NEW TESTAMENT 2023 KIDS CFM ACTIVITY PRINTABLES BUNDLE (JAN - JUNE & JULY-DEC)
This Come Follow Me 2023 Kids Activity Book for Families & LDS Primary gives you simple, easy Come Follow Me printables for church and home.
With activity suggestions for every week of the month (Jan-June), you'll always have something quick and easy to give your kiddos to further engage them in the lessons each week while giving them plenty of variety* and fun while learning!
(42+ PGS of fun for Jan-Jun & lots more July-Dec! - Get when you join the printables library).
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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Ponder the account of Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. How can you help the children see what the story teaches about Jesus’s kindness, love, and other attributes?
Use the picture Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda (Gospel Art Book, no. 42) to tell the children the story in John 5:1–9. Or show the video “Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Ask the children to imagine that they are the person Jesus healed. How would they feel when Jesus healed them? Tell kids to note instances of the phrase “made whole” in these verses. In what ways can Jesus Christ make people whole? (Let kids complete the "broken" person puzzle and "make [them] whole" again). When and how has He made us whole? (Puzzles in the printables library under Healing >>Christ Makes Us Whole Person Puzzle).
[Add a 1-sentence story example for each puzzle item or come up with real-life examples Jesus helps kids to further illustrate. Ex: Jesus restores - Job / Jesus heals - My story (When I was 3-4 grade, I had a quarter-size wart on my toe that grew bigger and bigger and deeper and deeper every month and year. I prayed every day that God would heal my toe and take my wart away. After more than 15 times over those years, Drs. cut it out, burn it out and everything in-between, but each time it grew back worse than ever! So, finally we stopped with all the painful procedures. I continued to pray that God would take my wart away. One day, I looked down at my toe and my wart was completely gone, nothing but a big ball of scar tissue was left. One day the wart was bigger than a quarter on my right toe, deep seeds and worse than ever, and then another day, completely gone. God healed my toe!].
Get Well Cards: Use whatever materials you have to make Get Well cards with your students. Tell the class that their cards will be going to actual people. As a class, pray that God will heal the people who will be receiving the cards.
Ask the children to name some things that are hard for them or that make them sad. Tell them about a time in your life when you received help from the Savior during a difficult trial. Testify that Jesus knows about all our problems and wants to help us.
Trials Match: Kids read about those who experienced trials and how the Lord helped them and match the trial with the person.
I follow Jesus’s example when I am kind to others.
One way Jesus showed love was to feed His followers when they were hungry. How can you help the children learn to serve others like Jesus did?
Show the children a basket and some bread as you tell the story in Matthew 14:13–21. Explain that even though Jesus had tried to find a place to be alone, the people wanted to be near Him. Share the rest of the story with the children, and ask them to listen for what Jesus did to show kindness and love for the people.
Ask the children to share ways in which someone has been kind to them. Then help them think of things they can do this week to be kind to others. For every answer they give, draw a loaf of bread or a fish on the board. Tell the children that when they do these things, they are following the example Jesus set when He fed the five thousand people who were hungry.
Sing, "Jesus Said Love Everyone" and "As I Have Loved You, Love One Another" and do the Ways to Show Love activity.
* Using the HEART FLIP GAME, let kids come flip up a heart and name the way to love on the heart.
Ex: Sing a phrase and flip a heart, name the way to love.
* Using the WAYS TO SHOW LOVE HEARTS: (Fun name to tell kids - "Heart Attach Jesus"
"Let's heart attack Jesus with all the ways we can show love and kindness.")
Additional Activity: Following in Jesus’s Footsteps
With your family or primary, role-play how you could show love for others in these situations. Make up some of your own situations!
A new family has moved into your neighborhood.
Some children are being mean to another child at school.
A visitor who doesn’t know anyone at church comes to Primary.
Your younger brother or sister has no one to play with.
The baby is crying, and your mother is trying to make dinner.
A person in your ward or branch is sick and can’t leave the house.
Peter showed great faith when he walked on the water toward Jesus. What lessons might there be for the children in this story?
* Show the picture in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families (see also Gospel Art Book, no. 43) as you tell the story from Matthew 14:22–33 in your own words (or for older primary, ask the children to find phrases in Matthew 14:22–33 that describe the picture). Consider using this week’s activity page to help the children tell the story back to you. You could also bring a small bowl of water and invite the children to pretend to “walk” their fingers across the surface of the water.
* Older Primary: Ask the children to look for signs of faith and signs of fear as they read Matthew 14:22–33. Both: Show the video “Wherefore Didst Thou Doubt?” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), and ask the children why Peter was afraid. What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? Ask them to tell about times when they felt afraid and share what helped them.** Help them think of times when their faith helped them overcome fear and help them see that faith in Jesus Christ helps us overcome fear.
* Ask the children to imagine they were present and had a camera when Jesus and Peter walked on the sea. Which moment would they choose to photograph and why? Suggest that they search Matthew 14:22–33 for ideas. Invite them to draw a picture of the moment they chose, share their pictures, and explain why they chose that moment.
* Let children put together the Jesus puzzle and read scriptures about not having fear.
** As kids name things they are afraid of, match with the type of fear monster it is and read the scriptures and accompanying paragraph then have the kids repeat the mantra statements (ex: "Failure is my beginning, not my ending.")
How can Jesus’s teachings about His Father help the children learn about Heavenly Father?
Create two sets of matching cards labeled with words that Jesus used to teach about Heavenly Father in John 5, such as love, life, and works (see John 5:20, 26, 36). Lay the cards face down, and ask the children to look for matches by flipping over two cards at a time. As each match is made, read the verse that contains the word, and ask the children what the word teaches us about Heavenly Father.
Craft Activity:
See Godhead flipbook, which lists characteristics of Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. Use the Heavenly Father portion for this lesson topic.
Every good thing you do in your life is following God’s plan. Every time you are kind to another person, each time you have courage to do something difficult, each time you do a thoughtful act without being asked, each time you say your prayers, each time you read the scriptures, each time you go to church, each time you help a friend—you are following God’s plan for you, you are doing God's will.
PICTIONARY
Have kids draw a picture on the board of something that represents doing God's will. Everyone tries to guess what the picture is. After, everyone repeats, "When I _____________ I am doing God's will."
It was a young boy who provided the bread and fish that Jesus used to feed the five thousand. How can you help the children you teach see how they can contribute to the work of the Lord?
Help the children imagine how large a crowd of five thousand people would be. What would it be like to feed that many people with only five loaves of bread and two fish?
Invite a child to tell the story of the feeding of the five thousand in his or her own words. Emphasize that it was a young boy who provided the bread and fish that the Lord used to perform this miracle. How can we be like the boy described in John 6:9? Invite the children to draw loaves and fish on paper (click picture to go to freebie pdf below) and write on them some things they can give to the Lord to help in His work.
FAMILY
Consider how you might help your family imagine how much bread and fish it would take to feed five thousand people. What does the miracle in Matthew 14:15–21 teach us about the Savior? Consider sharing an experience when you felt you didn’t have enough to offer and the Savior multiplied your efforts.
MOVIE CONNECTION
Show the scene from Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows where Harry, Hermione and Ron are in Belatrix Lestrange's Vault at Gringotts. Mention when they touch something, that it multiples. Liken that to how when we serve God and others, God can magnify our service and efforts to be much more than it ever could be without Him.
Give each family member a piece of bread to eat, and discuss the benefits we receive from bread and other healthy foods. Then search these verses together, looking for why Jesus Christ called Himself the “bread of life” (John 6:35). What might it mean to “eat” the bread of life? (see D. Todd Christofferson, “The Living Bread Which Came Down from Heaven,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 36–39).
What might it mean to “eat” the bread of life? When we come unto Christ, how does He nourish us?
Our spirits also require nourishment. Just as there is food for the body, there is food for the spirit.
Let kids draw pieces of bread, read & discuss. (You can hide the bread and have the kids find if you'd like).
Have kids repeat: "If we come to Jesus Christ, He will nourish us spiritually."
Suggested hymn: “How Great the Wisdom and the Love,” Hymns, no. 195.
BREAD OF LIFE FOLDER GAME
A simple, fun way to teach children how Jesus is the "Bread of Life" and how He nourishes us!
This bundle includes the play mat, John 6:35 scripture trace & color and coloring activity page.
Play Mat - kids draw a piece of bread, read and discuss; bread lists ways Jesus nourishes us)
Scripture Trace - John 6:35
Coloring Page - kids write or draw on each piece of bread ways they can nourish their spirits.
Show the children that there is physical hunger that food can satisfy but there is also spiritual hunger that only
Jesus (the bread of life) can satisfy.
Say: Imagine that you are really hungry. Imagine that you haven’t had any food for two days. What would that be like? How would your stomach feel? I’m going to show you some things and I want you to respond by all saying YES and nodding, or all saying NO and shaking your head. Ready? Here we go. Now, what if I gave you this (pull out an object – a wrench). Would that help you? No it wouldn’t. What about this (pull out another object – a hat). Would this satisfy you? No! It wouldn’t. (Continue on with some toys or other objects). Then pull out the bread. What about this bread? YES! You’re right! When we are hungry in our stomachs we need food, like this bread. Only food will satisfy that type of hunger.
Today I want to tell you about another type of hunger. It is a spiritual hunger – a hunger for meaning, for peace, for love. This hunger for real LIFE, eternal things, the life God gives cannot be filled with things (hold up some items, toys, etc.). The scriptures say that only Jesus can satisfy that type of hunger. Jesus is the Bread of Life. We need this type of bread (hold up the rolls or buns) or food to fill our stomachs and make us healthy. But we also need Jesus (hold a picture of Jesus), who is the bread of life, who is the only one that can fill the hunger of our souls.
Pray: Thank you God for provide a way that both types of hunger can be satisfied. We have food, such as bread, to fill our stomachs and to make our bodies work properly. Thank you God for also sending Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. Thank you that he is the one who can satisfy our hunger for a life of joy, love, peace and purpose. Help us to trust him, follow him and know him as our friend.
