YOUTH GOAL ACTIVITY. MOVING TOWARDS THE TEMPLE “My Gospel Standards” car puzzle. Youth ages 8-11 learn that by making these right choices they can travel toward the temple and a mission. They can talk about broken parts (actions) that need repair; through repentance, they can get back on the right road again.
Great for COME FOLLOW ME, Primary and Home, Pre-Teens (Ages 8-11), Family Home Evening, Children & Youth Goals
POST-AND-PRESENT Activity
MOVING TOWARD THE TEMPLE
“My Gospel Standards Car” Puzzle
THIS ACTIVITY IS FOR CHILDREN (not for teens/youth).
FOR TEENS go to this similar activity: TRIP TO THE TEMPLE (“For the Strength of Youth” Car Puzzle) if you want to use this Car Puzzle activity for youth (shown below).
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OBJECTIVE: Help children realize how making the right choices (living the Gospel Standards) can help you travel worthily and happily down the road of life to the temple and to a mission. GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD “MY GOSPEL STANDARDS”.
Note About Repentance: When talking about the broken car parts (actions), talk about how repentance helps us repair our parts to get our car back running smoothly again.
TO MAKE VISUALS:
Ahead of Time: Find a picture of the temple to place in front of the cars.*
1. Print, color, and cut out two cars and one set of car parts, plus the word-strips that follow.
2. Glue-mount the BC (Bad Choice) word-strips on the back of the wrecked/broken-down car parts and the GC (Good Choice) word-strips on the back of the good car parts.
3. Set up the two-car puzzles on two posters or on the board with double-stick tape, as shown (bad-broken down car on the left, and the good working car on the right).
ACTIVITY:
*Ahead of time, put the two cars together and place a picture of the temple over the cars.
To Present: Point to the temple picture and say, “The temple is God’s house, a holy place where only those who are worthy can enter. Great blessings await us in the temple. We can also help our ancestors and others receive these great blessings by performing ordinances like baptism and marriages for them.”
Tell children, “If we are to be worthy to go to the temple, and/or serve a mission, we need to make worthy choices. Bad choices keep us away from the temple and serving a mission, and good choices help us to be worthy to enter the temple and serve a mission.”
STEP #1: Point to the broken-down car on the left and the good, working car on the right. Tell children:
1. “Think of yourself as a car that needs working parts if you are to travel down the road that leads back to Heavenly Father. With this activity, we will build two different cars: one that is wrecked and broken down, and one that has good, working parts (point to each car as you describe them).
2. With a broken windshield, you can’t see. With a flat tire, the car won’t travel very far. With a dented fender and broken headlight, you wouldn’t be able to see where you are going at night. Each day we make choices that determine how our car will run. If you make a bad choice, you can fix it by repenting and not repeating the wrong choice. You can replace a flat with a good tire, a broken window with a good window, a dented fender and broken headlight with a good fender and with a working light.
3. To make life easy, we need to make good choices every day so we don’t have to keep stopping and repairing our car. Heavenly Father wants us to be worthy to go to the temple and to serve a mission when the time comes, so let’s keep our car in good working order by making good choices each day.
STEP #2: Take the parts off the poster/board and mix them up in a container (removing tape first). Have children take turns drawing a puzzle piece and reading it. The BC (Bad Choice) parts should be placed on the left to make a broken down or wrecked car. The GC (Good Choice) parts should be placed on the right to make a good car.
Note: To make the activity more challenging for the older children, there is a fill-in-the-blank word included that they can guess. For younger children, read the word with the blank words written in.
STEP #3: To tie the activity in with the Gospel Standards, have children name a gospel standard each time they match up a bad choice with the wrecked/broken car parts and the good choice with the good car parts. See the GS at the end of each wordstrip that indicates the number of the “My Gospel Standards” from the Faith in God booklet as follows: Note: Numbers 2-12 correspond with the wordstrips to place on the back of car parts (#1* & #13* are general and could apply to all).
MY GOSPEL STANDARDS:
1. FOLLOW GOD’S PLAN: I will follow Heavenly Father’s plan for me.
2. KEEP COVENANTS AND LISTEN TO THE HOLY GHOST: I will remember my baptismal covenant and listen to the Holy Ghost.
3. KEEP COMMANDMENTS: I will choose the right. I know I can repent when I make a mistake.
4. BE HONEST: I will be honest with Heavenly Father, others, and myself.
5. DON’T SWEAR OR USE BAD WORDS: I will use the names of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ reverently. I will not swear or use crude words.
6. KEEP SABBATH HOLY: I will do those things on the Sabbath that will help me feel close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
7. HONOR PARENTS: I will honor my parents and do my part to strengthen my family.
8. KEEP MIND AND BODY PURE: I will keep my mind and body sacred and pure, and I will not partake of things that are harmful to me.
9. DRESS MODESTLY: I will dress modestly to show respect for Heavenly Father and myself.
10. READ AND WATCH WHOLESOME THINGS: I will only read and watch things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father.
11. ONLY WHOLESOME MUSIC: I will only listen to music that is pleasing to Heavenly Father.
12. CHOOSE GOOD FRIENDS AND BE KIND: I will seek good friends and treat others kindly.
13. BE TEMPLE WORTHY: I will live now to be worthy to go to the temple and do my part to have an eternal family.
THOUGHT TREAT: Be Willing (“Wheel”-ing) Crackers. Using processed cheese from the can/tube draw a car wheel’s hubcaps (like the drawing on the activity above). Tell children/youth that if they are “wheel“ing to keep God’s commandments, He will be willing to keep His promises and give you eternal temple blessings, plus temporal blessings while you live on the earth.
Source ST.201.7
MORE LESSON ACTIVITIES (on the subject):
YOUTH MAGAZINE ARTICLES ON THE SUBJECT: TEMPLE
• Take Your Selfie to the Temple – The challenge: encourage members of the ward to attend the temple. The solution? Selfies. Snippet: A Miracle Unfolds – Every week for nine weeks we would attend the temple. Afterward, we would each take a picture (or “selfie”) in front of the temple and post the photo, along with our testimony, on social media. . . . READ MORE
