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Jesus Is My Light

A peekaboo flashlight, a world full of roaring and tweeting, and friends who waved, “Come and see!”

  • 🧸 Nursery
  • Week 3
  • 📅 Sunday, January 17, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Jesus is my light.

I can open my hands like sunshine and say, “Jesus is my light!”

Study it yourself firstRead John 1 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (John 1)
Know the chapters

John 1 begins before the world was made, when Jesus was with Heavenly Father. Under the Father’s direction, Jesus created the earth. John 1:3 says, “All things were made by him.” John calls Jesus the Light: “the light shineth in darkness.” That’s John 1:5. Later in the chapter, John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, “Behold the Lamb of God.” That’s John 1:29. Jesus invites two followers, “Come and see,” in John 1:39. Andrew brings his brother Simon, and Philip brings his friend Nathanael. That’s John 1:40–49.

For toddlers, the whole lesson is one warm feeling: Jesus is my light. Toddlers know light with their whole bodies. Think of the bedtime lamp, sunshine on the floor and the flashlight they love to grab. Jesus helps us feel happy and safe, like a light does. Cover your eyes, then pop your hands open like sunshine. Say “Jesus is my light!” over and over, all day long. The friends in the story add a toddler-sized job. Wave and say, “Come and see!”

Many toddlers are afraid of the dark, so never turn the lights all the way off. In this lesson, dark just means covering your eyes for one second. For the flashlight, a grown-up always holds it, and it never shines in eyes. Use one with a screwed-shut battery cover, never one with button batteries. The lesson takes six minutes, and the play-time ideas repeat the same idea.

Only have 5 minutes?

Grab a flashlight and a picture of Jesus. Click the flashlight on for peekaboo. Swipe through the six-picture story on your phone or tablet. Roar and flap like the animals Jesus made. Pop your hands open like sunshine and say “Jesus is my light!” End with a quiet testimony. For play time, pick three ideas below. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing.” Your sunshine hands are the light, and your phone or tablet shows the pictures.

What to bring6 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Check that the flashlight works and its battery cover is tight. Keep it in your bag until the opening.
  2. Open the Sound Board on your phone or tablet and find the magic and roar buttons. Keep the volume low, since a big roar can scare little ones.
  3. Check the floor for anything small. If it fits through a toilet-paper tube, put it up high or away.
  4. Decide with the other adult who leads the lesson and who greets at the door. There are always two adults in nursery.
  5. Practice covering your eyes, then popping your hands open like sunshine. Say “Jesus is my light!”

If your class is wild

  • Tears at drop-off are normal and usually pass in a few minutes. Let the other adult hold the crying child near the fun. They can whisper, “Mommy will come back. You’re safe here.” A quick, happy goodbye beats sneaking a parent out.
  • Everyone will want the flashlight. Tell them, “The flashlight is a grown-up job. You can catch the light!” Shine a spot on the floor for them to stomp. Put it up high when you’re done.
  • If covering your eyes scares a child, keep your hands open. Just point to the window: “Look, the sun! Jesus is my light.”
  • Follow your ward’s policy for diapers and potty trips. Never leave one adult alone with the class, and never go off alone with one child.

The 25-minute plan6 min + bonus

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.

1. Hook

Peekaboo Flashlight

1 min

A light that pops on and off is the best toddler magnet there is, and it shows what a light does before we say Jesus is our light.

  1. Sit on the floor. Point the flashlight at the floor, never at faces. Whisper, “Shhh… I have a surprise.”
  2. Click it on: “Peekaboo, light!” Click it off: “Where did it go?” Do it again. Little ones will come see.
  3. Wiggle a light spot slowly on the floor. Let the kids pat it or stomp it.
  4. SAY“Light helps us see and feel happy. Jesus is like a light! Jesus is my light!”
  5. Click it off and put it up high.
🌪️ If they reach for the flashlight, hold it to your chest: “Grown-up job! You catch the light!” Then shine the spot on the floor.

Class screen: 🔦 Peekaboo, light!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A flashlight with a screwed-shut battery cover (never a light that uses button batteries); a grown-up always holds it

Peekaboo Sunshine

  1. Sit on the floor with the room lights on. Cover your eyes: “Uh-oh! I can’t see!”
  2. Pop your hands open wide: “Peekaboo, sunshine!” Do it again and again while they copy you.
  3. Point to the window or the ceiling lights: “Light helps us see and feel happy.”
  4. SAY“Jesus is like a light! Jesus is my light!”

Class screen: ☀️ Peekaboo, sunshine!

2. Story

Picture Story: Jesus Is My Light

2 min

Six pictures with one sentence and one action each let toddlers roar, shine, point and wave their way through John 1.

  1. Hold your phone or tablet at their eye level. Everyone gets to be an Animal Friend, Sunshine Hands and a Come-and-See Waver.
  2. Read the one sentence, then do the action big so they can copy you. Don’t wait for everyone. The joiners will come.
  3. After the light picture, pop your sunshine hands open on every picture: “Jesus is my light!”
  4. Losing them before the end? Jump to the last picture. Take hands and say, “Come and see Jesus!”
🌪️ Tap the roar button only if nobody startles. If someone does, switch to a tiny kitten roar and a giggle.

Class screen: ☀️ Roar! Shine! Come and see!

3. Wiggle break

Things Jesus Made

1 min

Toddlers need to move after two minutes of anything, and animal moves let them feel the world Jesus made.

  1. SAY“Stand up! Jesus made the animals!”
  2. Roar like a lion. Flap like a bird. Hop like a bunny. Waddle like a duck: “Quack!”
  3. Reach up tall like a tree, then wiggle your fingers down like rain.
  4. Pop your hands open like sunshine: “Jesus is my light!” Then sit down together.

Class screen: 🦁 Roar! Flap! Hop! Quack! · 🦁 Roar · 🐦 Flap · 🐰 Hop · 🦆 Quack

4. Scripture

Our Little Verse: John 1:5

1 min

Five words and one motion, said many times, is how a toddler carries a scripture home.

  1. Hold up your scriptures.
  2. SAY“This is the Bible. It tells about Jesus. Listen!”
  3. Read slowly: “the light shineth in darkness.”
  4. SAY“That means Jesus is my light!”
  5. Cover your eyes and pop your hands open: “Jesus is my light!” Do it three times: whisper, normal, happy. Then for each child: “Jesus is Ella’s light.”

Class screen: ☀️ Jesus is my light! · 🙈 Cover, then ☀️ pop!

5. Testimony

I Know Jesus Loves You

1 min

A quiet moment with a picture of the Savior helps each child feel His light as warmth and love.

  1. Drop your voice to a whisper and hold up the picture of Jesus.
  2. SAY“This is Jesus. He is my light.”
  3. Let each child look closely, point or gently pat the picture.
  4. SAY“I know Jesus loves you. He helps you feel happy and safe, like a light.”
  5. If your nursery has a prayer now, fold arms while a grown-up says a short one.

Class screen: ❤️ Jesus loves you!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A picture of Jesus Christ (from your meetinghouse library, a Friend magazine, or home)

  1. Drop your voice to a whisper and put your hand on your heart.
  2. SAY“Let’s think about Jesus.”
  3. Touch each child’s hand or wave, and whisper, “Jesus loves you.”
  4. SAY“I know Jesus loves you. He helps you feel happy and safe, like a light.”
  5. If your nursery has a prayer now, fold arms while a grown-up says a short one.
6. Song

Sing: My Heavenly Father Loves Me

2 minBONUS

If they’re still with you, a slow song about the beautiful world is a calm, happy way to finish.

  1. Sit by the window if you can.
  2. SAY“Look at the world Jesus made!”
  3. Sing “My Heavenly Father Loves Me,” Children’s Songbook page 228, slowly. Point at the sky, a tree or the sunshine as you sing.
  4. At the end, pop your hands open and whisper, “Jesus is my light.”

Class screen: 🌈 Look at our beautiful world!

The story

Jesus Is My Light

John 1:1–5, 29–49 ↗

Optional helpers

  • Animal FriendsEveryone! Roar like a lion, flap like a bird and swim like a fish.
  • Sunshine HandsEveryone! Cover your eyes, then pop your hands open wide like sunshine.
  • Come-and-See WaversEveryone! Wave your hand toward you: “Come and see!”

Scenes

  1. 🌍 Jesus made the world!

    Heavenly Father had a plan, and Jesus made the whole big world.

    🙌 Make a giant circle with your arms: “So big!”

  2. 🦁 Roar! Tweet! Jesus made the animals!

    Jesus made lions that roar, birds that tweet and fish that swim.

    🙌 Roar like a lion, then flap like a bird.

  3. ☀️ Jesus is like a light!

    Jesus is like a light that helps us see and feel happy.

    🙌 Cover your eyes, then pop your hands open: “Jesus is my light!”

  4. 👉 Look! There is Jesus!

    By the river, John the Baptist saw Jesus and pointed so his friends would look.

    🙌 Point to the picture of Jesus: “Look!”

  5. 👋 Jesus says, “Come and see!”

    Jesus smiled at the friends and said, “Come and see.”

    🙌 Wave your hand toward you: “Come and see!”

  6. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Friends bring friends to Jesus!

    Andrew brought his brother. Philip brought his friend. They all came to see Jesus!

    🙌 Hold a friend’s hand and toddle to the picture of Jesus.

Key verse

John 1:5 ↗
“the light shineth in darkness”
In kid words: Jesus is my light!
🙌 Cover your eyes for one second, then pop your hands open wide like sunshine as you say it.

More verses

John 1:3 ↗
“All things were made by him”
In kid words: Jesus made the world and everything in it.
John 1:39 ↗
“He saith unto them, Come and see.”
In kid words: Jesus said, “Come and see!”
John 1:29 ↗
“Behold the Lamb of God”
In kid words: John said, “Look! There is Jesus!”

Forehead Guess words9 words

  • ☀️ Sun
  • 🔦 Flashlight
  • 🦁 Lion
  • 🐦 Bird
  • 🐟 Fish
  • 🌳 Tree
  • 🐑 Lamb
  • 🌙 Moon
  • 🌍 World
Clues for each word
  • Sun: Pop your hands open like sunshine!
  • Flashlight: Click! Peekaboo, light!
  • Lion: Roar! Jesus made lions.
  • Bird: Tweet! Flap your wings.
  • Fish: Swim, swim!
  • Tree: Reach up tall
  • Lamb: Baa! A soft little sheep.
  • Moon: A light in the night sky
  • World: So big! Jesus made it.
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown5 questions

  1. Which one gives light?
    • A. ☀️ Sun
    • B. 🥄 Spoon
    Show answer

    ✅ A. ☀️ Sun Pop your hands open like sunshine!

  2. Who made the world?
    • A. 🧸 Teddy
    • B. ❤️ Jesus
    Show answer

    ✅ B. ❤️ Jesus Jesus made the whole big world. So big!

  3. Which one says roar?
    • A. 🦁 Lion
    • B. 🐟 Fish
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 🦁 Lion Roar! Jesus made lions.

  4. Who is my light?
    • A. 🚜 Tractor
    • B. ❤️ Jesus
    Show answer

    ✅ B. ❤️ Jesus Cover your eyes, then pop! Jesus is my light.

  5. What did Jesus say to His friends?
    • A. 👋 Come and see!
    • B. 😴 Go to sleep!
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 👋 Come and see! Wave your hand toward you: “Come and see!”

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • My Heavenly Father Loves Me Children’s Songbook, p. 228

    A song about the beautiful world. Point out the window while you sing it after the lesson. Find it ↗

  • Once There Was a Snowman Children’s Songbook, p. 249

    A January favorite: grow tall, then melt slowly in the warm sunshine Jesus made. Find it ↗

  • Tell Me the Stories of Jesus Children’s Songbook, p. 57

    Hum it softly during Glow Rest. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Light Hunt at Home

Hunt for lights this week, like a lamp, the sun or a night-light. Each time you find one, pop your hands open like sunshine together. Say, “Jesus is my light!”

Text the parents

Today in nursery we learned that Jesus is our light. John 1:5 says, “the light shineth in darkness.” We played peekaboo with a flashlight. We roared and flapped like the animals Jesus made. We waved “Come and see!” like Jesus’s friends in John 1:39. Try it at home. Cover your eyes, then pop your hands open like sunshine. See if your child says, “Jesus is my light!”

📝 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.

Nursery play time

The lesson is short on purpose. Fill the rest of nursery with these: pick what fits your little ones today.

🦁 Come and See Zoo · 10 min

  1. Set out the toy animals and let kids play. Play along with lots of animal sounds. Big animals only, nothing that fits through a toilet-paper tube.
  2. When a child holds up an animal, cheer: “A lion! Jesus made the lion! Roar!”
  3. Every few minutes, wave toward you: “Come and see!” Walk a child over to see what a friend is playing.
  4. SAY“Jesus made all the animals, and He made you!”
  5. No toy animals? Everyone is the animals. Roar, hop and flap around the room.

🎵 Sunshine and Snowman Songs · 5 min

  1. Sing “Once There Was a Snowman,” Children’s Songbook page 249. Grow up tall, then melt slowly to the floor.
  2. SAY“The warm sun melted him! Jesus made the sun and the snow!”
  3. Sing “My Heavenly Father Loves Me,” Children’s Songbook page 228. Point to the sky, a tree and each other.
  4. Tap Freeze Dance on your phone or tablet. When the music stops, freeze with sunshine hands: “Jesus is my light!”
  5. Don’t know a tune? Play it once in the Gospel Library app. Or just chant “Grow, grow, melt!” while you move.

🐦 Shadow Animals · 6 min

  1. Sit facing a blank wall. One grown-up points the flashlight at the wall, away from faces. Room lights can stay on.
  2. The other grown-up makes hand shadows: a flapping bird, a two-finger bunny, a snapping crocodile.
  3. Ask, “Who’s that? A bird! Tweet, tweet!” Let kids flap, hop and snap along.
  4. Read John 1:3: “All things were made by him.” Tell them, “Jesus made the birds and the bunnies, and He made you!”
  5. The grown-up keeps the flashlight, then puts it up high. No flashlight? Make the animals with your hands in your lap.

🍎 Jesus Made Our Snack · 10 min

  1. Check allergies and your ward’s snack policy first. Wipe every child’s hands, and yours.
  2. Everyone sits to eat while an adult watches. Skip popcorn, nuts, whole grapes, hard candy and raw carrot chunks.
  3. Fold arms while a grown-up says a short blessing: “Thank you for our snack and for the world.”
  4. SAY“Apples grow on trees, and Jesus made the trees! The sun helps them grow.”
  5. Pop your sunshine hands open while they munch. No snack today? Munch pretend apples in the sunshine and say thank you.

🖍️ Sunshine Plates · 8 min

  1. Give each child a paper plate, or a spot on a big sheet of paper taped down: “Let’s make sunshine!”
  2. Give each child one chunky yellow or orange crayon. Skip glitter, stickers, pom-poms and marker caps.
  3. Every scribble is sunshine! Draw a few big rays around each plate for them.
  4. Write the child’s name and “Jesus is my light” on it. Count the crayons back into the box.
  5. No plates, paper or crayons? Open Draw & Guess on your phone or tablet. Hold it while each child finger-paints a sun.

🌳 Peekaboo Under the Tree · 4 min

  1. Drape the blanket over a small table for a leafy tree. Tell them, “Nathanael sat under a tree. Jesus knew him!”
  2. Let a child crawl under. Ask, “Where’s Ella? Come and see!” Lift the edge: “Peekaboo! Jesus knows you!”
  3. Take turns. Some kids will only want to peek from outside, and that’s fine.
  4. Skip chairs, since they tip when toddlers pull the blanket. One adult stays by the tree.
  5. No blanket? Be the tree yourself, and let kids peek around your legs.

🖼️ Come and See Walk · 5 min

  1. Sit with a child or two in your lap and swipe through today’s story pictures: “Where’s the lion? Where’s the sun?”
  2. Take hands and wave: “Come and see!” Walk to the window: “Look! The sky! Jesus made the sky.”
  3. Walk to a plant, a toy animal or a friend: “Come and see! Jesus made that!”
  4. Finish at the picture of Jesus: “Come and see Jesus! Jesus is my light.”
  5. Both adults stay in the nursery room. If a child drifts off, let them go.

😴 Glow Rest · 4 min

  1. Turn off some of the lights, never all. Spread out the blanket. Kids can lie down, sit or climb into a lap.
  2. A grown-up shines the flashlight softly on the ceiling: “Look, a little light.” No flashlight? Look at the window light.
  3. Softly hum “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” Children’s Songbook page 57.
  4. Whisper each child’s name: “Jesus is your light, Ella. He loves you.”
  5. Upset child? Turn the lights back on and hold them. Rock side to side and walk to the window together.

👋 Come-and-See Goodbye · 5 min

  1. Five minutes before the end, tap magic on the Sound Board: “Toys go home!” Clean up together.
  2. Sit together once more. Cover your eyes and pop your hands open: “Jesus is my light!”
  3. Hand each child only to their own parent or guardian. Let the child wave “Come and see!” and show their Sunshine Plate.
  4. Share today’s family note from the app, and tell parents one happy moment about their child.
  5. Kids still waiting? Play Peekaboo Under the Tree or read a picture book. Both adults stay until every child is picked up.

Sources

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.

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