May 6-12 Rejoice with Me; for I Have Found My Sheep Which Was Lost

Materials- stuffed animals, coins

Song- Dear To the Heart of the Shepherd Hymn 221

Gather some stuffed animals (especially if you have some sheep! Check Easter clearance!) Have the kids look over the stuffed animals, then have them look away and hide one. Ask them if all the sheep are still there, help them figure out which one is missing then have them go find it.

Pull out a few coins (real or fake) count them and then “lose” one, count again and have the kids search for the lost one. (Bonus points if you can then do the magic trick where you pull it out of their ear!)

Explain to the children that when we or others make mistakes, Jesus will find us and help us start making right choices again. We can help Jesus help others stay with the flock of sheep by being a good example and always being kind to them.

May 13-19 What Lack I Yet?

Materials- treat, starting line/finish line

Song- I am a Child of God #2

Make a special treat. Show the family the treat and tell them you’re going to have a race and the winner gets a treat. Designate the starting line and the ending line. Have one parent intentionally start late and go slower than the kids. Have the other parent waiting at the finish line with the treats. Give the “slow” parent the treat first, then in backwards order of the kids that finished. Explain that we all won in Heavenly Father’s eyes because we all made it to the finish line even if some were slower than others.

May 20-26 Behold, Thy King Cometh

Materials- treat, picture of Jesus, Large box/tall place

Song: I Love to See the Temple #95

Put a picture of Jesus (and maybe a special treat) in a place that your children can’t see just standing on the floor (maybe inside a large box, or on top of a counter). Tell them there is something very special there that they really want to see. Ask them what they could do to be able to see. Help them get something to climb on so that they can see. Tell them about Zaccheus, emphasize that he could have just given up, but it was so important to him to see Jesus that he climbed a tree.

Alternate or in addition- a really simple activity, if you live close enough, is to just go down and walk the temple grounds. Our kids really enjoy this and it’s basically a lesson in and of itself.

May 27- June 2 The Son of Man Shall Come

Materials- candy

Song- I want to give the Lord my Tenth #150

Teach your children about tithing. Buy a bag of candy (I like to use the Hershey’s treasures for this activity because they look like gold bars), give each child 10 pieces. Explain that Heavenly Father asks us to give back 1 in 10 and in return promises that the windows of Heaven will pour out a blessing so big we won’t be able to hold it. Tell them they have the option of keeping the 10, or they can give one back and see what happens. You may want to have one of the parents take candy as well and say no, they will just keep what they have, then say sorry they will miss out on the big blessings, but let them keep their 10. Strongly encourage the kids to give one back, when they do tell them to close their eyes and hold out their hands, pour the rest of the bag of candies into their hands. Point out that they have so many more since they gave one back.

Show the picture of the widow giving her mite, explain that even though her life was very hard and she had very little to give, she still gave and Jesus blessed her for it.

Materials List:

stuffed animals

coins

treat (x2)

starting line/ finish line

picture of Jesus

Large box/tall place

candy

Image by analogicus from Pixabay