Winter Olympics Sharing Time

I don't normally share my Sharing Time Ideas but after much thought and preparation I thought this might be one that someone else may be interested in. The idea for it began as I watched the Luge one evening. The commentators recapped the horrible story of the Olympian who was killed on a practice run of the Luge. I couldn't help but compare the Luge to our lives...

So I decided to do an Olympic Sharing Time. I made the 5 Olympic rings out of construction paper and used the inside of the ring to write 5 corresponding events. Our 5 events were Bobsled, Speed Skating, Pairs Figure Skating, Hockey, and of course, Luge. Here's what we did for each event.

Bobsled: For the Jr Primary I took 4 familiar Bible stories (Noah, David & Goliath, Daniel in the Den of Lions, and Jonah) and told them in 4 parts. (i.e. This prophet told the people to repent. The Lord told this prophet to build a large ship. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Because this prophet and his family had obeyed, they were saved.) I typed and cut up the parts of the story. I wrote "Noah, David, Daniel, and Jonah" on the chalkboard and then picked a piece of each story from an envelope. The first bobsled that was filled was the winner. Noah won!

In Senior Primary I assigned each class a block of scriptures. I told each class to read through the scriptures and be able to tell the story in 4 short statements. I also wanted them to include how their scripture story had anything to do with The Atonement of Jesus Christ. They worked so hard and did a great job. The 3 stories I had them retell were Alma the Younger, Enos, and Saul/Paul. These scripture stories were suggested in the Sharing Time Manual.

Speed Skating: For this event we did a scripture chase. I just chose a bunch of scriptures from the Topical Guide under Jesus Christ--the Atonement. We didn't actually get to this event in Junior Primary because of time but the plan was to have the scripture chase be between the teachers. In Senior Primary, I had one representative from each class. They did better than I expected.

Pairs Figure Skating: Our Primary has been learning sign language to the new song, "I Know My Savior Loves Me." For our Pairs Figure Skating, I had 2 from each class come to the front and I quizzed them on their sign language. The sign language really touches my heart each time the kids sing that song. I'd recommend it to anyone interested. It adds another dimension to the sweet words of the song.

Hockey: Last week, the 1st Counselor in Primary helped the kids learn the 3rd Article of Faith. I tested their memories in the Hockey round. I had them start at the back of the Primary room. I would start saying an Article of Faith (I only did the 3rd in Junior but mixed it up in Senior). When I stopped, they had to fill in the blank. If they got it right, they took a step forward. If they messed up, that is where they would "shoot" the hockey puck from. I made a simple hockey puck out of a ribbon spool, covered in tissue paper. They used a golf club instead of a hockey club and tried to hit the lid of a box I had set up at the other end of the room. This event was popular!

Luge: So back to the Luge. Instead of an event for this final sport, I told them a parable of the Luge I had thought about. I compared the Luge to our lives, it's not always easy, there may be turns and speeds we weren't expecting, etc. But our Savior made it possible that if we fell off the luge, made a wrong turn, or needed a "do-over" we could start over. He provides us the safety net and He knew it would be difficult. I closed with my testimony of the Atonement.

I also made each Primary child and teacher a gold medal out of a chocolate coin and some red ribbon.


I don't often share things like this but hope someone else may find it useful.