Week 19: Chapter 19 - The Sons of Mosiah Become Missionaries

Book of Mormon Stories
Chapter 19: The Sons of Mosiah Become Missionaries

As soon as I started reading this story I began humming "I Want to be a Missionary Now". And now I can't get it out of my head!! LQ and I spent the afternoon marching around the living room playing "instruments" and singing. I am thinking that I could do the same but sing "I Want to be a Missionary Now."

I love that just like young men today, the Sons of Mosiah gave up an opportunity that to the world would seem too good to give up - being King. Young men today give up so many opportunities to serve the Lord while on their mission... I think "sacrifice" would be a wonderful theme to go along with "being a Missionary" this week.

Aside from singing my missionary song, here are some other ideas.

• Make some cookies for the Elders in your ward
• Draw a picture for a missionary you may know that is serving. My brother is serving in Canada at the moment and I think he would appreciate something from his little niece!
• Sing "I Hope they Call Me on a Mission"
• There are two pages in the LDSFamilyFun booklet "Ammon, Missionary to the Lamanites" that are good colouring pages pertinent to this story. Remember you need to have a sign in (free to register) to access the activity books.
  

Friend Activities

• July 2008 - This page is full of goodness. It has a poem about the Son's of Mosiah with hand actions. It also has a colouring and pasting missionary activity. And a great little story about a missionary.
• September 2002 - Has a great poem about being different things when you grow up. Maybe you could say the poem while changing hats for the different occupations. Then give your toddler a missionary badge made from cardboard.
• July 1996 - A poem similar to the one above.

Week 16: Chapter 16 - King Limhi and His People Escape

Book of Mormon Stories
Chapter 16: King Limhi and His People Escape


Ah.... those Lamanites. I had a sneak peek at next week's story - Alma and his people escape. It turns out the same group of Lamanites hosted the great escapes of both Limhi and his people AND Alma and his people. I just don't think they were ready to be leaders...!

This story is a good example of praying in faith, obeying the commandments and repenting of wickedness. Any activities that you can think of that will help your toddler to remember to choose the right, listen to the prophets or that teaches him/her to pray will go along nicely with the story. The activity involving the current apostles and flashcards I suggested two weeks ago would also go well with this story.

Specific activities I have thought of:

• Sing "I Pray in Faith" (Children's Songbook pg 14)
• Sing "I Need My Heavenly Father" (Children's Songbook pg 18)
• Show a picture of Jesus Christ and tell your toddler that he wants us to obey
• The Nursery Manual has two great lessons on obeying and praying
• Pretend to sneak past the guards at the door. If you have someone who's willing - why not post them at the door, get them drunk enough to pass out and then sneak past.

Activities from The Friend

• May 2001 - A colouring activity to hang on your wall
• May 2003 - If you are ambitious you could try creating this mobile with your toddler
• September 2008 - This activity is probably too much for a toddler, but I just had to show it to you. I think it is a GREAT idea for older children.
• June 1985 - You could use the little cards in this sharing time idea for a match up game.

Thank you for bearing with me and my tardy posts. I can't wait to review next week's story!!

Week 14: Chapter 14 - Abinadi and King Noah

Book of Mormon
Chapter 14: Abinadi and King Noah



While searching for activities to go along with this particular story, I came across many Sharing Time suggestions that had the theme of Obeying the Prophets. I think a perfect activity to complement Abinadi's story is to make up some flash cards with the pictures of the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles. As you go through the cards, tell your toddler what that Apostle spoke about at the last General Conference (obviously in a VERY summarised version).

Other activities include:

• The Living Scriptures (aka LDSFamilyFun) has an activity book with plenty of colouring pages for the Abinadi story
• Sing "Follow the Prophet" (Children's Songbook pg 110)
• Sing "Keep the Commandments" (Children's Songbook pg 146)
• Play Follow the Leader

Abinadi's story is quite long and important, so I would be inclined to spend two weeks going over this particular story. But I will still be back next week with the next chapter!

Week 12: Chapters 11 & 12 - Enos and King Benjamin

Book of Mormon
Chapters 11 & 12: Enos and King Benjamin

I have combined these two chapters because, although the King Benjamin chapter is quite lengthy, Chapter 11 (Enos) is just about Enos praying about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

LQ and I are going to read the Enos story on one day and then cover King Benjamin for the rest of the week.

King Benjamin is going to be read in a makeshift tent made from blankets and chairs. We will also dress up like a king and build a block tower.

Other ideas that I have for this week include:

• Making cookies and giving them to our friends (covering the service part of King Benjamin's speech)
• Look at all the pictures we have of Christ's earthly life and talk about that (just like King Benjamin)
• Colour, cut and paste the first two images on this page
• Sugardoodle.net has this idea for using a refrigerator box to make a tower

The possibilities are endless because King Benjamin taught a lot of different things. What ideas have you had?

Week 10: Chapter 9 - A New Home in the Promised Land

Book of Mormon
Chapter 9: "A New Home in the Promised Land"

If you look at the scripture references for this chapter, you will notice that 2 Nephi is all summed up in this chapter. Lucky for LQ... she doesn't have to deal with Isaiah JUST yet.

Of course, this means that I can pick out some wonderful scriptures to read to LQ this week. One of those scriptures will be 1 Nephi 19:23

I encourage you to go through the last part of 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi and the first chapter of Jacob and pick out your favourite scriptures to read to your child. LQ really believes she is getting a special treat when I read to her from the scriptures. She isn't allowed to touch mummy's scriptures otherwise. It's nice that she has that excitement.

The story this week focuses on the Nephites setting up and the Lamanites being cursed. I thought of some fun activities that tie in with those themes.

• Plant some seeds and watch them grow (get that quick growing grass seed... toddlers attention span and all that)
• Set up a tent in your living room
• Tame wild beasts
• Search for gold and silver in the sandbox
• Build an altar with blocks (my favourite because it's so simple)
• Build a temple with blocks or recycled boxes
• Sing the second verse of "Love is Spoken Here" (Children's Songbook, pg 90)
• Talk about Lehi blessing his sons and then relate to your child the importance of the priesthood. This lesson from the new nursery manual has a colouring activity that explains how the priesthood is used.
• The Living Scriptures "Journey to the Promised Land" activity booklet has a few pages at the end that relate to arriving in the Promised Land.
• Talk about the different types of homes the Nephites lived in (tents, ship, houses) and then sing "Home" (Children's Songbook pg 192)

I know some of these are a stretch, but because the chapter spans such a huge amount of scripture, I really think you could slot in any subject you would like your toddler to learn. If you wanted to attempt Isaiah you could even talk about Christ's coming, etc.

If you have a particular problem or just need a sounding board for your own ideas for your toddler, send me a comment or an email. Hopefully I can help you out.

Week 5: Chapter 5 - Traveling in the Wilderness

The Book of Mormon
Chapter 5: Traveling in the Wilderness

For those of you who are new, I base LQ's scripture study around the chapters of the softcover Book of Mormon Stories book that can be purchased from the LDS Distribution Services for US$7.00. It can also be found online. If you look back through my posts you will see that at the moment LQ doesn't sit very still while I read to her from this book. She does, however, sit still if I have her watch the Quicktime movie from here. It is also available in other movie formats.

LQ and I are going to do Chapter 4 this week, because we didn't get anything done last week. And I just can't go past the story of the Brass plates - it just wouldn't be right skipping a good chance to play sword fights.

BUT, it is always good to get ahead with my planning, so here is chapter 5.


This chapter seems to be a bit long but I am prepared to summarize the part about the "boys" going back to get the "girls". I don't see any complaining this time from Laman and Lemuel about going back to Jerusalem, silly boys. I am going to tell LQ that Heavenly Father wanted the boys to have someone to marry so they went back to Jerusalem and encouraged Ishmael's family to join them. That pretty much sums up the first page.

Then we can get on with the Liahona, the bow breaking and Laman and Lemuel getting into trouble again.

Scriptures that I will read to LQ from the Book of Mormon include: 1 Nephi 16:4, 1 Nephi 16:29 (last sentence). These are just scriptures that I feel contain an important lesson that go along with the chapter.

Here are some resources I will be using for activities this week:

• The Friend

June 1987 - Sharing Time: Compass of Faith (some great ideas and activities in this article)
May 2000 - The Liahona and the Holy Ghost (LQ will enjoy turning the pencils)
October 1998 - Liahona Colouring (I will use the picture of the Liahona for a colouring activity)

• We may marry off LQ's Fisher Price Little People
• Make a bow and arrow and "shoot" some of the Fisher Price Little People farm animals, cleverly disguised as wild animals
• Why not have a hat day? Wear some tea towels on your head so you can be a part of Lehi's family. Get out your wedding veil (if you kept it) and pretend to have a wedding.

If you have just recently found this blog, I encourage you to look through some of the older posts. There are some failures, successes and suggestions for reading to your toddler (which I am sure you probably already know).

Let me know how you go this week!

Week 4: Chapter 4 - The Brass Plates

The Book of Mormon
Chapter 4 - The Brass Plates

Finally we get some action! This is a bit of a long story, but the sentences that are associated with each picture are quite short, so I am hoping that the entire story will hold LQ's attention. I will use the downloaded "movie" again because it worked so well last week.

This week's plan includes only reading one scripture this week. I will concentrate on 1 Nephi 3:7 "I will go and do, etc." I am planning on reading this to LQ every day in the hopes that she will become very familiar with it.

While discussing the story with LQ I am also going to have her do the following activities:

• Colouring pages from the living scriptures
• Make the brass plates from orange cardboard and pipe cleaners
• Make and use paper swords
• Dress up and pretend to be Laban like Nephi did
• "Read" Old Testament stories from our made up Brass Plates like Lehi did

I have also found a few related activities in the Friend that would suit older children:

September 1996 - Brass Plates Code
March 2004 - Nephi and the Brass Plates
February 1996 - Nephi gets the Brass Plates (this could be used as a matching game for your toddler)

If you are doing any of these activities or have found something that works really well for you, let me know. I'd love to hear from you - and you, Denae ;)

Week 3: Chapter 3 - Lehi Leaves Jerusalem

Book of Mormon
Chapter 3: Lehi Leaves Jerusalem


Instead of using our scripture picture book this week, I am going to download the story to Quicktime and have the computer tell us the story (you can follow this link which will give you several media options to watch the story). LQ enjoys sitting at the computer and just watching me play Mickey Mouse games for her, so I think this will have the same sort of appeal. As well as the excitement of a new medium, it is also someone else telling the story. This means that while the story is being told, I can point out in the pictures what is going on. I am excited to try out this new method.

As we continue on in the chronological order (Don't tempt me otherwise, DeNae!), I am really becoming eager to get to a story that has some ACTION! Until then, I will try and make the "lead up" stories seem as exciting.

Activities that go along with this story include:

• Build an altar out of blocks
• Erect a tent out of chairs and blankets
• Pretend to be in Lehi's family and pack only the most important things - The July 1995 Friend gives a good FHE activity idea that is perfect for this particular story. I thought to simplify it for LQ, I will have her pack her Tinkerbell suitcase with "important" items.
• LQ has a couple of different Fisher Price Little People sets including Noah's Ark. I am going to take the camels and Noah from that set; the farmer, horses and mule from the Farm set; and two other little people to create a scene of Lehi's family departing into the wilderness.

Once again, the living scriptures activity booklet has colouring pages as well as a connect-the-dots activity for older children.

Particular scriptures that I will read and discuss with LQ include 1 Nephi 2:2, 1 Nephi 2:3, 1 Nephi 2:7, 1 Nephi 2:16.

What Scripture Study Means to LQ

I have made a rod for my own back.

Whenever I mention reading the scriptures, LQ immediately looks at the colouring pencils and markers and starts making a whining noise until I let her colour. We can't even read one scripture before she has a complete meltdown. I guess this just goes to show how often I have been using the colouring thing to keep her interest.

It doesn't end there. Yesterday when she decided she wanted to colour. Instead of standing at the shelf that has the colouring accoutrement, she waddled her way over to where I was, folded her little chubby arms, bowed her head and said "Amen". LQ kept saying "Amen" until I realised that saying "Amen" meant she wanted to colour.

Oi! I can't seem to get anything right! Today is for role playing, methinks.

Week 2: Chapter 2 - Lehi Warns the People

Book of Mormon
Chapter 2 - Lehi Warns the People

I am really excited about the chapter this week. It is only one page and it only covers 20 verses of 1 Nephi chapter 1. My excitement stems from the fact that I may not "drown" in the story telling this week.

As far as posting goes, I have decided to do things a little differently this week. Because there is such a range in understanding among little children, I thought I would give you all my ideas for this week in this post. This means having a less rigid structure for each day and if there is something that works particularly well, you (or I) can do it maybe more than once during the week.

It's all about going with the flow and learning from our mistakes.

Here is what I have so far:

The living Scriptures (or LDSFamilyFun as I have found it to be called) has an activity booklet for "Nephi and the Brass Plates." The first few colouring pages cover Lehi warning the people. I think I will use those during the week.

The January 1996 Friend has a board game about Lehi and his travels. You could use this to introduce this story and the next in the book for children a little older. The linked page doesn't actually give you a diagram of the board game.... but it seems to me like it would be easy enough to make up (from reading the directions).

Role Play - Standing on a table (if mum allows it!) and preaching to the wicked people from Jerusalem (any stuffed toys that you have) should be a hit. I am also looking forward to pretending to be asleep and having a vision... that one should be fun!

Particular scriptures that I will read and explain include - 1 Nephi 1:1 (I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents), 1 Nephi 1:5, 1 Nephi 1:19 (over a few days), 1 Nephi 1:20 (again over a few different days)

I don't have any craft ideas for this week, but if you do, let me know!

Day 2 - Colouring

I have used some of the free LDS Clipart to make a colouring page. It has pictures of Joseph Smith reading the bible, praying and then a picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as they appeared to Joseph Smith.

It was simple enough to make up and you can access it here.

At this point in her life, LQ loves to colour.

My plan:

Show LQ the scriptures. Tell her that I am going to read her a special scripture that Joseph Smith read. Read the part of Joseph Smith - History verse 11 that says "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God".

Tell LQ that God is also called Heavenly Father and that is who we pray to.

Show LQ the colouring sheet and retell the first half of Chapter 1 story while she colours. Show her the pictures in the storybook that correspond with the pictures she is colouring.