Children of all ages in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are invited to participate in an annual Primary service activity.
This activity has four important purposes: plan, invite, serve, and counsel, explained members of the Primary general advisory council in a recent Primary Worldwide social media post.
Under the direction of the local Primary presidency, the Valiant classes plan this activity by prayerfully considering what service they can perform. Some ideas are at JustServe.org/Primary.
They can then invite all to participate in the service — this includes children, family, friends, ward members and neighbors.
After the activity, they can counsel together with their leaders to discuss what they learned and how they grew.
Read examples of Primary service activities from New Zealand, Texas and England below.
Planting and harvesting vegetables in New Zealand
Primary children in the Mona Vale Ward, Christchurch New Zealand Stake, harvested and planted vegetables for people in their ward.
Bishop Tufulasi Taleni said that the effort was one of many great activities that the ward Primary presidency, teachers and children have done.
“The Primary children helped with planting and later harvested a variety of vegetables in our ward garden. The goal was simple but important: to grow fresh produce that our ward members could enjoy and benefit from,” he wrote to the Church News.
Seth Aspinall, age 10, said: “It was fun to harvest vegetables in our ward garden. I felt grateful that I was able to give service.”
Orley Leuta, age 9: “I felt happy that I got to help other people by working in the garden.”
Silika Tanielu, age 10: “I felt really grateful that I got to serve other people.”
Heber Ah Mu, age 10: “I was really excited when I heard about our service activity because I’d get to learn how to plant and harvest pumpkins and other vegetables.”
The children, with the help of their Primary teachers, got involved from the start by planting the seeds and taking turns watering and weeding the garden. Their enthusiasm and dedication were inspiring, said the ward Primary president, Marian Camille Flamiano.
When it was time to harvest, the children eagerly picked the ripe vegetables and helped package them for distribution to members of the ward, she said.
“This activity not only taught the children about patience and teamwork, but also gave them a sense of joy in giving something wholesome and useful to others,” Flamiano said. “Many ward members commented on how grateful they were to receive the fresh vegetables, and the children felt proud knowing their efforts made a difference.”
Christmas ornaments and contributions in Texas
Primary children in the Alliance Texas Stake found projects on JustServe.org and the JustServe app to help people in need.
More than 100 members of the stake — men, women and children — came together April 12 with their contributions and community supplies to assemble and make things to donate to Operation Ornaments, Soldiers’ Angels, Community Storehouse and Justin Community Food Pantry.
That day they made:
- 215 beaded candy cane ornaments
- 496 snack packs
- 149 hygiene kits
- 86 t-shirt bags
They also wrote 26 letters to send to service missionaries all over the world, said the stake Primary president, Kim Thomas.
“Our stake accepted the invitation from the Primary general presidency for Primaries around the world to organize an annual service activity,” Thomas said. “We invited Primary families to come and serve together in a variety of projects. One of our favorite things about the entire activity was seeing parents serving alongside their children. It really was so special seeing them work together to help and bless someone in need.”
Thomas said after attending the service activity, Reid Benson, age 11, prayed in family prayers that night, “Please bless us to find more ways to serve others.” His mother said the prayer was a direct result of the activity.
Madi Stanley, age 10, said: “I loved serving. My favorite part was serving the homeless by putting together blessing bags for them.”
Eleanor Romney, age 7, said, “I like serving and helping people because it makes me really happy to make other people really happy.”
Katherine Slaugh, the stake Primary first counselor, said: “It’s easy to see why we’re told to be as little children. These kids are tiny but mighty and their love for others is palpable. What a blessing to serve alongside them.”
Collecting cereal, assembling activity bags in England
Primary children in the Milton Keynes Ward, Northampton England Stake, put bags together for children who were in the hospital for a Primary service activity.
Esmeralda Hunt, age 11, said, “It was fun, and I really liked helping people in hospital and making them feel special.”
The 27 Primary children and their families donated Easter eggs, games, gifts, coloring books and travel games to create activity bags for the children ranging from young infants to 16-year-olds at the Milton Keynes University Hospital children’s ward.
The Primary children donated items themselves and from their own pocket money, and ward members also donated as they were eager to support the children’s service project, explained the Primary president, Becky Lawson.
Primary teacher Gifty Akosuah said during the April 2 event, the children were excited to take part. They were tasked to create their own bags with special items they would want to gift to the children’s ward.
“The children enjoyed decorating their gift bags, after which each child went table by table to hand pick with excitement and care what they would like to put in their bags,” she said. “It was an evening filled with delight and so much fun as we guided the children around the tables. I must say it was quite challenging for the children not to eat some Easter eggs during the process.”
Primary teacher Bethany Lawson teaches the Sunbeams class of younger children.
“The children helped pack the bags for the sick children and there were lots of smiles and laughter. Although some of the Sunbeams wanted to take the items home themselves as they did not quite understand it was for others, they eventually understood and proudly filled a bag.”
The filled bags were delivered April 9 to the hospital in the care of Milton Keynes Hospital Charity.
Kelly Errington, community fundraiser from the charity wrote to the Primary children to thank them.
“Your generous donation of gifts for our young patients at Milton Keynes University Hospital most definitely brightened up an Easter hospital stay. The Play Team have asked me to pass on their gratitude for the care, thought and effort that went into making the packs up - they said that the activities were just perfect for the age range specified and for a stay in hospital.”
Also in April, Primary children in the Witham Ward, Ipswich England Stake, decided to collect boxes of cereal to donate to the local food bank for a service activity.
The children colored posters and flyers to give to the adults in the ward. They attended adult Sunday School to announce their project and to invite the adults in the ward to help.
The children worked to collect as many boxes of cereal as possible. At the end of the collection drive, the Primary leaders created a cereal box domino run after church services on Easter Sunday.
Video posted on the stake Facebook page shows the cereal boxes lined up outside and then toppled in a chain like dominoes, as the children cheered and ran alongside.
A representative from the Witham Community Hub attended to receive the donations from the children.
