I Am a Child of God - Objects & Songs Correlation

I used pictures instead of objects. This is one of those cookie bouquet holders - repurposed. :)

THE PLAN:

Sing through all verses of “I Am a Child of God”

Tell them that the objects in the bag represent some part of the song “I Am a Child of God”.

Choose a child to come up and pick an object. Have the child will tell you what part of the song it goes with (they can ask the other kids for
help if needed).

After they’ve figured out which part of the song the goes with, everyone sings the corresponding song for that object (see below).

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OBJECT CORRELATION:

Earth - “He has sent me here, has given me an earthly home”
I Lived in Heaven, pg 4

Family picture - “with parents kind and dear”
Families Can Be Together Forever pg 188

Scriptures - “help me to understand His words”
Keep the Commandments pg 146 OR Search, Ponder, and Pray pg 109

President Monson - “If I but learn to do His will”
Follow The Prophet pg 110

Heavenly Father & Christ - “I’ll live with Him once more”
I Know My Father Lives pg 5
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EXTRA TIME?:
Pass an object. When song stops, the child holding the object has to finish the sentence.

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SONGS IN THIS LESSON:
I Am a Child of God 2
I Lived in Heaven 4
Families Can Be Together Forever 188
Keep the Commandments 146 OR Search, Ponder and Pray 109
Follow the Prophet 110

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PREPARE:

1. picture of the Earth or small globe
2. a picture of a family
3. scriptures
4. picture of President Monson
5. picture of God & Christ
6. bag for all the items

(It helps to write on the back of your pictures!)

*Some ideas borrowed from - HERE

I Am a Child of God - Verse Keywords / Children of God Puzzle Poster Displays

One verse at a time, assemble children of God puzzle posters in lyric order. Have the children repeat the part I just put up, then sing to that part, then add more and move on. Each "child of god" puzzle poster includes a 'special' piece. This piece is a keyword and touch association that helps the children remember what order the verses go in.

Verse Keywords:
V1 - “sent ME” - point to self
V2 - “my NEEDS” - point to knees (rhymes with "needs". silly, but it works)
V3 - “RICH blessings” - point to pocket (where you keep your money)
V4 - “PROMISES” - point to ring finger

The puzzle poster verse keyword 'special' extra pieces are:
V1 - star badge with "me" written on it
V2 - knee pads V3 - pile of coins
V4 - diamond ring

*If extra time - point to a child puzzle poster and have children wearing the same color as the poster stand up and sing that verse.
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HERE ARE MY:

• I Am a Child of God WORD STRIPS
• I Am a Child of God FLIP CHART
• I Am a Child of God VERSE KEYWORDS Flip Chart

I Am a Child of God
FLIP CHART

I Am a Child of God
WORD STRIPS

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PREP:

• Print off word strips and glue them to child puzzle posters (one for each verse)
• Assemble pieces of Child of God posters (see below for more detailed info). Laminate to make durable.

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ASSEMBLING THE CHILD PUZZLE POSTERS:

They're not really puzzles. But they's not really posters. They're posters in pieces that you assemble as you go....
Anyway,

1. Out of construction paper, cut out a T-shirt and head (glue together), Pants and shoes (glue together), and two arms per child.
2. Remember to cut out the keyword pieces as well (star, knee pads, coins, ring).
3. Cut out lyrics (you can use my word strip sheet, link above)
4. Glue lyrics to body parts (I Am a Child of God goes on each T-Shirt)
5. Label all the parts.
6. Laminate parts for durability (perhaps you can find other uses for your 4 newly adopted children. Seriously, they're so cute you might soon be calling them by name. :)

*Mine are not laminated - they're "faux laminated". I took my construction paper pieces, glued them to white poster board, covered them with strips of clear packing tape then cut out the pieces, leaving a white edge (the thicker the edge, the better). Yes, it was a lot of work - but it was cheaper and more convenient than running to the store (in my timeline of events that day, I was too late to run to the copy center).

5 parts per child:
head/body
2 arms
pants
keyword accessory

VERSE 1
he has sent me here (point to yourself)

VERSE 2
and so my needs are great (point to your knees)
[When I taped the knee pads on I told the kids that this one wore holes in the knees of his pants
from kneeling down to pray so much,
so he needed these knee pads. He has so many needs
that he is kneeling down to talk to Heavenly Father all the time.]

VERSE 3
rich blessings are in store (point to your pocket)

VERSE 4
his promises are sure (point to your ring finger)

Labeled and stored, each in their own plastic bag.
I wrote with Sharpie on the back of them 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 - (verse . lyric order) - 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 - etcetera

I Am a Child of God Descant

Ideas for the descant of I Am a Child of God:

• Teach it to the Sr Primary.
• Have a child in your primary play it on flute or violin.
• Have a guest adult play it on flute or violin. 
• Have the Ward Choir Learn it and sing it with the Primary during the Primary Program

I Am a Child of God - Hall Arrangement for Piano, Organ, Flute and Voice

image source

I found the Hall Arrangement of I Am a Child of God for Piano, Organ, Flute and Voice. I am considering it for the program this year (2013).

This arrangement includes all 4 verses of I Am a Child of God. It is written for children's chorus, piano, organ and flute.

All the parts, the full score and an .Mp3 are on that site, just click on the link.   :)

Go to the arrangement HERE. 

I Am a Child of God - In Depth

THE PLAN:

1) Sing 1st verse of I Am a Child of God
Ask, “WHAT ‘DOES LEAD ME, GUIDE ME’ MEAN?”

Explain that we are going to sing “Do As I’m Doing” and use actions for things that will lead us back to Heavenly Father (Ex: pray, read scriptures,
giving service, etc) Give each class a slip of paper with an idea on it and have them come up with an action that fits the idea.  Sing the Do As I’m Doing with the class’s actions.

Ask, “WHO HAS HEAVENLY FATHER GIVEN TO LEAD AND GUIDE YOU?” (Parents, Teachers, Grandparents, Family Members Friends, etc...)

Sing 1st verse of I Am a Child of God again

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2) Tell the children that songs often have words that rhyme in them.  Tell them to listen for rhyming words.

Sing the 2nd verse of I Am a Child of God.  Ask them if they can figure out what words rhymed in that verse.

Find the rhyming words in all the verses:
1 (here - dear)
2 (great - late)
3 (store - more)
4 (sure - endure)

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3) Tell the children to close their eyes and picture in their mind what you are going to describe to them;

“Imagine you are in a beautiful place. In this place there are beautiful green trees, lovely flowers growing. I can hear a stream off in the distance. If I’m quiet I can hear the birds singing in the trees. When I look around I notice that my family is all here in this beautiful place with me. I feel so happy when I see them. As I walk around I feel very peaceful and calm.”

Have them keep their eyes closed and tell them “We don’t know exactly what it will be like to live with Heavenly Father again. But I know that it will be perfect and we will be filled with joy and love.”

Explain that the 3rd verse of “I am a child of God” talks about living with Heavenly Father again.

Sing the 3rd verse of “I am a child of God”

Ask what does it mean that blessings are in store? Do we go to a grocery store to get our blessings?

Ask them to listen for what we need to do to return to Heavenly Father.

Sing 3rd verse again. Get answers.

Ask, How do we learn to do his will?
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4) Walk around and give pinky promises to the kids. Say things like, “I promise to prepare music lessons every week, I promise to try to remember all the words, I promise to smile while I’m singing....”

Explain that you  just made promises with kids in the room, but didn’t get around to everyone. Explain that there IS someone who made promises to every person in the room. The only way we can get what has been promised to us is to ‘endure’ and to try our hardest to be our best all day, every day.

Sing verse 4 of “I Am a Child of God”

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PREPARE:

• Slips of paper with getting back to H.F. action words on them

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FYI:

• This goes better with older kids. May have to adjust this for younger kids.
• Have a 2nd activity planned. For instance, after we learned all the info above I had quiz questions prepared. I called kids up to answer a question and when they did they got to do a part in my game. (It was the build a snowman game, for the curious.)

*Some ideas borrowed from - HERE

Who Is This Child of God?

THE PLAN:


Write:  Psalms 82:6 "All of you are children of the most High" on the board

1. Choose a verse to sing
2. Assemble word strips for the verse on the board.
3. Read 5 facts about a child.
4. Primary guesses who it is.
5. That child gets to take down a word strip.
6. Repeat

PREP:

• Call parents and get facts about children
• Word strips

Is This Person a Child of God?

Write: 
* Psalms 82:6 "All of you are children of the most High" on the board. 

 Pass around a mirror. Ask questions about who is in the mirror. “Is this person talented? Loving? Smart? Friendly? Kind? Intelligent? Nice? Happy?”. ----> End on "...and is this person a child of God?" (Yes)
Hold mirror in front of individual children and ask, "Do you see a child of God?" (Yes. Yes. Yes. …)

Read the scripture and explain that we are all children of God. 


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HERE IS MY:

• I Am a Child of God FLIP CHART

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After the introduction I then went right into my Child of God puzzle posters to learn the song.