Science - Planting Popcorn.  Plant popcorn kernels in a clear plastic cup and they can watch the seed grow into roots and a stem. Roll up a paper towel and place inside a clear plastic cup, making sure the towel lays against the sides of the cup with a hollow space in the middle. Put soil in the cup, in the space inside the rolled paper towel, so that it pushes the paper towel against the sides of the cup. Put about 3 kernels in each cup, point side down, between the paper cup and the towel. Water and watch. Have them guess how tall it will get or when you will first see it poke through the soil.  You could even have them plant two seeds and grow one in a dark place and one with sunlight.  Anything different?  Or two seeds where one receives water and the other doesn't.  Have them journal each day on its progress.  

  
Photos shared by Liz Whitehorn - 07082007

Reading - Read Alma 32 together or recount it to young children.  It mainly talks about faith is like a seed but at the end of the chapter as the seed has grown in good soil it grew into trees springing forth into everlasting life. 

 

 Start with a prayer.
 Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.
 Song, "The Sacred Grove" (pg. 87)
 Scripture - Recite and Memorize James 1:5. 

History - Make a timeline of the events in Joseph Smith's life.  Events you might include on the time line:

his birth / 1805 (GAK picture 400),
reading James 1:5 / 1820 (GAK picture 402),
the First Vision / 1820 (GAK picture 403),
Moroni’s first appearance / 1823 (GAK picture 404),
Joseph receiving the gold plates / 1827 (GAK picture 406),
translating the Book of Mormon / 1827–1829 (GAK picture 416),
the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood / 1829 (GAK picture 407),
the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood / 1829 (GAK picture 408),
building the Kirtland Temple / 1833–1836 (GAK picture 500),
Elijah restoring the sealing power / 1836 (GAK picture 417),
Joseph Smith’s martyrdom / 1844 (GAK picture 401).
 

Hang the time line on a wall.  Put the first and last pictures up and tell a little bit about the birth and death of the Prophet (see JS—H 1:3–4 and D&C 135:1). Conceal the rest of the pictures in a box or bag. Have a child from each class take a picture, tell about the event, and place the picture above the correct date on the time line. 

Snack - Make dirt in a cup.  Make "dirt" (a snack!) using chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, crushed Oreos and gummy worms. There is no "wrong" way to make this. (I use three boxes of pudding and one tub of Cool Whip. After making the pudding, I mix some of the pudding with cool whip to create a light brown muddy color. Have them layer the light colored "mud," the darker colored "mud" and the crushed Oreos in clear plastic cups. They top each cup with a gummy worm.

Math - How can you tell how old a tree is?  Count its rings.  The space between the rings indicates how much water it received or didn't receive in a given year. Click here to download tree ring worksheet.

Drama - Act out different animals in the forest.
 


 Start with a prayer.
 Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.
 Song, "The Sacred Grove" (pg. 87)
 Scripture - Recite and Memorize James 1:5.  

Story - Act out The Carrot Seed by Ruth Kraus. If you don't have this book, try and rent it from your local library, or a similar book.

Letter Recognition - Click here to print out this letter recognition worksheet.  This worksheet only contains the letters found in the word "forest".  Color and laminate if desired.  Cut out the letters on the second worksheet and have the child find its match on the first worksheet.  You could put magnets on the pieces making them stay easier.
 
Writing - For this activity you will need various fruits and vegetables.  Use whatever you have around your house.  Don't be leery of using your fruits and vegetables.  It doesn't have to go to waste.  You can either cut a little of each item off for them to try, or you can put the items in baggies and put them in the fridge when you are finished.

 Start with a prayer.
 Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.
 Song, "The Sacred Grove" (pg. 87)
 Scripture - Recite and Memorize James 1:5.  
 
Story - Print out the following:  Sister Simon's Saints for younger children and Then Sings My Soul for older children.  Have them practice reading it.  If you have both older and younger children, have them each share their stories with each other.

Cooking - Tree cones - I made a dozen cupcakes.  I took the cupcakes and cut them to size and put inside an ice cream cone.  The kids then frosted their "tree" with white frosting made green with food coloring.  We also took some coconut and colored it green and dipped the cone in to resemble leaves.

     

Construct - Make your own cabin like Joseph lived in either with Lincoln Logs or pretzel rods.  "Glue" the pieces together with icing (royal icing would really hold it well). 

Royal Icing Recipe

• 4 egg whites

• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar and lemon extract. Beat at high speed until thickened.  

Game - Squirrel and Nut.  One child is chosen to be "it" and is given a nut to hold. The other children form a circle, sitting on the floor. They extend one hand and close their eyes. "It" tiptoes around the inside of the circle and puts the nut into one of the outstretched hands. The one who receives it jumps up and chases after the other until he catches "it". He/she then becomes "it" and the games proceeds as before. The children open their eyes as the chase begins.

(Optional - Prepare tomorrow's snack by cutting and placing celery in the fridge so it will be ready to go.)



 Start with a prayer.
 Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.
 Song, "The Sacred Grove" (pg. 87)
 Scripture - Recite and Memorize James 1:5.   

Coloring Picture - The First Vision Color by Number.  Click here to download this picture (pdf file).

Meet a tree - Choose a tree in your neighborhood or at the park.  Have each of your children answer the following questions in their journals.  If your children are younger, ask them these questions and answer them together. 

- Is the tree young, grown up, or old?
- Do your arms reach around the tree?
- Stand back from the tree. What is its shape?
- Are the leaves flat or broad? Or narrow or needle-like?
- What color are the leaves? Are they still on the tree? Have most of them fallen?
- What color are the smallest twigs?
- Is the tree alone, or near other trees?
- Are there seeds or fruit on the tree? Flowers?
- Look for plants growing under or on your tree. Record what kinds [lichen, moss, mushrooms, grasses]
- Look for insects, birds, and other animals on your tree. Record your observations.
- What is special about your tree?
- If you could interview the tree, what questions would you ask it?

Craft - Make a bird feeder using a pine cone.  Spread peanut butter all over it and sprinkle on bird seed.  You can take it with you on your nature walk (field trip) and leave it in one of the trees as a treat for the birds.  (Don't forget to use some yarn or string so that you have a way to hang it from the tree once you are done).

Snack - Make a forest of celery trees.  Scrub and clean the celery you want to use.  Cut each rib into sections about 4" long and make several slits in one end of each celery section.  Place the sections in a large bowl, cover with water and refrigerate for several hours.  The cut sections will curl so that each section looks like a little tree.  At serving time, spoon a small amount of peanut butter on each plate and stand one or more celery trees in the peanut butter.

Optional Field Trip - Go on a nature walk. Collect different leaves, pine cones, etc.  Make etchings of the leaves with different colored crayons.  Or make a collage.  Classify the different leaves etc. into piles.  Look up in a nature book (or internet) what type of tree it came from.

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Extra Activities:

- Joseph in the Sacred Grove craft (use a shoe box)

- Parts of a tree cards.
 

- Discuss why some trees have needles all year round and others loose them in the fall. 

- The Giving Tree (children's book by Shel Silverstein). What are different ways that the tree helped the boy? What could we do to help someone else?   Click here to go to Shel Silverstein's website, click on Shel's books and then "The Giving Tree" and you can read it online together.

- Discuss what gives the leaves and grass its color.

- Eat broccoli for lunch one day and talk about why broccoli is sometimes referred to as 'trees'.

- Who is in your family tree?  Find pictures or make pictures to make your own family tree chart.

- Rain forests have different levels or topiaries.  What's unique about a rain forest?  Fern Gully is a great video about saving the Rain forests.  Jan Brett has a wonderful book entitled "The Umbrella" that would go with this theme too.