Sunbeams Lesson 4 - Prayer (Daniel & Lions Den)

I started out this week's lesson by covering the Parts of the Plan of Salvation we had already learned.  We talked about living in Heaven with  Heavenly Parents who love us and then coming to Earth to live with families who also love us.  Then we talked about Joseph Smith and how he saw and talked to Heavenly Father and how the scriptures teach us that we can talk to Heavenly Father too...through prayer.  We talked about the actions we do when we pray and then what we should say.  I had brought a bag of things from my house that I am thankful for, random things like an apple, a pair of pajama bottoms, cd for music, small ceramic temple, picture of Jesus, box of crayons (all the beautiful colors in the world), and some air freshener (all the wonderful smells).  There was enough items for each child to choose one and then we all said a prayer with that child speaking the words thanking Heavenly Father for that item.  Each child was given the opportunity to pray. 

 

Next I asked them what they are thankful for and we made a "Love Line"  because prayers are all about showing love for each other and for Heavenly Father.  I wrote their name on the back of the heart they chose and what they were thankful for on the front and then placed it over the line of string which is hanging form the wall with duct tape. 

 

 

 

 

Next we got out our scriptures and they love to hold the Book of Mormon and find pictures of Jesus.  Then I point to a page and show them the words on the pages and say this page talks about...today it happened to be the story of Daniel and the Lions Den.  I took out my picture and we talked about the lions and told them about how Daniel loved to pray.  Then we acted out the story with Lions, Daniel, and the Angel who protects Daniel from the Lions. 

 

 

They got to make their own Lion's mask so they can go home and tell the story to their families. 

 

 

This is my handout to remind them to prayer.  The Lion pillows had a tag that said, "Remember to pray before you "Lion" down to sleep.  On the back of the pillow I wrote the word "Prayers."

 

 

 

Sunbeams - Lesson 3 (Heavenly Father's plan and Jesus creates the Earth)

The Sunbeams learned about Jesus Creating the Earth and the Plan of Salvation.  My kids this year did not know what Earth was.  So to start our lesson I made cookies that looked like these.  (I forgot to take a picture of them, but the kids and my own family loved them.)  I used the Duncan Hines cake mix cookies recipe and added food coloring.  If you Google Earth Day Cookies you can see what they looked like.  One little boy said "Cookies", when I showed him a picture of the real Earth and asked what it was.  I laughed out loud at the comment, and was glad my cookies looked like the real Earth. 

 

 

I purchased the butcher paper at the Teaching the Children store it came to $3.00 for a 6 foot piece of both green and blue. 

I cut the giant Earth into 8 pieces and placed them around the room.  The kids loved putting the big Earth puzzle together and building a Earth like Jesus did.  I loved when I asked them after we done with the puzzle "Who made the Earth and they said you did and pointed to the wall.  I laughed and then took the Earth picture from the lesson as said who made this Earth and then they said, "Jesus."

 

 

The salt dough came out great and I loved the way it looks like Earth except I kept it overnight in the refrigerator thinking that would help it stay moist and it became a mushy mess when the kids played with it.   The recipe for the salt dough is 1 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 cup salt mixed together and then add water until you reach play dough consistency.  Very easy to make, add the food coloring in as you add the water, this helps spread the color evenly. 

 

This is what I used to represent our Pre-mortal life with Heavenly Father.  I found a picture of Him with children in white robes that I taped to the center of the board.  My mom had made the board when she was Young Women's President.  I took pictures of each child and had them put them in their Pre-Existance home while we talked about living with Heavenly Father and the presentation of His plan for his children. 

 

 

I separated the room with a table and placed a sheet or table cloth over it, we had our giant Earth directly across from our Pre-existence home on the opposite wall with the table in-between the two.  I would stand by the table and call out, "Abbie, it's your turn to come to Earth."  She would then grab her picture and crawl through the "veil" under the table and then place her picture on our giant Earth to show she is now on Earth.  I would do the same thing for each child. 

 



 

The kids would jump up and yell, "hurray, I'm on Earth!"  They are so adorable!! 

As the other kids would come through those of us on Earth, would say, "Hurray, our friend Maggie is on Earth!" 



A little more of the fun in Nursery

I wanted to include a few more nursery/sunbeam ideas that we had fun with the past two years.  

  Scripture Specs

We had a treasure hunt for Scriptures.  I printed out some mini bible and book of mormon pictures.  And the nursery kids put on their scripture specs and went hunting.

This was a cute lesson, I had the Sunbeams dress up as Daniel and the Angel who protected Daniel while in the lion's den.

Reverants = Reverence
We are INFESTED with "Reverants" today in nursery.   The kids learned about reverence and aren't they just the cutest in their little ant hats.



The picture below is when the Sunbeams learned that Heavenly Father has a plan for them and had Jesus create the Earth.  The glued pictures on the earth are things they need to learn on Earth now that they have a body like praying, being kind, follow the prophet, etc.

The picture below was in Nursery, we cute the ship we had built down and used it as a tent for Lehi's family by throwing a blanket over the top,  The kids loved dressed up and playing inside.  

Sunbeams lesson 1

Last week the Sunbeams learned they are Children of God. I had gone past each of their houses and taken a picture of the outside of the house and met with their parents to fill out an all about me paper. In class I separated the room with table and put a sheet over the table. I told them we were back in Heaven and we talked about our premortal life and how we are coming to Earth to live in families. The children loved crawling under the table (veil), coming out the other side jumping up and saying "Hurray I'm on Earth.” Then they were to find their families’ house and stand in front of it. We took their all about me papers with their picture in the middle from behind their house and learned about them. 
The scripture story for that week was baby Moses. My daughter dressed up as Pharaoh's daughter and the kids got to hold baby Moses. She told them how she found baby Moses and then told the kids that she is a princess because her father was the Pharaoh or the King of their land.  She asked how many of them want to be Princesses or Princes and of course, they all raised their hands.  This led in perfectly to how we all are Princes and Princesses because we are Children of God, Children of a King. 

Sunbeams lesson 2

This Sunday the Sunbeams learned that they have a body like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith came to visit and tell them about the First Vision. They got to draw pictures of themselves and wear Joseph's hat. I made trees for the back ground of the forest and played bird sounds in the background. I teach the story first, our visitor comes, we do a craft pertaining to the lesson for them to take home so they can tell their families. Then we retell the story together using their craft. My hope is they will learn enough of the scripture story to share with their family so that in the home the parents can continue to teach and bear testimony.