Prayer (2): Prayer Puppets, Prayer Train & Daniel in the Lion's Den
This post has been updated and put into three different family home evening lessons:
FHE LESSON WEEK 1: Prayer Puppets
1) Prayer:
2) Mr. Potato Head Bag: Fill a brown paper bag with Mr. Potato Head items that correspond to prayer (head, eyes, mouth, ears, arms, feet). Have your child(ren) take turns drawing one item from the bag. Depending on age, either teach the child or have the child explain what to do with that body part while praying. If you don't own a Mr. Potato Head, you can print and cut out the images in this free, printable pack.
- Head: Bow head
- Eyes: Close Eyes
- Mouth: Only one person speaks, the rest have quiet mouths
- Ears: Listen to the prayer
- Arms: Folded
- Feet: Quiet and still
3) Prayer Puppets: Print, cut out and glue (or staple!) onto brown paper sacks. Have the child(ren) color the prayer puppets. My children don't always love crayons, so we used stamps to "color" our prayer puppet tonight. Talk about each of the body parts and how they correspond to prayer. Have your child hang up the puppet in their room as a reminder of how to look and act during prayers. Click here to print.
4) Testimony: As always, emphasize what you've learned and bear testimony.
FHE LESSON WEEK #2: Prayer Train
1) Prayer:
2) Prayer Train: We didn't have a lot of time today, so I quickly pulled out these trains from last year for a short lesson. The trains help little ones understand the order of prayer. My three drew the first train and placed it on the floor. I asked him who we say our prayers to and he responded, "Heavenly Father." My two drew the next train and placed it after the first train. It would be helpful to include pictures (printed or drawn) to place on the trains, so toddlers have a visual of what's on each train. We continued until we completed the train. Click here print the Prayer Train.
3) Testimony: Include an example of when Heavenly Father answered your prayer.
FHE LESSON WEEK #3: Daniel in the Lion's Den
2) Opening Activity: Have your child(ren) take turns catching a bean bag or ball. When the child catches the ball ask them a question about prayer from previous lessons. "What do your eyes do when you pray? Are they open or closed? Show what your arms look like. Who do we pray to? ETC."
3) Daniel in the Lion's Den Powerpoint: Go through each picture in this powerpoint and give a brief explanation of what's happening in each picture. You can find a description of the pictures here. Discuss interesting details in the pictures to keep toddler attention (the king's hat, the two men looking in the window, etc). Make sure to include the importance of prayer.
4) Act out the Story: Tell the child(ren) you are now going to act out the story. We used a few props we found at the Dollar store (wings and capes) as well as these printed Lion Masks to re-enact our story. We started at the beginning of the powerpoint and acted out the story with each slide. The kids loved this!
5) Lion Craft: Make a lion craft for the kids to hang up in their rooms as a reminder to always pray. For this craft, I cut out a lion shape out of yellow paper. The kids glued on googly eyes and placed a black dot sticker for the nose. The mouth is made from crayon. I made a ring of glue on the mane for the kids to glue yellow and orange cut yarn to finish our lions.
6) Testimony:
For other lesson ideas, please visit:
Prayer (3): "I Can Pray with my Family"
Obedience (2): "I Will Obey"Plan of Salvation: "Heavenly Father has a Plan for me"
