This week's lesson aligns with Come, Follow Me for January 10th-16th! Teach your children how the choices we make eventually lead us to joy or sorrow.
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ 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 : "Choose the Right"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need a marker, 4 small pieces of paper, and some dominoes! (If you don’t have dominoes, you can use other small objects that can be balanced like dominoes such as legos, books, or Jenga blocks). Set up two rows of dominoes on a flat surface that follow separate paths. Write the word “choice” on two of the papers and place them at the beginning of each domino trail. Draw a smiley face and a sad face on the last two papers and place one of the faces at the end of each domino trail.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
After you have set up the activity, point to the first domino in the “happy” row and ask:
1) What do you think will happen if we tip over this “choice?” (The dominoes will tip over all the way to the happy face!)
Now, point to the first domino in the “sad” row and ask the following questions:
2) What do you think will happen if we tip over this “choice?” (The dominoes will tip over all the way to the happy face!)
3) If you didn’t know where these choices would lead, would you be able to make a good choice? (No. We need to understand where our choices will lead to be able to make a good choice!)
Explain that God gives us commandments, but He has also given us something called “free agency.” We are all free to choose, but before we can choose we must have a knowledge of where our choices will lead!
Choosing to obey a commandment from Heavenly Father always leads to happiness. Sometimes now, sometimes later. (Tip over the first domino in the “happy face” row to start the chain reaction.)
Choosing to break a commandment from Heavenly Father always leads to sorrow. Sometimes now, sometimes later. (Tip over the first domino in the “sad face” row to start the chain reaction.)
🎥 V I D E O : "Charlie and the Choosing Chair | A Story About Making Choices”
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about Charlie! Charlie’s Grandpa gave him a special present for his birthday - a choosing chair that helps him learn to make choices! See if you can remember the three things we need in order to make a good choice!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) Can we choose good if we think we only have ONE choice? (No, we need to have different choices to choose from!)
2) Can we choose good if we don’t know where the choices will lead? (We won’t be able to choose good if we don’t know where the choices lead!)
3) Can we choose if someone else forces us? (No. If someone always takes the choices away from us, then we can’t learn to choose good by ourselves.)
4) Why do you think Heavenly Father wants us to live here on earth where there is good and evil? (He wants us to have a chance to learn to choose good all by ourselves.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
[Read the first part and the last part of Moses 4:3]
Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man...I caused that he should be cast down;
1) What does it mean to “destroy the agency of man?” (It means to destroy our freedom to choose for ourselves.)
2) Did Heavenly Father want our agency to be destroyed? (No. Being able to choose for ourselves was a very important part of Heavenly Father’s plan.)
[Read Helaman 14:30]
And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
1) Why does this scripture say that when we make a choice, we make a choice “unto ourselves?” (It means that our choices will always lead us to happiness or sorrow. Just like dominos!)
2) What does God give us to help us choose? (He gives us knowledge about our choices!)
3) How does He give that knowledge to us? (Through the scriptures and through the Holy Ghost.)
[Read 2 Nephi 10:23]
Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
1) What should we remember that will help cheer up our hearts? (That Heavenly Father made us free to choose!)
2) Will Heavenly Father ever force us to choose Him? (No. He wants us to learn to love Him and choose the good all by ourselves.)
➤ A C T I V I T Y
Play the “Creation” matching game.
Print pages card stock if possible so that the image won’t be visible through the back of the paper. Cut out the cards, shuffle them, and place them face down on a flat surface. Take turns turning over the cards (two at a time) to find a match. If you find a match, keep the cards and take an extra turn!
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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