An Awesome Primary Activity
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JoeUser Forums
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Thankfully, lack of REM doesn't put a damper on my productivity during the day.
We had the best primary activity this morning. From 10-11:30am we acted out what it's sort of like to be in the Premortal Life, then the Earth life, then the Spirit World.
It was so beautifully done, and all we primary teachers had to do was stay with our class and guide them along and keep them involved and attentive. The presidency and the Young Women organized the whole thing.
We started out in the primary room where we sang songs, then the children gathered with their teachers. Sis. Burke set up the stage by telling us about what was going on. She said that the room we are in now represents the Spirit World. We're in the Pre-Earth life.
After Angela explained this, she hushed the ambient voices of the children and said that Heavenly Father was going to come into the room to tell us something very special. Dressed in beautiful white Temple clothes, Heavenly Father (Bro. Galbraith), Jesus (Bro. Doman), and Lucifer(Bro. Martin) came to talk to us. Heavenly Father presented His plan, and asked for a volunteer to be the Savior of the world.
Lucifer, who had wandered out among the children off to Heavenly Father's left side, piped up and said, "I'll be the Savior. I'll make it so that everyone here will make it back to live with You. They won't ever have to make decisions, they'll be forced to do the right things all the time. It will be so easy for them. And the glory will be mine."
Then Jesus, who was sitting calmly among the children off to the right side of Heavenly Father, stood up and said, "Father, send me, and the glory be Thine."
So Heavenly Father had heard them both, and asked all of the children to vote to decide who they wanted to be their Savior. "Raise your hand if you like Lucifer's plan?" All the children sat quietly.
"Raise your hand if you like Jesus' plan?" And all the children raised their hands. Then the children were "born," a few at a time, being released to go to the next room where we did our activities.
As we left the Pre-Earth Life, and were "born", we participated in activities symbolic to the things we go through while we're here on Earth.
Our class started at station A, where Sis. Martin gave a lesson called, "The Choices I Make." Each child was given a scenario where they faced a dilemma, then two possible choices to make of it: a right or a wrong choice. The right & wrong choices were displayed as two boxes on a table, labeled box "A" & box "B". As Sis. Martin explained the scenario and gave the child a choice, "Would you choose "A" such-and-such, or "B" such-and-such?" she pulled a Houdini and hid a candy reward in the box of the correct choice. As each child made the right choice, they came away with a candy reward, and a smile.
At Station B, Sis Galbraith and volunteers served the children a healthy snack of an apple slice, peanuts, a banana, a few grapes, and two carrot sticks with ranch dip. And a cup of water. That station taught the children that it's important to keep our mortal bodies fueled with wholesome foods so that we can continue to live the best lives possible. In my opinion, the high point of that station was when the children were done eating, they were instructed to carry their paper plates and trash to the trash container. So we didn't have to clean up for them. That was a big plus to me, as it was hard for me to resist cleaning up the little messes I saw.
Meanwhile, Lucifer, who'd changed into a black sweatshirt and jeans, was wandering around the cultural hall with temptations to lure anyone away who he could get. He came up to Dallin who was sitting next to me at the first station, and said, "Hey, would you like to come with me? I'll give you candy, and we'll have such a great time." Dallin, 4 years old, thought that sounded like a great idea. I tried not to laugh, and whispered in his ear, "No, stay with us, Dallin. Candy isn't good for you." And a few minutes later Lucifer was back, and stood behind the teacher so she couldn't see him. He held up some one dollar bills, and mouthed the words to Dallin, "Money, want some money?" Sis. Webb & I laughed. Sounded nice to me. lol
At the next station was an obstacle course. A really fun one for the kids. A colorful tunnel to crawl through, a zig-zag of chairs to navigate through, stairs to climb five times each, jump rope, 5 push-ups, a somersault, a balance beam, and a big beach ball to hand to the next person behind them. If time at the station allowed, they could go through the obstacle course again, or they could go to a table to color a picture with the theme of choosing between wrong & right. Super fun.
Finally the children went to a station to sing three songs: One about repentance, one about baptism, and one about going to the temple. With each song, the teachers walked around and placed stickers on the children's shirts, reading, respectively, "Repentance," then, "Baptism," then, "Make Temple Covenants." And there was one more song during which we tied a short piece of yarn around one of each child's fingers, as a reminder to them to keep the promises that they make to Heavenly Father.
The children then filed back to the primary room, or the Spirit World, awaiting further instruction. Lucky for the children, the primary presidency had it planned that they would all be received into the Celestial Kingdom. So we passed through the veil, walked into the room next door, greeted by a painting of the Savior. The room was decorated beautifully with green foliage and bright sunlight. Heavenly Father and the Savior, dressed in Temple White, welcomed the children into the room. The children were calmed by this greeting, and sat relatively quietly. We sang some more beautiful songs. The end.
posted by Angela Marie at 4:58 PM
Thankfully, lack of REM doesn't put a damper on my productivity during the day.
We had the best primary activity this morning. From 10-11:30am we acted out what it's sort of like to be in the Premortal Life, then the Earth life, then the Spirit World.
It was so beautifully done, and all we primary teachers had to do was stay with our class and guide them along and keep them involved and attentive. The presidency and the Young Women organized the whole thing.
We started out in the primary room where we sang songs, then the children gathered with their teachers. Sis. Burke set up the stage by telling us about what was going on. She said that the room we are in now represents the Spirit World. We're in the Pre-Earth life.
After Angela explained this, she hushed the ambient voices of the children and said that Heavenly Father was going to come into the room to tell us something very special. Dressed in beautiful white Temple clothes, Heavenly Father (Bro. Galbraith), Jesus (Bro. Doman), and Lucifer(Bro. Martin) came to talk to us. Heavenly Father presented His plan, and asked for a volunteer to be the Savior of the world.
Lucifer, who had wandered out among the children off to Heavenly Father's left side, piped up and said, "I'll be the Savior. I'll make it so that everyone here will make it back to live with You. They won't ever have to make decisions, they'll be forced to do the right things all the time. It will be so easy for them. And the glory will be mine."
Then Jesus, who was sitting calmly among the children off to the right side of Heavenly Father, stood up and said, "Father, send me, and the glory be Thine."
So Heavenly Father had heard them both, and asked all of the children to vote to decide who they wanted to be their Savior. "Raise your hand if you like Lucifer's plan?" All the children sat quietly.
"Raise your hand if you like Jesus' plan?" And all the children raised their hands. Then the children were "born," a few at a time, being released to go to the next room where we did our activities.
As we left the Pre-Earth Life, and were "born", we participated in activities symbolic to the things we go through while we're here on Earth.
Our class started at station A, where Sis. Martin gave a lesson called, "The Choices I Make." Each child was given a scenario where they faced a dilemma, then two possible choices to make of it: a right or a wrong choice. The right & wrong choices were displayed as two boxes on a table, labeled box "A" & box "B". As Sis. Martin explained the scenario and gave the child a choice, "Would you choose "A" such-and-such, or "B" such-and-such?" she pulled a Houdini and hid a candy reward in the box of the correct choice. As each child made the right choice, they came away with a candy reward, and a smile.
At Station B, Sis Galbraith and volunteers served the children a healthy snack of an apple slice, peanuts, a banana, a few grapes, and two carrot sticks with ranch dip. And a cup of water. That station taught the children that it's important to keep our mortal bodies fueled with wholesome foods so that we can continue to live the best lives possible. In my opinion, the high point of that station was when the children were done eating, they were instructed to carry their paper plates and trash to the trash container. So we didn't have to clean up for them. That was a big plus to me, as it was hard for me to resist cleaning up the little messes I saw.
Meanwhile, Lucifer, who'd changed into a black sweatshirt and jeans, was wandering around the cultural hall with temptations to lure anyone away who he could get. He came up to Dallin who was sitting next to me at the first station, and said, "Hey, would you like to come with me? I'll give you candy, and we'll have such a great time." Dallin, 4 years old, thought that sounded like a great idea. I tried not to laugh, and whispered in his ear, "No, stay with us, Dallin. Candy isn't good for you." And a few minutes later Lucifer was back, and stood behind the teacher so she couldn't see him. He held up some one dollar bills, and mouthed the words to Dallin, "Money, want some money?" Sis. Webb & I laughed. Sounded nice to me. lol
At the next station was an obstacle course. A really fun one for the kids. A colorful tunnel to crawl through, a zig-zag of chairs to navigate through, stairs to climb five times each, jump rope, 5 push-ups, a somersault, a balance beam, and a big beach ball to hand to the next person behind them. If time at the station allowed, they could go through the obstacle course again, or they could go to a table to color a picture with the theme of choosing between wrong & right. Super fun.
Finally the children went to a station to sing three songs: One about repentance, one about baptism, and one about going to the temple. With each song, the teachers walked around and placed stickers on the children's shirts, reading, respectively, "Repentance," then, "Baptism," then, "Make Temple Covenants." And there was one more song during which we tied a short piece of yarn around one of each child's fingers, as a reminder to them to keep the promises that they make to Heavenly Father.
The children then filed back to the primary room, or the Spirit World, awaiting further instruction. Lucky for the children, the primary presidency had it planned that they would all be received into the Celestial Kingdom. So we passed through the veil, walked into the room next door, greeted by a painting of the Savior. The room was decorated beautifully with green foliage and bright sunlight. Heavenly Father and the Savior, dressed in Temple White, welcomed the children into the room. The children were calmed by this greeting, and sat relatively quietly. We sang some more beautiful songs. The end.
posted by Angela Marie at 4:58 PM
