Easter

For Easter, I wanted to review all of the songs we have learned this year, but I also wanted to tie all of the songs in with the Atonement.  So here's what I did.

I brought two boxes to primary; one box was easily opened and the other box had a combination lock on it.  I told the kids that because of Christ's Atonement, we get many, many gifts, and today I wanted to talk to them about two gifts.  I told them that one of Christ's gifts for us is free; everyone gets it.  This is represented by the box that has no lock on it.  We opened it up and inside I had a paper that said "We are all resurrected."  But the other gift is not free; it requires each of us to do some work.  I told the kids that we were going to sing several songs about the things we need to do to open that box, and as we sing, we would find the combination to the lock.

My combination lock is 17 32 14.
So here's what I did for Junior Primary:

1

Sing “If I Listen with My Heart” vs. 1.  Count the number of times you sing scriptures.

7

Sing “The Books in the Book of Mormon” (pg. 119) and “Keep the Commandments” (pg. 147).  Add the number of times you sing “Mormon” with the number of times you sing “commandments”

3

Sing “Stand for the Right” (pg. 159) and “If I Listen with My Heart” vs. 2 and count the number of times you sing prophet(s)

2

Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (pg. 95) and count the number of times you sing temple.

1

Sing “When I Am Baptized” (pg. 103) and count the number of times you sing baptized.

4

Sing “If  I Listen with My Heart” vs. 3 and count the number of things the Holy Ghost does for you.

And here's what I did for Senior Primary:

FIRST COMBINATION NUMBER

Step 1: Sing vs. 3 of “If I Listen with My Heart”

Multiply the number of times you sing “He” by the number of roles the Holy Ghost has in our lives.

Step 2: Sing “When I am Baptized” (pg. 103)

Add the number of times you sing “baptized” to the number above.

SECOND COMBINATION NUMBER

Step 1: Sing “A Child’s Prayer” (pg. 12)

Multiply the number of times you sing “pray” or “prayer” by the number of commandments given to Moses

Step 2: Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (pg. 95)

Add the number of times you sing “temple” to the number above

THIRD COMBINATION NUMBER

Sing “The Books of the Book of Mormon” (pg. 119), “Keep the Commandments” (pg. 147), “If I Listen with My Heart (vs. 1 and 2),” and “Stand for the Right” (pg. 159)

Multiply the number of times you sing “prophet(s)” by the number of members of the Godhead.  Then subtract the number of times you sing “scriptures.”

After each song, I tried to emphasize to the kids the things the song told us to do (read the scriptures, pray, etc.) so that we can receive the gift that Christ has for us.

After we figured out the combination numbers, we opened the box.  Inside I had a picture of my family and a sign that said "We can have eternal life and live with our families forever."

What I REALLY wanted to have inside the box was a picture of each of the kids' families with a note from the parents written on the back about eternal families.  Maybe next year I'll start planning my Easter lesson 6 months in advance so that I can make that happen.

Overall, I think it was fun!