I know I will live with Heavenly Father
again if I keep the commandments
by Melanie Day

Draw a treasure chest on the chalk board and ask different children to come up and draw something they might find in a treasure chest.  After a few children have had a chance to draw something in the chest, ask the children:

  What kinds of treasures do you have?

Where do you keep these things?

ACTIVITY:  Play a quick game of  Simon Says.  Use the experience to make a few points.  Ask the children...have you ever tried to play a game that didn’t have any rules? You wouldn’t know how to start the game, how to play it, or how to know when it was finished. Rules tell us what to do.  Heavenly Father and Jesus have given us rules to help us. When we are baptized, we covenant, or promise, to obey Heavenly Father’s rules. In the third article of faith, Joseph Smith wrote about how important it is to obey the laws, or rules, of the gospel. These rules are called commandments.

GAME: Commandment Punch Board

(Make a punch board in advance - See instructions at bottom of post on HOW to make a punch board.)  Show the children the punch board and say, "We are going to talk about the importance of knowing the things that Heavenly Father has asked us to do.  Then we can follow Him and He blesses us."

Choose one child to come up and punch through the first hole.   First, each paper will have a "special clue" on it.  Have them post that clue on the board where you tell them to. (Now, the special clue will spell out: Matthew 6:21).  Make dashes on the chalkboard for the clues: _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ : _ _

So, for example if the first paper has a special clue of "A", you tell Johnny to use the chalk and write an "A" right here (point to the place he is to write an "A"). 

After clue one is read, it will look like this:

_  A  _  _  _  _  _    _ : _  _

After all the clues have been read, it should read,

M A T T H E W  6 : 2 1

Have everyone look up Matthew 6:21.  Explain what this scripture means.

SING: “Keep the Commandments” (CS, pp. 146–147) or "Quickly I'll Obey," (CS, pp. 197)

SUMMARY: Tell the children that choosing the right can give them a good feeling.   All of our prophets have given us commandments from the Lord to help guide our lives. They've asked us to live more like our Lord Jesus Christ, to show more love, and to treat each other with more kindness, and to live worthy of blessings. Share your testimony with them and that by keeping the commandments, we will have the opportunity to live with Heavenly Father again.
 

ADDITIONAL and optional activity ideas:

Handout Idea: An idea from Danielle's Place

Have the children each create a “Keep the Commandments” paper chain to be hung in her or his home. A new link could be added each time a commandment is kept. Links could be labeled with pictures for younger children, scripture references for older ones. (Taken from the the Friend)

Object Lesson

Coloring Page

The Greatest Commandment?

Ten Commandment Memory Pegs
 

Instructions for making a punchboard: 

Your punchboard will look something like this....click here to see an example

To make punch board you'll need a poster board.  Draw something similar to the above example onto your poster board.  Use a large cup to trace the ten circles onto the poster board. With an exacto knife, cut out the circles. On the back of each circular hole, tape a piece of wax paper or tissue paper using masking tape. (Pull the wax paper tight or it will not work very well.) YOU MUST USE A SEPARATE SHEET OF WAX PAPER FOR EVERY CIRCLE! Do not overlap. After every hole is covered, tape a sandwich baggie completely around each circle.  Now, turn the board over and you should see wax covered circles for your reverent kids to punch through and pull out each object.

INSIDE EACH CIRCLE put one commandment, or thing Heavenly Father has asked us to do that will make our lives happier if we follow Him.  Print this Word document.    If you'd like to make it a little more fun, you could make each one into a little mini scrolls.  Use craft sticks (like popsicle sticks) to make little scrolls.  Print out each item out and put on a separate scroll.  Roll it up and tie around each one with string.  Place one scroll in each hole on your posterboard.  Then the child will undo the string and do what the scroll says. 

* Just a suggestion: To make the posterboard firm and tight....you may want to consider taping the posterboard to the front legs of a table, taping each side to a leg.  Yes, it will be low to the ground, but that way it is tight enough that the children can easily punch through it.  Use clear duct tape if possible.

* Just a reminder...if you don't combine for sharing time, you'll need to make two punchboards, one for junior and one for senior primary.
 

Sources:

“Sharing Time: Commandments,” Friend, Mar. 1995, 12
“Sharing Time: Keep the Commandments,” Friend, June 1999, 45