Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

Every once in a while your plan for sharing time falls through or the person scheduled to speak or plan it becomes ill. How do you put together a sharing time on very short notice?

The first step is to write down the monthly and weekly theme. This gives you the topic. The sharing time should be on topic, and anyway, coming up with the topic is usually the hardest part of the project, so don’t get creative.

Some themes come with a suggestion. It’s always safest to start with their suggestion if there is one.

Next go to LDS.org and search the friend. Put in keywords from the theme. This means to put in the most important words. For instance, if the theme is, “I can pray morning, noon, and night with my family,” you’d search for family prayer. To speed things up, you might add “Sharing time.” Put both phrases in separate quotation marks like this:

“Sharing Time” “Family Prayer”

Often, the sharing times from previous years will work for the current theme. They often have coloring pages, crafts, or games you can pull out to use very quickly. If you don’t have enough, remove the phrase “sharing time” from the search. Look for FunStuff or “For Little Friends” activities, and if you enjoy story telling, look for a fun story.

Try to put the scriptures into your sharing time. There are many flannel board stories in the Friend. Simply print the pictures on cardstock and glue a square of flannel, pellon, or felt to the back. You can also put them on magnetized chalkboards or use tape to put them on a wall. Find a simplified version of the story from the Friend to save time figuring out how to tell it to children. Have older children look up scriptures. Read at least one verse to younger children.

Now gather everything you found and look it over. Everything should fit together, so make sure there is a common theme. I often like to begin with a simple introduction to the topic, teaching the important words. Ask questions to get the children involved.

Next, tell the scripture story. You can take more time and increase learning by telling it once yourself. Then tell it again, but let the children tell you what comes next. “And then what happened?” “What did Alma do about that?” You can then let children come up to hold the various flannel board pieces and act out the story as you narrate.

Now introduce the activity you found in the Friend. A craft or coloring page will take most of the remaining time.

End by reviewing the principle and sharing your testimony.


The Christmas Shoes