Seeing Is Learning

When I was called to teach the Sunbeams, my husband and I had two toddlers and we were trying to manage a tiny farm. I had no teaching experience, and there were fourteen children in my class. The task seemed impossible.

But as I went about my new assignment, I realized that using visual aids in my lessons would make all the difference.

When I made stories and concepts as real as possible, the children learned more, paid closer attention, and behaved better.

One of the first things I tried is something I call “story walks”—and the children love them. First, I read the story out of my manual, then we act it out, using our imaginations and simple props such as saplings from fence rows, empty birds’ nests, flowers, nuts, and butterflies. At other times, I make props to go along with a story. For example, I made a duck pond with aluminum foil and toy ducks and a make-believe oven from a cardboard box.

I find many props in my own children’s toy box—especially when I decide to use “grab bags” for the children to touch and feel objects or when we play a guessing game.

If I can’t find props myself, I borrow them from friends, neighbors, and my students’ parents. I often tell them what I need and explain exactly what I plan on doing with each object, as well as how much I enjoy working with the children. (This has also provided me with great opportunities to do missionary work.) Once I borrowed a real bird for my lesson “Heavenly Father and Jesus Created Birds and Fish.” One of the girls in my class had never seen a bird up close before. She was fascinated.

Making some of my props has helped me increase my talents and discover strengths I never knew I had. At the public library I have found craft books or books on visual aids that have taught me how to make what I need. For example, I’ve brushed up on my origami in order to make ducks and birds for my lessons. I hang the birds from the ceiling on straight pins and thread so they look as if they are flying. At the end of the lesson, I give each child a traditional Japanese paper crane to take home.

I have used a tape recorder for my lessons, too. When class members hear a recording of my husband reading parts of the lesson that feature a message from Heavenly Father, Jesus, or a Church leader, the message seems more real to the children—and they love it.

These same principles work for all ages—even teenagers. One sixteen-year-old told me that a substitute teacher gave her Laurel class the same lesson they had heard the week before. The girls were bored until the teacher took a toy cow and a milk pitcher out of her bag. It gave the story a whole new twist.

So let your imagination soar. It takes only a little extra effort to come up with ways to make your lessons alive and interesting. Both you and your students will love the difference.—Christine M. Boylan, Wyoming, Michigan