Although we usually have an opening prayer as soon as the chairs in the classroom are arranged properly, today we listened to a song first. The children listened carefully to find out what the lesson would be about, then (most of them) folded their arms and bowed their heads for the prayer. Following a snickerdoodle break, we talked about the correct way to sit during the prayer, as mentioned in the song. The children knew how to act, but when they were asked why, all they could think to say was, "Because we're saying a prayer!" We had a good discussion about showing love and respect for Heavenly Father, and not being distracted or distracting other people from the prayer.
We talked about the correct format of a prayer. The class's favorite part was the Gratitude Game: the children passed around Mr. Happy Face, and whoever was holding him said one thing he or she was thankful for before giving him to someone else. We played several rounds, and then talked about how we could thank Heavenly Father for any or all of those things in our prayers.
We learned about President Monson leaving a $5 bill in his pocket when he was a boy. He prayed that the money would still be there when his jeans came back from the wash, and it was! The children definitely understood how upsetting it would be to lose all that money, and how happy he was that Heavenly Father had answered his prayer. They were surprised that he said another prayer to thank Heavenly Father after he found the money. This story really had everyone's attention.
Our coloring was included in the lesson manual. Today it would have been helpful to have more than two flesh-colored crayons, but the children took turns and were fairly patient with each other. The three girls that were absent last Sunday took the spring animals and flowers home as well.