Behold Your Little Ones, Lesson 24, I will Follow the Prophet

When the kids first come in  They will color the picture from the manual of past prophets.

Then later as we begin the Lesson we will sing the do as I am doing song and allow everyone who wants a chance to be the leader a chance. (just like the lesson manual says)

Then we will talk about a Leader, and how we have a leader of the church, he is the Prophet.  We will have the children each repeat the word Prophet.  We will hold up pictures of different prophets, including the ones the kids colored earlier  and talk about how we have always had prophets on the earth. After each one we will have the kids repeat, "I will Follow the Prophet"

We will discuss how the words of the prophets can be found in the Scriptures, and then we will read a verse from the scriptures and help each of the kids mark it in their scriptures with a smiley face sticker.

We will then go on a Reverence walk around the hall to look at more pictures of the prophets, and ultimately of Christ and talk about how Prophets talk to Christ and Prophets tell us what Christ wants us to know.

We will then return back to the class room to color a picture of president Thomas S. Monson.

LDS Nursery Lesson #21~ Joseph Smith Saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

The gathering activity I think we will try is to have a movie playing. I am not so sure that this will work, I do not know if children under the age of three even care to watch movies, I know my 18 month old doesn't.  We might try Living Scripture's Joseph Smith Story, or we might try the Church's Restoration movie they made just a couple years ago. I am not sure which is a better choice. I love the movie made by the church, it has beautiful music, and it is short, so it might be good because I don't want to take up too much time. However it is live acting and Living Scriptures is animated and maybe children enjoy animation better. Now on to the real lesson plan.

If you have your lesson in a seperate room you could line the halls with pictures from Joseph Smith's Life up until the first vision and you can talk about each event  leading up to the first vision, and then complete the lesson in the classroom.

I really like the layout of the lesson today. So I think that we will follow pretty straight down the line. 
I like the Exercise listed in the manual about telling the story again only have the kids pretend to be trees.  I like how it suggests that even the plants show respect and reverence for their Creator. I like the repitition of the story, the more times the kids hear it the better off they will be.  The image below could be used the first or second time of the story.

I think we will use it the first time So they can see the visual, if we have the gathering activity be the movie, they will have seen it on movie, talked about the pictures on the way to class, watched the  puppet show of it. And then We might have a few of the kids act out the story. Bring a big bible, have some white robes for the kids to put on and they can stand on the chairs and someone can be Joseph Smith, we could bring a hat for them to dress up. We could have the remaining kids act like the trees like the manual suggests. If we do that I will take pictures, and post them later. I like that idea. I think actually acting it out will drive home that image in the kids heads.

Be sure to reread the Joseph Smith Story found in Joseph Smith history and pray and reaffirm your testiomony once again on this subject before teaching the Lesson. That way you can bare testimony to the kids, and your testimony can be strengthened.

Here is the puppet show from the Friend Magazine

Remove pages 14 and 15 (I included them below) from the magazine and glue them onto a sheet of heavy paper or lightweight cardboard. Carefully cut out each piece, then glue a small craft stick onto the back of each, with the stick extending out the side (see illustration). Find a box about the size of a medium-size shoe box. Cut large openings on both ends and on the box lid (see illustration). As you tell the story of the First Vision, use the box as a stage. Move the different figures and scenery on and off the stage through the side holes as you tell the story. You may want to tell the story at a family home evening.

I also think it would be fun to help the kids do a puppet show and act out the story, or simply leave it out for the kids to play with the rest of the day, maybe keep it in the nursery to play with on other days as well.

For our art activity we might also do leaf rubbings for the pictures. But the title of the lesson is that Joseph Smith Saw Heavenly Father and Jesus, so I haven't decided if leaf rubbings deter from the main idea. I just like to do something a little more than just coloring something that might stick with them longer. Maybe helping the kids make their finger puppets and helping them tell the story with them would be a better use of time and effort for the kids.

If you are Ready for Our Lesson

I think the best resourses are the ones that the church provides.  I think it is a given that you use those. And I think that the majority of the lesson and such should come straight from the manual provided. This way you know you are teaching what the Lord would have the kids know. It also has some great ideas for most nursery. For instance,  Transition are hard on kids and mandatory that you get them down for there to be peace in nursery. They have some great ideas for how to help this. One that I really like is their transition to Lesson time. 

Sing this song to the tune of "if your happy and you know it"

If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down
If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down
If you are ready for our lesson, it will surely be a blessing.
If you are ready for our lesson, come sit down.

I could change it up, since I plan on haveing them get their scritpures,

If you are ready for our lesson, get your scriptures,
If you are ready for our lesson, get your scritpures,
If you are ready for our lesson, it will surely be a blessing.
If you are ready for our lesson, get your scritpures.

Then when most the kids have started getting their scritpures sing the previous verse
If you are ready for our lesson come sit down etc.

I Read the Scriptures

Nursery is not just babysitting. Nusery is to teach the youngest children about Jesus, the Gospel, their Divine Nature, and how to follow the prophet. It is there teach the basics of the gospel and to begin life long habits.  I have a friend who use to teach seminary, she told me that she was amazed at how many kids start seminary in nineth grade who have never owned their own set of scriptures. Who didn't know how to use scriptures. Nursery is suppose to prepare kids to be able to be ready for Primary. There are countless stories of people who's testimonys of certain subjects have roots all the way back in nursery. They know that the gospel is true because their nursery leader knew it was true. As nursery leaders and teachers we are the first experience children have with the gospel outside their own home. . . and in some cases the first experience the kids have with the gospel period. It is mandatory that we express the love for the gospel and our testimonies to these very young children.

I love this idea. (once again found on sugardoodle)
by Janis Peterson

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I just wanted to share an idea that my friend, Kristen, told me they did in her old ward and I think it is great! The church sells the softcover Book of Mormon's. Each child in the nursery got their own scriptures. Each Sunday they would read a scripture from the Book of Mormon and put a small sticker on that page or put it next to the scripture. She shared how her daughter would just sit at home and in sacrment meeting and go through her scriptures and try to find the pages with the stickers in it. 

I thought this was a great way to introduce the scriptures to the little ones. Any way that there can be a hands on experience with the scriptures for these little ones is great.


ADDITIONAL NOTE by Yvonne Moo: I prepared paperback Book of Mormons with a name and picture of each child on the cover of their own. I ask them to get their scriptures as I begin the lesson. I highlight the scripture prior, then during the lesson we assist each to find the new scripture, then I read a portion and everyone puts a sticker to mark it. We, the leaders, help them to flip through to glance at the prior scriptures. It only lasts a few minutes, but I've enjoyed introducing them to the Book of Mormon. It will go with them when they move on to Sunbeams.

I love the additional note on this by Yvonne Moo.  I like having the kids learn that you use the scriptures for lessons, that the truths of the gospel are found in the scriptures. I like the idea of highlighting the scripture before the lesson. I also like the idea of having happy stickers that the child places next to the previously highlighted scripture. In my opinion this will help build ownership and also help the children recognize that the scriptures make them happy.

I like the idea of keeping the scriptures at church, because in our ward they would never make it back. . . I think that in most any ward with nursery children it would be only a few that would make it.  I think that giving them their set of scriptures when they graduate from nursery would be a great idea. Then they have them that they can take to sunbeams.  They own them, they have scriptures marked and they know their scriptures make them happy.

Schedules and Routines

I taught special education for many years before I had children. One thing I learned was that down time was asking for trouble, and that a schedule, a routine schedule without a lot of change made for happy kids. Happy kids mean teachable kids. Transitions are hard so make them fun, or decrease how many transitions there are.  With young kids or kids with special needs attention spans are short, so decreasing transitions is very difficult. So the first thing is to develop a schedule and then make it a routine. Then the kids know what to anticipate and they know what is coming and so it isn't scary, confusing or overwhelming.

I liked some of the ideas from this article I found at bellaonline which I am not exactly sure what the website is, I will have to go check it out and see if there is anything else useful on it. But it did have this nice article.

Ideas for Nursery Leaders

Guest Author - T. Lynn Adams

Years ago one of my daughters felt shy about going to nursery. Thank goodness for Nancy Rush. This dear nursery leader treated all the children with love and made them feel important. They received cards and special treats on their birthdays. Often, when the weather was warm, they played outside or looked for butterflies. Other times Nancy would bring cookies and frosting to church and let the children decorate. They stamped cards, did scrapbook pages to give to their parents, and planted seeds in paper cups to grow for their gardens.

A move took Nancy away from our ward but she gave my daughter a beautiful book before she left. Almost a decade later my daughter was looking through the book and said, “I love Nancy.”

“Do you still remember her?” I asked.

“Yes. Nancy was the best!”

Nancy truly was the best nursery leader my daughter could have had. She made all the difference in the world for my child.

As a mother who has sent six children to nursery, I understand the importance of a good nursery leader. As a former nursery leader, I understand the trepidation of the calling. Can you really love and enjoy nursery?

Here are some tips that might help you and the children share the best time of the week.

SET UP
Be in the nursery early to greet each child by name and with a smile, a hug (if appropriate) or high-five.

Have things ready to go including tissues, wet wipes and a garbage can.

SCHEDULE
Have a schedule: Nurseries will not work without one! Leaders dislike their calling and children fuss, cry and feel more frustration without one. They need routine. You need routine. Create a schedule and visibly post in the room! (This will also help any substitutes.) A great article and basic schedule are provided at lds.org (see below).

My first experience with the nursery was amazing. With over 30 children in the nursery, the wise bishop called three full-time leaders. Two part-time helpers rotated in each hour. The children and leaders loved nursery. This is the schedule they used.

Play time
Clean-up and wash hands for snack
Snack and clean up
Lesson
Lesson-related activity
Music time
Free choice (During the last ten minutes the children could choose from three activities: listening to stories with one leader, coloring quietly at the table with another leader, or playing games with another leader such as Ring-Around-The-Rosie (so no toys were used).

When the parents came the room was clean, the toys put away and the children happily engaged in an activity of their choice. Wow! What a great learning experience for me!

PLAYTIME
Play with them. Get down on the floor, even in a dress, and play.

Guard against escape artists by sitting in front of the door as you play. You may have to move for parents coming in and out, but that’s okay.

Sometimes you just have to let them wiggle it all out (especially around the holidays). Hold different kinds of races or jumping contests, let them act out different animals, play follow the leader. Those real wiggly days will happen so just join in and wiggle with them. You’ll have more fun if you do.

CLEAN-UP
Play games while cleaning. Let the children pick up toys by color, shape or function. Teach them to have fun cleaning.

SNACK TIME
Children love to help. Let them pass out napkins or paper towels and paper cups.

Try to keep snacks healthy. Besides avoiding sugar buzzes, healthy snacks are cleaner! Raisins make less mess than cookies. Water is cleaner than juice if spilled. Make sure snacks are small and easy to chew. Use small paper cups for drinks and don’t fill them full. Know of any allergies and plan accordingly

LESSON TIME
Have a weekly lesson. Children love lessons. Lessons are also important for you, the leader. You will feel you are making an important contribution to their growth and development, and will often feel the spirit very strongly.

Keep them short, about 10 minutes long. You can adapt lessons from the primary manual or create special lessons just for them such as sharing, how to pray or having a new baby at home. Use stories, pictures, puppets, toys--they love visual aids and facial expressions are your greatest aid.

Have lesson time in a special place every week. This helps the children settle for the lesson. Letting each child sit on their own personal rug (samples from a flooring store) helps keep little hands and feet from invading the space of other children. (If you want, let the children decorate their rug square during an activity time and store them in the closet. When they leave nursery they can take it with them to use when saying their prayers.)

ACTIVITY
Plan a lesson-related activity. Think beyond the coloring crayons but remember you will need to do prep work at home. Cut out pieces ahead of time, pre-assemble some parts and be prepared to help with finishing touches. Remember glue sticks work better than liquid glue, all supplies should be washable with water and never use paints without large paint shirts and drop clothes.

Try to help the children make something they can take home with them every week. They love accomplishing that, you will feel better, and the parents will love seeing that their children are doing something more than just playing.

Look in the Friend for ideas. There are also some great books with pages you can photocopy and craft ideas you can use.

EXTRAS
Consider a special rest area. In one corner, have a soft quilt and large fluffy pillow. Let the children know this area is for resting. If a child is tired, he can lay down there to rest (and even nap if he chooses) before coming back into the mix. A safe, quiet area where he can retreat and be comfortable will save a lot of tired tears.

Use music. Music can change moods. Use quiet music to settle down before lesson time or just before their parents come.

Don't forget prayers. Help them pray at snack time or in conjunction with the lessons.

I always found that the more I prepared for nursery during the week, the more I loved my time in nursery on Sundays.

An excellent source for nursery is this article at lds.org

My favorite ideas from this article are the free choice time.  Having three different activities that the kids can participate in at the end. . I might change it into two. And then have one adult floating and one focussing on makeing sure they know who is leaving.

I think the schedule I would like to have is Something like this
10:10-10:25 Check in and Check in activity
10:25-10:35 Roll Call/Birthday/New people recognition and talk about being a Sunbeam
10:35-10:45 Play with Toys
10:45-10:55 Singing time (close off half of the room with toys when kids go to singing time)
10:55-11:05 Snack
11:05-11:15 Lesson
11:15-11:20 Lesson activity (not coloring)
11:20-11:25 Coloring or craft
11:25-11:45 toys
11:45-11:50 Clean up
11:50-12:00 free choice

Check in and Check out

I think it is very important to have a very organized check in and check out system. A couple weeks ago I substituted in nursery and parents would drop off kids and not saying anything, there were a couple of kids we didn't even know their names or who their parents were, there were new kids (which happens often in our ward because we have lots and lots of appartments and so people are always moving in and out) And then the parents would come pick up their kids without us even knowing. And then it was panic because we thought a kid escaped!  The saftey of the kids I think is the first and foremost important thing. If the kids are not safe, and do not feel safe, they will never feel the spirit, they will never learn and they will never make friends. I feel an organized nursery will help them feel safe and be safe. Also if I am constantly worry about who is lost, I won't have time to teach the rest of the kids. So the check in and check out systems are very important. So here are the ideas I have found that I like. Once again I think most of these have come off of sugardoodle.net

For Check in I liked this idea

It's hard to get names and faces for everyone. I brought my digital camera to church for several Sundays and took everyone's picture. Then I bought wooden flowers at the craft store, painted them all a different color, and glued their photo to a flower. The wooden flowers are indestructible, so the children can't smoosh them and ruin them. I used a Sharpie to write the child's name on the flower. We use a basket to hold the flowers, and as each child comes in, they find their flower and attach it to a poster that I made. It's a field of 'stems' with a piece of Velcro at the top of the stems. I have a Velcro dot on each wooden flower. The poster says: "Our Nursery Friends". The children love their flowers, and it gives them something to do when they get there. It helps with separation anxiety a little bit.
One thing I think I will change will be I want everything to have a teaching purpose, not just be cute. It needs to be functional and it needs to bare testimony of something in the gospel. So I thought I could either change the flowers to suns, and put at the top that Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. And every week we can talk about ways of being a sunbeam. So they think about it when they find their name on a sun.  Or I might find just little boy and girl figures and glue their faces on it and say something about being a Child of God. When Craig and I decide, what we think will be best I will put pictures.

For Check out I liked this idea



I have found that in nursery you have three kind of children. The ones that cry EVERY time the door opens, the runner who runs out when the door opens, and the ones who are bored.

I found a way to make all 3 happy. By putting their name on a star, outside on the door. Then the parents come to the door pull off there child's star. Sliding the star under the door, the children then RUN the star to the teacher to find out who is outside the door. Using the 2nd door in the room, the child with their name on the star goes through. Those who cry or run, are to busy waiting for their star to be doing so, and no one is bored.

Doing this has make pick up time so much easier and less crazy. You don't have to use stars. you can use just about anything: apples, animals, circles, squares, triangles...any kind of cut out you can think of.

I like the star idea because we can talk the song "I am like a Star Shining Brightly" We sing this every week in singing time and the kids love to do the twinkles with the stars, once again we can do a short weekly lesson on what it means to shine like a star. Repitition is important at this age. Also giving visual reminders  during the day is a great way to help instill in them a testimony of being a good example.

Roll Call

So far most of my favorite ideas have come from sugardoodle,  I would just leave them there, because I am not in any means trying to challenge sugardoodle, but I am simply using this blog to collect what ideas I think would be good to improve our nursery. I am a little bit nervous, being called as the nursery Leader, they have left the same nursery workers in there, so I am afraid to go in and tell them we are changing things. I hope they are greatful for the help and not resentful.  Craig and I will definatly prayerfully consider the changes we make, and how we make them. So these are just some of the ideas that I have found, they may or may not be used, and later posts I am sure will state what we have found to work, and what we feel the Lord wants us to do.

In the past few weeks I have noticed that a lot of kids come in and just scream, I think this is normal. Seperation is difficult for kids. My daughter is one of them. So I was talking to another mother who is in the same boat and she said that she has seen nurserys that this doesn't happen and the thing that makes a big difference is that they have an organized activity right in the beginning. it isn't just mass chaos. I can see how that would be helpful, coming in to lots of noise and chaos could be very overwhelming for little kids.

So I have been looking for ideas of what to do when the kids first come in. Some of the ideas I like are:
playdough
fruitloop necklaces
making a cave with blankets and reading stories
bubbles

I will be looking for more ideas in the next few weeks. If anyone has any ideas feel free to share.

So after five to ten minutes of that activity when all the kids for the day are there I think taking roll would be good (I plan on  having a check in process as well, which will be another post) but I think that physically taking roll so the kids know you are taking roll helps with a couple things. It teaches routine, which I think is one of the main purposes of nursery. It also shows the kids that we care if they are there and that we miss the children who are not there. It helps the adults in the room know the children's names, and it recognizes visitors.  I also think it would be a great time to highlight birthday kids (i am sure that birthday ideas will be coming as well. . I think it is important for every kid to feel very special and be highlighted). It is also a great time to introduce new kids.

I really liked this idea for roll call. I got it off of sugardoodle.net

After the children arrive and they are getting wiggles out from being in sacrament, we go through the roll by everyone getting out their pretend glasses (cupping hands around eyes like binoculars). I go through each name on the roll, asking all the children to look for "name of child". Everyone puts on their pretend glasses and I pretend I can't find them. The children get so excited when they find the "named" child. Then I say "There you are! I'm so happy to see you!" Continuing through the roll. When we get a child who is not present, I show sadness that they are not with us and move on to the next name. This helps the children know who visitors are too.