Friday, February 18, 2011

Ten Commandments Sharing Time


We are Blessed When We Keep the Ten Commandments
September 2012 - Week 1


Keep the Commandments, Bowl a Strike in Life Sharing time
 Anyone know what bowling is?  “Seventeen hundred years ago bowling was a religious ceremony in Germany.  In those days if a person bowled the ball and knocked a pin down, he was leading a good life.  But if he did not knock a pin down, it meant that he needed to be better.” http://www.lds.org/friend/1975/02/how-bowling-began
The goal in modern bowling is to keep the bowling ball on the lane for the entire length and hit as many of the ten pins as possible.  If the bowler knocks all the pins down on the first ball it is considered a strike.  That is the best you can do! http://www.helium.com/items/853781-basic-bowling-rules
We are going to play a game of bowling today and learn about the Ten Commandments.  Each pin will represent a commandment or one of God’s rules that was revealed to the prophet Moses; from God to us. (show picture http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/artbook/images/ArtBook__014_014__TheTenCommandments_Sm___.jpg )
These Ten Commandments, if we follow them, will help us lead a good and happy life.  So for our bowling activity, when we knock down a pin, it will represent that we have conquered that commandment.  Our goal is to conquer all Ten Commandments, to bowl a strike each day and reach our goal of celestial glory.

(Point to large bowling ball on board. The bowling ball was cut from a black trash bag and the circle categories were taped on)  

 If you look at a bowling ball, use your imagination, haha!, there are three holes on it.  The ten-commandments can be separated into three categories.  RESPECT AND WORSHIP GOD, HONOR PARENTS, RESPECT OTHERS (each category is written inside one of the three holes on the bowling ball) 
We will invite one of you to come up and roll this bowling ball down the lane to the ten pins. Your goal is conquer all the commandments (to knock over all the pins). 

After you’ve bowled, we will choose one of the commandments that you have conquered (select one pin you have knocked down) and learn about it.  There is an object and information inside each pin to help us learn more.  Some pins also have a song that we will sing and decide which one of the three categories it should fit in.  We will continue until we have conquered all Ten Commandments. (Bowling pins were made from empty water bottles that have been cut in half.
Remove water bottle top half so that the objects can be inserted in the “pin”, replace top. Source for craft http://www.creativedish.com/2011/08/lets-bowl-make-a-bowling-pin-set-from-recycled-plastic-water-bottles/)

*if time is running short, open a couple of conquered pins on the same roll.  Note: For each pin conquered and commandment is learned, remove the pin from the lane.
Commandment pins-
(picture do not show the included slips of paper that have the below information on them

1.    “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). “We should do “all things with an eye single to the glory of God” (D&C 82:19). We should love and serve the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength (see Deuteronomy 6:5; D&C 59:5)”

     OBJECT- Gold medal representing that we should not place worldly achievements above God, but that He should be number 1 above all!!


2.      “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exodus 20:4). “In this commandment, the Lord condemns the worship of idols. Idolatry may take many forms. Some people do not bow before… statues today, but instead replace the living God with other idols, such as money, material possessions, or [fame].” 

OBJECT- bag filled with coins with $ sign

3.      “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7).  We should keep our mouth clean by using Heavenly Father’s name reverently just as toothpaste keeps our mouths clean.

OBJECT- Small toothpaste

4.      “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

OBJECT- Small calendar or old sacrament program

SONG - “REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY” (CS, 155).  Match with category on bowling ball- Respect and Worship God

5.      “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). … “we should be grateful to the father and mother who provided our earthly bodies; we should honor those who raised us in the knowledge of the truth. Above all, we should honor our Heavenly Parents. The way we honor all these fathers and mothers is by keeping the commandments.”

OBJECT- Picture of a mom and dad- picture of mom and dad with child came from February 2008 Ensign http://www.lds.org/churchmagazines/EN_2008_02_00___02202_000_000.pdf

SONG-“QUICKLY I’LL OBEY” (CS, 197).  Sing just the 1st verse for the sake of time.  Match with category on bowling ball- Honor Parents


6.      “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).

OBJECT- Plastic/pretend knife

7.      “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) Husbands and wives are supposed to stay true to each other forever and love each other always.
OBJECT- Broken heart made out of red felt or construction paper

8.      “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Take things that do not belong to us is an example of stealing, like candy from a store.
OBJECT- Hand made out of construction paper with candy taped on it

9.      “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). “Be honest and tell the truth with others.”
OBJECT- Floss with “lie”, “LIE”, “LIE” attached to it. representing one white little lie can grow into bigger lies
10.  “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). You should be happy for other people’s blessings and not be mad that you don’t have the same things.
OBJECT- Bracelet or jewelry
SONG - “KINDNESS BEGINS WITH ME”, (CS, 145).  Match with category on bowling ball - Respect Others

***Source for ten commandments/AND all additional quotes taken from http://www.lds.org/topics/ten-commandments?lang=eng)
CONCLUSION
I hope as we journey through life, we will bowl a strike daily and conquer all Ten Commandments. We will receive blessings from keeping the commandments and can have a good life.  In the name of Jesus Christ,  Amen.






27 comments:

  1. THANK YOU!!! I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING CREATIVE FOR THIS WEEK FOR AWHILE. WHAT A BLESSING!!! THANKS AGAIN.

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  2. This is great! THANK-YOU!!

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  3. Great ideas!! Sometimes a little difficult to translate in Spanish!! :)
    Thank you for all your time and dedication in the work of the Lord!!

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  4. This is a cute idea. A couple of questions; Are the kids supposed to open up the bottles and take the items out, or just pick them up and look inside them? What materials did you use for the colored strips and numbers on your bottles...I see that the link for the craft used felt.

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  5. I actually tested this one out at FHE with my kids and I opened each bottle and showed the kids what was inside. You probably won't have time to have the kids open the bottles. They can be reassembled as the next child is bowling or just wait until transition time to reset the entire thing. I used different construction paper to make the bottle labels and a Cricut machine. If you dont have access to those items, just write the number with a permanent marker on the bottle. Good luck!

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  6. You saved me. I was having a hard time thinking of something. Thanks for taking the time to help other people out!

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  7. EXCELENTE!!! wowwww muchas gracias, la idea está buenísima :D

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  8. great idea love it , thank you so much

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  9. I love this idea! I'm adapting it into a road signs theme. I'm using brown paper bags with road signs on them each with the inserts you suggested. "God has given us road signs or commandments to guide us through life. The commandments guide us, keep us safe, and help us stay on the right path. The commandments safely lead us through life back to our Heavenly Father." There will be a car with a magnent on the board with ten stops along the road each stop will open up a new road sign bag. Thank you for your wonderful blog!

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  10. This is so fun, they will love it! Thank you for all of your great ideas each week!

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  11. Thank you sooo much! Our Primary kids are going to love playing this, and learn at the same time.

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  12. This is great! Although we have quite a few kids who's parents are divorced. So I would really have to think about how I would explain the 7th commandment without upsetting the kids. Any suggestions?

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  13. Thank you so much for all your ideas, they have helped me ease up my calling as a primary president.

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  14. I am thinking over the 7th commandment also... I am thinking about talking about married people and that they need to take care of eachother and show love to eathother.... still trying to find the right wording though...any other ideas would be helpful. I know that if we have the spirit with us we will find the words the kids need to hear, but I always like to prepare some thoughts anyway.

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  15. Thank you so much!!!!!!! I am a young woman and I have to teach primary every fifth Sunday. I always come to this site for ideas!!!!!!

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  16. just used your idea!! BIG HIT!! thank you!! due to lack of time i did put items in brown paper lunch bags w/ numbers that cordinated w/ the number on the bottles and let the kids choose a bag. i will use this idea again!! thanks again!!

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  17. Thanks for the fantastic ideas. I'll be saving my bowling pins to use for a different lesson. The kids LOVED it!

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  18. How did you re-attach the top to the bottle after you cut it off?
    Thanks!

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  19. I just put the bottle inside the bottom half. It worked with the Kroger bottles I used. Not sure if it will for other brands. It bent slightly but still looked good enough to not resort to tape. Good luck! There is usually an easier way to the lessons I make, so go for it! Haha!

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  20. I love it! For my faith, the bowling ball can represent Jesus helping us to break through the sin in order to keep the commandments-I am grateful for HIs help-I cant do it alone!

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  21. Oh, dear. The game may be fun but the message it pretty bad. "Follow these and God will bless you." What about those of us who don't follow them? We have tried. We keep trying, but we can't seem to keep them? How heartbreaking. Completely misses the point of Jesus fulfilling the law for us because He knew we couldn't. Be good just isn't good enough.

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    Replies
    1. I always end my lessons pointing out that we all make mistakes. We are human, but because of Jesus and the atonement, we can try again. We can keep trying. I always point this out so that the kids understand that they can always keep trying because of Jesus.

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  22. Thank you so much! I was looking for a quick easy and fun way to help them remember the commandments. This fills all three.

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  23. I have been agonizing over this sharing time trying to think of something that would engage and teach them. Then I stumbled on this blog post. It is brilliant. Thank you for sharing your inspiration!

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