Challenge Your Articles of Faith

Free printable from It's Always Autumn

The Articles of Faith are 13 verses of scripture that outline what we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believe - beginning with God the Eternal Father.
The children in our church are challenged to memorize these 13 Articles of Faith in Primary to help them have a bedrock understanding of what we believe as they grow increasingly to become like our Savior. 

Our ward acknowledges each child who memorizes and passes off the Articles of Faith each year with a big box of candy. As teachers of the Valiant 9 primary class in our ward (9 year olds), Justin and I wanted to actively help our class memorize these principles - a lot of which I have already forgotten from when I was in Primary.

So we made a deal with our class:

For a few weeks we would practice memorizing Articles of Faith 1-5. At the end of the period, the kids would be "tested" on those five Articles of Faith. Those who had them memorized would get a really yummy treat. Those who didn't have them memorized, wouldn't. After the "test", we'd move on to learning Articles of Faith 6-10, test, and then 11-13. 

At this point, all of the kids who stick with us will then be ready to pass off all 13 Articles of Faith to the Primary Presidency and be acknowledged in front of the entire Primary. 

The idea was to help motivate the kids to memorize the Articles of Faith by giving them checkpoints. And it worked for most of them!

Each week before we begin our lesson, we review one of the Articles of Faith (see review ideas here). Our kids didn't know many of them so we spent at least two weeks reviewing each of the articles and then had a few weeks where we reviewed the articles that the class felt like they needed the most help on. 

Most of the kids spent time practicing them at home, too. 

Testing Day
The week before the class' first "test", we warned them it was coming up next week just so that those kids who hadn't even tried memorizing them were aware that we were bringing treats next week for those who could pass off the first five articles. 

It's always a plus when you can teach accountability.

We didn't want any child to feel too nervous (or especially ostracized and on the spot) so we paired the class up. Each pair was asked to recite only two of the articles of faith, together, in front of everyone else. The articles they were asked to recite were chosen at random, and the partner was to help keep them on track in case one person had a brain lapse and needed a little coaching. 

Justin also loves helping them so if they got stuck he'd give them the next word. 

All of the kids in our class did great with only a few minor stumbles and mumbles along the way. 

Now obviously you can't turn away a Primary kid when it comes to treats. That just promotes humiliation, embarrassment, and possibly a desire to not come anymore. So we congratulated everyone on reciting them together and told them that if there were any articles that they were still a little unsure of, to keep practicing! 

Those who didn't have them memorized (and hadn't been practicing with the class or on their own giving any attempt to memorize the articles) were told that they could take a treat if they would commit and promise to memorize them. 

Another lesson in accountability. We won't check up on them again, but they are accountable to themselves to keep their promise. 

Scotcheroos
Each child went home with a Scotcheroo - a rice krispie treat on steroids complete with peanut butter and butterscotch chocolate frosting. This is one of my favorite treats that my sister-in-law introduced to me. Recipe below.


Ingredients
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup chunky peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies cereal
1 pkg. (6 oz, 1c) milk chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions
1. Place corn syrup and sugar into a 3-qt. saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add rice krispies cereal. Stir until well-coated. Press mixture into a 9x13 inch pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in a 1 qt. saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into 2x1 inch bars when cool.

*NOTE: Before measuring the corn syrup, coat your measuring cup in cooking spray - the corn syrup will then pour out easily.


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