Sunbeam Lesson Helps

Last fall I was so excited to be called to serve in the Nursery.  I loved my little Nursery kids and had fun getting them ready to be a Sunbeam.  Luckily for me, I got to move up with them into Sunbeams.   I love to go to Primary Singing Time with them.  My cute Sunbeam Class, so far, does a wonderful job of sitting still and trying their best to follow along with the songs.  It's wonderful to see kids this age singing I am a Child of God and they really love singing Scripture Power and the all time favorite, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.  I realized this past Sunday that they do learn things in Nursery because even the CTR 7 class still squats down low on "Sun" and bursts up on "-Beams".  Coming right out of Nursery I know it was taught there!  I believe that things like this are not all that our young children are learning in Nursery and Sunbeams.  They are developing their testimonies by the testimonies we are sharing with them.  So even if one Sunbeam won't sit down through the lesson, I have faith that he is getting something too.  There was a quote on the teacher instructions I received in my teacher binder,

"Although there may be times when a child does not listen with a believing heart, your testimony of Jesus will remain in his or her mind and soul...If a child is not listening, don't despair.  Time and truth are on your side.  At the right moment, your words will return as if from heaven itself.  your testimony will never leave your children."
Elder Neil L. Andersen

This quote will see me through this year with these cute, rambunctious, boys.  I know a big help on keeping young Sunbeam aged kids' attention is being prepared.  The more prepared you are the better they will listen.  I also understand that their attention span is is short so you also have to be creative and energetic.  

This is where Finch Family Games comes in to help.  There are three volumes of games and activities that go along with the entire year of Sunbeam Lessons.  These books are Nursery Time Vol. 1, Nursery Time Vol. 2, and Nursery Time Vol. 3.  (Don't be fooled by the name, up until a couple years ago the Nursery and Sunbeam Classes used the same manual.)  

 

Another great resource for Sunbeam Lesson Helps is the Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeam book.  This book has black and white handouts and crafts that are easy to prepare for every lesson in the Sunbeam Manual.  Finch Family Games has come up with lots of Sunbeam Lesson Helps for you to use.  

The Nursery Time books skip around a bit so I want to list the games and the Lessons they go with for you.  You can follow the games with links if you would prefer to use the colored digital download.  The handouts from Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams are sold in groups of 4 as downloads. 

Lastly, remember there are many other games and Primary Lesson Helps at FinchFamilyGames.com.  If you don't feel that one of these suggested games is the right fit for your class you can always search for other games using the Quick Store Search on FinchFamilyGames.com.

I hope you find these games useful and fun for your Sunbeam Class.  I know I will be using them and making learning the gospel and coming to Primary fun for my Sunbeams.

Sunbeam Lesson Helps

Lessons 1-4 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 1	I am a child of God	Craft: "I am a Child of God" Headband
		I Am A Child of God Presentation
Lesson 2	Heavenly Father Has a Body	"Look at Me" Mirror
		Joseph Smith Prayed Puzzle
Lesson 3	Heavenly Father's Plan for Us	The Perfect Plan
		Earth Card
Lesson 4	I Can Pray to Heavenly Father	I Can Pray All Day
		"I Can Pray" Figure
Lessons 5-8 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 5	Jesus Christ is the Son of Heavenly Father	Jesus Once Was a Little Child
Lesson 6	Heavenly Father and Jesus Love Me	Gifts of Love
		"Jesus Loves Me" Necklace
Lesson 7	The Holy Ghost Helps Me	"I Will Listen To The Holy Ghost"
Lesson 8	I Am Thankful for the Day and the Night	Our Day and Night Lights
		Sun, Moon, and Stars Mobile
Lessons 9-12 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 9	I Am Thankful for Water	Our Working Water
		"I Am Thankful for Water" Booklet
Lesson 10	I Am Thankful for Trees, Plants, and Flowers	Ready Set Grow
		"I am Thankful for Flowers" craft
Lesson 11	I Am Thankful for Fish	Our Water World
		"Under the Sea" Craft
Lesson 12	I Am Thankful for Animals	Animal Kingdom
		"I Love Animals" Headband
Lessons 13-16 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 13	I Am Thankful fo Birds and Insects	Bird and Bug Bingo
		"I Am Thankful for Birds" Craft
Lesson 14	Adam and Eve were created in Heavenly Father's Image	The Garden of Eden
		Creating Adam and Eve
Lesson 15	The Sabbath Is a Day of Worship	Sabbath Day Bingo
		"Sabbath Day Play" Picture
		Sabbath Search
Lesson 16	I Have a Body	Busy Body Bingo
		My Body
Lessons 17-20 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 17	I Am Thankful for My Hands	My Hands
Lesson 18	I Am Thankful for My Ears	Sound Search
		Art Activity: Listening Ears
		"My Ears" Headband
Lesson 19	I Am Thankful for My Eyes	Art Activity: Look and See
		"My Eyes" Craft
Lesson 20	I Am Thankful That I Can Smell and Taste	The Tasting Table
		"My Taste and Smell Puppet"
Lessons 21-24 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 21	I Have Feelings	Find Our Feelings
		"Color Us Happy!"
Lesson 22	I Can Do Many Things	I Can Do...Can You?
		"I Can Necklace"
Lesson 23	I Belong to a Family	Our Family Tree
		"Family Tree Sewing Card"
Lesson 24	I Love My Brothers and Sisters	"Brother and Sister Puppets"
Lessons 25-28 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 25	I Love My Whole Family	Families are Fun
		"I Love My Family" Hat
Lesson 26	Families Can Be Together Forever	Temple Time
		"Temple Time" Wristband
Lesson 27	We Can Pray As a Family	Pray Together...Stay Together
		Family Prayer Puzzle
Lesson 28	I Can Be Obedient	Let's Obey All Day
		"I Can Obey" Doorknob Hanger
Lessons 29-32 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 29	I Can Say I'm Sorry	"I'm Sorry" Craft
Lesson 30	I Can Forgive Others	Follow to the Forgiving Face
Lesson 31	I Am Thankful for My Home	The Happy Home Hunt
		I Love My Home
Lesson 32	I Am Thankful for Food and Clothing	Food Fun!
		I Am Thankful For Food
Lessons 33-36 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 33	I Can Be a Friend	Fun Friends
Lesson 34	I Can Love Others	Love Makes the World Go 'Round'!
		"Bee" Kind Mobile
Lesson 35	I Can Be Kind to Animals	The Kind Zoo Crew
		Art Activity: Zoo Crew
		I Love Animals
Lesson 36	I Can Be a Good Example	Just Like Jesus
		I Will Follow Jesus' Example" Necklace
Lessons 37-40 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 37	I Can Be Honest	The Beary Honest Bear
		I Am Honest
Lesson 38	I Can Be Reverent	Reverent Ways
		"Reverent Ways" Coloring Page
Lesson 39	Music Makes Me Happy	Music Makers Craft
Lesson 40	The Sacrament Helps Me Think about Jesus	Pass the Sacrament
		Thinking of Jesus
Lessons 41-44 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 41	Heavenly Father and Jesus Gave Us the Scriptures	Scripture Picture
		Scriptures are Special
Lesson 42	I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints	"I Belong to the Church" Hat
Lesson 43	We Have a Living Prophet	We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet
Lesson 44	We Can All Help at Church	Helpful Hands at Church
Lessons 45-46 Heavenly Handouts Nursery/Sunbeams Downloads
Lesson 45	The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Easter)	Easter Lesson
Lesson 46	The Birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas)	Christ Is Born
		Christmas Stick Puppets

Nursery Time Fun!

I just got called to be a Nursery Leader!  I am absolutely thrilled.  I am excited to help the older nursery children be prepared for Sunbeams.  These first two weeks have been wonderful.  We have 8 boys and no girls that attend regularly.  Much to my surprise these cute, rambunctious, boys love lesson time, singing time, and anytime that we read a story to them, sit and do File Folder Games with them, or help them build with Lincoln Logs or put puzzles together.
 
I was on the phone earlier with a Finch Family Games customer who has been in Nursery for 6 years and still loves it.  Some things she does that I thought were great suggestions and I will learn to follow her example are:

1. Have 20 minutes of singing time, she uses several Finch Family Games song visuals for Primary Singing Time.  Here is a list of some Primary Singing Time song visuals that will be fun to use for Nursery Time:The Family
   It's Autumn Time
   I am a Child of God
   The House Built on the Rock
   Song of Thanks
   I Pray in Faith
2. Make each of the kids a Finch Family Games file folder game at least 4 times a year.  These are very nice gifts to share with the nursery kids.  They can be used during sacrament meeting to help these young children be reverent.  My 2 year old looks forward to after the sacrament is passed so he can sit with the file folder games and match shapes or colors or patterns.  Suggestions for File Folder Games to make for Nursery children: Missionary Mix N Match
    Nephi's Ship Shapes
    Ark Animals
   Food Is Fun
   Super Sunday Shapes
   Make A Manger
   Mom's Purse 
   My Happy Family
   and much, much more
3. According to this sister Nursery is the best calling and she loves it.  I think this is a great attitude to have for any calling we have and I very much admire her devotion to her calling for six years and has kept a great attitude and doesn't burn out.

I would love to see your LDS Nursery Ideas.  For all my fellow LDS Nursery Leaders here is a Freebie:  Get My Happy Family file folder game for free with the coupon code: ILOVENURSERY.

LDS Primary Singing Time Helps, Making It Fun

Trying to keep the attention of a group of 3 to 11 year old children long enough to teach them the words to a new song can be a challenge.  In some cases this group can be rather large, like a ward in Cedar Hills, Utah that is on the verge of splitting and running three Primaries in the mean time.  Or completely opposite in a small Branch in Ibapah, Utah where sometimes there are regularly 2 primary children present and on occassion 25 children attending when family comes to visit.  Whatever the circumstances for your particular ward, the challenge is still the same...keeping their attention!  In this post I want to share some ideas of ways you can keep the primary children's attention during Primary Singing Time and Primary Sharing Time by "Making It Fun"!

THREE Ideas to Make Primary Singing Time Fun

1.  PARTICIPATION:  Primary Children love to be able to come to the front of the room and hold up a picture or some words to the song.  It is great to be prepared with visuals to go along with the primary songs you are teaching.  There are lots of great resources available for Primary Song Visuals on the internet as well as in the Friend.  If you are like me you have a couple of boxes full of Church Magazines just sitting in storage, just waiting...to be used.  These magazines are full of great Primary Song Visuals.   Holding visuals includes a handfull of primary children which usually end up not singing because they can't see the visuals they are holding and are happy to be in front helping, while the remainder of the children are trying to sing their best with hopes that they will be noticed and get called on to help the next time.  I have seen some very creative Primary Music Leaders encourage participation from the entire primary, including...get this...the TEACHERS!  My favorite Attention-Getter was when our Primary Music Leader brought a couple wigs and challenged each class to sing their best.  The classes who sang the best got to have their teacher(s) come to the front and wear the wig while they sang the song again.  You can bet every child in the Primary Room was singing their best. 

2.  VARIATION:  To avoid feeling like you have practiced that song for the Sacrament Program a thousand times, practice each song in a variety of ways.  One week you can use visuals to learn the words, the next week hide them around the room, then the next week sing the song while playing a game to see who is singing the best.  Have variety in the way the song is sung each time.  (See LDS.org for suggestions on "How to Teach a Song.")  Another very creative Primary Music Leader brought some cute stuffed animals to Primary with her in a basket.  A child was chosen to come up and choose one of the stuffed animals.  Based on the characteristics of the stuffed animal the primary children were to sing the song in a matching style.  For example if a soft bunny was picked they would sing "softly", if an alligator was picked the primary children would sing "SNAPPY" with quick, snappy notes, if a lion was picked the Primary Children would sing "loud", and if an elephant was picked they would sing "slowly".  Before you know it the Primary Children have already practiced the song four times in a variety of ways and it was fun! 

3.  PLAY GAMES:  Of course, playing games is a FINCH FAMILY FAVORITE!  Children love to play games and learn while they are having fun.  All of the Finch Family Games Primary Song Visuals come with instructions and ideas on how to turn the visuals into a game.  I want to encourage you to not only use these ideas but to also be creative yourself and see how other games and activities can be used during Primary Singing Time.  For example, a new game was added to FinchFamilyGames.com today named Faithful Flowers it has been created to go with Primary Sharing Time Lessons, Primary Lessons, or Family Home Evening Lessons that teach about Faith in Jesus Christ, but it could also be used as a fun game to play during Primary Singing Time.  It is a game that is played by seeing which team gets to the top first.  You could split your Primary into 2 teams or have each class be a team.  Create your own rules as to how the teams advance based on how well they sing.  There are many games at FinchFamilyGames.com that can be used for Primary Singing Time without being designated that way.  Some games that come to mind right off are:

• He Is Risen
• I Will Follow God's Plan
• Follow the Prophets: Noah Presentation
• Joseph Smith Prayed - Puzzle
• Holy Ghost
• Being Just Like Jesus Bingo
• Obey Today
• A Mighty Missionary

Be sure to prepare in advance.  When you are prepared you will be able to use your time more wisely and transition from one activity or song to another without losing the children's attention.  Lastly, have fun yourself, if you aren't having fun then neither will they.

(Please feel free to share your ideas and things that have worked for you by writing a comment below this post!)

Family Home Evening Fun!

Last night for Family Home Evening I printed off Pass The Sacrament.  We had a lesson on being reverent during the sacrament and the kids always love it when I pull out the games Grandma makes.  I followed the outline from Lesson #38 I Will Remember Jesus Christ During The Sacrament in the CTR A Primary Manual. 
I made some adaptions since only one of my kids is Junior Primary aged and two are Senior Primary.  Pass The Sacrament is designed to help you move through your lesson by playing while you teach the lesson.  We made 2 teams and each team took a turn answering a question.  Then they would draw a card that would tell them how many kids to pass the sacrament tray to.  It's all luck as to who gets to the end the fastest.  I was impressed when my 11 year old said, "It's OK if you didn't win, because really it means you took more time to think about Jesus while the sacrament was being passed."  Here is a list of some of the questions I asked. Download sacrament.pdf

Feel free to Post your comments on this Family Home Evening Lesson Idea.  You can share your comments on Pass The Sacrament or on teaching Reverence during the Sacrament to our families or primary classes.

HALLOWEEN FUN TIME!

It's great to be in fall! I don't know about you....but fall is my FAVORITE time of year! I love the colors, kids are back in school...and the HOLIDAYS are the BEST! Speaking of holidays...I think Halloween has got to be one of my all time favorites (Christmas is still on the top of my list!)...but there is something about the fun and excitement everyone has for the Halloween parties and games and activities we all do with friends, school and family. Because it is such a favorite of mine, I have TONS OF HALLOWEEN FUN in this months web site and in this month's blog. Today I want to share with you a fun game that I created several years ago for my own family and it quickly became an all time favorite. It is called "FRANK-EN-FUN!" and it is a super fun game for all ages (even for grandma and grandpa!). So it is yours for FREE..just add it to your shopping cart and use the coupon code: FRANKIE! I know your family will love it and it is great fun for those Halloween parties and classroom Halloween activities that you room mothers are in charge of! Check out all the other games we have (and we have a bunch!) for you to use for those fun parties or just to pass those long hours before the big day! Thanks for checking us out and I'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Creating File Folder Games for Young Children

What are File Folder Games?
File Folder Games are easy, inexpensive educational games made in a file folder.  You can use regular manila file folders or color file folders.  File folder games are fun activities for young children to do during Sacrament Meeting, Stake Conference, waiting at the Doctor's office, or long car trips.

How do you make File Folder Games?

Step 1: Copy or Print the pages that are for the inside of the file folder game onto regular weight paper.  They will seal better when laminated than if they are copied onto cardstock.  The playing pieces should be copied or printed onto heavier cardstock.  The cardstock will increase the life of these visuals.

 

Step 2:   Color using watercolor markers, colored pencils, or pastel chalks.  The markers give bright, vivid color and the pencils and pastels give the softer values you may need with some pictures.  Be careful if you use crayons.  They will melt when laminating and could spread beyond the coloring lines. Or print an all ready colored version from a CD or Download.   

 

Step 3:  Cut out and glue inside pages onto the file folder.

 

Step 4:  Laminate all cards, games and folders.  This will prevent anything from smearing or ruining your visual.  This will also make your game more durable.

 

Step 5:  Trim laminated file folder leaving about 1/4" of lamination around the file folder to keep the seal.  Cut out individual laminated pieces. 

Step 6:  Attach "sticky-back" velcro to game pieces to hold them on the file folder game in the positions they will be attached.  This makes the individual games and activities easy to manipulate and play.  "Sticky-back" velcro can be purchased at any fabric or craft store.

 

Where can you get File Folder Games?
Finch Family Games has several options for you to get your File Folder Games.  These file folder games are educational games and many of them also review a gospel lesson.  There are THREE options for getting your File Folder Games.

 First, you can purchase a Finch Family Games File Folder Fun Book.  In each of these four volumes you get 12 to 15 different file folder games for Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade Levels.  These books are designed for you to make copies of the black and white pages and color each game.  Also available for younger children is the Busy Book For Tiny Tots which has file folder games for preschool aged children.

Second, you can purchase the Finch Family Games JUMBO File Folder Fun Book with CD.  This book is the size of 2 Volumes and has 21 different file folder games for Preschoolers, Kindergartners, or 1st Graders.  In the book you will get the file folder games in black and white designed for you to copy each page and color them yourself.  The CD contains the same file folder games and provides you with both a Black & White Version and a Color Version of the file folder games.  These are available for you to print from your computer using our Finch Family Games Project Browser Software (on the CD) which catalogs and organizes your file folder games alphabetically and allows you to view and print each page of the file folder games.

Third, you can instantly download individual file folder games available in a Black & White Version for you to print from your computer and color yourself or a Color Version to save time and simply print out and move on to the assembling steps.  These file folder downloads can be found at Finch Family Games File Folder Downloads.

 

SUPER Song Visuals!

We are adding LDS Primary Song Visuals to go along with this years LDS Primary Theme "I Know My Savior Lives"  the visuals come from the Finch Family Games book "I Know My Savior Lives" Music Book.  The Song Visuals are available for download in either Black and White or Fully Colored with bright, vivid colors for you to print from your computer.  You can find all Primary Song Visual Downloads in the Primary Section under "Singing Time".  Or just do a search for "Song" and you will get a list of Primary Song Visuals available for download. 

These Primary Song Visuals are great for teaching the songs for this years Primary Program during Singing Time as well as reviewing the songs with your children at home to practice and better learn the Primary Songs.

NEW this week is the LDS Primary Song "I Often Go Walking" to teach a Mother's Day song.  You will love the happy and colorful visuals we have created for this song.