Nursery Lesson 12: I Am Thankful for Animals
Notes: The nursery is for children ages 18 months to age three. The teacher uses the same manual as the Sunbeam class, which is for three and four year olds. The children in the nursery are young, and the lessons require some adaptation for them. I try to teach the entire lesson, but in a shortened form so that it takes only ten to fifteen minutes. I teach some sections in other parts of the nursery day, such as music time, the moments before snack, or while we wait for parents. These are only guidelines and you should always give priority to the manual, the direction of your leaders, and the promptings of the spirit. Each group of children is unique and teachers must consider the needs of their own classes rather than someone else's structure. Whenever I use additional materials beyond what is offered in the manual, I use only official church publications, as directed by the Primary.
This series of lessons are my favorites. They explore the days of creation and are so much fun for little ones. You will discover they require very little adaptation, and lend themselves well to a theme that can be carried out all day. Have fun with these! Keep the purpose firmly in mind, however. It can be easy to get sidetracked and forget the reason for the lesson.
This lesson can be found in it’s original form at:
LDS.org
Is there any subject more exciting to little ones than animals? The animal lessons are always the most fun of all. Consider an animal theme for the entire day, including animal crackers for snack time and animal games at playtime. Most nurseries have books about animals as well. Try to choose only those that portray animals realistically, to avoid confusing children. Church is a place to learn the truth.
Attention Activity: This activity can be done as written. The children will enjoy identifying the animal.
Heavenly Father asked Jesus to create the animals: Children love this picture. Take plenty of time to look it over. If your nursery is large, obtain more than one copy of the picture if possible and have your adult helpers show it to children further from you. Point to various animals and ask children what the animal is and what it says. On occasion, I’ve had children get into arguments over the names of animals, so be prepared if this happens, and know in advance how you want to handle it. Usually, you can simply tell the children what it is and move on quickly. Prepare in advance by making sure you know the name of each animal. There is quite a variety!
Don’t forget to ask the children often who created each animal.
The final activity has children act out their favorite animals. You might prefer to choose the animals yourself and suggest animals for them to act out. Make sure they don’t get too excited or you won’t be able to finish the lesson.
Animals help us: You may want to obtain pictures of these food and clothing items, or even bring in some of the real things (an empty egg carton might be better than real eggs, though.) Later, if you have older children, you can set up a table with the pictures or objects and pictures of the animals. Let a few children at a time match the animal to the product. Have an adult stay at this table while the materials are out. When no other children want to play, or when time is up, remove them and place them out of reach.
The animals were saved from the flood: I love telling this story to little ones. Study the story carefully and choose your words and details in advance. Don’t use materials not put out by the church, because they are often inaccurate. Tell just the parts of the story you think your students will enjoy and understand. Following are two pages from the Friend that are well-suited to the nursery:
Noah and the Flood: This is from the section for little children. It contains the story with picture words the children can call out if you have a small class. (If not, this gives you a simple version of the story and you can also make your own larger pictures.) It also has a story stage version of the story you can print and make. The poem at the bottom uses words too big for the nursery. The lesson manual has a better one.
Finger play: This has a good finger play, a recipe (expensive for nursery) and a riddle section that may be too hard for younger children. The finger play is just right, however.
Activity: This poem is long, but most children will enjoy it because it has actions. Let the children stand to do it, because they are probably wiggly by now. Say the poem and show the actions. Repeat the poem later during other gathering times.
Enrichment: The children are probably too young for the first two activities. The third would be good to use during singing time. Talk about pets informally during playtime. You might want to bring out any animal-related toys you have and place them in a special corner. Have one teacher talk to the children as they play. The last activity is too difficult, since most toddlers don’t draw, but do eat crayons.
Additional Activities for young children: These were all mentioned earlier in the lesson and are excellent for the nursery.
Additional Resources from the Friend and manuals:
Animal Matching Game This is from the Primary 2 manual. The page I’ve linked to is the animal lesson for this manual. Because it is the last one, it is seldom taught. You may find additional resources here. The pictures for the matching game are at the bottom of the page. Even if you don’t play the game, you may want to hold up the animals for the children to identify, or help them glue them onto a picture of the ark.
Animal Book This can be fun for older children to make together (bring one or two children to a table at a time and help them add a page.) Or make a small one for each child using the pictures from the resource just before this one. Be sure to make a few for children who are too young or not interested.
By Terrie Lynn Bittner