POST-AND-PRESENT ACTIVITY. PLAN OF HAPPINESS: Premortal, Mortal, and Postmortal Life match game. This will take youth for a spin around the orbits of before, during, and after this life on earth. It’s a mystery? No, not if you know Heavenly Father’s plan. Smiley faces are chosen, questions are read and faces are placed by the orbits that describe their answers.
Use for COME FOLLOW ME Primary and Family Home Evening, Youth lessons, and Activity Days
Post-and-Present Activity
Plan of Happiness: Premortal, Mortal, and Postmortal Life Match Game
OBJECTIVE: Talk about Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, how we chose to follow Jesus to come to earth to gain a body. Talk about pre-earth life, mortal (earth life), postmortal life, and that God knows and loves us and wants us to return.
TO MAKE Print activity in color or black and white. Make three copies of the smiley faces. Mount the word strips on the backs of the faces. Laminate. Use tape or magnets to mount visuals.
ACTIVITY:
1. Place the images on the board and the faces around the room. Tell children/youth you are thinking of someone who loves us, who knows each one of us by name. He knows what we are thinking, and He wants us to be happy. He has a plan for us. Who is this? Our Heavenly Father. Have children repeat, “God is my Heavenly Father. He knows and loves me.”
2. Sing, “I Will Follow God’s Plan,” in the Children’s Songbook, 164 (CLICK HERE or below to DOWNLOAD song visuals ⇓).
3. Divide children/youth into teams to play the match game. Point to the premortal world and say, “We lived in heaven before we came to earth. Many things happened there. We made many choices.” Now we live in mortal life. The choices we make here will determine the life we will have in the postmortal world. Let’s ponder the three stages of life and see if we know what happened and what will happen in each to live Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness.
4. Have children/youth take turns choosing a smiley face; the leader reads the question. The child then makes a match by placing the smiley face under the stage of life it belongs. If playing in teams to compete, give points for which area they post, taking turns: Premortal (1 point), Mortal (2 points) and Postmortal (3 points).
THOUGHT TREAT: Cookie Maps. Help children cut out a large cookie with rolled out sugar cookie dough. Draw a map from your house to heaven with stops along the way. Bake, frost inside the path using frosting in a tube or bag with the corner cut open to release frosting. Before eating, take turns talking about your map and how it will help you get back to heaven.
Source 2013.1
MORE PLAN OF SALVATION ACTIVITIES (to add and enhance your lessons)
DOWNLOAD the handout for Ages 8-11/teens Connected Kingdoms activity (HERE, shown below).
DOWNLOAD the Youth Goal Planner: Learn about the Plan of Salvation (HERE, shown below).
DOWNLOAD the handout for Ages 8-11: Plan of Salvation storyboard and quiz (HERE, shown below).