January 2009 Sharing Time: We Proclaim
by Shauna Gibby

This sharing time will help the children remember that they are children of God.

Preparation: Obtain a small lunch sack for each child. Glue a generic boy or girl face on the bottom of the sacks to make puppets (draw your own or use the heads attached). Have crayons available.


Memorize this portion of The Family: A Proclamation to the World: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” (Paragraph 2)

Presentation: Tell the children that they are going to memorize a message the First Presidency has for them. Say the first three words and have the children repeat them back to you. Say the first six words and have the children repeat it back. Continue adding a few words until they have repeated the entire phrase.

Practice a few more times with various techniques: 1. Dividing the room in half and having each half say every other word. 2. Passing a bean bag around the room, each child saying the next word as they pass the bean bag. 3. Clapping a rhythm as the entire group repeats the phrase.

Ask the children what they think this message means. Discuss their answers helping them understand these concepts: They are children of God. Heavenly Father loves each of them. God wants us to live together in families.

Give each child a sack puppet, have them color the head and draw a body on the sack to represent themselves. Have the children repeat the phrase once again, using their puppets as they say it.

Bear your testimony that we truly are children of our Father in Heaven, that He loves us, and that we can return to live with Him again.

Sing songs to reinforce the lesson such as, “I Am a Child of God,” Children’s Songbook 2; “I Lived in Heaven,” CS 4; “I Know My Father Lives,” CS 5; and “I Will Follow God’s Plan,” CS 164.

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