Ways to Make Studying the Scriptures a Happy Primary Activity

Study the scriptures. This admonition is given to all of us. Primary is a great place to teach children about the scriptures, and hopefully, motivate them to want to learn more and develop their own reading habits. Here are some ideas that may help the children become familiar with the scriptures in a fun and exciting way.

Scriptures Blanks

Write out several scriptures ahead of time on a chalkboard or on large sheets of poster paper. Leave out several key words in each scripture. In place of the deleted words, leave numbered blanks. Now, have the children try to provide the correct missing words. Each person writes down and checks his own responses as the answers are read, or gives his responses orally. One variation of this activity is to have the deleted words printed on cards. The cards are passed out to the children and each person with a word card tries to fit his word into the correct blank position. 

Drama and Discussion

Assign character roles to some of the children. For example, one child might be Alma; another, King Benjamin; another, Paul; someone else, Moses; and so on. (Don't leave the girls out--they can be a Moses or an Alma as well). They can choose or you can assign other children to be their "aides." After the roles are assigned and "aides" or "teams" have been chosen, tell the children that at a designated time, Alma, King Benjamin, Paul, Moses, etc., and their aides will assemble for a discussion on repentance. The assignment will be for each child and aides to study the scriptures that are given to them to determine what the person he will portray said on the subject of repentance (or any subject of your choosing). Dressing up in simple makeshift costumes will add some excitement to this activity. 

Scripture Order

Separate a long scripture into several parts with each part containing a statement or phrase. Write each statement or phrase on a different sheet of paper. Pass the papers out to the children. Now see if they can line themselves up in the correct order of the scriptures. If they are not successful, have the other children help.

Who Is It?

Each child finds a scripture that relates to a scriptural personality (or the person conducting may give him one--or, better still, assign the children their characters a week in advance and have them learn about their character during the week; this would take some follow-up calls). Now, give the children the scripture that goes with their assigned character. The scripture either tells about that person or includes words spoken by that person. The child does not tell anyone his chosen scripture. 

Example: The first child has the scripture Matthew 16:16 - "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God." The child gives out clues, one at a time, until the personality is discovered to be Peter. The first clue should attempt to place the character in time. "This man lived on earth when Jesus lived on earth." More clues follow. After someone identifies Peter, the child reads his scripture. (Be sure to explain the meaning of the scripture to the children.) The next child begins by taking his place next to the person already standing in front of the group. If his scripture personality lived on earth before Peter, he stands on the right side of Peter; and for his first clue he says, "This person lived on earth before Peter did." He then gives additional clues until someone can guess which scripture personality he represents, and the game continues.

Guess the Word

Print the scripture on a large sheet of poster paper or chalkboard. Cover each word with a separate blank card or piece of paper. If the scripture has 20 words, prepare 20 slips of paper numbered 1 through 20. Let the children draw the numbers out of a box, passing the box around until all slips of paper have been drawn. The child who has the slip of paper numbered 1 is first to ask that a word of the scripture be uncovered. He asks to see any one word. Then he tries to guess what the scripture might be by the one-word clue. The child with the number 2 is next to pick which word he wishes to uncover. Now he has two words upon which to base his guess. The game continues until the scripture has been guessed or all the words have been uncovered.

Discovery Discussion

Have several copies of the standard works available. Select a gospel topic and announce that there will be a discussion on that subject. Then ask the children to find supporting scriptures for the discussion by consulting the scriptures. Two or more groups might work in competition to see which group can find the most usable references in a given time limit. A variation of this activity is to divide the children into four groups, with each group being concerned with only one of the standard works. One group of person searches out and then discusses materials found in the Bible. The other three groups are working similarly with the three other standard works. After study and discussion time within groups, a spokesman from each group reports main ideas to the entire Primary. 

Proper Order

A good activity to introduce a new scripture. Pick the number of children to come to the front as there are words in the scripture. Let the children remaining try to put the children and the word that has been given to them in the proper order. After the scripture is in order, have each child holding a word concentrate on remembering only his word. After the scripture has been repeated several times by each person saying his word in turn, the person in charge asks if anyone thinks he can remember more than his own words. The first person to remember all the words to the scripture wins the scripture game.

Which Source?

Prepare several slips of paper on each of which is noted a verse from a story or activity in one of the standard words. Examples might be the Joseph Smith story, the Word of Wisdom, King Benjamin's oration, John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist conferring the priesthood of Aaron on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, Isaiah speaking of the birth of Christ, and the Lord creating worlds without end, etc. Fold these slips of paper so the writing cannot be seen and place them in a box from which they can be drawn. Prepare four signs, each of a different color: Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price. Assign colors to each sign and make small squares of each of the four colors. To play this game, the children take turns drawing the prepared slips of paper from the box. Each person reads the slip he has drawn and then decides form which standard work this information comes. He walks to the corner of the room where the sign of his chosen standard work is located. If he makes a correct choice, then he picks up a colored square of paper next to the sign. The winner of the game is the child who first succeeds in gathering one colored square from each of the four standard words. Teams could also be chosen, and competition between the teams would add some excitement.

Match It

This is a good activity for younger children. Have the children match selected scriptures with appropriate pictures.

Draw the Story

This is a good activity for Junior Primary. Tell the children a scripture story, and have the children illustrate the story they have just heard. For example, tell the story of Noah. Now give the children some choices: "Would you like to draw a picture of Noah building the ark? Maybe drawing the animals would be fun. Or you can make a picture of the rains starting, etc." 

A E I OU Mystery

A scripture is printed without vowels on the chalkboard or poster board. Children will enjoy filling in the vowels to make the words complete and the main idea is introduced, reinforced, or reviewed. 

Puzzle Code

Assign a letter to each number of the alphabet that is used in the scripture (Ex: A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.) The children solve the puzzle by using the puzzle code to fill in the correct letters. Children solve the puzzle by using the puzzle code to fill in the correct letters. Children can work individually, in pairs, or as a team. If the puzzle is on the chalkboard or chart, children can take turns filling in the puzzle.