Getting Our Kids Excited About Come Follow Me 2022

By Dina Alexander

If you are looking for a time to get your kids excited about the scriptures, this is the year to do it! With so many fascinating, powerful, and crazy stories, the Old Testament is the most action-packed scriptures we have. 

We have the Creation, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, a burning bush, pillars of fire, plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho falling down, deadly droughts, epic battles, and so much more.

The Most Amazing Characters!

We also have so many incredible, humble people being called to a work which they never imagined would be their destiny. Enoch and Moses were shocked by their call and terrified to begin leading their people. Esther and Ruth probably thought they would lead ordinary lives, but instead they were meant for greatness. There are heroes like Daniel, Moses’s mother, Jochebed, Yael, David, Daniel, Adam and Eve, and more. 

There are even plenty of bad examples for our families to learn from: Cain, the Golden Calf, Pharaoh, Samson and Delilah, Saul, David and Bathsheeba, Soloman falling away, the priests of Baal, dividing the kingdom, being carried captive in Babylon, etc. 

Overall, my favorite people in the Old Testament are the amazing prophets: Samuel, Elisha, Elijah, Nathan, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and more! There are so many great teachings, and so much to learn.

Family Scripture Study: A Sure Foundation Your Kids Need

With younger or older children it can sometimes feel like a burden to conduct family scripture study, but it is SO important! I’ve yet to meet the person who regrets doing scripture study with their family, and there are serious promises made to parents who read and study the scriptures with their children. These small and simple experiences build testimonies, strengthen their spirits, bring a measure of peace to our homes, and allow the Spirit to prompt and protect our children.

Elder David A. Bednar taught: “Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results”

I am so grateful we live in a time where we have so many resources to help us create a richer experience in our family scripture studies. When we wanted to keep it simple for our young children, we used the inexpensive picture versions of the scriptures sold by the Church. They loved the pictures and helped us keep stories straightforward and concise.

Activities To Enhance Scripture Study

Sometimes we did various activities to reinforce our family studies. The most successful of these that I’d like to recommend to you include: creating a drawing or play-doh sculpture to go along with a story, singing a primary song, role playing the story, using an object lesson, watching a church video of the scripture story, and getting coloring pages, crossword puzzles, or games from LDS folks on Pinterest. 

If you look at the beginning of your Come Follow Me manual, you will find even more ideas to complement your personal and family study. Some of their suggestions include: using your own words to tell a scripture story, asking a question, inviting family members to ask a gospel question, and then spending time looking for verses that can help answer the question, displaying a scripture, making a scripture list, and more. 

It’s easy to tell ourselves that we don’t have time for family scripture study or that it’s just too much trouble, but our children need it! And it is worth it! I agree with Richard G. Scott. “Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it.”

Take the time to have meaningful scripture study with your kids. You and they are worth it!

Have you checked out my books to help you teach your kids vital gospel principles? Check out The Powers of Heaven: A Priesthood Guide for Latter-day Saint Girls and Boys, Chloe has a Question, A Very Important Question, and This is the Spirit of Revelation. All available on Amazon.

Dina Alexander is the founder of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She is also the author of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good and Petra’s Power to See: A Media Literacy Adventure. 

Most recently she has published The Powers of Heaven, A Priesthood Guide for Latter-day Saint Girls and Boys, Chloe has a Question, a Very Important Question and This is the Spirit of Revelation for Latter-day Saint children.

Dina received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She loves being a mom and spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in New Mexico. She has been a speaker at BYU Women’s Conference, has twice presented on the Mormon Channel’s Gospel Solutions for Families, and has been a guest on over 20 podcasts. She is currently in production with Deseret Books’ SEEK program where she is filming a short video series on how to talk with children about pornography.