Parable Activities, Games, Lesson Ideas & Printables for Kids
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The greatest blessings of life are not temporal possessions (see Luke 12:13–21).
The Lord commands us not to covet worldly possessions (see Luke 12:15).
Activities Quick-Glance List
[Click each image below to jump to that section of the page.]
Toilet Paper Silos
Giving vs. Taking Pennie Challenge
Thou Shalt Not Covent Race
Thou Shalt Not Covet Dessert Plate Activity Lesson
Parable of the Rich Fool Play Mat Folder Games
Scripture Trace & Color - Luke 12:34
Comic Strip Story Summary Coloring Page & Crossword Puzzle
Put God First Barn Color & Craft
Fill Your Barn With? Scripture Look-Up Coloring Activity Pages
Parable Sound Story
Hello and welcome to LDS Primary Printables. I'm so excited you are here! LDS Primary Printables provides Come Follow Me, Gospel Topics, Primary Events, and Primary Singing Time Resources for Families, Primary Teachers and Primary Music Leaders.
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The rich fool planned to build larger barns and silos to hold his bounty. Help your children make silos from toilet paper tubes. Paint or color the tubes. Label one "NEEDS" and one "BLESSINGS & GOOD WORKS."
Then, help your children write different needs and blessings/good things they can do (good works) on small pieces of paper and fill each of the with those rather than with "wants. "
Giving Vs. Taking
[Idea credit: classroom.synonymous.com]
WHAT YOU NEED:
Jar of Pennies
Have your kiddos sit in a circle. Explain: The man in the parable that asked Jesus the question about his brother shouldn't covet his brother's riches. That's one important lesson, but there is another lesson in this parable too. Let's do an activity and see if you can figure out what this lesson is...
For the first activity, give each child a handful of pennies and tell them they have one minute to try to pick up as many additional pennies as they can, or take some from their siblings (all pennies must be in their hands at all times). The child with the most pennies wins. For the second activity, your children must give away as many of their pennies as they can in a minute. The child with the fewest pennies wins.
After participating in both activities, discuss with your children: Which activity did they prefer? How does the activity related to the brother with riches? (This is like the older brother in the parable. He had lots of wealth and money, but he didn't share). Could this activity relate to their life and the things they do? What could the pennies represent? What would Jesus like us to do?
For Tommy story click Resource Ministry for Kids link above
Sarah got a beautiful pair of roller-blades for her birthday. They were really awesome roller blades in her favorite color. Sarah was so happy with her gift but she didn’t want to use them because she was scared that they would get scratched or dirty. She wouldn’t let her little sister use them and she wouldn’t let her friends try them. Months later Sarah finally decided to try them out but do you know what happened? When she put them on her feet they didn’t fit her anymore. She had outgrown them and she couldn’t use them anymore.
Sad story, right? Now here is Jesus’ point: We shouldn’t be like Tommy or Sarah. They were scared of losing their stuff and missed opportunities to share with others, just like the man in this parable. Their stuff was more important to them than other people or God. All good gifts come from God and we should use the stuff we have to be a blessing to those around us!
Thou Shalt Not Covet Candy Race
[Idea credit: icebreakerideas.com]
WHAT YOU NEED:
Plastic cups - 1 for each person
Big bowl of candy
Place a large bowl of small candies across the room from everyone sitting. Give each player a plastic cup and have them put their name on it. When you give a “Go!”, players get up, place their cup on their seat, race to get one piece of candy from the bowl, run back to their seat, and put the candy in their cup. Players continue to do so until a timer goes off or you call, “Stop!” Tell everyone ahead of time that they must be touching their cup when the time ends or they lose all of their candy. Try and make sure at least a couple people lose all their candy. At the end of the game, ask: "Do you feel the game is fair?" "Is it hard to be happy for someone who gets to keep their candy when you lost yours or for those that got a lot more than you?
Sometimes life does not seem fair because others have more than you. God wants you to be content with what you have and be more concerned with your relationship towards him than about how much you have. God has promised to be with us at all times. God wants us to be thankful for what we have and to trust Him, instead of trusting in what we have to make us happy.
"Whose willing to dump their candy back in the bowl so I can divide it out so everyone gets some?" This is one way we can show Jesus we care more for people than for things... (Hopefully everyone will dump their candy back so then you can divide it out equally).
Go on to the Don't Covet Temporal Things lesson below.
Don't Covet Temporal Things!
WHAT YOU NEED:
A large plate of cookies or cupcakes, piled high
Large White poster board with the words TEMPORAL & SPIRITUAL
written across the top and line dividing down the middle
Give one child the large dessert plate. Ask the rest of the kids how they feel? Let them answer. Ask them: "Are you feeling jealous? Hurt? Mad? Sad? Confused? Covetous? Does anyone know what covetous means? It means you really want wealth or something someone else has. Read Exodus 20:17: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." Did you know that this is one of the ten commandments?
Read Luke 12:13-15. Ask what Jesus told the man who was concerned about his inheritance and why it's dangerous to covet...“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...” (Matt. 6:19-20).
Today, we call someone who wants lots of things a materialistic person. Share the stories of Tommy & Sarah (see above).
Ask the kids to name some things people covet today. Have the kids write the words or draw pics of the items on the poster under the TEMPORAL side. Then ask the kids to name things they want and their most valuable possessions and add them to the poster under the temporal or spiritual side, depending on which is appropriate.
Use the temporal/spiritual folder game, where they match cards to the temporal or spiritual side. [You can also include a short discussion about needs vs. wants - and let kids use The Rich Fool needs/wants play mat folder game side and kids stack needs and wants hay bales].
Look at the temporal side. Ask the kids which of the TEMPORAL things they can take with them into eternity. Look at the spiritual side. Reinforce that these are the things that they can take with them and that God only cares about that side. Have kids name other SPIRITUAL things they can take with them and add them to the poster (ex: friendships, love, dreams, relationships.) Remind them that, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21).
Explain that this parable is about someone who was concerned with having lots of things. His heart was only on his earthly treasures. Read the parable.
How had the man in the parable of the rich fool been blessed? (See Luke 12:16.) What did he decide to do with his excess? (See Luke 12:18.)
What did his actions demonstrate? (See Luke 12:19–21. His heart was set on his riches.)
What might he have done with his abundance if he had been seeking heavenly, rather than earthly, treasures? (See Mosiah 4:26; D&C 52:40.)
Discuss with your children the rich fool's actions.
Was it wrong that he had many crops and a good harvest? (No.) What action might he have taken instead of building more barns to hold his bounty? (He might have shared his crops with others.)
Ask your kids if they can apply this lesson to their own lives? (Perhaps with sharing vs. hoarding candy or toys) - see penny game above.
Why do many people set their hearts on worldly wealth even though they know it is only temporary?
How can we determine whether we are too concerned with material possessions?...Ask yourself how much you think about and care about having "stuff." How much is “stuff” really worth? Is it worth working extra hours at the office to afford the bigger television? Is it worth ignoring our family for hours on end playing with that awesome phone? In the end, we don’t even get to keep any of it.
Explain that it's not necessarily wrong or bad to want things but we must set the right priorities, not be greedy, ungrateful or selfish and keep our ultimate goals to eternal blessings and not temporal ones.
Ask the kids:
How can we be more generous with our material wealth and other blessings, such as time and talents?
How can we love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength? (Be grateful, serve, and think outside yourself, (younger kids: practice sharing, not hitting or pushing siblings, not throwing fits...). We can share our talents, give of our time and wealth to those in need (let kids name specific examples), etc.
Let them put the hay bales on the "Share Love" play mat folder side from The Rich Fool folder game as you discuss the answer to those questions. Let kids color the "Build Up Treasures in Heaven" coloring page.
Dessert Plate: At the end of the lesson, everyone enjoy a treat...
So (name), you have that whole plate of dessert. What would you like to do with it?...Eat a little yourself then store up the rest for later or share with everyone?... Great! See, because (name) is sharing of their abundance, we are being blessed. Heavenly Father wants us to do the same!
Additional Activity Pages To Use With The Lesson
Scripture Trace & Color - Luke 12:34
Super Fun Comic Strip Story Summary Coloring Page (biblefunforkids.com) & Crossword Puzzle (click pic for pdf)
Put God First Barn Color & Craft - Kids color and cut out the different size squares (things of eternal worth - things we do or value when we "seek first the kingdom of God...") and glue to the barn.
Fill Your Barn With? - Kids look up scriptures to see what God says we should fill our barns with, then color each section after the scripture(s) has been read.
“How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24–25).
To the rich young ruler who desired eternal life, He said, “Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven” (Mark 10:21). The young man turned away, preferring his riches over following Christ. This prompted the Savior to lament, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23).
“With men that trust in riches, it is impossible [to be saved]; but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake” (Joseph Smith Translation, Mark 10:26).
“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (see Matt. 22:17–21). The Lord also expects us to perform our financial duties to Him and others in an honest manner. This means an honest day’s work for our daily wages. It means being truthful with ourselves and all those we work with and for. It means that we treat people who work for us fairly in every instance. And it means we are honest in the payment of our taxes. We must also be honest with the Lord, for a man can rob God (see Mal. 3:8). Are we honest with our tithes, fast offerings, and the other financial responsibilities of our membership in His restored Church? Meeting these financial obligations is a requirement for all those who desire to enter the temples of God.
As we analyze the world around us, it becomes obvious that having wealth can easily divert a person’s attention from righteousness toward the accumulation and care of those possessions. People thus distracted become preoccupied with providing for their own pleasure, neglecting service to others in order to better serve themselves. The Savior referred to this temptation when He gave the following explanation of what happened to some of the seeds in the parable of the sower: “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection” (Luke 8:14; emphasis added).
