Exploring Scriptures

•  Eph. 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
• D&C 59:15-? : All things which come from the earth, in the season thereof, are given unto man
• ?
• Josh 1:9 Be strong and of good courage
• If ye love me, Keep my Commandments
• (jist) On this hang all the law and the prophets. Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength, and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
• Article of Faith #1

Discovering Principles in Nature: Circles

Discovering Principles in Nature: Circles

We took the children outside while saying a verse (?), and looked for circles in nature together. We noticed the sun in the sky, the flowers, tree trunks, seeds, and other round things. Next, we went back inside and sang our Gathering Closing Song, ending in a tight circle in the middle, and saying, “Thank you” as we closed our class. Those who were interested were invited to stay for an additional story. We read one of the 7 Habits of Happy Kids books by Steven R. Covey called (?)

We gave each family of children some bubbles to take home, along with a copy of our affirmation that day, “I Am Loved”, and handed the mothers a review sheet that highlighted a little of what our focus was that day, and included activities they could do at home to support and reinforce what we had done in class.

Nourish the Body: Apple Pieces

Food: Apples – It Takes Every Part to Make a Whole

We had the children help prepare some apples by washing and slicing them. We cut some large circles off of the sides of the apple, and cut the rest off in pieces. While the children ate, we talked about what it would be like to put the apple back together again, into one great whole, and emphasized that each piece that had been cut off of the apple was a little bit different from the other pieces, but they were all needed and important, to make the apple whole again.

Creative Arts: Beeswax Sculptures

We passed out pieces of beeswax for each child to hold and begin to warm, shape, and change, while we told a verse about the special little creatures, who worked together to create the wax we were playing with. The wax was stiff and hard to mold. We primarily wanted to introduce and expose them to the wax as a medium, and perhaps make spheres with it. At the end of the verse, we showed them a beautiful bee we had sculpted out of a golden yellow wax, that was the creature that had been described.

Attributes: Unity & Charity

Godly Attribute: Unity
Christlike Attribute: Charity & Service

We talked about how we united many different notes into one sound. We discussed how we are also all different people, but we belong to one great family, that started with Adam and Eve. Even though we may like different things or work in different ways, or make different sounds, we are all important parts of this great big family, and just like we want every part of our body to be doing as well as possible, we want every part of our human family, every person we meet, to be doing as well as possible, living with as much joy and love as possible.

Exploration Activities
Then we talked about how every time we help anyone, we are making things a little bit better for everyone, which blesses us too. What we do affects everyone, and to explore that further, we played a game by having the children lay in a circle on the floor. We had each child put their head on the stomach of the person next to them in the circle. One child started the game by saying, “ha”, and the next had to say, “ha”, and we had each try to take a turn saying “ha” without laughing, or else they had to start over. We talked about the gift of a smile, and how that can brighten one person’s day, and they may be just a little kinder to someone else, who may be a little kinder to someone else, and so on.

We also played Ring Around the Rosies, to emphasize that when one of us is hurting, it affects us all as well, and we want every person to be as happy and well as possible, because we each affect and are a part of each other’s lives.

Song: I Will Build You Up

This is a song to help children learn to build others up and resolve differences in a loving way.

Lyrics:
As I build up another,
I'm also building me,
because we're all a part
of a great big family tree.

If I tear someone down,
I tear part of me down too.
I want to be a builder in all I say and do.

Chorus:
I will build, build, build, build you up.
It will lift, lift, lift, lift us up,
Because what I do to you
becomes part of my life too.
As I build you up, I'm also building me.

If I am feeling hurt,
or afraid, or really mad,
there are things that I can do
that will help things feel less bad.
I'll stop and think and breathe.
I'll ask God to help me see,
When I show love to you,
I am showing love to me.

[Chorus]

God sent me here to see,
He has love for big and small.
His love for you and me
is no different at all.
I'll try to see the good,
and the good will grow in me.
When I remember love for you,
a builder's what I'll be.

[Chorus]

Music: The Note

We talked about how breath gives our bodies power to move, and also to speak and to sing. We have a special way of drawing the sounds we can sing, called notes. When we want to draw these sounds, we draw a circle! (We drew a note on the board).  Next, we made a circle with our mouths, and sang a note. Then, we tried to make all the different notes we were singing sound like only one note, by trying to match each other’s note.