How to Make Your Own Gifts, Activities & Crafts for LDS Primary

Keep proper craft supplies on hand.

Mormon children under the age of 12 attend classes within the church's Primary. Considered to be an official church auxiliary, Primary serves as a place where youth prepare for baptism and learn the important teachings of the religion including how to apply the lessons to everyday life. During Primary instruction, crafts and activities provide a hands-on learning method. Gifts are sometimes given at the end of certain lessons or special activities.

Instructions

Gifts

1. Choose the type of gift and gift theme you'll create for your Primary students. Use your creativity to come up with something easy enough to make in multiple forms, if giving to a large number of students. Gift topics can range from themes studied in classes, events completed or story themes from the Bible or Book of Mormon.

2. Relate the gift to the occasion. Primary gifts may be given on a variety of occasions including successful completion of a lesson or as prizes for events on activity days which are generally held twice a month.

3. Create the gift using age-appropriate materials. While pins to wear on a shirt that say "I'm a Child of God" may be appropriate for older Primary students, the sharp points are not the best option for students in the 3-year old Sunbeam level or CTR 4-year old level. Choose something soft such as a stuffed animal wearing a shirt decorated with a picture of a bible character.

Activities

1. Use official lessons on the website for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a guide when creating activities for your Primary students. The lessons contain activity suggestions, needed supplies and core points that should be covered.

2. Base your planned activities on the yearly theme. Each year a new Primary theme begins. For example, in 2011, the theme is "I Know the Scriptures are True." The theme is broken down into monthly topics that relate to the main theme.

3. Create activities for the Primary class that are engaging and hands-on. Write out a guide sheet for yourself and use it along with the printed lesson plans from the LDS website. This helps you to remember all aspects of the planned activity as you're teaching.

Crafts

1. Use the LDS Primary lesson that you'll be covering in class to serve as a guide for the craft project. While you don't have to use the specific craft projects listed in the lessons, they can serve as ideas for creating your own.

2. Create a craft idea that matches a core point in the lesson. For example, students could decorate a cutout of Baby Jesus during lessons that focus on his birth.

3. Sort the materials needed for the specific LDS craft project. Place all materials in an individual folder or bag for each student in the Primary class. This saves the time of passing out each object separately.

References

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Purpose and Objectives of Primary
• Mormon Share: I Know the Scriptures are True
• LDS Index: Gifts
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Primary Manuals