The gift of agency is one of the greatest gifts Heavenly Father has given us! He desires to bless us, lead us, comfort us, heal us, strengthen us, and to reveal all things to us. But He will never force us.
So, what will we do? Will we soften our hearts and allow Him inside? Or, will we harden our hearts and keep Him out?
This week’s lesson bundle features some fun activities that will help your children anticipate the love and peace they can receive from Heavenly Father if they will only invite Him into their hearts!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need a glass plate and a small blanket or towel. You will also need a small marble or a dried bean.
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "I Feel My Savior's Love"
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Place the plate on the floor and invite the children to gather around. Invite a volunteer to gently toss the marble onto the plate from a few feet away. (This will be impossible, because the marble will bounce/roll off of the plate.) If time allows, invite the other children to try if they wish.
Explain: The marble represents the Lord, and the glass plate represents a hard heart. The Lord wants to talk to us and share His light and His love with us. But if we harden our hearts, we won’t be able to receive the Lord into our lives! If we harden our hearts, it’s like we are blocking Him from entering our hearts!
Next, replace the plate with the soft blanket! Form it into a fluffy nest shape. Now invite the children to try to throw the marble into the blanket. This should be much easier, and the children should observe that the blanket is much better at “catching” the marble!
Explain: The blanket represents a soft heart! When we have a soft heart, it means we are listening and we are ready to receive the Lord into our lives! We want Him to stay in our hearts and share His light with us!
🎥 V I D E O : "A Soft Heart"
Say: Now we are going to watch a video about a hard heart and a soft heart. Watch and see if you can tell what it means to have a hard heart, and a soft heart!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
What does it mean to have a hard heart? (It means we don't want to listen to the Lord or let Him in our lives.)
What does it mean to have a soft heart? (It means our hearts are open for the Lord to come inside and teach us and comfort us!)
What can we do to have a soft heart? (We can trust Him. We can be humble and willing to listen to the things the Lord wants to teach us. We can be willing to follow Him and to try to keep His commandments.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the verses below and discuss the questions that follow.
“Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts…”
What do the scriptures tell us we should do to hear Heavenly Father’s voice? (Harden not our hearts!)
Can you think of a time when you had a soft heart and you let Heavenly Father inside your Heart?” (Help the children think of a time when their hearts were soft and they were ready to listen and learn from the Lord and the Holy Ghost.)
“And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.”
What did the scripture say we will receive if we harden our hearts? (We will receive less and less of God’s word.)
What did the scriptures say we will receive if we don’t harden our hearts? (We will receive more and more of God’s word, until we know all things!)
Will Heavenly Father force His way into our heart? (No, He lets us choose if we want Him in our heart or not.)
What are some things we can do to invite the Lord into our hearts? (Help the children think of things they can do to invite the Lord into our lives. Some examples are prayer, reading the scriptures, keeping the commandments, repenting, singing primary songs, etc.)
➤ A C T I V I T Y P A G E S
Invite the children to practice having a soft heart by completing the 3 mazes! Play primary songs in the background while the children are doing the activity, and invite them to try to listen with a “soft heart” while they are coloring.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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