Creation Sharing Time Ideas

Ideas for Sharing Time Activities: Creation

1. Take the Junior Primary children on a nature walk (weather permitting). Talk about specific things, asking the children what it would be like if Heavenly Father had not created a certain thing. For example, talk about trees (while they are sitting under one), and have the children tell you what it would be like not to have trees. (Where would the birds live? What about shade? What about fruit? Where would we get lumber to build houses? We would never have the beautiful autumn leaves, etc.) Talk about the grass they are sitting on. What would we do without the beautiful green grass? What if we just had plain brown dirt everywhere? Talk about the flowers, their beauty, how they make us happy. Talk about the birds, butterflies, bees, even the worms have a purpose.

Take the Senior Primary outside and have them sit in a circle. Talk about God's beautiful creations all around that give us joy. Wouldn't it be awful to live on a planet that didn't have these things? Now play the game "Air, Sea, Land" or the game "Word Chain."

2. Bring items (about 20) that pertain to God's creations (flowers, grass, twigs, rocks, food, insects, etc.) and place them on a table in Primary. Use all 20 for Senior Primary and fewer for Junior Primary. Briefly talk about what is on the table and then cover it with a cloth. Give each person in Senior Primary a piece of paper and pencil. Have the children write down as many items as they can remember. (This can be done as a team game as well.) Have the children in Junior Primary take turns naming each item that they can remember. Give a small treat as a prize to the person who can remember the most things--something natural that God has created such as a carrot stick, grapes, raisins, apple, etc. Give the winning team or person the treat first and then to all who played as a consolation prize.

3. Make a concentration board, matching the days of the creation to what was created on each day.

4. If you have a person in your ward or know of a person who has lost one of his senses, invite that person to share with the children the problems of not having sight or hearing. Have them teach the children what is done to compensate for that loss (sign language, braille, etc.) Have hem show and talk about the talents they have developed because of the loss of a sense.

5. Here's an idea for opening exercises - Pick one thing each week that God created and talk about it. For instance, bring a jar with a bee in it. Talk about how wonderful that little creature is, the purpose he plays in our world, how long he will live, what would happen if we didn't have him around. The next week, bring a worm and do the same thing. Borrow someone's parakeet and talk about birds, etc. Or, expand this idea to a sharing time and assign the children to bring a creature of some sort and tell all about what his purpose is.