Week 11: Chapter 10 - Jacob & Sherem

Book of Mormon
Chapter 10: Jacob & Sherem

Week 11 is almost over and I am only just writing this post. I apologise profusely. My only excuse is that LQ turned 2 today and I have been tied up doing stuff for her the past few days. She is officially an American citizen now which we are all excited about.

After reading through this week's story, I think that a great theme that we can study is testimony. Jacob bears his testimony to the people of Nephi and also to Sherem. Jacob 7:11 - "... Behold I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ."

So any activities that involve bearing my testimony or having LQ bear her testimony are going to be it. Because it is a tough thing for a little one that can barely speak to do, I have decided that we probably only have one or two activities that we do over and over throughout the week. One of which is to sing "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ".

• This is a nice short story about a little five year old bearing her testimony.
• This "Testimony Glove" is a great idea.

I have to admit... a lot of my recent ideas have gone unused because LQ is enjoying sitting with me and flicking through my scriptures as I read a scripture to her. How has your toddler scripture reading time evolved?

So you missed out on the Quiet Book?

If you go here, there's a competition going on where you can win something similar.

Go there.... you will not be disappointed.

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 9: Chapter 8 - Crossing the Sea

The Book of Mormon
Chapter 8: Crossing the Sea

"Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did ^apraise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions." 1 Nephi 18:16


There are a few scriptures in this weeks reading that I really enjoyed. One other that I just couldn't go past (which may or may not apply to me at the moment).... "And it came to pass that I ^aprayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm." verse 21. I need some calm in my life, could it be that I'm not praying enough?

This week, Laman and Lemuel are back at it. Why oh why did that family bother to bring those boys along? They were trouble from the start. They are just two big bullies. Can you imagine being stuck on a boat with them for too long? Although, being stuck in a small place with your entire extended family is going to make you do some crazy things. Maybe I have a little bit of sympathy for them.

I can see some water play happening with this weeks activities. Lots of water swooshing and maybe I can tie LQ to a pole for a few days, just so she knows how poor Nephi felt. Ok... just joking - but really, does anyone else blame me? The terrible twos are setting in. Other non restrictive activities include:

• Making our own boats and sailing them in the bath. Make a storm with fans, hands and watering cans.
• Packing a picnic lunch (packing the boat) and taking it to the park (the promised land)
• The Living Scriptures have a booklet "Journey to the Promised Land". I will be using some of the colouring pages

Ideas from the Friend:

• November 2000 - Journey to the Promised Land Game - a simplistic board game that I think LQ may enjoy for two minutes
• January 1996 - For older children another board game - Lehi's Journey to the Promised Land

There's not much more from the Friend (for this weeks ideas) that hasn't already been mentioned before on this blog. So go have a look at previous posts ... there should be a few links to the Friend that will correspond to this particular story.

I have been trying to think of an activity that involves the Liahona, but have been drawing a blank. If you have any ideas, please let me know, as I think the Liahona is a pivotal part of this story.

AWOL

LQ and I are taking a short break. We have decided to visit LQ's new cousin, Audrey and will be staying with Audrey and family until this Sunday.

We will be lucky to get a scripture read each day, because there will be too many Audrey cuddles to be had. So this week's scripture reading plan will be postponed until next week.

Happy Scripture reading!

Week 7: Chapter 7 - Building the Ship

The Book of Mormon
Chapter 7: Building the Ship


My apologies for the post delay this week. LQ and I have already started our scriptures for this week, but another project has consumed all my "LQ nap" time. So today I made myself sit down and work out what else LQ and I are going to do this week for scripture study.

LQ is still responding well to the quicktime version of the stories. Dal was making fun of them last night - whatever works I say. LQ also enjoyed flicking through my scriptures this morning while I explained to her that Heavenly Father blesses us when we keep the commandments.

This week Nephi and his family are building a ship. His brothers are being naughty again and Nephi gets to shock his brothers by touching them. I had a thought for an object lesson, I could build up a bit of static electricity and let LQ have it..... Bordering on child abuse, you say? Ok, I may let that idea slide then. Other non-abusive activity ideas include:

• Using blocks to build a boat
• "Sewing" a sail for the boat (you can make a sail out of cardboard and punch holes around the edge. Then your toddler can have fun sewing with string or wool)
• The Living Scriptures has an activity book to go along with their dvd "Journey to the Promised Land". Remember you can download these activity books for free if you register (for free). There are a few colouring pages that can be used for this particular story.

Ideas from the Friend:

• March 1992 - Sharing Time: Nephi Builds a Ship (diorama)
• March 1988 - Nephi Builds a Ship - you could do as the article suggests, or you could also use the pictures for a matching card game.
• November 2000 - Journey to the Promised Land - This one is too old for Toddlers but is a great game to play with the entire family

My favourite scripture from 1 Nephi 17 is verse 3. I have been reading this one to LQ over the last two days. It is easy to summarize and it has a great message to it.

As always,... I am eager to know how you are doing. Send me an email sometime.

Teaching Our Children to Love the Scriptures

I am giving a talk in April the topic is "How can we show our love for the Saviour to our Children?". I am supposed to fluff this topic out for 10 - 15 minutes and I am a little unsure how many times I can say "example".

Enough about my talk topic woes. In a desperate search for an article that covers that exact topic, I found this talk by Ann G. Wirthlin. It just reconfirmed the importance of reading the scriptures with LQ.