For children and youth, Come Follow Me lessons for Primary and home, family night, Sunday School, Seminary, scripture study
GOSPEL GAME Activity
My Service Garden Game to plant acts of service
OBJECTIVE: Help youth to plant their SERVICE GARDEN with good deeds (“Don’t grow weeds, plant good deeds!”)
With this game, they can learn ways to serve. The vegetables are split into two matching pieces, example the bean reads “I will cheer up the sad and . . . make someone feel glad by ‘bean’ kind.” The cauliflower reads “I will ‘call’ and take . . . ‘flowers’ to the widow next door.” The watermelon reads “I will make grandma and Grandpa . . . feel like a ‘melon’ by writing them a letter.” The fun begins here.
TO MAKE: Using cardstock, print or copy images shown. If printing the color version, simply cut out images and laminate them. For the black-and-white version, color, cut out, and laminate.
TO SET UP GAME:
1. Place the “My Service Garden” sign on the board in the bottom center.
2. Organize visuals into two piles, dividing fruit and vegetable pieces as shown in preview on the following page. Pile 1 will be mounted on the board on the left (to be assigned to team 1) and pile 2 will be mounted on the board on the right (to be assigned to team 2).
3. Draw a vertical line in the center of the garden/board to divide teams.
4. Divide pile 1 and 2 in half and place 12 half pieces on the left side of the board from pile 1 and 12 half pieces on the right side of the board from pile 2.
5. Place the remaining halves in two containers for piles 1 and 2 for children to draw from.
6. Have tape ready to stick on the back of produce pieces as children place them on the board (or use magnets).
INTRODUCE GAME: Tell children that if they plant acts of service each day, they will reap a harvest of blessings from Heavenly Father. It’s easy to say, “I love you,” to your family or, “I like you,” to a friend, but they won’t know you truly love them unless you show them through service.
In 1 John 3:18, we read, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” In our garden, we don’t want to grow weeds, so let’s plant good deeds of service (point to sign).
TO PLAY GAME:
1. Divide children into two teams, and assign team 1 the produce on the left and team 2 the produce on the right. Point to the board where produce is set up (see #1-5 on the previous page TO SET UP GAME).
2. Teams take turns drawing produce (fruit or vegetable) piece from the container to make a match.
3. If they draw a produce piece that matches one in their garden, they place it in their garden to complete the produce and read what is on the fruit or vegetable.
4. If a team draws a match for the other team, they place the item back in the container, and their turn is over.
5. The first team to complete their service garden wins! Finish the other team matches and read examples.
THOUGHT TREAT: Service Garden Review. Prepare and cut up a variety of fruits and vegetables like the garden visuals and review concepts on visuals.
SCRIPTURE TO MEMORIZE: Memorize the Timothy 4:12 scripture.
LESSON IDEAS:
QUESTION: Ask, “How can we love and serve others?” and answer the question using the following sources to teach.
#1: We can be a good example (Luke 22:32, 3 Nephi 18:24, Primary 1, lesson 36, Primary 3, lesson 45, Primary 6, lesson 26).
#2: We can love and serve others (1 John 3:18; 4:21, Mosiah 2:17; 18:8-10, Primary 2, lesson 39).
#3: We can forgive one another (Matthew 18:23-35, 3 Nephi 13:14-15, Doctrine and Covenants 6:9-10; 98:40, Primary 3, lesson 23, Primary 6, lesson 17).
MORE LESSON IDEAS:
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THIS SINGING FUN ACTIVITY
DESCRIPTION: Fun activity to help children choose the next song to sing! Hilarious singing hints, each with a play on words. Don’t forget about the worms, they will mix things up (with singing commands)!
Children can learn ways to sing better by choosing vegetables from the Veggie Family Singers garden. Each vegetable tells us how to become a great singer. For example, “Peter Pepper loves to sing fun songs with a peppy voice, but he never shouts.” MORE EXAMPLES: “Charlie Crookneck keeps his chin up while he sings so his voice can be heard.” Cassey “Cabbage keeps her head working to remember the words to the songs.”
