Teaching Toddlers the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Scripture Stories, Teaching Children, Teaching Values, Uncategorized
Each week, I teach one to three year olds about God, Jesus, and the Bible in my Mormon nursery class. Every month,
we learn a Bible story, repeating it each Sunday for the entire month, and we also have a lesson on a basic principle of Christianity. Over the past year, I’ve learned a great deal about teaching religion to very young children.
It’s never too soon to start teaching our children. As a family, we can read the scriptures and make sure even our youngest children are in the room as we do. They are listening and will absorb whatever they are ready for. Read more
The Nativity Story for Children
One of the most wonderful parts of Christmas can be having your children help in retelling the birth of the Savior. Whether everyone acts it out or you show it through pictures, making your children a part of the storytelling can bring it to life in their little imaginations.
We don’t have enough members in our family to put together a reenactment, but we have plenty of hands to help hold up lots of pictures. If you don’t have any on hand to help tell the story, I’d like to recommend some pictures you can print off of the official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, as well as cut-outs that can be found at www.ldscatalogs.com. They’re some of my favorite to use, and some of the cut-outs can even be used as Christmas decorations.
Here’s my own retelling of the birth of Christ, based off of account found in Luke chapters 1&2, as well as Matthew chapters 1&2:
Mary had just gone to bed when an angel appeared. He said, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.”
Mary accepted his words, and knew she would be the mother of Jesus Christ. The angel told Mary to go and see her cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was old enough to be a grandma, but never had any children until an angel had come to her husband. They were told their own son would be named John. Before Elizabeth gave birth to John, Mary came to see her. At the sight of Mary, John moved in his mother’s tummy. The Holy Ghost whispered to Elizabeth about the baby Mary carried in her own tummy. Elizabeth said, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for many months before going home. When Joseph saw her, it was pretty obvious she was pregnant. He didn’t know what to do. That night as he slept an angel came and told Joseph about the baby Mary had in her tummy. Joseph married Mary as soon as possible.
It was tax time in the land. Both Mary and Joseph were required to go to the city of their ancestors to be counted and pay their taxes. It was part of their Jewish law. So Mary and Joseph both headed out to the city of Bethlehem. The city was very crowded, as many people had returned to be taxed. One innkeeper, whose inn was all full up, told Joseph of a kahn nearby. A kahn was a stable where they could rest their animals and themselves.
That night Mary gave birth to Jesus. A new star appeared in the sky. A ways off a group of shepherds noticed the new star. As they looked upon it an angel appeared and said, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly angels appeared singing, testifying to the birth of the Savior. The shepherds left immediately to go and find the baby. When they found him, they knelt to honor and worship him.
Others had noticed the new star. A group of wise men, or magi, had set out from a distant Oriental land to come and find the newborn Savior. They came to Herod to ask where they might find him. Herod was a wicked man. He wasn’t a Jew by birth, like the people who lived there, but his family became Jews. When a country called Rome had conquered the land they didn’t care about who was rightfully king. Instead they put lots of different people in as kings and rulers, like Herod’s family.
Herod knew of the Jewish prophecies of a king that would be born. This worried him. He didn’t like the thought of a baby taking over his job, so he played a trick on the magi. He told them after they found the baby to come and tell him so that he could worship the baby as well. The magi agreed. They didn’t know Herod was an evil man.
The magi, or wise men, continued on their journey, at last finding the baby. It was a custom in their homeland to give gifts to those of high rank. They offered three gifts to the baby Jesus: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Remember, they didn’t offer any gifts to Herod. They didn’t think he was a man of high rank. But even as a baby they believed Jesus to be a great leader.
When the magi prepared to leave, they had a dream warning them not to return to Herod. They obeyed and took another way home.
It is important that even though this happened tons of years ago, we remember the miracle of baby Jesus, the new star, and how we need to remember Him all year long and not just at Christmastime.
The Lord Calls to Samuel
* Story taken from 1 Samuel Chapter 2, KJV *
Samuel, the prophet of the Old Testament, left his mother and father when he was about three years old. His mother hadn’t been able to have children for many years. She made a promise to the Lord: if he granted her a son, she would hand the boy over to the Lord.
Hannah kept her promise. When Samuel was about three years old Hannah took him to the priest Eli and gave him up. For many years Samuel learned from Eli, and ministered to the Lord.
Eli was growing old and, as happens sometimes even with grownups, wasn’t doing everything he should. He had two sons of his own who had grown up to be wicked men. They stole food from the priests, corrupted some of the sacrifices made to the Lord, and convinced good people to do very wicked things.
A messenger from the Lord came to Eli to tell him of the wickedness of his sons, as well as what would happen to them all because Eli didn’t discipline them. Eli, however, didn’t really listen.
One night after everyone had gone to bed, Samuel heard a voice call out his name. He went into Eli and said, “Here am I.”
Eli told Samuel he had not called out and to go back to bed.
A second time Samuel heard someone say, “Samuel.” Again he thought it was Eli and went in to say, “Here am I.”
Like before Eli told Samuel he had not called out and told the boy to go back to bed.
This happened a third time. Both Samuel and Eli might have been a bit frustrated with each other by this time, yet Samuel still went in and said, “Here am I; for thou didst call me.”
This time Eli realized what was happening. He told Samuel to go back to bed, and if he heard his name called once more he should say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”
Samuel went back to bed. This time when he heard his name called, Samuel said, “Speak; for thy servant heareth.”
The Lord then began to tell Samuel many things that had already been told to Eli. This worried Samuel, and he didn’t want to tell Eli any of it. Yet Eli pressed Samuel to tell him every word, and this time Eli really listened.
Grownups aren’t always good at listening to the Spirit of the Lord, but sometimes kids aren’t good at it either. We all need to live righteously to keep the Holy Ghost close to us. If we do this we will be ready to answer, “Speak; for thy servant heareth” when our own name is called.
Samuel showed real bravery in telling Eli the things the Lord said. It’s not always easy to do what the Lord asks, but even as a child Samuel knew it was important.
Though Eli didn’t want to listen the first time around, he really listened when Samuel spoke to him. Instead of becoming angry, Eli recognized what he’d done in letting his sons do wicked things and submitted to the Lord’s will.
Hannah Kept Her Promise to the Lord
* Story taken from 1 Samuel Chapter 1, KJV *
Even before he was born a baby named Samuel was promised to be a servant to the Lord.
His mother, Hannah, couldn’t have any kids and this made her very sad. To be a mother is a wonderful gift and back in the days of Samuel it was considered a curse to be left without children.
Three times a year the men of Israel were supposed to go to the tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and offer a sacrifice. Every time her husband, Elkanah, would go to offer sacrifice Hannah would join him. She really wanted to kneel and pray at the temple for a son.
One particular time she was feeling really bad. She couldn’t stop crying and didn’t really want to eat. Elkanah was very worried about her. He loved his wife so very much, and wished she would not grieve for children.
The next morning when they woke up, Hannah went to the temple, where Eli the priest sat. She was still feeling pretty bad as she began her prayer. In it Hannah promised the Lord if he would finally grant her a son she would willingly give him back to the Lord to serve him always. As she knelt at the door of the temple her lips mouthed the words of her prayer, but she didn’t say it out loud.
Eli had been watching her and thought she was drunk. He wanted to send her away, but Hannah told him she was not drunk. She was just a very sad woman and was pouring out her soul to the Lord.
“…for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.” (v. 16)
Eli felt bad for this woman and told her to go in peace, hoping God would grant her whatever it was she asked after. Hannah returned to her husband, and as they traveled home she didn’t feel sad any longer.
After a while Hannah’s prayer was finally answered. She gave birth to a son and called him Samuel. For three years she kept him to nourish him as a young child needs and to teach him in the ways of the Lord. Finally, when Samuel no longer needed nourishment from his mother, the time came to travel to the tabernacle to offer sacrifices. Hannah took Samuel to the house of the Lord and met the priest Eli again.
“And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.” (v. 26)
She told Eli it was a son she prayed for that day, and that she had promised to give her child to the Lord as a way of saying thank you.
She still got to see him at least three times during the year when she and Samuel’s father came to offer sacrifices at the tabernacle. It couldn’t have been easy for Hannah or Samuel to be parted at that time. Yet Hannah had made a promise and it was important to keep it.
Sometimes when we have big things to pray about, it feels like something we should do in holy places like the temple or at church. It’s important to remember if we make a promise to the Lord, we need to keep it.
Because Hannah kept her promise, Samuel grew up to be a great prophet. Hannah also found the blessings didn’t end there. She gave birth to more children: three sons and two daughters.
Even the Earth was Baptized
Did you know even the world had to be baptized?
Back in the days of Noah it wasn’t just the city he lived in that was wicked. We can read in Genesis 6:5
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
That’s a rather frightening thought, isn’t it? ‘Only evil continually.’ That means the people were choosing the wrong all the time.
God saw that a cleansing of every living thing on the earth would be necessary. Noah and his family were the only things to find grace in the eyes of the Lord.
So God commanded Noah to build an ark. We are taught that this ark, or boat, was so big it stood at almost five stories high and was as long as a city block. It was bigger than an airplane.
Noah was commanded to gather seeds of every living thing to plant when the flood was over. He was also told to gather two of every living thing like elephants, spiders, snakes, pigs, sheep, and lots more.
Of certain animals, ones called ‘clean’ animals, he was supposed to gather seven. Clean animals were the ones safe to eat. Some animals are unclean, or not safe to eat. So Noah only needed two of those.
Building this giant boat and gathering everything took some time. Lots of people made fun of Noah and his sons. These evil people probably said a lot of hurtful things, and laughed at the big boat. It didn’t stop Noah and his family from doing what they had been commanded. Noah even tried to do missionary work and convince the evil people to repent.
One week before the day of the flood Noah and his wife, his sons and their wives, all climbed into the big boat. It probably seemed pretty silly to everyone else. There wasn’t a drop of rain in the sky. They didn’t live near an ocean. Yet here was Noah and his family moving into a boat, and still the evil people didn’t repent. They just laughed.
They probably stopped laughing when the rains came, and the water began building up higher and higher. It was too late, though. Turned out the only ones to be saved were Noah and his family in the big, giant ark.
The floods covered the whole entire earth. They didn’t just cover everything a little bit. The water went so high it covered the tallest trees. When this happened the earth was baptized. Every evil thing on it was washed away. When the waters finally went away the earth was clean once more.
Just like the earth, we have to be baptized as well, so that all the bad things are washed away and we’re left clean.