But, that is all beside the point. I wanted to share what we did for sharing time because it was so funny! The theme was 'After Baptism, the Holy Ghost will help me repent and choose the right' (or something to that effect). So, I thought about what I could do for it that would be engaging enough for the kids that I wouldn't feel so much the fact that I had no help in there that day. One of the ideas for the lesson that was given, was to pass out a maze for the kids to do, following good choices as they would follow the Holy Spirit. So I thought to myself, "Why not have a live maze??" I made up about seven different signs of choices that kids have to make--sometimes on a daily basis--such as 'obeying parents', being kind to brothers and sisters, helping at home, sharing with friends, going to church, reading the scriptures/following the prophet, praying... I cut out pictures from old issues of the Friend/Liahona magazines that gave an idea of what it said on the paper (for those who couldn't read). I planned to put them at certain points in the room and make a maze using the benches there so the children could walk around them as they 'made their choices'. Then, I had two missionary helpers. One represented the Spirit, and tried to help them make the right choices. The other represented the 'dark side' and tried to get them to choose something else. For example, the first one: Obey your parents. I gave them the situation that their parents had asked them to do their homework for school before they could go play. Then the 'Spirit' would say something to the effect of, "Yes! You should do as your parents say because doing your homework will make you smarter! They love you and want you to succeed!" Then the 'other side' would pipe up and say, "Nah! Why do homework? It's completely boring and useless. You get enough school at school. Your parents are just trying to be mean. Go play with your friends instead. That would be more fun!!!!" AND to top it all off, the 'other side' had a plate full of 'cookies' as an extra enticement.
The only problem with these 'cookies', though, were that they were made out of playdough!!! I thought they looked pretty good, though! Ha! So, if they chose to follow the 'other voice', they could have a 'cookie'. Well, the kids all did really well until almost the very end of the maze, and then a bunch of them just couldn't handle the suspense anymore! Ha!! So about half of the kids ended up going over and eating some of the 'cookies'! I was laughing so hard! Most of the kids, didn't even bat an eye as they started into these nasty flour and salt creations! I couldn't believe it!!! Some of the kids took a bite, then looked at me very accusingly! :) Most of them just tried it, then dug the chocolate chips out! :) I asked them if they were yummy, and they looked kind of afraid of me as they started to slowly shake their heads!!! Then I explained that while Satan would try to entice us away from right choices, most of the time, he would make it look like a really good idea, when really it wasn't! That, just like the fake cookies, he can make things look really good on the outside! And if we give in, we will be disappointed! Then, the 'Spirit' helped them to repent and make good choices, and we all ended up at the end with a big bag of REAL chocolate chip cookies--which, again, the kids looked a bit wary to eat after their encounter with playdough counterfeits! :)
We talked about how the rewards of following the Spirit not only make us happy now, but for forever and ever; and they taste better, too! :) It was a fun lesson. The kids did get a little out of control in the middle, but I think a lot of it was because it was something so different than what they've ever done before...AND there really wasn't anyone else there to help me out. But, we all survived, and hopefully everyone came out learning something from it. :)
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