I Dare You To Eat It

Yes, yes, PLEASE use these pictures! That is exactly why I have posted them. And thank you for the kind support. My sweet artist mother taught private art lessons in our home and would be happy to know that you appreciated the sketches. I hope the iconography is clear enough. Just this morning, Lizzie couldn’t remember #9 so I reminded her that the number nine looks like a circle with a tail…and that the sketch has the tail going on and on, forever…to remind us what we believe about revelation. That’s all it took.

It also got me thinking about how much I enjoyed serving as the Achievement Day Leader, or whatever it’s now called. I think it is exciting to work with the youngest women and try to help them see and understand, maybe for the first time, the power and beauty of the Gospel. I believe that all daughters of God have the potential to be the true executives in Heavenly Father’s kingdom. We’re the ones entrusted with His primary business. We’re the ones trusted to love and manage the home and children. It’s a huge job and a great job!

For over 23 years I’ve run my own interior design business and I’m very thankful to say that during that time I have been blessed to work with great people on exciting projects. But no business success has ever meant as much to me, or given me lasting joy, like the opportunities to work in my own home, for the people I love most. What’s that quote…save a girl…save a nation? You know.

Hey, remind me to share a fun way to teach the vision of the tree of life. (I’ll post the last three sketches tonight.)

Brace yourself. These are the sketches I drew to help my daughter learn and memorize the Articles of Faith
…and a few teaching hints to go with them:

* Let the child help draw the picture or at least draw it while they are watching. Learning happens with the art making. Just like how children learn the concepts of a Primary song by singing it more than if they only listened to someone else sing to them.

* Talk about the BIG ideas that are represented with these little pictures. No point in having children repeat things they don’t understand.

* Tape one of these pictures to the dashboard of your car so that you can help your child memorize on the fly.

* Quiz backwards, for a review, and have the child try to draw the same picture after you have said the verse.

* Relax and don’t get hung-up on creating perfect pictures. Children don’t care. They like primitive art! It naturally speaks to them.

Well, here’s an idea that has absolutely nothing to do with food storage.

I’ve been helping my youngest daughter memorize the Articles Of Faith and stumbled onto a little trick that seems to be working really well, for both of us. I’ve made simple sketches, incorporating each number with little Pictionary-type line drawings that veeeery loosely illustrate the words and principles. So far, Lizzie’s solid on 1-9, and we’ve only been working on it for two weeks! Having them memorized, in the proper order, is a first for me. If you’re interested, and promises not to laugh at my wacky drawings, I could try to figure out a smart way to post the sketches.