Sharing
Time Ideas from Little LDS Ideas
Begin your Sharing Time using the Identify Doctrine idea from the outline. Discuss Malachi and discuss with the children why we need to pay tithing. You could even discuss some of the things that our tithing does for the church.
For the younger children you could also do the Encourage Understanding activity to help them understand a little better.
After you have introduced the topic of the week through the above activities you could play my 'Tithing Piggy Banks' activity. Here's how to play.
Tithing
Piggy Banks:
For
this Sharing Time activity you will need several piggy banks lined up at the front of
the Primary Room. If you don’t have a bunch of piggy banks lying around your
house then get a picture of a piggy bank and attach it to a jar or other
container.
Here is what I was thinking. I found my piggies on Microsoft Word.
You
will also need a piggy bank labeled ‘Blessing
Bank’.
On
each of your piggy banks you will need to have different money amounts (this
will be the amount of tithing that will be paid during the game). My two
piggies had .10 and $1.00.
For
each piggy bank you will need a scenario that matches that dollar amount.
So,
for my two piggy banks I could do something like this:
“You
earned $1.00 for ironing your Dad’s shirt. How much tithing would you need to
pay?”
Answer: $.10
“Today
was your birthday! Your received a card from your Grandma with $10.00 inside.
You remember to pay your tithing first. How much would you need to pay for
tithing?”
Answer: $1.00
Have
the scenarios typed/written onto pieces of paper and post them all around the
Primary Room.
You
could place the scenarios inside of envelopes or have them typed/written on the
back of pictures, get creative. :)
To Play:
Have
your piggy banks lined up at the front of the Primary Room along with the ‘Blessing
Bank’.
Invite
a child to find a scenario somewhere in the Primary room. Read the scenario
aloud.
Have
the child figure out how much tithing they would need to pay for that amount
(the younger ones may need help with this part). Once they have the correct
amount have them place some money (play money) inside the appropriate piggy bank. You could also have them place the money inside a tithing envelope and then place it in the piggy bank.
The Blessing Bank:
This
piggy bank will help the children learn how we are blessed through paying
our tithing.
Make
up some stories or find some in previous ‘Friend’ magazines.
As
the children ‘pay’ their tithing randomly choose a child to be ‘blessed’. You could give them a little 'Blessing' token or paper whenever they have been blessed.
Then have
them go to the blessing bank and pick out a blessing.
Read
the story aloud and discuss it with the children.
You
could have the blessing attached to a fun little treat or just have the stories
typed onto pieces of paper.
I’m sure you could come up with a really cute little treat that goes right along with blessings, my creative juices are just not flowing right now. :)
Pass the treats around so all the children can enjoy the 'blessings' of paying tithing. :)
Another Idea for the Blessing Bank:
You
could also do something with a window if you talked about Malachi and how the
windows of heaven will be open to you.
Make
a window that the children can open when they receive a blessing from paying
their tithing. Have the stories inside the window for the children to choose
from.
