April 10–16

Easter

“He Will Swallow Up Death in Victory”

The purpose of this lesson is to help the children you teach gain a deeper understanding and testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As you prepare, read and ponder the scriptures in this lesson and in this week’s study outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.

Improving Our Teaching

Children can recognize the influence of the Spirit. Teach the children that the feelings they have when they talk or sing of Jesus Christ and His gospel come from the Holy Ghost and that these feelings can build their testimony.

Invite Sharing

To help the children share what they know about Jesus Christ and His Atonement, you might show pictures of the Savior in Gethsemane, on the cross, and as a resurrected being, and ask the children to share what they know about the events in these pictures.

Teach the Doctrine

Younger Children

Jesus Christ is my Savior.

When the children learn about the Savior’s Atonement, they can know that He loves them. As you read about His Atonement, ponder how you can teach the children how much Jesus loves them.

Possible Activities

• Tell the story of Jesus’s suffering in Gethsemane (see Matthew 26:36–46; Luke 22:39–46). You might use chapter 51 from New Testament Stories. You could also use the picture of the Savior in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.

  Chapter 51: Jesus Suffers in the Garden of Gethsemane

• Open your scriptures to John 10:9 and tell the children that Jesus said, “I am the door.” Use the door of your classroom to teach that because Jesus died and was resurrected, He is like a doorway that allows us to return to Heavenly Father.

• Hold up a mirror and let the children take turns looking into it. As each child does, say “Jesus died for (child’s name) because He loves (child’s name).”

• Help each child make a badge that says Jesus Is My Savior.

• Sing “I Feel My Savior’s Love” (Children’s Songbook, 74) together. What words in the song describe what the Savior’s love feels like? How can the children share the Savior’s love with others?

Jesus was resurrected for me.

How can you help the children learn that because of Jesus Christ we and our loved ones will be resurrected someday?

Possible Activities

• Tell the children about Jesus’s death and Resurrection (see Matthew 27–28; Mark 15–16; Luke 23–24). Use pictures 57, 58, and 59 in the Gospel Art Book or chapter 54, “Jesus Is Risen,” in New Testament Stories.

  Chapter 54: Jesus Is Risen

• Help the children understand that resurrection means that after we die we will live again forever with a perfect body and will never die again. Have the children repeat the word resurrection.

• Read Alma 40:23 to the children. Show them your hand inside a glove. Tell them that your hand is like a spirit and the glove is like a physical body. Take the glove off to show that when we die our spirits will leave our bodies, and put the glove back on to represent resurrection.

• Sing a song from the Children’s Songbook about our bodies, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” (page 275), or sing “Jesus Has Risen” (page 70). Bear your testimony that because of Jesus Christ we will live again and have our bodies after we die.

• Share your testimony of the Resurrection, and have the children complete this week’s activity page and use it to tell the story of Jesus’s Resurrection.

Teach the Doctrine

Older Children

Jesus suffered for me in Gethsemane.

Older children have probably learned about Christ’s Atonement but may not fully understand how it can bless them. As you study the Savior’s Atonement, ponder how you can help the children understand how it blesses them.

Possible Activities

• Read with the children Isaiah 53:4–12, Alma 7:11–13, and Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19. Invite them to look for words and phrases that describe the things Christ suffered for in Gethsemane.

• Display strips of paper containing prophecies about Jesus’s life and Atonement from the Old Testament, and have the children listen for how the prophecies were fulfilled as you read verses from the New Testament. For scripture references, see the chart in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.

• Help the children memorize the third article of faith, then testify of the Savior’s Atonement.

• Ask the children how they would describe the Atonement of Jesus Christ to someone. You could record a video of children sharing their testimonies of Christ’s Atonement (include those children who would like to share their testimonies).

Jesus died and was resurrected for me.

The children you teach will someday experience the death of a loved one if they haven’t already. When have you felt comforted by knowing that Jesus Christ was resurrected? How can you help the children find comfort in the Resurrection?

Possible Activities

• Display pictures 57, 58, and 59 in the Gospel Art Book. Ask the children to match the pictures with the following passages: Matthew 27:29–38, 59–60; John 20:10–18.

• Read Alma 11:42–44 with the children. Invite the children to share why they are grateful for their bodies and the Resurrection.

• Discuss the differences between a gift (something we receive freely) and a reward (something we must meet certain requirements to receive). How are these two things like the blessings we receive through the Atonement—immortality (a gift of a resurrected body given to all) and eternal life (a reward given to those who are obedient)? (See “Eternal Life,” True to the Faith, 52–53.)

• Sing “He Sent His Son” (Children’s Songbook, 34) or “He Is Risen!” (Hymns, no. 199) together. Invite the children to share favorite phrases from these songs.

Encourage Learning at Home

To help the children share what they learned with their families, encourage them to sing a song about the Atonement of Christ at home this week.

Sharing Time

Singing Time (25 minutes)

Sing songs that teach about the Resurrection, and use them to help the children strengthen and share their testimonies of the Savior. Here are some examples:

• “Did Jesus Really Live Again?” Children’s Songbook, 64

• “Jesus Has Risen,” Children’s Songbook, 70

After you sing, consider displaying a picture of someone you know who has died. Share your testimony that he or she will be resurrected because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Sharing by Children (10 minutes)

Create opportunities for children to share how they are learning and living the gospel.

Younger Children

• Using the Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos or pictures 56, 57, 58, and 59 in the Gospel Art Book, teach the children the story of Easter.

• Ask the children what their families do to celebrate Easter. What do they do to remember Jesus Christ’s Resurrection?

Older Children

• Invite a child from each class to represent one of the following people from the story of the Resurrection: Apostles, soldiers who guarded the tomb, angels who announced the Resurrection, and Mary Magdalene. With the help of their class, the children could share the story from that person’s perspective.

• Before sharing time, select children to share their testimonies about the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection. Invite the children to write their testimonies to share at home.