Saturday, May 19, 2012

I Want my Life to Be as Clean

A couple of weeks ago I asked the Senior Primary "How do I clean my life? I know how to clean dishes and clothes. I clean toilets even though I don't like to. And I clean my floors by sweeping, mopping or vacuuming, but how do I clean my life?" They all had an answer. We had a great discussion. I want the Junior Primary to get it, too, but they will need a little more help. Here's my idea.

Preparation
1. Round up some washable toys and household items and put them in a bowl.

 2. Rub chocolate pudding all over the items. It works best to just use your hands.
3. Prepare another bowl to be the washing bowl: warm water, dish soap, washcloth and a towel.

Explanation
1. Explain to the children that we are here on earth to learn to be like Heavenly Father but we make lots of mistakes while we are learning.
2. Show the dirty items and explain that our mistakes make our spirits dirty. Just like we can clean these items, we can clean our lives, but how? Let's sing a song that will remind us. While we are singing, I'll be looking for a class that is singing really well and ask their teacher to send someone up to pick out an items to wash clean.
3. Sing "When I am Baptized." Ask: How do we clean our lives? (baptism)
4. Ask: How can we clean our lives? (Baptism)
5. Choose a class that was giving their best effort. Have the teacher send someone up to pick out an item and wash it in the wash bucket.
6. While they are washing, explain that even after we are baptized we make mistakes, but Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to clean our lives. Let's sing the second verse and see if we can figure out what it is.
7. Sing the 2nd verse.
8. Ask: How else can we clean our lives? (Be Forgiven/Repent)
9. Continue in this pattern (sing, ask a question, choose a class, a child cleans an item) until your items are gone, you're out of time, or the attention span has elapsed.

Other questions:
How do we repent? (Pray, say sorry, do our best to fix, try not to do it again)
How do we renew our baptismal covenant? (Sacrament)
How do we improve our self each day? (Serve, Pray, Read the Scriptures, etc.)
Is someone bad if they have to repent? (It's a blessing to be able to repent!)
Should we say sorry if we really didn't mean to hurt someone? (Of course)

Scenarios:
It would be really fun to give quick scenarios to respond to instead of questions. They could correspond to the dirty items. For example:
It's time for bed and you're supposed to brush your teeth, but you keep playing instead. Your mom asks what is taking so long. What should you do?
Your friend gave you a CD of their favorite music to listen to. The music sounds angry and you don't feel the spirit when you play it. What should you do?
It's your turn to clear the table but you really just want to go play. You start to whine and complain. Your mom gives a big sigh. What should you do?
Your mom is combing your sister's hair and it's hurting her so she's crying. You make fun of her. What should you do?

REMINDER: If you are doing this activity for Junior and Senior, be sure to have a second batch of dirty items ready. (OR bring more chocolate pudding to coat them a second time!)

8 comments:

  1. Can't thank you enough. My kids loved this and it made learning a new song engaging instead of torture!

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  2. Thanks for this idea! I love the idea of using chocolate pudding - something I always have on hand!

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  3. Thank you for the wonderful ideas!! I'm 8 months pregnant and running out of ideas fast! This pregnancy brain is really getting to me. :) The kids will have fun today - I know it!!

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  4. Thanks for all your wonderful ideas! You really help me serve well in my calling. Thank you for taking to the time to provide this service.

    Sincerely, Anna Hampton

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  5. Truly Blogs like this one are the reason I feel any confidence in what I am doing in my calling. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart! My kids will love this!

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  6. I really like this idea. Thank you for sharing. I have really wanted to find a way to help our junior Primary understand repentance, and I think this is perfect.

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