I will serve others by treating them
kindly and sharing what I have


 

Activity - From construction paper, cut out the letters COMPASSION.  Make them approximately 6" high.  Using tape, make a hopscotch board on the floor.  Make sure the squares are large enough for them to jump into with both feet.  Put the construction paper letters in the corners of the squares, one letter to each square.  Do not put them in any order.  Call on a few children to help you out.  Give each child a penny.  Explain that the letters on the hopscotch board when collected will spell a special word.  It is a long word, but an important word that every person should know about. Each child takes a turn tossing their penny and trying to land it in one of the hopscotch squares.  When they land in one, they hop in all the squares up to where their penny is, pick up the penny and the construction paper letter and finish hopping the rest of the way to the end of the board.  When all the letters have been collected, arrange the children in the correct order so the word, compassion, is spelled.  Tell them what the word is and explain that it means love in action.  It means your heart feels so much love and sympathy for someone,  you want to show it by kind acts and words.  

Have the children act out the story of the Good Samaritan.  Bring in some simple costumes.  (Our Primary loves opportunities to see our bishop.  If your bishop is available to help, have him play one of the roles.)  Here is a script taken from the Book of Mormon Reader (you can elaborate...but it is at least a starting point for you...)

- Jesus told the leader a story about a Jew who was walking on a road to Jericho. Thieves stopped him, took his clothes, and beat him. They left him on the road, almost dead.

- Soon a Jewish priest went by and saw the man. The priest should have helped him, but instead he walked by on the other side of the road.

- A Jewish man who worked in the temple went by. He also should have helped the injured man. But he, too, walked by on the other side of the road.

- Then a Samaritan came along. The Jews and the Samaritans did not like each other. But when the Samaritan saw the man, he felt sorry for him. Even though he knew that the man was a Jew, the Samaritan took care of his wounds and put clothes on him.

- Next, the Samaritan took the Jew to an inn and cared for him until the next day. When the Samaritan had to leave, he gave money to the innkeeper and told him to take care of the man.  Jesus has told us to be like the Samaritan.

Ask the children, "What does the story of the Good Samaritan teach us?" (It teaches us that we should serve others, treat them kindly and share what we have.)
 

Song - Sing or say the words to “Kindness Begins with Me” (Children’s Songbook, pg. 145).
 

I want to be kind to everyone,
For that is right, you see.
So I say to myself, “Remember this:
Kindness begins with me.”

Ask them, "How does it make you feel when you share with someone or doing something nice for someone else?"  Those good feelings are the Holy Ghost telling you that what you are doing is right. 

Have you ever watched what happens when you drop a rock into a still pond. You will notice a single ring that will then radiate outwards into more and more rings. This is what happens with a good deed. The good feeling that both people have, those who do the good deed and those who receive, radiates outward and affects more and more people around them.

Craft Idea - Sharing/Helping Hands Handout Idea

Testimony - Help the children think of ways they can be kind to others. They can give their time by helping others, and use their talents like drawing, singing, and making things.  They can keep their toys nice and when they out grow them or they are tired of them.  Explain that sometimes it is hard to be kind but that everyone needs to be treated kindly. Even if people seem unfriendly or seem different from us, we should treat them kindly.  Jesus loves us and wants us to do the same for others.  Share your testimony.