I am Thankful for Water

This lesson has content from the current Sunbeams manual, "I am Thankful for Water."



Prayer:


"I am Thankful for Water" Slideshow: Remind the children briefly of the creation and how Heavenly Father and Jesus created this beautiful earth for us to enjoy. The part of the creation we're going to talk about today is WATER (show slide 2 - pictured below). Where do we find water? Help the children understand that water comes from many sources, including lakes, rivers, oceans, rain, and snow. Explain that snow and ice are frozen water.


Optional Activity: Bring out three different cups. One with water, one with ice and one with snow. The "snow" is just crushed ice in our blender. We talked about how each of the water feels. The regular water is slippery and cool. The ice is hard and slippery. The snow is soft and cold.


Slideshow - slide 3. Why do we need water? Explain that all living things, including people, animals, and plants, need water to live. Talk about how our bodies could not live without water to drink. Express your gratitude for water. Point out different details in the pictures. My boys thought it was so funny seeing how giraffes drink water.


Slideshow - slide 4. What is water used for? We need water to brush our teeth, wash our clothes, tub to get clean, and wash our hands. Go through the pictures and talk briefly about your gratitude for each one. Aren't we lucky Heavenly Father and Jesus created water! 


Slideshow - slide 5. Talk about how much fun your children have with water. Go through the pictures and act out each one. Swimming, building snowmen, playing in the tub (activities) and jumping in puddles. Again, express gratitude for water.


Slideshow - slide 6 (Jesus gave Moses and the Israelites water in the desert). Tell the story of Moses getting water from a rock, as found in Exodus 17:1-6. Explain that the people were in a hot, dry desert. There was no water there.


Act out the Story: This was my boys' FAVORITE part of the lesson. I made two "rocks" and they each had a turn being Moses. You can view a "rock" tutorial and video of our family acting out the story here. You could also use a milk jug as your rock.

Israelites (mom): "Moses! We are so hot in the desert and so thirsty!"
Moses (Eason/Connor): "I will ask Heavenly Father what he wants me to do."
Heavenly Father (dad): "Place your staff in the rock and water will come flowing out."
Moses: Place staff (pen) into the rock (paper mache water balloon). Watch the water come out.
Israelites (mom): "Thank you Moses. Now, we will pray and thank Heavenly Father for the water!"


Slideshow- slide 7, 8, 9. By this point, by boys were ready to move on to a new thing, so I briefly went through the remaining slides explaining how water is used in the church (baptism & sacrament). 

   

Testimony: After bearing my testimony, I had my boys repeat, "I am Thankful for Water." We had some extra time in the night, so I brought out some "water" and ocean animals for my boys to play with. Pictured: The Best Play Dough (water), Ocean Animals, Ocean Stamps, Play Dough Tools.



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