I am a child of God... and so are you, and you, and you, and...

My husband and I were recently in Topeka and visited the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site. We decided we needed to have a bit of a follow through with a family home evening. As I was putting it together, I thought it could make for a simple, but powerful sharing time. Part of it came from Stand Up for Love from the September 1984 Ensign.

Make a list of different characteristics of the children. Eye color, hair color, hair length, whatever you want. The length of the list can vary, just adjust it to what you know would work best with your primary.

Give the instructions for all the children with blue eyes to go to this area, brown eyes go to that area, and so on. Do this for several characteristics. Have everyone go back to their seats.

An optional object-lesson could be included here. I used an egg in a glass of 1 cup of plain water. It represents someone who is not receiving love or acceptance from those around him/her. The egg sinks to the bottom and the "person" may feel sad, depressed, or unwanted. Remove the egg and stir in 1/4 c. of salt, one spoon full at a time. Each spoonful of salt represents the ways we love and help others. (Examples of following the Savior) This was out of a great book called "10 -minute life lessons for kids" by Jamie Miller.

Then, move into emotional needs. Ask everyone who likes to have fun stand up, everyone who likes to 'fill in the blank' and so on as you are inspired to do. End with 'all those who are a child of God, stand up. All those who are blessed by the atonement of the Savior, sit down. '

Explain that the most important things we need, we all have in common no matter what our hair, skin, or eye color is, what hobbies we like or foods we can't stand. God loves every one of his children, even the ones that have lost their way, and he wants us to love each other and treat others kindly. Add any other thoughts you are inspired to share and bare your testimony.

You could make this go as long or as short as you needed.

Paige