I Am Thankful for My Home
To encourage each child to feel gratitude for his or her home and to help take care of it.
Preparation
- Picture 1-61, Exodus from Nauvoo
- Copy of the “I Am Thankful for My Home”
- Crayons
Invite a child to give the opening prayer.
Attention Activity
Place the picture
,
and
on the chalkboard.
Show the picture of water
and ask what animals or insects make their homes in water. Help the children think of as many as possible.Have a child put the fish in the water
.
Show the picture of the soil
and ask what animals or insects make their homes in soil or dirt? Have a child place the ant in the soil
.
Show the picture of the tree
, and help the children think of animals and insects that make their homes in the ground and in trees. Have a child place the bird in the tree
.
What do you think it would be like if your home was in the water?
What might happen if your home was in a tree?
There are many different kinds of homes
Animals and insects live in many different kinds of homes. People also live in different kinds of homes.
Story
The Lord told Lehi
to take his family and leave Jerusalem. They had a very comfortable house in Jerusalem. Lehi’s family packed food and tents and left their house and traveled into the wilderness
. Lehi and his wife Sariah
had four sons. Their Names were Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi
. They lived in the wilderness in tents for 8 years.
After traveling for 8 years they arrived at a seashore. What kind of house do you think they lived in next? Heavenly Father told Nephi that he needed to build a ship
to carry his family to the Promised Land. Nephi did not know how to make a ship, but the Lord said He would show him. He told Nephi where to find the metal to make the tools he would need.
When Nephi and his brothers had finished building the ship, they knew it was a good ship. They thanked God for helping them. Lehi and his family lived in the ship while they traveled to the Promised Land
, a place Heavenly Father and Jesus had prepared for them to live. After arriving in the Promised Land, Lehi and his family lived in tents again until they could build more permanent homes.
What different kinds of homes did Lehi and his family live in?
Story
Show picture 1-61, Exodus from Nauvoo.
Early members of the Church built a city called Nauvoo. They worked hard to build their homes and a beautiful temple. But some people around Nauvoo did not like the Church members and forced them to leave. The Church members traveled with only the belongings they could fit in covered wagons
. Because the covered wagons were small, many of the children had to leave their toys behind. Some of the people lived in their covered wagons and in tents for a long time.
Why would it be hard to live in a covered wagon or tent?
Have the children pretend that their chairs are covered wagons. Have them pull their chairs into a circle like the pioneers did at night for protection from unfriendly people and wild animals. Have them act out building a campfire and cooking supper, singing and dancing after supper, and climbing into their wagons (chairs) to go to sleep.
Activity
Have the children stand and do the following action verse:
The pioneer children walked and talked (walk in place);
Then they played games and skipped and hopped (hop or jump in place).
When it was night, stars sparkled and gleamed (close and open hands);
Inside the wagons they slept and dreamed (close eyes, lay head on hands).
Home is a place where we are loved
The kind of home we live in is not important. We might live in a large house, a small house, an apartment, a tent, or a boat. The important thing is that our homes are places where family members love each other
. Tell about your own home and what you do to make it a loving place.
Why do you like to be at home?
How do you know your family loves you?
Have you ever spent the night away from home?
Where did you sleep?
How did you feel when you came back to your own home?
Remind the children how good it was to come back to their own homes and beds.
Song
Have the children listen as you sing or say the words to “Home” (Children’s Songbook, p. 192). Tell the children to give themselves a hug whenever they hear the word home. If you desire, repeat the verse and have the children sing or say the words along with you.
We can help our families take care of our homes
We need to take care of our homes so they will be good places to live. Every family member should help keep the home neat and clean. As you ask the children the questions have the tape the face onto the house.
You accidentally spilled a glass of water on the floor. What should you do?
You played with your blocks all afternoon. Now it is time to eat. What should you do with your blocks?
Your mother is in a hurry to get dinner on the table. She needs someone to set the table before the family can eat. What could you do?
Your clothes are washed and neatly folded. What should you do with them now?
Encourage the children to talk about things they do to help keep their homes neat and clean. Tell the children how you work to keep your home neat and clean.
Activity
Give the children an “I am thankful for my house” and crayons.
Testimony
Share your feelings about your home and express your gratitude to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for blessing you with a home.
Invite a child to say the closing prayer.
There are 3 options with the lessons. The first one is a color PDF of the full lesson, all the pictures, scriptures and art projects with the watermark removed.
The next options is all the pictures in Black and White
The 3rd option is a PowerPoint with all the pictures and scriptures that you can pull up on your device. It is like having a digital copy. It eliminates the printing and the cutting out. This makes the lesson easier come Sunday morning.
All three options are now included in a zip drive that will immediately be emailed to you for $2.75. You can pick and choose from all three options to make your lesson just right for you!
OR buy Lessons 31-35 for $12.50
Please use the lesson free of charge. I am only charging for the visual aids which take a considerable amount of time to create. The art work is mine and my son’s original drawing. Thank you for your help as I try to continue to be a stay at home mom of four boys.
All purchases are final. Because of the nature of the digital product, no refunds will be available. I will how ever do whatever I can to make the download available to you.
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