Sharing Time - Time Machine

Preparation: Plan ahead of time which "character" you would like represented in the Time Machine and ask someone to play the part. Make sure you give them at least a week to practice/prepare.

Directions: Pick a person from the scriptures or Church History based on the Gospel Principles they taught or the example they gave of obeying certain commandments. Have a person dress up in costume to represent the character, but don't let the children see them until it's time to start. Explain to the children that you're having a special visitor from the past to teach them something important. Tell them that a certain door is a Time Machine and that the person is going to come through when you knock three times. Have the person come through and teach the children certain things from their life without saying who they are.

Example: Let's say you want to teach about humility and obeying God's commandments and choose someone to represent Jonah. Have that person dress up in a robe or other historic outfit and tell them what things you would like them to say and do ahead of time. When it's time have them stand on the other side of the door at a certain time and when you knock have them come in. The person would then tell of things he did, such as being commanded of God to preach repentance to the wicked, of being afraid, and not being humble enough to follow God's command. He would tell about the experiences (the journey by ship, the storm, the whale, etc) and the children would guess who it is. He would ask the children why he should have been humble and obedient instead of running away. He could then ask the children what things in their lives they have been commanded to do but sometimes don't listen, and how they could be more obedient.

Note: You can do this once a month with a new character each month. The children love to guess who the "character" is supposed to be as well as "who" is playing the part, especially if it's a new missionary or someone they're not familiar with.

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