The Creation - FHE Lesson

This lesson is based on the Gospel Principles Manual chapter 5 - The Creation.

My husband and I had never talked with the kids about the 7 days of the creation before, so I was very excited to teach this lesson.

We had the opportunity to have family home evening over at grandma and grandpa's house.  It's always so much more fun to share our FHE with people we love!

I started off the lesson by asking the kids where we went after we left the Premortal Life.  Princess answered, "To Earth."  I then told everyone were going to talk about the creation of the Earth.  I had different people help me set up each day.

Day 1 - Light and Darkness:  We had this portion of the lesson in the dark and I turned on a spotlight to separate the darkness and the light.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day.  (Genesis 1:1-5)

Day 2 - Firmament and Waters:  We set out two blankets; one represented the sky and one represented the waters.

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  And God called the firmament Heaven.  And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Genesis 1:6-8)

Day 3 - Earth, Grass, and Fruit Trees:  We put down a green, fuzzy blanket as our grass next to the water.  We used clear glass rocks for our dry earth, fruit and a pine cone to represent trees, and flowers.

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And the evening and the morning were the third day." (Genesis 1:9-13)

Day 4 - Lights in the Firmament:  My parents have an awesome blanket that on one side is light blue and on the other is dark blue.  It was perfect for our day and night.  You can see the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night as well as the stars.

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." (Genesis 1:14)

"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."  (Genesis 1:16-19)

Day 5 - Fowls and Fishes:  Next, we put some birds in the sky...

And some fish, a turtle, a frog, a hippo (and somehow a random rhinoceros) in the water.  The moving fish in the fish pond was a favorite.

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." (Genesis 1:20-23)

Day 6 - Beasts and Man: The kids had fun putting animals on the grass as well as our Adam and Eve.  (Yes, that IS Prince Eric, and no that is NOT Ariel.  Would you classify Ariel as human or fish?  I didn't know!  So I used Sleeping Beauty--in Cinderella's dress no less.  Don't be offended all of you Disney purists.)

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." (Genesis 1:26-27, 31)

Day 7 - God Rested: I held up this little sign and explained that because God rested on the seventh day, we also rest on Sunday and use that day as a day of worship.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."  (Genesis 2:1-2)

Here is our completed representation of the creation.  We reviewed quickly what happened on which day and ended the lesson.

After the lesson everyone had fun playing with the different pieces of the creation.  The fish pond was a hit anyway.

Other FHE Lessons from the Gospel Principles Manual:

Agency FHE - Lesson

Our Heavenly Family - FHE Lesson