Make each letter about three or four inches high:

    family

    Family

  3. Prepare to sing or say the words to “A Happy Family” (Children’s Songbook, p. 198). The words to this song are included at the back of the manual.

  4. Materials needed:

    1. A Bible.

    2. A picture of your family (optional).

    3. Paper and pencils or crayons.

    4. Picture 2-5, The Annunciation; picture 2-6, The Nativity (Gospel Art Picture Kit 201; 62495).

  5. Make the necessary preparations for any enrichment activities you want to use.

Note: Be sensitive to class members’ family situations. Help the children understand that the most important thing about a family is not the number of people in the family but that the family members love and care for each other.

Suggested Lesson Development

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

Follow up with the children if you encouraged them to do something during the week. You may want to invite each child to tell about a time during the past week when he or she chose the right.

Families Are a Part of Heavenly Father’s Plan

Attention activity

  • Where did you live before you came to earth?

Review with the children that each of us chose to follow Heavenly Father’s plan and come to earth. Tell the children that when we came to earth, Heavenly Father blessed us with people to help us and love us.

Tell the children that you will give them clues to help them figure out who these people are. One at a time, have a child hold up each letter of the word family. Have the children state the name of the letter. Then give a clue that starts with that letter. Some possible clues are given on the next page.

  1. Father is a part of it.

  2. Aunts and uncles are part of it.

  3. Mother is a part of it.

  4. I am a part of it.

  5. Love is a part of it.

  6. You are a part of it.

When you have given all the clues, repeat the word family together with the children.

Discussion

  • Why do we need families?

Explain that when we were babies we needed to live with people who would take care of us. Heavenly Father planned for each of us to live with a family that would love us and take care of us. As we grow older, our families also teach us and help us make wise choices.

Heavenly Father Planned for Jesus Christ to Be Born into a Family

Scripture story and discussion

Explain that Heavenly Father planned for Jesus Christ to be born into a family. The man and woman chosen to love and care for Jesus on earth loved Heavenly Father and kept his commandments.

Show picture 2-5, The Annunciation, and tell the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary, as found in Luke 1:26–38.

  • Who is the woman in this picture? (See Luke 1:27.)

  • Who is the man in this picture? (See Luke 1:26.)

Explain that Mary was surprised and a little worried when she saw the angel, but she was willing to do whatever Heavenly Father wanted her to do (see Luke 1:29, 38).

  • What did the angel tell Mary? (See Luke 1:31–32.)

  • Who would be the baby’s father? (Heavenly Father.)

Show picture 2-6, The Nativity.

  • Who is the man in this picture?

Tell the children that Joseph was a righteous man chosen by Heavenly Father to marry Jesus’ mother and love and care for Jesus. Explain that an angel also visited Joseph before Jesus was born. Briefly tell the story found in Matthew 1:18–25. Read aloud what the angel told Joseph in Matthew 1:21.

  • What did the angel tell Mary and Joseph to name the baby?

Explain that the name Jesus means savior. Jesus Christ would save all of us from our sins and help us return to live with Heavenly Father forever. The prophets who lived on the earth before Jesus was born foretold that our Savior’s name would be Jesus Christ. The word Christ means “anointed one,” which means chosen by Heavenly Father.

  • Why did Jesus need a family?

Our Families Love Us

Teacher presentation

Explain that all families are different. Some families have two parents, and some families have only one. Some families have lots of children, and some families have only a few children or one child. Some families have children, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all living together. Some children live with adults who aren’t related to them but who still love them and care for them. Families do different things together and show love in different ways. The important thing about families is that the family members love and care for each other. Everyone needs to be part of a family.

Discussion

  • What did your family do for you when you were a baby?

  • What does your family do for you now?

  • What do you do for other members of your family?

Child participation

Show the picture of your family, if you brought one. Point out the members of your family and tell why each one is important to you. Let the children talk about their families. Invite the children to tell about times they felt happy because they knew their families loved them.

Our Families Help Us

Discussion

Ask the children to listen while you give a few examples of family members helping and loving one another. After you give each example, ask the children to tell how the people in the example showed love for each other. Use the following examples or create some of your own:

  • Kirk’s little brother Eric was afraid at night, so Kirk helped him say a prayer to feel safe. Then Kirk sang a song to help Eric go to sleep.

  • Kaitlin’s mother had been gone overnight. Kaitlin cut a piece of paper into a heart shape and wrote a message telling her mother how much she loved her. She left the message on her mother’s pillow for her mother to find when she came home.

  • Ian’s grandmother took time every week to help Ian practice his spelling words for school. Her help and praise encouraged him to learn all the words on his list.

  • Tony set a goal to read the Book of Mormon before he was baptized. Every night his older sister sat with him and listened as he read. She helped Tony with the hard words. With his sister’s help, Tony was able to meet his goal.

  • Heidi overheard some of her classmates teasing her younger brother. He was nearly in tears, so Heidi took him away and played a game with him. Later she told her classmates that they should not tease other children.

Object lesson

Hold up your hand with the fingers extended. Explain that the members of a family can work together like the fingers and thumb of a hand. Ask the children to try to pick up their scriptures or some other object with one hand, without using their thumbs. Explain that while they may be able to pick up the object with just their fingers, it is much easier when they use their thumb and fingers together. Remind the children that every member of a family is important. Family members can accomplish much when they all work together.

Art activity

Give the children paper and crayons or pencils and have them draw pictures of their families. Label each picture My Family Loves Me.

Summary

Song

With the children, sing or say the words to “A Happy Family.”

Testimony

Bear testimony that Heavenly Father wants each of us to be loved and taken care of by a family. Remind the children that every family is different and every family is important. Testify that they can do much to help their families be happy.

Encourage the children to show their families the pictures they drew and to tell their families how much they love them.

Invite a child to give the closing prayer. Ask the child to thank Heavenly Father for families.

Enrichment Activities

Choose from the following activities those that will work best for the children in your class. You can use them in the lesson itself or as a review or summary. For additional guidance, see “Class Time” in “Helps for the Teacher.”

  1. If it would be meaningful in your culture, have each child come prepared to tell how his or her first name was chosen. This can be done by sending a note to the children’s parents at the end of lesson 5, asking the parents to tell their child how his or her name was chosen (see page 21). In class, explain that when we were born, our families chose names for us. Have each child tell the other children how his or her name was chosen. (If possible, you may want to contact each child’s parents during the week to remind them to have their child come prepared to tell how his or her first name was chosen.)

  2. Arrange for each child to bring a picture of his or her family from home (collect these at the beginning of class so they will not be a distraction). One at a time, let the children show the pictures and tell one or two things they like about their families. (If you plan to use enrichment activity 1 also, you may add the request for a family picture to the note sent home at the end of lesson 5.)

  3. With the children, sing or say the words to “Here We Are Together” (Children’s Songbook, p. 261), using the titles of family members:

    Here we are together, together, together;

    Oh, here we are together in our family.

    There’s father and mother and sister and brother;

    Oh, here we are together this bright, sunny day.

    Sing additional verses using titles such as grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle so all family members are named.

    Remind the children that Heavenly Father planned for them to live with families that would love and help them.

  4. Have each child trace around his or her hand on a piece of paper. Have the children draw faces on the fingers to represent family members or put a heart in the middle to show love. Remind the children that the members of a family are like the fingers on a hand: each one is important.

  5. Let the children role-play situations that demonstrate how family members can help one another. Use the situations from the lesson or create some of your own.

  6. Help the children do the actions to the following verse while you say the words:

    My Family

    Just like the birds way up in the tree (flap arms like wings),

    I have my very own family (point to self).

    They give me food (pretend to eat)

    And teach me to play (jump),

    So I can be safe and happy all day (smile a big smile).

  7. Sing or say the following words (they can be sung to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”) as the children join hands and walk in a circle:

    Your family loves you well;

    Your family loves you well;

    Heigh ho the family-oh!

    Your family loves you well.

    Choose a child to stand in the middle of the circle as you sing the next verse:

    This family has a father,

    This family has a father;

    Heigh ho the family-oh!

    This family has a father.

    Repeat this verse, replacing father with mother and having another child join the first in the center of the circle. Continue, using the names of other family members, until every child is standing in the center. Sing the first verse once more when all the children are standing together.