Lighting the World this Christmas in my LDS Seminary Classroom #LighttheWorld

I put up this sign to encourage the students to participate in the Light the World campaign this Christmas.  

This year the LDS Church is celebrating the Christmas 
season by encouraging all of us to "Light the World" by doing simple acts of service for others. 

Every day in December they have a different video to watch.
  
To see this video click here.  

Light the World Day #1

I  started off my class by showing the first video.

I cut a lot of 1" strips of paper out of bright yellow paper.  I gave a paper to each student for them to write something that they could do that day to "light the world."  

Then they turned the papers in and we started to make a "light the world" chain.  I put the extra papers by the sign in sheet so that they could add to the chain every morning.  I will post a picture of our chain when we are finished.   

I decided to do a little review of some of the things we have talked about this year.

Service Stones

I put a fluorescent light out on the table.  We turned off all the lights and as we talked we went over some of the scriptures that we have studied in our New Testament Seminary Class.  Then I turned on the fluorescent light with the Service Stones underneath it.  

Then  we discussed what it felt like to be in darkness and how hard it would have been in Jesus' day to work and to get around at night.

I turned off the light again so they could see the Service Stones and how they lit up.  Then I handed each student one of the Service Stones that I had made out of a clear glass stone and glow in the dark paint. 

 Here's a picture below of how I created the Service Stone.  I painted just the flat side of the stone with glow in the dark paint.  I put on 2 coats of paint.  The paint will come off easily, so tell them to be careful with them. 

I told them to place the stone upside down by their bed each night as they read their scriptures.  When they turn off the light they can turn the stone over and it will glow.  As they fall asleep they can think of an act of service that they can do the next day to help "Light the World".  The theme for the day is "Jesus lifted other's burdens and so can you.

Light the World Day #2-4

Since we happened to be at John 14:15, I basically taught the lesson from the New Testament Doctrinal Mastery Manual on Commandments.   We cross referenced it with Matthew 22:36-39, which brought us to the second greatest commandment "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  We discussed how the "Light the World" campaign would help us to love our neighbors more.

I also gave them this handout for their journals:

Lighting the World Worksheet

I had my students write about Christ's example and how we can learn from him.  I had them write a scripture of how he has influence them in their life.  I also had them write about how they can use this influence to light the world.

I really feel like it's making an impact on the students.  I like reading through their acts of service and some of them are just "smile" or "hold the door" and others have been things like "I gave a Book of Mormon to friend" and "I put up Christmas lights for an elderly person in my ward."

Here's how our "Light the World" chain is growing:

December 16

This was our last day of class, so we took a class picture with the chain.  Some of the days the students could hardly think of anything to write, but in the end the chain went back and forth 3 times.  

Some of the students thought it would be fun to see how long it was so they took it into the gym.  It was about the length of the gym.

Hopefully the students will continue to do acts of service over Christmas break.  It is fun to be a part of the #LIGHTtheWORLD campaign!

We did the same thing the next year.   Unfortunately many of the students left before we took the picture but we took one anyway.  Here it is:

Minute to Win it - New Testament Bible Style Games

In Seminary this year we are studying the New Testament.  For our Thanksgiving party I thought that it would be fun to have a review of the year so far with Minute to Win it games. Here is what I came up with.

Luke 2:7

 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

For this one you will need 2 jars and a bunch of plastic animals.   I taped a picture of a stable to the outside.  Each person puts the jar by their feet.  

While standing straight each person tries to drop an animal into the jar from their nose.  The team that has the most animals in the jar at one minute wins.

Check out my latest blog for a FREE Nativity 12 Days of Christmas Countdown

Printout for the stable:

Matthew 4:19

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

I bought a bunch of small balloons and some toy nets at the dollar store.  I blew up all the balloons and drew faces on them with a sharpie.  I placed all the balloons at one end of the room.  

Then each group had to run across the room and get a balloon with the net.  Then they had to bring it back to a person holding a bag and place it into the bag.  The team with the most balloons won.

Mark 4:31-32

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:

32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

I gave each team a very small piece of mustard colored crayon and a blank piece of paper.  Each team member placed the blank sheet of paper on his head.

Then each team had a minute to draw a mustard tree on the paper.  The team with the best and the biggest mustard tree won.

Luke 4:4

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

For this challenge we buttered peanut butter onto a piece of bread.  We placed it at the end of the table.  Then each team had to bounce a ping pong ball across the table and get it to stick to the peanut butter.  The first team successful won.

 Matthew 19:24

24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Tie a string to a printout of a camel (I have a printout below if you need one.)

Place about 10 needles in floral foam.  Line them up the best you can.  Have each team thread the needles with the string tied to the camel.  The team that threads the most needles wins.

Luke 15:4-5

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

The printout for the sheep is in the Eye of the Needle section above.  I had only one sheep.  I hid the sheep in the room. The first team to find the sheep won.

John 10:35

If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

Give one roll of toilet paper on a large spoon to each team.  One team member holds the spoon while the other team member turns around to wrap the toilet paper around himself.  The team that can get the most toilet paper wrapped around, without breaking it, wins.

Matthew 21:12

12 ¶And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

I printed out a copy of the temple onto cardstock and cut it out.

I also printed out two of the box templates above onto cardstock. Fold the box on each of the lines and fold the corners in to create a box.  Attach the printout of the temple to the box.

Fill each temple box with 30 cocoa puff cereals.  Have each team use a straw to remove the cocoa puffs.  The team that removes the most cocoa puffs wins.

Mark 6:41&42

41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

42 And they did all eat, and were filled.

Each team is given five crackers and two swedish fish.  One member from each team has to try to eat all the crackers and fish in one minute.  The first team to eat and swallow all the items wins.

John 10:14

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Use the fence in the printout above (in the eye of the needle section).  Fold the fence into a square with a little opening.  Place 10 marshmallow outside of the fence.  Each team has to blow the marshmallows inside the fence.  This is really hard because the fence moves when you blow on the marshmallow, but it is fun.  If it's too hard, then tape the fence to a plate.  The team with the most marshmallows inside the fence wins.

Mark 4:37

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

I do not have picture for this challenge yet. Fold a boat out of paper.  Each team places their boat on the edge of the table. They use a large untied balloon to try to blow their boat across the table.  Use the air in the balloon to push the boat. If the balloon runs out of air, then the team member has to blow it back up. The team to get their boat the furthest wins.

For the Champions I made these trophies out of Toblerones.  

Just print out the picture below.  Cut it out and glue it to the top of a Toblerone.  The students loved it.

I also have a Manger Coloring Card to cut and fold.

Thanks for visiting Holly's Home.  I hope that your Minute to Win it challenge turns out as well as mine did.  
Please feel free to leave a comment below.

To see my Minute to Win it Old Testament Challenge click on the link below.

Here is another fun game to play called Scripture Man

I also have Alice in Wonderland Minute to Win it Games

I also have Grinch Minute to Win it Games

And Frozen Minute to Win it Games