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“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations” ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World," paragraph six).
Thought: “Many children would have had the blessing of being raised by both of their parents if only their parents had followed this inspired teaching in the family proclamation: ‘Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. . . . Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another.’ The most powerful teaching of children is by the example of their parents.” —Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Song:“Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth,” Hymn #298
Scripture: “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:25).
Lesson:
Read the paragraph together. Teach that is important for parents to teach their children the gospel and for children to learn from their parents.
Using a whiteboard or poster board, divide the board into two columns (“Parents” and “Children”). Have the family list duties and responsibilities of parents on one side (such as teach their children the gospel, provide physical needs, rear children in love) and the duties and responsibilities of children on the other side (such as learn from parents, be obedient, help brothers and sisters).
Share your testimony of fulfilling our family responsibilities.
Activity: The Spray Bottle Game
1. Form a circle. One person is in the middle of the circle and chooses a category (fruits, sports, US states, etc.). They could also incorporate the lesson by starting out with categories that relate to what was talked about (duties of parents, etc.). They think of one thing that fits in the category (that is easy enough to guess), but don’t tell anyone what it is.
2. Everyone in the circle takes turns naming something in the category. If someone says what the person in the middle is thinking of, the person in the middle can squirt them on top of the head with the spray bottle, and that person is the next it and picks a new category. If someone repeats something someone already said, they also get sprayed (but don’t get to be it).