Nursery Lesson 14: Adam and Eve Were Created in Heavenly Father's Image
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 its original form at LDS.org.
Attention activity: This can be done as written. Have the children remain standing during the song. If you have trouble getting your children back in their seats or on their carpet squares, have them raise their hands instead.
Activity with cutouts: The children can do this as written if they are mostly talkers. Otherwise, give each child a cutout and call one child at a time to come up and show the picture he has. If your class will destroy the pictures, just call them up to show one that you hand them. If you let them choose, they are likely to take all day. It is better to give them one. Then ask them what it is. If they don't answer, ask the class. If a child answers wrong, praise them for a good guess and ask if anyone else can guess. If you don't have a flannel board, place a circle of tape on the back and then stick it to whatever you do have.
Adam and Eve were part of Heavenly Father's Plan: This can be taught as written.
Story: Use the pictures mentioned in this lesson. If you have access to a church-produced book of scripture stories, and your class is small, you may want to use it. Otherwise, keep the telling short and show the pictures throughout.
Finger play: Demonstrate this first. Then take the children through it one line at a time, helping them learn the actions. Do it several times if they are interested, and then repeat it later in the day, such as before snack or during closing. Heavenly Father and Jesus saw that the earth was good: When you read the scripture to the children, hold up the open Bible and show the children where the scripture is. (If you mark it you can tell them to look at the red part.) Make sure they understand you are reading from the Bible, which is where we can learn about Adam and Eve. Don't be afraid to read real scriptures with your students. They need to become familiar with scripture language.
Enrichment: This lesson is quite short to teach, so plan lots of enrichment if you want a longer lesson. You may want to use some of the activities later in the day. Activities one through three are very good to use with the children. The Friend offers flannel board pictures to retell the days of creation.
Number two is a song, and can be taught in singing time. Activity four involves drawing, which most nursery children can't do. Instead, consider providing a few pictures of things that might be found in the Garden and letting the children glue them onto a sheet of paper.
The Friend has a pattern for a Garden of Eden craft
The additional activities for younger children are both very good, and might be taught later in the day, during singing or closing if your class is too restless.
By Terrie Lynn Bittner