Daily Scripture Thoughts with Preschoolers (From the Ensign)

As a mother of young children, I began praying daily to know what my children needed to learn. The answer has frequently been that the most important things to teach are basic gospel truths and the ability to work. Every morning my husband and I share a spiritual thought and our testimonies with our young children. With about 30 minutes of preparation each Sunday, we’re able to gather a week’s worth of materials. Gospel art pictures, Primary songs, Old Testament Stories, and ideas from Church magazines are especially helpful.

•               • Gospel Art. Since teaching with pictures is so effective, I’ve found it helpful to print copies of them from gospelart.lds.org. That way we can hand an image to our youngsters, and they can look at it and touch it while we talk about what we see.
             
•               • Primary Songs. Sometimes we try to learn a new Primary song together, especially the action and wiggle songs.
             
•               • Old Testament Stories. We read just one page a day. Before reading, we usually have a visual aid or object lesson to reinforce stories we have already discussed. For instance, I added red food coloring to water one day and asked them if they remembered a time in the scriptures when the Lord turned water red.
             
•               • Church Magazines. Sometimes we share a message through a gospel-related activity. For instance, we once printed some copies of a picture that showed children giving treats to the elderly. Together, we discussed the importance of loving and serving “grandmas and grandpas.” Our then one-year-old scribbled a few marks on the picture while our preschooler looked for the hidden objects it contained.
             

Sharing a spiritual thought takes only a few moments, but the impact lasts much longer.