Matt. 13; Luke 8;13 (March 18-24)

Who Hath Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear

The object of this lesson is to discuss a few of the Savior's parables- specifically the parable of the Sower. We will discuss how we can better prepare ourselves to be receptive to the gospel and the Savior.

Invite Sharing:

Review last week's lesson by asking the children to tell you something they did last Sunday.

Teach the Doctrine:

Brian and I are at an advantage this year that we are teaching children 7-8 year olds which means that we can really pick and choose activities from both the "younger children" and the "older children" sections.

Beforehand, gather together:

 1. Create visual aids for activity number 1. This includes: a seed, pot, soil, roots, stem, leaves, flower, sun and rain.
2. Download the Parable of the Sower video (linked below). Beforehand, print out the activity page associated with this lesson or you can draw it yourself on the board.
3. Print out or come up with your own stories for the game in activity 5 called "Wheat or Tare."
4. Treat: Jelly beans, mini terra cotta pots and a tag that says, "Faith is like a little seed. Will my seed grow?"

Some Activities We Plan to Do:

1. Planting a Seed of Testimony.
I will already be using the board today, so on a separate paper, I will draw a picture of a pot and a seed. I will ask the children to tell me some things this seed will need to help it grow into a beautiful plant. As the children give you their suggestions, attach the aides you created beforehand. Some examples are: soil, sunlight, water. When those things are regularly given to the seed it will begin to grow: roots, stem, leaves, bud and eventually blossom.

2. The Parable of the Sower.
Before the children arrive, I will draw a picture on the board of the 4 different types of soil (picture can also be found at the end of the lesson (Come Follow Me- For Primary). We will then tell of the parable of the sower. You can do this by reading directly from the scripture, summarizing it or using the short video clip which can be found here: Parable of the Sower Video. It is a long video, so personally I would skip to 3:00 on the video and watch from then on. As we tell the story, we will refer to the pictures on the board pausing the story to discuss on the way.

Afterwards, we will tell the children that the apostles asked Jesus, "Why do you use parables to teach the people." We will ask them their thoughts on why Jesus might teach the people using parables. Then we will tell them what Jesus answered to his apostles. Jesus essentially tells them because they have faith- it is easier for them to understand things that others cannot. They are more receptive to truth because they have faith and have been set apart as apostles.

3. I need to Prepare.
Read Matthew 13:9-16. Before you read, instruct the children to touch the various body parts mentioned as you read it. How can we use these body parts to learn about the teachings of Jesus?

Eyes: we can see the beauty around us and see miracles in our lives everyday. We can read the scriptures and watch general conference. 

Ears: We can listen to the stories of Jesus, talks at church, the talks given at general conference. 

Heart: We can feel the spirit. We can have a peaceful feeling when we make a good choice or feel good when we hear something that we know is right. We extend our hearts to others as we serve them- compassion towards others.

4. Prepare Your Heart to Receive the Teachings of Jesus.
Refer back to the plant that was done in activity 1. We will ask the children several questions:
1. What can we do to help our seeds grow?
2. What could the soil represent? the water? the sunlight? etc.
3. How can our hearts be like the different types of soil Jesus talked about?
4. What kind of soil do you think the Savior wants us to have in order to learn his teachings?

5. Wheat and Tare.
Tell the children that the tricky thing about Wheat and tare are that they look very similar until they are completely bloomed. Wheat is nutritious and tare is a poisonous weed. The Savior refers to people of the world as wheat and tare. Those who are righteous are the wheat and those who are worldly are the tare. In the last day, the Lord will separate the wheat from the tare and bring the 'wheat' to Heaven. We will recite several short stories to the children and they will decide if each choice made in the story was a "wheat" choice or a "tare" choice.

Examples:

a) Eva rides the bus in the morning. One day she notices a boy she has never seen before- she thinks it is a new student. The boy looks a little lost and doesn't know where to sit. She waves at him and tells him to sit next to her.

b) Johnny and Max are best friends. They do everything together. One day, on the playground, Max tells Johnny it would be fun to pick on Jenny and Lilly. Johnny gets a funny feeling in his chest that he doesn't like. He suggests that they pretend to be pirates instead.

c) Hallie gets home and sees that her little sister has painted her bed with nail polish while she was gone. She gets really mad and pushes her little sister and yells, "Stay out of my room!"

d) Pat notices that his Mom seems really sad while she is making dinner. He offers to set the table and get his other siblings ready to eat.

e) Kevin is rough housing with his friend when a picture frame falls off of a table and shatters. When his dad asks him about it later- he blames it on the family dog.

f) David is eating breakfast in the cafeteria with his friend Ben when he remembers a worksheet he forgot to do. Ben grabs his completed paper out of his backpack and tells David to just copy it. David copies it and turns the paper in as his own work.

6. Treat.
We decided to give them jelly beans because they kind of resemble seeds and we put them in the tiniest terra cotta pots you can get at either Hobby Lobby or Home Depot. They are seriously so tiny. We just put the jelly beans in there with a tag that says: "Faith is like a little seed. Will my seed grow?" You could also give Sunflower seeds, wheat bread, wheat crackers etc.

Encourage them to share something they learned about the parable of the Sower today with their families after church.

I hope this has been helpful to you. See you next week!