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May 2008 Issue
By Alison Palmer
Scripture: “The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” paragraph 1)
Song: “Home,” Children’s Songbook, 192
Preparation: Gather the ingredients and tools needed for making the craft dough.
Lesson: Show the family your gathered ingredients. Inform them that they will help you use these to make a type of craft dough. Work together to mix the clay in the following manner:
Combine: 1 1/4 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of salt, and 1/4 cup cooking oil, in a mixing bowl.
Measure out 1/2 cup of water and add 8-10 drops of food coloring, if desired.
Stir in the color through out the water, then blend the liquid into the flour mixture.
A small amount of additional flour can be added if the mixture seems too loose to shape.
After the dough is ready, give each member of the family a piece and ask them to create clay dolls or other types of figurines that represent themselves. Younger children may just create faces or other simple objects. After everyone’s masterpiece is complete place them together on a foil-covered baking sheet and begin a discussion about the importance of families.
Start by bearing your testimony about the value of families and your love for the members of your own family. Emphasize that the goal of families is to become eternal units that are striving to live the best lives they can. Share the importance of each family member and their unique contributions, just as each of their dough figures is unique and special.
Then, ask the family to review how the figures were made. Explain that just as there was a recipe to follow to make the dough that would create their model family, there are instructions and patterns that Heavenly Father has asked us to follow in order to have families that are “glued” together forever. Ask them to share some of the things they think help their family be closer. Suggestions might include temple marriage and continued temple worthiness, Family Home Evening, family prayers and scripture study, but other things such as family meals, or attending church meetings together, as well as unique family traditions can be included.
Express how grateful you are for all the effort that currently goes in to making your family happy and united. Review the council provided within the Family Proclamation as it pertains to your family. Then discuss ideas that could help your own family be closer or address a specific need that you are facing. Be sure to share faith and confidence that Heavenly Father wants such happiness for your family. He will help you as you try to reach your family goals.
Next, place your dough family in the oven at 300 degrees. Ask the family what they think will happen to their figures by doing this. Will they be damaged? They will, in fact, harden and become stronger over the next hour. It’s much the same with our own lives and families. We must make sure we are doing everything that we can to follow God’s pattern for eternal families. Then when the heat of trials comes we will find ourselves becoming stronger. Refer to Isaiah 48: 10 and Zechariah 13: 9.
It is also important to bring up the fact that even if we try our best, sometimes families, or individual members may crumble, lose their shape, or become broken. Even if this happens the Lord does not give up on us and we won’t give up on each other. The atonement can fix any amount of crumbling that the world and our choices may cause. Review the council found in Helaman 5:9-12 and discuss how it pertains to families.
Allow your family’s crafts to bake for approximately one hour, until they are hardened.
Remove the figures from the baking sheet and display them together in an area of your home for the next week.
Activity
Younger children— Play Red Rover. Talk about how you are trying to build strong families that won’t let the world tear you apart.
Older children— Spend some time allowing each family member to journal, or contribute to a scrapbook, images and thoughts about what they value most in their family and the one thing they think bring the family unit closer.
Refreshments: S’mores— Because there is nothing better than a family glued together with warm and mushy love (and a little bit of chocolate!)
