A trickle from the temple door, a river too deep to walk, and a paper towel that comes alive
Like the river flowing from the temple, blessings from Jesus Christ bring life and healing to me and my family.
I can listen to the prophet and get ready to go to the temple someday.
Ezekiel was a priest who was taken captive to Babylon, far from Jerusalem, as Ezekiel 1:1–3 tells. There the Lord called him to be a prophet and a “watchman,” in 3:17 and 33:7. A watchman is like a guard on a city wall who warns everyone when danger is coming. Our living prophet is a watchman for us today. He can see dangers we can’t, and he tells us how to stay safe.
Ezekiel 47 is a vision little children love. Water trickles out from under the temple door. A heavenly guide with a measuring line leads Ezekiel through it. Each time, it gets deeper. First it’s up to his ankles, then his knees, then his waist. Then it’s a river too deep to cross, water to swim in. The river flows into a salty sea where nothing could live. The sea is healed and fills with fish. Trees on the banks grow fresh fruit every month, and their leaves are medicine. In 47:9, everything the river touches comes alive. It’s a beautiful picture of the blessings and healing that flow from Jesus Christ and His holy house to our families.
Ezekiel 37 has two more pictures. In a valley of very dry bones, the bones rattle together “bone to bone.” They get muscles and skin and stand up alive. It shows the Lord gathering His people. It also reminds us that everyone will live again because Jesus Christ was resurrected. Keep it silly, not spooky. Then, in 37:17, Ezekiel holds two sticks, one for Judah and one for Joseph. They become one in his hand. The Church teaches that these stand for the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They work together to bring us to Jesus.
For 4- to 6-year-olds, the river is the heart of the lesson. You tell it with pictures, and everyone joins in from their seats. They touch ankles, knees and waist as the water rises. Help the older ones see the path ahead. Baptism comes at 8, and the temple starts the year they turn 12. Jesus can give us the new heart promised in Ezekiel 36:26 every time we repent and take the sacrament.
Read Ezekiel 47:1–12. Grab a paper towel, washable markers and a cup of water. Tell the river story in Teach Mode. Say Ezekiel 47:9 with motions and do The River Comes Alive. Close with Families Together Forever. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing.” The river becomes a hand squeeze that flows around the class.
Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.
Before class
Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.
Kids make a trickle grow into a river with their hands.
Class screen: 💧 Drip… drip… SWOOSH! · 💧 Drip, drip… · 🌊 Swoosh!
Ezekiel’s vision shows blessings flowing from the temple and bringing everything to life.
Class screen: 🌊 The River from the Temple · 👀 Find it! · 🌊 Deeper!
A quick stretch that walks the river one more time before the verse.
Class screen: 🏊 Ankles! Knees! Waist! Swim!
Motions help every age remember that Jesus’s blessings bring life.
Class screen: 🌊 Every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
Kids watch water climb from a drawn temple and bring pictures to life, and name blessings Jesus gives families.
Class screen: 🧻 Watch the river bring everything to life! · 🏛️ Temple · 🐟 🌳 ❤️ · Everything lives!
Instead of: A paper towel (cut or torn into a strip about as wide as your hand) and washable markers, A clear cup with a little water in it
Class screen: 🤝 Squeeze! The river flows from the temple! · 🌊 Swoosh! · Everything lives!
End quietly with the biggest blessing flowing from the temple.
Class screen: 🏛️ Families can be together forever.
A quick Heads Up–style review of the story words.
Class screen: 🤔 Forehead Guess! · Give clues, don’t say the word!
A fast team quiz reviews the lesson.
Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown!
Optional helpers
Scenes
🏛️✨ Ezekiel sees a beautiful temple
Ezekiel was a prophet who lived far away from home. One day the Lord showed him a vision. It was like a dream from God. A heavenly guide took him to a beautiful temple.
🙌
🚪💧 Water trickles out the door
Ezekiel saw something surprising. Water was coming out from under the temple door! Just a little trickle, at first.
🙌 Find the door on the screen. Wiggle your fingers low: “Swoosh…”
🦶🦵 Up to his ankles… then his knees!
The guide measured the water and led Ezekiel into it. It came up to his ankles. Splish, splash! The guide measured again. Now it came up to his knees!
🙌 Touch your ankles, then your knees: “Deeper!”
🧍🌊 Up to his waist!
The guide measured again. Now the water was up to Ezekiel’s waist. It was getting hard to walk!
🙌
🏊🌊 A river to swim in!
One more time the guide measured. Now it was a great big river, too deep to walk across. It was water to swim in!
🙌
🧂🐟 The salty sea comes alive!
The river flowed into a sea so salty that nothing could live in it. But when the river reached it, the sea was healed! Soon it was full of fish. And trees by the river grew fruit every month.
🙌 Find the fish on the screen! Swim one hand like a fish.
🏛️💖 Everything the river touches lives!
Everywhere the river went, things came alive! Jesus Christ blesses us like that river. The blessings from His holy temple help us and our families. And they can last forever.
🙌 Temple-roof hands. Whisper: “Everything lives!”
“every thing shall live whither the river cometh”
More verses
“I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel”
“join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand”
“A new heart also will I give you”
✅ A. Water 💧 A little trickle of water that became a great big river!
✅ B. Ankles 🦶 Ankles, then knees, then waist, then deep enough to swim!
✅ C. It filled with fish 🐟 The sea was healed, and fish could live in it.
✅ A. Every month 🍎 Fresh fruit every month, and the leaves were medicine!
✅ B. Watchman 🔭 A watchman warns people about danger, just like prophets do.
✅ C. Came together and lived 🦴 Bone to bone! Because of Jesus, everyone will live again.
✅ A. Bible and Book of Mormon 📚 Both books teach about Jesus Christ.
✅ B. Be together forever 👨👩👧👦 Families can be sealed together forever in the temple.
The blessings flowing from the temple include families together forever. Find it ↗
Little ones know it well, and it goes right with the river from the temple. Find it ↗
For the Deeper and Deeper wiggle: ankles, knees, waist, then swim! Find it ↗
Prophets are watchmen (Ezekiel 3:17). Sing it with the Watchman Walk extra. Find it ↗
This week, look at a picture of a temple with your family, or drive past one. Tell them about the river that flowed out of Ezekiel’s temple and made everything come alive.
Today in Primary we followed Ezekiel into the river that flowed from the temple, in Ezekiel 47. It got deeper and deeper until it healed a salty sea and filled it with fish. We watched water climb a paper towel from a drawn temple and bring the pictures to life. We learned that blessings from Jesus Christ and His temple bring life to our families. Ask your child, “How deep did the water get? What happened everywhere the river went?”
📝 After class
What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.
