I am thankful for my home and family
 

 

Can you guess the answer to this riddle? What is as invisible as the wind and as warm as the sun, can be given away without losing any, grows when it is shared, comes from your heart, and shows on your face?  The answer to the riddle is love. Love is a powerful feeling of affection, concern, and tenderness for another.
 

Your home in heaven was filled with love. Your Heavenly Father prepared a plan of happiness for you because He loves you. That plan makes it possible for you to become like Him and return to live with Him forever. Your Savior and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, suffered and gave His life to free you from sin and death. Heavenly Father and Jesus love you. Jesus gave us a commandment to love one another as He loves us. When you love others and show that love by your actions, you are following Him. When you love others, you show that you are a child of Heavenly Father and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ (see John 13:34–35). You become more like Them.

Music - Sing "We are a happy family"

Idea 1 - Clear a space in the room and let the younger children sit in a circle. Tell them that there are many ways to love and serve the members of their families. Select one child to stand in the center of the circle. As everyone sings “When We’re Helping” (Children’s Songbook, p. 198), have the child in the center do an action that goes with the song. Explain that even a smile can be an expression of love. Sing “Smiles” (Children’s Songbook, p. 267), and let the children show their biggest frowns and biggest smiles.

Idea 2 - Bring six hats representing Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Grandma, and Grandpa. Have the children sit in a circle and pass the hats from head to head while they sing “Here We Are Together” (Children’s Songbook, p. 261). Use the names in the song. As you finish it, have each child wearing a hat tell why the person represented by that hat is important to him or her and how he or she could show love for that person. 
 

Game - Family Service Charades. Using two containers, put the names of the children in one and ideas for service in the other. Have the child whose name you draw select a service and act it out for the other children to guess. If the child needs a partner to help, he or she can choose another name from the container.  Possible service ideas are writing to a missionary, making a sibling’s bed, inviting a friend to family home evening, consoling a sad child, saying a prayer for someone, reading to a younger child.  (To make it easier to get started, hand a baggie of small papers and a pencil to each Primary Teacher during opening exercises and ask that they write the names of each child present today on a separate piece of paper and give them back to you when they are done). 

Summary - Share your testimony.