The Consecration Game

Each lesson in the Primary manual comes with an "Attention Activity," something to grab the children's interest and point it toward the subject of the lesson. The Attention Activity for the consecration lesson is to play a game called "I Don't Need It - Would You Like It?" which involves giving each child a list of things they need, and then having them draw a scrap of paper out of a hat. The scrap of paper will have a word on it, matching one of the items on their list. The child will cross that item of their list, then give the next child a turn to draw a word out of the hat. If, at any time, a child draws a word they already have crossed out, they say "I don't need it. Do you want it?" and offer the item to the next child. If they don't have that word crossed out yet, they cross it out. If they already had it crossed out, they offer it to the next child, and so on. This continues until each child has crossed out every item on their list.

I like this game, but I think we can improve upon it. I like the idea of having a game simulate the concepts of the Law of Consecration, and I've had an idea for a game that may simulate consecration a little better. When the early saints adopted the Law of Consecration, they each already had some resources, which they consecrated to the church, and the Bishop then distributed what was needed to those who needed it. Perhaps another way to play this game would be to have each child start with a list of the things they needed and with a few scraps of paper. One at a time, each child would go to the "Bishop," their teacher (me), and I would ask them "What do you have?" and "What do you need?" If a child has scraps of paper they don't need, those scraps go into the storehouse (on the table). If they need scraps they don't have, they will be given what they need from out of the storehouse, assuming that the storehouse has what they need.

I think that each list of needs should be different, and each child should be given a different number of randomly-selected scraps of paper. Some children won't have any scraps that they don't need, and some children will have all the scraps they need, and then some. This will be much like life, because each person and each family has different needs, and some people simply have more than others. Some children will receive more scraps of paper from the storehouse than they contribute, and other children will contribute more to the storehouse than they receive, but in the end, every child will end up with what they need.

From there, I can talk about how each family of the early saints went to the Bishop with what they had, described their needs, and usually left with what they needed, leaving any excess behind. Anything they had and didn't need would be stored, in case somebody else needed it and didn't have it. By sharing what they had extra and making their needs known to the Bishop, each family was able to share with the others in a way that everyone got what they needed.

I'll have to make sure the lists of needs and the scraps of paper match up, so everyone's needs can be met with the scraps of paper I bring. I'll also want to try to set up certain scenarios, like some children having nothing they can contribute in excess to what they need and some children having all they need and more, so we can get a variety of experiences with contributing and receiving. I may just make sure some children have more than others at the start, so such experiences are likely to happen, though not guaranteed.

I'll work out the system further later, but I like what I've got so far. I think this will be an interesting activity and that it'll help the children understand what the Law of Consecration is and what the early saints did to make it work, and it'll hopefully be even more memorable as each child experiences this consecration simulation first-hand.