Has your Primary class gotten out of control? Use these activities, adapted from the Friend, to teach the principles. This can be used for Sharing Time, as well. Keep in mind that you must have permission from your Primary president to teach a lesson not in the manual and should be used only in serious cases. However, many of these could be done as end-of-the-lesson fillers.
Everything is Different Now (Reverence)
Getting to Class: Before the children leave sharing time, instruct them to tiptoe to the drinking fountain. When they arrive, invite them to get drinks and use the restroom, because no one will be allowed to leave once class begins. Tell them that when they go into their classroom, they must not set up chairs, but line up against a specific wall, because everything is different now.
Once they are lined up, tell them that whenever you touch your forehead, they are to say, “Everything is different now!” Then have them join hands and form a circle. Move them to the center of the room, have them drop hands, take a giant step backwards, and sit down. You may need carpet squares or some other way to mark their seats. If you feel they won’t behave on the floor, place the chairs facing a different way or in some other way change the room. The change in routine will get their attention.
Introduction: Tell them that you suddenly realized they are much, much older now than when you first became their teacher, so everything needs to be different now. (Touch your forehead and let them repeat the theme.) You want to share some of the ways things will be different.
Hold up a picture of a child. The picture packets usually have a picture of a reverent child in them, or you can draw one. Point to the picture’s eyes, and have the children do the same. “What do your eyes do in Primary?” (Look at the teacher.) Continue with the following body parts: Ears—Listen to the teacher. Mouth—speak softly, say kind words, quiet unless called on. Hands—In lap, not bothering others, not touching teacher’s things. Feet: On or towards floor, not kicking or swinging, and walk quietly. Use this picture every week.
Story: Jeremy John, the Wiggler (Marianne Wilson McKnight, “Jeremy John, the Wiggler,” Friend, Dec. 2000, 32) I altered the story to have a repeating section with actions, so the children could do it with me. In my version, he wiggled in Sacrament, in Sharing Time, and in class. The repeating section said, “He wiggled his fingers. He wiggled his toes. He wiggled his ears. He wiggled his nose.” Then I had a character in the story say, “Shhh! Jeremy John, don’t wiggle! Shhh!” (The children also put finger to lips and say, “Shhh!.”) In Sacrament, it’s his mother. In Sharing Time, it’s our ward’s Primary president. In class, I used my own name. Show a picture of Jesus with children, as described in the story. Have them close their eye and imagine Jesus sitting beside them with His arm around them.
(If your class is restless, insert a wiggle song here.)
Story: To Catch a Butterfly (Marilyn Wood, “To Catch a Butterfly,” Friend, May 2001, 20)
This story is a bit difficult for younger children. You’ll need to tell it, not read it, and shorten it. When the girls are trying to catch a butterfly, let them—staying in their seats—reach up and try to catch an imaginary butterfly or let them cross their wrists, hook their thumbs, and flap their other fingers like butterflies. When the girls learn to sit very still and cup their hands to wait for a butterfly to come to them, have them cup their own hands. Pretend to put a butterfly into each cupped hand and instruct them to keep it there until you finish the story. Remind them they must sit very still and be very quiet so their butterflies won’t leave.
Discuss reverence as a quiet feeling that invites the spirit. Explain that one of the things that will be different now is that we’ll be very reverent so we can feel the spirit.
Discuss the picture in the July 1996 sharing time. Give each child a copy to color.
I'm Reverent When
