Sharing Luke 2:52 with my kids seemed very natural and easily relatable. It served as the topic for Family Home Evening last week and I kept it in mind for my primary class that Sunday.

Even though the scripture contains some big words, once I provided definitions and helped the kids understand that Jesus was once a child like them, they latched onto the idea of growth and development very quickly.

For my primary class, I decided to use an object lesson to help the kids visualize “increasing in wisdom and stature.” Before church I wrote out ideas for personal growth (mind, body, spirit) on separate sheets of paper that I was pretty certain they would come up with on their own (and with prompts). In class we read Luke 2:52 and talked about Jesus being a little child and growing up just like they are. I taped the prompt to the top of the door: “How can I grow in wisdom and stature?”

Each child took a turn standing against the door underneath the prompt. They all tried to look up to see how far they needed to grow. All the other children enjoyed watching their peers.

We discussed what we could do every day to learn about our world, make our bodies healthy and strong, and draw closer to God and become more like Jesus. As the children supplied answers, we stacked the possibilities above the head of a child standing against the door.

We eventually reached the prompt! the kids supplied great ideas for playing, eating healthy, studying the scriptures, getting baptized, and more. We memorized Luke 2:52 as a class. Each child took home an index card with one goal they set for something they would do that week to grow in wisdom and stature.