Keyword Topics: trials, adversity, come follow me, lds primary, bible printables for kids, lds primary lessons, kids primary printables and activities, kids bible crafts, bible lessons for kids, scripture lessons for kids, come follow me families. latter day kid

This list of Trials & Adversity lesson ideas and activities for Kids is perfect for primary lessons, family home evenings, come follow me lessons, homeschool and more! 

Trials & Adversities Activities:

• Heavy Things
• Fear Kids
  
• Finding Peace - Storm Clouds
• Adversity Bag
• The Diamond & the Pencil
• The Refiner's Fire
• Developing Humility Egg & Potato Object Lesson
• I Can Do Hard Things coloring page
• Comfort Cards
• Heavenly Father Never Forgets Us
• Hope In Christ
• Cookie Comforts

Topics:

• Remember God Loves You.
• The Lord is with me in my trials.
• The Lord will never forget me.
• The Lord offers me comfort and hope.
• Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help me during hard times as I have faith in Them.
• The Savior can lift me “up out of [my] afflictions.”
  
• Jesus Christ Knows How I Feel. He has Descended Below All Things.
• God can work miracles in my life.
• The Lord is watching over me.
  
• I am not alone.
• Jesus Christ can turn sadness into joy.
• Jesus Christ can help me overcome any challenge.
• God Can Help Me when Bad Things Happen.
• Have Faith in God and His Plan for You.
• Jesus Christ Can Bring Me Peace.
• Remember it is “But A Small Moment.”
• We Worry Less About Our Problems when We Serve.
  

Heavy Things

WHAT YOU NEED:

Something heavy

Jesus name tag

Laundry basket full of unfolded laundry

Take turns lifting something heavy. Talk about how lifting the load is like going through a hard time.

How can trials make us stronger and help us grow?

Read Matthew 11:28–30, and show the picture of yoked oxen. Explain that yoked oxen can pull more weight together than each could separately. How can taking Christ’s yoke upon us make these burdens lighter? 

Have one person try and lift a heavy load. Add the "Jesus" name tag to someone and have that person lift the heavy load with "Jesus." Remind everyone that Jesus Christ helps us carry our load. Ask how Jesus can help us carry our heavy loads.

One way Jesus helps us carry our heavy loads is through other people. Just like the oxen can pull heavier loads when not alone, we can help each other through life. 

Share: "Spencer W. Kimball said, 'God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.'"

To illustrate how others can help lighten burdens, have everyone help fold the clothes in a basket. Point out how quickly the task was accomplished with everyone’s help.

Ask: Who in your life can you help and how? Challenge family or class members to look for opportunities to help others.

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.

--------------------------------------------

Join the mailing list for updates, specials & freebies.

QUICK-LINKS

• Come Follow Me Index
• Primary Singing Index
• Gospel Topics Index
• Primary Events Index
• Parables Index

Fear Kids

(Availble in the printables library)

Teach your kiddos about how to overcome fears and have greater faith with these cute Fear Kids figures! 

Each child figure lists a scripture and a way we can overcome fear.

Print and cut out the kids. Put in a bowl and let kids draw one, read the scripture listed, and discuss. Simple. Fun. Easy. Effective. 

Finding Peace

When I am afraid or in danger, Jesus can help me feel peace.

Jesus Christ has power to bring peace in the midst of life’s storms.

Ask one of the children to use Mark 4:35–41 and the picture Jesus Calms the Storm (Gospel Art Book, no. 40) to tell the story of Jesus calming the storm. Ask the children to describe how they might have felt if they had been there.

Give each child a paper rain cloud, and ask them to write on it a trial that someone might have. Put all of the clouds on the board, covering a picture of the Savior. Invite a child to remove one of the clouds and suggest ways we could help someone with that trial to find peace. When all the clouds are removed, testify of the Savior’s power to calm the storms in our lives. (OR SEE ADVERSITY BAG BELOW for another idea similar to this one). 

Invite the children to make the sounds of a storm and stop when someone says “Peace, be still.” Testify that just as Jesus can bring us peace when there is a storm outside, He can bring us peace in our hearts when we feel bad on the inside.

Teach the children actions to accompany the third verse of “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus” (Children’s Songbook, 57), and sing the verse together while doing the actions.

(Click the picture to go to the file). 

Adversity Bag

Display the bag labeled Adversity.

Ask: What is adversity?

Label a paper bag Adversity and place inside it several objects that could each represent a type of adversity, such as a piece of money to suggest financial difficulties, an empty medicine bottle to suggest illness, a fork or spoon to suggest hunger, a schoolbook to suggest difficulties in school, or a picture or drawing of an angry face to suggest a friend who is angry or unkind.

Have each child take an object out of the bag and explain how the object could represent adversity, how a person might deal with that type of adversity, and where a person might go for help with that type of adversity. Make sure the children mention that they can turn to Heavenly Father for help in adversity.

THE DIAMOND & THE PENCIL

WHAT YOU NEED:

Diamond (or picture of diamonds) and a Pencil

Show the children the pencil and explain that the writing portion of the pencil is graphite, which is a form of carbon.

Ask the children to estimate the value of the graphite in the pencil.

Then show the diamond (or describe one) and explain that scientists believe diamonds were formed millions of years ago when carbon was subjected to great heat and pressure. Diamonds are very valuable because they are the hardest natural substance, they make beautiful jewelry, and they can be used in industry for cutting and grinding. You may want to have the children estimate the value of the diamond.

Discuss how the graphite in the pencil and the diamond are made of the same substance (carbon), yet the diamond is much more valuable. Ask the children what happened to the diamond to make it so valuable.

Compare problems and trials we have in life to the heat and pressure that carbon must undergo to become diamonds.

Explain that the “heat” and “pressure” that our trials bring us can make us strong like a diamond if we remain faithful to Heavenly Father.

Tell the children about baby birds, who, when they are about to hatch, peck at the shell to free themselves. What would happen if we broke the shell away because we felt sorry for the bird? Explain that the bird might die. Through pecking at the shell, birds build up enough strength so when they are free of the shell they will be strong enough to live. Discuss how our trials can make us strong so that we can return to live with Heavenly Father.

Latter Day Kids “Our Trials Can Be For Our Good” Lesson Ideas

The Refiner's Fire

Read together Isaiah 48:10, and talk about what a furnace is and different ways it is used. Explain that metals are purified in a furnace. Why is a furnace a good way to describe affliction? How can our afflictions purify us? (see Alma 62:41).

Developing Humility - Potato & Egg Object Lesson

WHAT YOU NEED:

Potato & Raw Egg

Pot of Water

Here’s an object lesson that can help your family understand that we can choose to be either “hardened” or “softened” by our trials: Place a raw potato and a raw egg in a pot of boiling water. The potato and the egg represent us, and the water represents the trials we face. As the potato and egg boil, you could talk about some of the trials your family faces. What are some different ways to react to trials like these? According to Alma 62:41, how do our reactions to trials affect us? After the potato and egg are fully cooked, cut open the potato and crack open the egg to show that the same “trial” softened the potato and hardened the egg. What can our family do to be sure that our trials humble us and bring us closer to God?

The Lord Is With Me In My Trials

WHAT YOU NEED:

Trials Card Match Game

Let your kids match the person with the trial or prayer by reading the text card and matching with the correct person card. (Use the scripture references on each card to help.) A fun, simple, easy way to teach scripture examples of trials and that the Lord is with us in our trials. 

The Prayers in the Scriptures card game give examples of people from the scriptures who prayed for help with different problems and the answers they received. Match the "Who Prayed" cards with the "What happened" cards. Use the scripture references on each card to help.

The Trials card match give examples of people in the scriptures and the trials they experienced. Match the scripture character card with the trial description card. Talk about how the people in these stories responded to their trials and how God helped them. (Note: These cards work well along with prayer lessons because during trials, all the scripture story characters prayed to God asking for help).

I CAN DO HARD THINGS: Click picture to go to coloring page. 

COMFORT CARDS: Make a set of comfort cards you can read and flip through at times you are feeling sad. Click the picture below to go to the cards pdf. 

Heavenly Father Never Forgets Us

Ask the children to read Isaiah 49:14. What might make people feel forgotten or forsaken? How can we help others know that the Lord has not forgotten them? How do we know He has not forgotten us?

Invite the children to talk about someone they know who they will never forget, like a family member or friend. Discuss how a loving mother feels about her children and how the Lord feels about us. Then ask the children to read Isaiah 49:15–16. According to these verses, why will the Lord never forget us? Invite the children to share their feelings about Jesus Christ.

Hope In Christ

Fill a clear container with water, and drop two objects into it—one that floats and one that sinks. Compare the floating object to a person who has hope in Christ. Read together Moroni 9:25. How does Christ “lift [us] up” when we face difficult trials? Help the children think of ways they can keep the Savior and His encouraging teachings “in [their] mind forever.”

Cookie Comforts

[Idea Credit: LDSDaily.com] 

Begin by giving each child a piece of paper and instructing them to draw their favorite kind of cookie. When they are done, ask them why they love that cookie so much and give everyone a moment to explain.

Read aloud: Cookies are delicious! Today, we can make many different kinds of cookies in a variety of different ways.

Ask: Do you know the things that are used to make your favorite cookie? (Give everyone a chance to list off as many things as they can think of)

Read aloud: There are many different ways to make cookies. In most cookie recipes, you have things like flour and salt and then things like sugar and butter. When you look at salt, it may seem crazy that you want to put it in a recipe for something sweet. And who would just want to eat a stick of butter by itself? But the truth is, all of these things are necessary to making a cookie delicious.

Our lives, and the plan Heavenly Father has for us, works much in the same way. Here are on Earth we have many different experiences. Some are sweet and make us very happy. Some are very hard and can make us very sad. Sometimes, we may want to yell at Heavenly Father or get very upset at Him because these bad things have happened. Many times, the trials are not even our fault. We often do not understand why these trials have happened. But our trials can be just like salt. At first, if we just look at our trials by themselves, it can seem crazy that they are part of our lives. However, when we put our trials and hard times into an eternal perspective, we see they are necessary to making life sweet. When we realize our trials are just part of a recipe, one that will produce the very best thing of all (eternal life with God), we can be stronger when bad things come our way.

In fact, the entire plan of salvation, which is also called the plan of happiness, is like a cookie recipe that is meant to bring us happiness forever. (Much more happiness than a cookie!)

Ask: What can trials teach us? How can we keep an eternal perspective when bad things happen? Do any of you have personal experiences about learning something from a trial?

Finish the lesson by discussing any personal experiences you have and bearing your testimony of the plan of salvation and why trials are a necessary part of our life on Earth.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Trials Children's Resources ( messages | stories | activities | media...)
• Big List of Related Topics & Resource Links at TeachLDSChildren  
• Topical Guide: Trials

RELATED SONGS

Children's Songbook

Guidance

God Is Watching Over All (#229)

Home (#192)

How Dear to God Are Little Children (#180)

I Am a Child of God (#2)

I Feel My Savior’s Love (#74)

I Need My Heavenly Father (#18)

I Will Follow God's Plan (#164)

Jesus Is Our Loving Friend (#58b)

Listen, Listen (#107)

Little Lambs So White and Fair (#58a)

Search, Ponder, and Pray (#109)

Stand for the Right (#159)

Teach Me to Walk in the Light (#177)

Tell Me, Dear Lord (#176)

The Holy Ghost (#105)

The Still Small Voice (#106)

Where Love Is (#138)

LDS Hymns

Arise, O Glorious Zion (#40)

As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days (#256)

Be Still, My Soul (#124)

Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord (#110)

Come, Come, Ye Saints (#326)

Come, Come, Ye Saints (#30)

Come, Ye Disconsolate (#115)

Count Your Blessings (#241)

Did You Think to Pray? (#140)

Does the Journey Seem Long? (#127)

For All the Saints (#82)

God Speed the Right (#106)

Guide Me to Thee (#101)

How Firm a Foundation (#85)

I’m a Pilgrim, I’m a Stranger (#121)

Jesus, Lover of My Soul (#102)

Lean on My Ample Arm (#120)

Let Us All Press On (#243)

Nearer, Dear Savior, to Thee (#99)

Nearer, My God, to Thee (#100)

Oh, May My Soul Commune with Thee (#123)

School Thy Feelings (#336)

Secret Prayer (#144)

Sweet Hour of Prayer (#142)

The Iron Rod (#274)

The Time Is Far Spent (#266)

Though Deepening Trials (#122)

Where Can I Turn for Peace? (#129)

Zion Stands with Hills Surrounded (#43)

WANT ACCESS TO 100+ CFM, GOSPEL TOPIC AND MORE PRINTABLES? Join the Printables Library!

WANT ACCESS TO HUNDRED+ OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PRIMARY SINGING TIME PRINTABLES?

Check Out Gold Library Subscription!