POST-AND-PRESENT ACTIVITY. BLESSING, BLESSING, WHO’S GOT A BLESSING? GAME. Youth can guess temporal blessings given to us by Heavenly Father. These are blessings we can see, touch, hear taste, or smell, and are different from our spiritual blessings. Blessings come from keeping God’s commandments, e.g., Keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Use for COME FOLLOW ME, Primary and Home (Family Home Evening), Activity Days, Bible Study, Sunday School
Post-and-Present Activity
Blessing, Blessing, Who’s got a Blessing? GAMES
OBJECTIVE: To help youth understand the many temporal blessings given to us by our Heavenly Father. Explain that temporal blessings are blessings that we can see, touch, hear, taste, or smell.
TO MAKE print visuals cut out and glue a blessing image to the back of a button image. Laminate. Place all images on a board or on a laminated poster board.
ACTIVITY:
Ask youth, “Have you ever played the game Button, Button, who’s got the button?” Tell them, “Today we are going play something new called Blessing, Blessing, Whose Got the Blessing GAME.
We need your help to talk about the blessings we receive from Heavenly Father. He gives us many spiritual blessings, but today we will be talking about temporal blessings. These are the things we can see, touch, and feel that Heavenly Father has blessed us with and wants us to enjoy.”
Show the backs of several buttons and say, “For example, our bodies, homes, food, water, clothing, health, the sun, the moon, stars, the earth, animals, plants, family, friends, books, etc. are all TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.
GAME #1 BLESSING, BLESSING, WHO’S GOT A BLESSING. Have youth come up one at a time and choose a button by pointing to it. The leader removes the child’s choice and looks at the back (not letting the child see). The leader will try to give clues as to what the blessing is without saying the word.
Children guess which blessing it is (you can divide into teams to compete). Award one point for every guess. If the team misses, the other team gets to guess for one point.
After a blessing is guessed, have that youth share why he or she is grateful for that blessing. Or, they can share how they can show gratitude to Heavenly Father for that blessing.
GAME #2 PLAY BLESSING, BLESSING CONCENTRATION. Make two copies of buttons and images (gluing images on the backs of buttons) and post buttons on opposite sides of the board (with image facedown). Take turns with team members choosing two and turning them over to make a match (returning them where they were if a match is not made). Then have the one who made the match tell why they are grateful for that blessing and how they would show gratitude for that blessing.
STORIES:
• Temporal and Spiritual Blessings from the Word of Wisdom
STORY: When George Albert Smith was a child, he was afflicted with typhoid fever. The doctor who diagnosed him told his mother that he should stay in bed for three weeks, eat no solid food, and drink some coffee. President Smith later recalled:
“When he went away, I told my mother that I didn’t want any coffee. I had been taught that the Word of Wisdom, given by the Lord to Joseph Smith, advised us not to use coffee.
“Mother had brought three children into the world and two had died. She was unusually anxious about me.”
Young George Albert Smith asked instead for a priesthood blessing, which he received from his home teacher.
“When the doctor came the next morning I was playing outside with the other children. He was surprised. He examined me and discovered that my fever was gone and that I seemed to be well.
“I was grateful to the Lord for my recovery. I was sure that he had healed me.”
President Smith wanted the Saints to understand that obedience to the Word of Wisdom brings not only physical health but spiritual blessings as well. In a priesthood session of general conference, he told the story of the Old Testament prophet Daniel, who was taken captive in Babylon and was expected to eat the king’s meat and drink the king’s wine:
“Daniel was a prophet of God, and he was a prophet because he kept the commandments of God. I would like you … to take this message with you. Daniel observed the teachings of God with his companions, with reference to the kind of food and drink they should have, and refused to accept the food that was served on the king’s table. [See Daniel 1:3–16.]”
President Smith went on to explain that because of Daniel’s obedience to the Lord’s law of health in his day, not only was his life preserved but Daniel also received a great spiritual blessing: “the inspiration of the Almighty.”
USE THIS ACTIVITY FOR Primary Sharing Time or Family Home Evening or ANYTIME FUN
• Primary Sharing Time Anytime preview 2018 November Week 2 “I am thankful for temporal blessings.”
MORE LESSON IDEAS:
. . . BLESSINGS FROM OBEDIENCE . . .
Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21; 132:5
Blessings come from obedience to God.
Joseph Smith taught that every blessing from God is based on our obedience to His laws. How can you teach this principle in a way the children will understand?
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Share a simple comparison with the children that shows how important it is to follow instructions; for example, talk with them about the steps we must follow to prepare food or play a game or build something. What happens when we don’t follow the instructions? (Maybe you have a personal experience you can share.) Read Doctrine and Covenants 130:21, and compare these instructions to the commandments we must follow to receive blessings from Heavenly Father.
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Ask the children if they can think of a time when they obeyed one of God’s commandments. How did they feel? Sing together a song about obedience, such as “Keep the Commandments” (Children’s Songbook, 146–47), and identify blessings of obedience mentioned in the song. Discuss some of the things God has commanded us to do. How does God bless us when we keep those commandments?
