Fun way to teach "The Family is of God"

The Family Game Show!

This is a fun way to teach the April 2014 / 2019 song, “The Family is of God,” to the Primary children.  Through this game they will be able to understand the meaning of the song and they will feel the Spirit while having a great time learning!

Materials:

1.    A mobile device with the MP3 of Music and Voice of “The Family is of God” downloaded onto it.  You can find it here: https://www.lds.org/callings/primary/sharing-time-2014?lang=eng

2.    Print pages 2-9 of this document (the table and the big words).  Keep the table for yourself to use as a reference during the game.  Cut the categories and questions out and glue them to colored paper as seen in the picture below.  You will glue the categories to the front of the paper and a magnet to the back.  Then for the rest of the papers, you will glue the question and the magnet to the same side so the kids can’t see the question when it is up on the chalkboard. (The five categories correspond with verses 1-4 and then the chorus.)

Instructions:

1.    Divide the children into teams (probably by classes will be the easiest.  

2.    Get 2 teachers to be your assistants.  One will read the question cards and the other will pass out the Skittles.  I decided to give Skittles instead of points for correct answers so the teams aren’t really competing with each other and there’s no winners/losers (okay, it’s really because candy makes everything more fun!) but you can just do points if you don’t want to use candy – instead of drawing 1, 2, or 3 Skittles on the backs of your question cards, just write the # of points.  I am actually going to introduce this song on the last Sunday in March so I can use candy and not have it be on a Fast Sunday.

3.    The team that goes first chooses a category and a point value that they want to answer.  For example, “We would like ‘Moms’ for 2 Skittles.” 

4.    Your assistant reads the question card while you find that part of the song on your device.  So if team 1 chose the ‘Mom’ category for 2 Skittles, you would look at your table and see that it’s one minute and 47 seconds into the song.  You play this little clip for them and give them one chance to answer.  If they can’t get the whole answer, it goes to the next team.  You play the clip again and give them a chance to answer.  If they can’t, it goes to the next team, and so on until a team can answer it (that way they get to hear the difficult sections a lot of times).  Everyone on the team can contribute to the answer.

5.    Your other assistant passes out the Skittles while the next team chooses a category (having 2 assistants will keep the game fast-paced and allow the maximum amount of learning in the short time you have…I think we will play this game for 2 different singing times though).  Each child on that team gets the number of Skittles on the back of the question card.

6.    After all the questions from one category have been answered, you can have them listen to that whole verse if you want.  Keep playing until you run out of time.

* *Above is how I taught it to Sr. Primary.  I modified it for Jr. to make it easier and less pressure on them: Any child was allowed to give the answer and we didn't have skittles.

	(verse 1)	(verse 2)	(verse 3)	(verse 4)	(chorus)
	Heavenly Father’s Family	Dads	Moms	My Family	Families
1 pt.	What did Heavenly Father send us to do in our families? 0:21-0:27 - Live and learn	What should a dad lead? 1:02-1:05 - family prayer	Should we sing this verse for Mother’s Day? 1:35-2:19	How will I feel when I’m a parent? 2:32-2:37 - so glad	Who created the family? 2:57-3:05 - the family is of God
2 pts.	How did we leave Heavenly Father’s presence? 0:17-0:22 - He sent each one of us to earth, through birth	Why does a family pray together? 1:04-1:11 - to share their love for Father in Heaven	What does a mom teach children to do? 1:47-1:56 - obey, pray, love, serve	Who should I be a good example to? 2:25-2:32 - each family member	How does God share His love? 2:42-2:57 - God gave us families
3 pts.	Who is in Heavenly Father’s family? 0:06-0:16 - me, you, all others too	What is a dad’s place? 0:51-1:01 - preside, provide, love and teach the gospel to his children	What is a mom’s purpose? 1:36-1:46 - care, prepare, nurture, strengthen her children	What can I do for my family? 2:21-2:32 - love, serve, be a good example	Why did God give us families? 2:42-2:52 - to help us become what He wants us to be

Heavenly Father’s Family

Dads

Moms

My Family

The Family

What did Heavenly Father send us to do in our families?

How did we leave Heavenly Father’s presence?

Who is in Heavenly Father’s family?

What should a dad lead?

Why does a family pray together?

What is a dad’s place?

Should we sing this verse for Mother’s Day?
(The reason I did this question was because I needed 3 questions for each category and there wasn't another question from the song.  The kids answered 'yes,' so this was what we sang in sacrament meeting on Mother's day.)

What does a mom teach children to do?

What is a mom’s purpose?

How will I feel when I’m a parent?

Who should I be a good example to?

What can I do for my family?

Who created the family?

How does God share His love?

Why did God give us families?