This is a lesson for my Mom’s MTC. If you want more specifics on how I use these lessons in my home read the start of this post.
Patience
Includes:
- Accepting God’s will and timing
- Endurance
- Accepting personal weaknesses and faults
- Flexibility
- Contentment
Memory Verse:
“ I will Follow God’s Plan for Me.” Children’s Song Book, pg. 164
Chapter Books to Read-a-loud:
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Blue Willow by Doris Gates
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Week 1: Patience Takes Time
Scripture Stories
Simeon and Anna
Luke 2: 22-38
Simeon had been promised that he would not die until he saw the Christ child. Even though the Lord had made him a promise he didn’t know when it was going to happen and he had to learn to wait. Anna came to the temple everyday to serve the Lord. Both Simeon and Anna were very old and had waited a long time to see the Savior be born. Sometimes God has plans for our lives that we don’t understand. We need to have faith that he knows the right time for everything and go forward, trusting, that
How do you think it made Simeon and Anna feel to see the Christ child?
How long do you think they had been waiting?
Have you ever had to wait for a long time?
What helped you be patient?
Activities
Be Flexible
Every morning have the children work on a set of stretches (touching their toes, seeing how far they can reach on a stretch board, doing the splits, etc…) The first day you do the stretches measure them and mark how far they can reach. Then as the subsequent days go by mark every time they get further and further. By the end of the month have them look back to where they were when they started and how far they have stretched themselves. Find moments when you are stretching (not every day) to talk about sometimes when we start out stretching hurts, but that that more we do it the more flexible we become and the easier it gets. Talk about how sometimes God asks us to wait or to do things differently than we normally would, it can hurt at first, but the more we persist at them and work at them the more flexible our souls become and the easier it is to follow God’s will and not our own. One day you might even read Mosiah 3:19 about the natural man, and talk about how overcoming our “natural man” requires patience and daily work.
Watching Nature
Choose something from nature this month to observe and record how it changes over the month. What you will choose will probably depend on the time of year, but some examples might be watching a tree in the spring or fall and watching how it buds or how its leaves change color. You might also chart the phases of the moon (here is a good chart) or grow a plant, watch the snow melt, hatch tadpoles, grow chicks, or some other nature related activity. You don’t have to make an observation every day, but make sure the children are observing it on a regular basis so that they can see the changes and get an idea of how long it is taking for the change s to happen. The point is help kids understand that somethings can’t be rushed. We have to wait on God’s timing for many things and learn how to enjoy the process.
Books to Read
This Monster Cannot Wait! by Bethany Barton
Betty Bunny loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan
Play With Me By Marie Hall Ets
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Week 2: Accepting God’s Will
Scripture Stories
Sarah and Abraham
Genesis 18, 27 (can paraphrase the story if you need)
Sarah and Abraham were very old and didn’t have any children. The Lord had promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a baby, but they got older and older and still didn’t have a baby. When Abraham and Sarah were almost 100 years old they finally had a baby boy named Issac. They were so happy when they finally had a baby that they laughed and celebrated. Even though they had to wait a long time, and it was really hard for them, they knew that God would always keep his promise. Sometimes God makes us wait for things and even though we don’t know why. When we have to wait a long time, and we don’t know why, we can follow the example of Abraham and Sarah and have faith that the Lord will help us wait and keep his word.
Has anyone made you a promise?
How long did you have to wait for them to keep it?
How did you feel when they kept it (or didn’t keep it)?
What do you think helped Abraham and Sarah to have patience?
Do you think that waiting a long time made Abraham and Sarah spirit’s stronger or weaker?
Job
Job 1, 42
Read part of Job’s story and then explain to the children that Job had to go through a lot of hardship and suffering before his life became happy again. He lost all his money, his family, his health and all his friends. Even though Job’s life was hard he had faith that God had a plan for him and that everything would be okay in the end. Job had to have a lot of patience in order to go through what he did. He is a good example to us of how, when hard times come, if we will just keep going and have patience everything will get better.
How would you feel if you lost your family, your friends and your home?
How do you think Job felt when these things happened to him?
How do did he show patience?
How can you be patient when hard things happen to you?
Activities
Can’t Rush It
Give each child an ice cube (all the same size) and then have a race to see whose ice cube can melt the fastest. They are not allowed to touch the ice cube or to use anything else to help it melt. Breathing on it is okay, but they can’t touch it. Cheering on your ice cube with fun cheers is encouraged. It is also okay to leave the ice cubes alone for a little while if your kids get bored of watching them and came back later. You might even want to set a timer to come back and check on them. Use this activity to illustrate the point that there are some things you can’t just rush. They take time.
Ripening Patience
Buy some VERY green fruit (bananas are perhaps the easiest but pears and other fruit can work just as well). Have your children taste the fruit when it is green. Hopefully they won’t like it very much. Tell them that if they will wait a few days then the fruit will be ripe and ready and will be much better. Have them check the fruit every day and remind them that often times the best things in life require us to wait until they are ready. When the fruit is ripe have them eat it and compare it to how it was before. Was it worth the wait?
Combining Forces
Make gak or silly putty and have the kids look at the ingredients before hand. Are they very stretchy? Not really. But when you put them together they are. Tell them that this is kind of like us. When we are just by ourselves, we aren’t very patient but when we are combined with the Holy Ghost and pray for God’s help to be patient… then we become really stretchy! Our very nature can be changed when we allow the Holy Ghost to help us. After talking about it, have fun playing with it!
Books to Read
The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen
Remy the Rhino Learns Patience by Andy McGuire
Patient Rosie by Mary Morgan-Vanroyen
Week 3: Being Content
Scripture Stories
Joseph in Egypt
Genesis 37, 39-41 (can paraphrase if needed)
Joseph didn’t know what God’s plan was for his life. He must have felt really frustrated when his brothers sold him as a slave and it looked like all his plans for his life were ruined. Nonetheless he tried his best and became the best slave in Potiphar’s house. So he must have felt even more frustrated when Potiphar’s wife lied about him and he was put in jail even though, again, he had done nothing wrong. Yet, just like before Joseph did the very best he could and became one of the best prisoners. He had to wait a long time until he free, but he tried to the best he could in every situation Eventually God helped him become a great man and help all the people of Egypt get ready for the famine. Sometimes, like Joseph, things don’t quite like we plan. But if we remember that God is in charge and is watching over us it can help us be patient and have faith that everything will work out for the best… even though we don’t know how that will happen.
How do you think Joseph felt when his life wasn’t going as he planned?
Did Joseph know what God’s plan was for him?
What plan do you think that God has for your life?
Do you think things will always go how you plan?
Have you ever been dissapointed?
What do you do when you are dissapointed?
Activities
The Right Order of Things
There are two ways you can do this activity and you can do both of them or just one. The first way is to create or have your kids help you create pictures of everything you are going to do that day. For example, have a picture of someone waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, etc… You could draw pictures, print some off online or (if you have time beforehand) take photographs of your kids doing the things. Once you have your pictures have your children help you make a timeline for the day. Throughout the day keep coming back to it to see what you have done and what comes next. If one of your children is tempted to skip ahead remind them that sometimes patience means being able to wait and do things in the right order instead of what you want to do right that moment.
The second way to do this activity is to print off photographs of your children from when they were younger to the age they are now. Help them create a timeline of their life and as you make it talk about how much they have learned and changed. Growing up takes patience you can’t ride a bike before you learn how to walk! Help them identify times when they have been patient. Encourage them to learn to be happy right now, and not always be looking to the future to be happy. If they seemed interested you could also have them extend their timeline into the future. Have them draw pictures of some of the things they will have to be patient for like getting baptized, driving a car, getting married, etc… It is also fun if Mom and Dad make a timeline too!
Patience Pays
In the morning before the children wake up set up a tent in the living room (or another obvious room in the house). Put one small piece of candy (or another treat) inside the tent for each child. When they wake up and see the tent they will probably be excited and want to go in. Tell them they must wait until everyone is up before they go in ( I made my kids wait till after breakfast and they were dressed). When you are ready to start let the children look inside the tent, but do not let them go in. Once everyone has been able to see that there is candy inside, ask them “Who would like to go inside now?” Remind them that, “You can go inside now if you want, but if you wait until the end of…. (whatever you want to specify), it will be much better.” Some of the kids may want to go in, so let them. Tell them they only get one piece. Also make sure at least one child doesn’t go in right away or this object lesson on waiting will fail 🙂
Go about the rest of your day and after a good amount of time has passed (we waited about an hour) put in another treat for each child who waited. Have the children who waited look inside and ask them, “Who would like to go inside now? Remind them that if they wait till the end of (whatever you specified) it will be even better.
Keep going on with your day and towards the end of the time you specified add one more treat for every child who waited. This one can be more special like a candy bar, or a toy, or– in my kids case– a package of Jell-o. Have everyone who waited look inside and then let the kids who waited the whole time go in and get their treat.
If your kids are like mine there may be tears shed along the way during this activity when people don’t think it is fair that someone got a better treat than they did. Remind them though that they had a choice, and they chose to go in when they did. No one forced them. Reinforce the idea that sometimes when we put off what we want right now, for what we want in the future we are happier. Sometimes God makes us wait, not because he is mean and does’t want us to have something, but because he knows there is something coming in the future that will make us even more happy.
This is an activity that can be done more than once– with a good amount of time in between– to help kids practice waiting.
Books to Read
Babushka’s Doll by Patricia Polacco
Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
Can’t-wait Willow! by Christy Ziglar
Wemberly’s Ice cream Star by Kevin Henkes.
Week 4: Patience with others
Scripture Stories
Jesus is Patient (from Kids of Integrity)
1 Timothy 1:15-16 and 2 Peter 3:9.
Questions for discussion
How hard is it to wait for a special visitor to come and visit?
What happens if they are late?
What is Jesus waiting for people to do?
How is Jesus patient with us?
Activities
Patience Like a Penguin
Read a book or watch a movie about emperor penguins. March of the Penguins is wonderful if you want a longer show or this clip is also good if you want a shorter piece. My children also enjoyed this book. After reading or watching a show have the children practice walking with raw potatoes on their feet like father penguins do with the egg. Try to see who can go the fastest without dropping their “egg.” Talk about how penguins have to be patient to hatch their baby eggs and how it takes patience to take small steps. You can also do a tobogganing race and have the kids race across the floor (tile or wood works best) only using their feet and hands.
Interrupting Game
This is a game to help kids learn how to interrupt politely. Start out by demonstarting what it looks like when someone interrupts. Have the kids pretend to have a conversation (or if there is only one child have them talk on the phone) and keep interrupting them rudely as they talk. Then do the role play again and demonstrate how they could interrupt politely. Some ways they might do this is to quietly wait to one side waiting to be noticed. They could touch someone on the shoulder or leg and polety say, “Excuse me, I have something to say…”. Another way that I have found works really well with my children is to have them come (silently) and put their hand on my shoulder or arm and leave it there while I am talking. I acknoweldge them and their need by placing my hand over the top of it, letting them know that as soon as I can I will give them attention. This method has worked really well and we often do role plays to keep the idea fresh in their minds!
Creating A Soft Heart
Demonstrate to children that when we really love others one way we can show it to them is by being patient with them, especially when they make mistakes or demonstrate weaknesses. Have the children cut out two hearts. Talk about how the Lord is patient with us and that we need to be patient with other people as well, but that it requires our hearts to be soft and full of love.
On the first heart talk about things that happen that might make them impatient, annoyed or angry with other people. When people don’t listen, when they push in line or cheat, when they won’t share, when they are slow to get things we want or need, when things don’t happen just like we think they are going to. Talk about how if we choose to get angry or impateient about these things it makes our heart hard.
Write words like “impatient”, “angry”, “annoyed” on the heart and then have the kids cover the heart with small rocks (gravel or some other similar substance).
Pull out the other heart and talk about how if we respond to these type of situations with love it makes our hearts soft. Write words like “patience”, “understanding”, “love” on the heart and then cover it with cotton balls.
Books to Read
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
Harriet, you Drive me Wild by Meme Fox
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle
