The Family is of God

I originally found an awesome lesson plan for "The Family is of God" on the blog,  Pergler's Primary Place.  It incorporates the proclamation to the family.  I thought it could easily be adapted for singing time.  

-Wrap a picture of a family.  Present it to the children.

-“Inside this present is a picture of a gift from Heavenly Father.”

-“Raise your hand if you like to give gifts? Put your hand down and think of someone you have given a gift to. Why did you give that gift to that person? Was it because you love them?”

-“Our Heavenly Father gave us this gift (refer to the wrapped present) because He loves us. Listen to this song for a clue about what Heavenly Father’s gift is and then I’ll let you guess what it is.”

-Play the song for children.

-Let the children guess what the gift from Heavenly Father is and then unwrap the present.

-“Why did God give us families?”  Listen to the song again & take answers from the children.

-Hold up “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”.  “In 1995, the prophet, President Hinckley, issued this proclaiming, ‘the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.’  Successful families work together…when family life is founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ, we can be happy!  This means when we follow the Savior’s example and do what He has asked us to do, we can be happy with our families…both on earth and through eternity!”

- “Our new song for April is ‘The Family Is of God’. We are going to learn about the special responsibilities parents have and also how we can honor and help our parents.   I have a series of homes filled with love.  You will come up and pick a heart…each one has part of the song on it and something important about families.  Then you will place the heart in this happy home and help create an eternal family.”

-A Primary child will select a heart from a house.  Start with house #1.  Each heart has a verse from the song written on it…have the hearts coordinate with whatever chart or visual you are using to teach the song.  I placed blank house images up on the board & then wrote the verse to the song on a heart (I used the same image for the heart).  I then taped/velcroed the heart to the house image.   Have the child read the heart (or read it for them) and place it in the house (create the paper house below or use a toy house).  Present the corresponding portion of your visual and then sing it.  Discuss/explain & share personal stories/testimony where needed.  Continue with the remaining hearts/houses, adding lines to the song and singing as you go.

-Close by bearing testimony of the importance of families. 

Love at Home clipart can be found at http://www.freeldsart.com/love-at-home.htm.

House can be found at http://www.lds.org/friend/1996/06/sharing-time-love-at-home?lang=eng.