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My Listening Ears

A pretend seed, flapping birds, pitter-patter rain, and little plants that grow up, up, up

  • 🧸 Nursery
  • Week 12
  • 📅 Sunday, March 21, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

I can listen to Jesus.

I can cup my listening ears and listen to Jesus.

Study it yourself firstRead Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13)
Know the chapters

This week Jesus teaches in parables, short stories about everyday things. So many people came to hear Him that He sat in a boat and taught from the water. That’s Matthew 13:2. He told of a farmer who scattered seeds. Birds ate some, and some dried up on rocky ground. Some were choked by thorns, and some fell on good ground and grew. That’s Matthew 13:3–8. Then He said, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” That’s Matthew 13:9. Luke 8 tells the same story. Luke 13 tells of Jesus healing a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years.

For toddlers, the whole lesson is one simple action. Cup your hands behind your ears and listen. Kids this age are just learning what listening means, and they love doing it with their whole bodies. Skip the rocky ground and the thorns. They only need a farmer, some hungry birds, a little rain and a seed that grows up, up, up. Cup your ears and say “I can listen to Jesus!” all day long.

Real seeds stay home this week. Seeds and dry beans are a choking hazard, and they can go up little noses. So every seed in nursery is pretend, pinched in your fingers or cupped in your hand. Don’t expect sitting or answers. A toddler who wanders is still listening. The lesson takes six minutes. The play-time ideas repeat “listen” and “grow.”

Only have 5 minutes?

Hide a picture of a flower behind your back. Plant a pretend seed in your hand, sprinkle rain fingers and pop out the flower for peekaboo. Swipe through the six-picture story on your phone or tablet. Do the Grow, Little Seed wiggle. Cup your ears and say “I can listen to Jesus!” End with a quiet testimony. For play time, pick three ideas below. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing.” Your hands become the seed and the flower, 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. Leave real seeds, beans and dirt at home. Every seed today is pretend. Pinch your fingers like you’re holding something tiny.
  2. Open the Sound Board on your phone or tablet and find the rain and waves buttons. Turn the volume low.
  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 listening ears. Cup both hands behind your ears and say “I can listen to Jesus!”

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. Let’s listen for the rain!” A quick, happy goodbye beats sneaking out.
  • Nobody has to sit. Lead from the floor at their level and keep going. Toddlers across the room often cup their ears when they see you do it.
  • Here’s your call-back for today. Whisper “Listening ears!” and cup your ears, then freeze and smile. Do it again whenever the room gets loud. They’ll start copying you.
  • The birds may get swoopy. Call out, “Slow-motion birds!” and flap slowly yourself. Or have the birds land in your lap.
  • 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 Flower

1 min

A pretend seed and a surprise flower pull scattered toddlers toward you and show them that seeds grow.

  1. Sit on the floor with the flower picture behind your back. Pinch your fingers and whisper, “Shhh… I have a tiny, tiny seed!”
  2. Pat it into your other hand like dirt: “Pat, pat, pat.” Wiggle rain fingers over it: “Pitter-patter, rain!”
  3. SAY“Grow, little seed, grow!”
  4. Slowly pull out the flower: “Peekaboo! A flower!” Show it to each child at eye level, then cup your ears.
  5. SAY“Today Jesus tells a story about seeds. Let’s use our listening ears!”
🌪️ If they grab for the picture, let them hold it. It’s just paper, and holding it keeps them close.

Class screen: 🌻 Peekaboo! A flower!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A picture of a big flower or green plant (from a magazine, a seed packet or a calendar), hidden behind your back or in a bag

Peekaboo Hand Flower

  1. Sit on the floor. Pinch your fingers and whisper, “Shhh… I have a tiny, tiny seed!”
  2. Close it in your fist: “Pat, pat, pat.” Wiggle rain fingers over your fist: “Pitter-patter, rain!”
  3. SAY“Grow, little seed, grow!”
  4. Slowly open your fist and spread your fingers wide: “Peekaboo! A flower!” Then cup your ears.
  5. SAY“Today Jesus tells a story about seeds. Let’s use our listening ears!”

Class screen: ✋ Peekaboo! My hand is a flower!

2. Story

Picture Story: The Farmer’s Little Seeds

2 min

Six pictures with one sentence and one action each let toddlers toss, flap and grow while they hear that Jesus wants them to listen.

  1. Hold your phone or tablet at their eye level. Everyone gets to be a Farmer, a Hungry Bird and a Little Seed.
  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. On the rain picture, tap the rain sound and grow up slowly together.
  4. Losing them before the end? Jump to the last picture: “I can listen to Jesus!”
🌪️ Got a child who won’t stop moving? Let them tap your phone or tablet to change the picture, with your hand on it too. A job beats a battle.
🔊 Sound Board (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🌱 Toss, flap, grow!

3. Wiggle break

Grow, Little Seed

1 min

Toddlers need to move after two minutes of anything, and growing like a seed repeats the story with their whole bodies.

  1. SAY“Let’s be little seeds! Curl up tiny.”
  2. Curl up on the floor together. Wiggle rain fingers over backs: “Pitter-patter!” Poke one finger up: “A little sprout!”
  3. Grow to your knees, then stand, then reach up high with wiggly leaf fingers: “Up, up, up!”
  4. Flap like birds around the room: “Tweet, tweet!” Then curl up and grow again while they giggle.
  5. Finish with listening ears: “I can listen to Jesus!” Then sit down together.

Class screen: 🌻 Tiny, sprout, tall! · 🌱 Curl up · 🌧️ Rain · 🌻 Grow tall · 🐦 Flap

4. Scripture

Our Little Verse: Matthew 13:9

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: “Who hath ears to hear.”
  4. SAY“Jesus wants us to use our ears to listen!”
  5. Cup your ears and say “I can listen to Jesus!” three times: whisper, normal, happy. Then gently cup each child’s ears: “Ella can listen to Jesus.”

Class screen: 👂 I can listen to Jesus! · 👂 Cup your ears!

5. Testimony

I Know Jesus Loves You

1 min

A quiet listening moment with a picture of the Savior helps each child feel loved.

  1. Drop your voice to a whisper and hold up the picture of Jesus Christ.
  2. SAY“This is Jesus. Shhh. Let’s be quiet and listen.”
  3. Cup your ears. Let each child look closely, point or gently pat the picture.
  4. SAY“I know Jesus loves you. I love to listen to Him.”
  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. Shhh. Let’s be quiet and listen.”
  3. Cup your ears. Then touch each child’s hand or wave, and whisper, “Jesus loves you.”
  4. SAY“I know Jesus loves you. I love to listen to Him.”
  5. If your nursery has a prayer now, fold arms while a grown-up says a short one.
6. Song

Listening Song

2 minBONUS

If they’re still with you, a soft song with cupped ears is a calm, happy way to finish.

  1. SAY“Let’s sit close together and be quiet little seeds.”
  2. Sing “Listen, Listen,” Children’s Songbook page 107, softly while you cup your ears.
  3. Sing it once more in a whisper, then grow up tall together: “Up, up, up!”

Class screen: 🎵 Cup your ears and sing!

The story

The Farmer’s Little Seeds

Matthew 13:1–9 ↗

Optional helpers

  • FarmersEveryone! Toss pretend seeds this way and that way.
  • Hungry BirdsEveryone! Flap your wings and say, “Tweet, tweet!”
  • Little SeedsEveryone! Curl up tiny, then grow up, up, up.

Scenes

  1. ⛵👂 Jesus tells a story. Listen!

    Lots of people came to listen to Jesus, and He told them a story.

    🙌 Cup your hands behind your ears: “Shhh… listen.”

  2. 👨‍🌾 A farmer tosses seeds. Toss, toss!

    A farmer tossed tiny seeds this way and that way.

    🙌 Pinch pretend seeds and toss them: “This way! That way!”

  3. 🐦 Tweet, tweet! Birds come to eat.

    Some seeds fell on the path, and the birds gobbled them up.

    🙌 Flap your arms like wings: “Tweet, tweet! Gobble, gobble!”

  4. 🌧️🌱 Rain on the soft dirt. Grow!

    Some seeds fell in good, soft dirt, and the rain came down.

    🙌 Tap rain on the Sound Board. Wiggle rain fingers down.

  5. 🌻 Up, up, up! Big and tall!

    The little seeds grew up, up, up, big and tall!

    🙌 Grow slowly from tiny to tall: “Hooray!”

  6. 👂❤️ I can listen to Jesus!

    Jesus wants you to listen to Him, and you, and you!

    🙌 Cup your ears, then say each child’s name: “Ella can listen to Jesus!”

Key verse

Matthew 13:9 ↗
“Who hath ears to hear”
In kid words: I can listen to Jesus!
🙌 Cup both hands behind your ears and hold them there while you say all five words.

More verses

Matthew 13:16 ↗
“blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear”
In kid words: My eyes and ears can learn about Jesus.
Matthew 13:23 ↗
“he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word”
In kid words: When I listen, good things grow in me.
Matthew 13:31–32 ↗
“a grain of mustard seed … becometh a tree”
In kid words: A tiny seed grows into a big tree!

Forehead Guess words8 words

  • 🌱 Seed
  • 👨‍🌾 Farmer
  • 🐦 Bird
  • 🌧️ Rain
  • ☀️ Sun
  • 🌻 Flower
  • 👂 Ears
  • ⛵ Boat
Clues for each word
  • Seed: Tiny! It grows up, up, up.
  • Farmer: Tosses the seeds
  • Bird: Tweet, tweet! Flap your wings.
  • Rain: Pitter-patter! Wiggle your fingers.
  • Sun: Warm and bright; helps plants grow
  • Flower: It grew from a tiny seed
  • Ears: Cup them to listen
  • Boat: Jesus sat in one to teach
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown5 questions

  1. What does the farmer toss?
    • A. 🌱 Seeds
    • B. 👟 Shoes
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 🌱 Seeds Toss, toss! The farmer tossed tiny seeds.

  2. Which one says “Tweet, tweet”?
    • A. 🐄 Cow
    • B. 🐦 Bird
    Show answer

    ✅ B. 🐦 Bird Flap your wings! Birds say tweet, tweet.

  3. What helps the seeds grow?
    • A. 🌧️ Rain
    • B. 🍪 Cookie
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 🌧️ Rain Pitter-patter! Rain helps seeds grow up, up, up.

  4. What do we listen with?
    • A. 🦶 Feet
    • B. 👂 Ears
    Show answer

    ✅ B. 👂 Ears Cup your ears! We listen with our ears.

  5. Who can I listen to?
    • A. ❤️ Jesus
    • B. 🦖 Dinosaur
    Show answer

    ✅ A. ❤️ Jesus I can listen to Jesus!

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • Listen, Listen Children’s Songbook, p. 107

    A soft song for cupping listening ears, at the end of the lesson or in Sleepy Little Seeds. Find it ↗

  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes Children’s Songbook, p. 275

    Toddlers love pointing to their ears. Sing it slowly, then fast. Find it ↗

  • Do As I’m Doing Children’s Songbook, p. 276

    Toddlers copy you: toss seeds, flap like birds, wiggle rain, grow tall, cup ears. Find it ↗

  • I Am a Child of God Children’s Songbook, p. 2

    Hum it softly while little seeds rest in Sleepy Little Seeds. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Listening Ears at Home

When your family prays or reads scriptures this week, whisper “Listening ears!” and cup your ears together. Then say, “I can listen to Jesus!”

Text the parents

Today in nursery we heard Jesus’s story about a farmer and his seeds, in Matthew 13:3–8. We tossed pretend seeds, flapped like birds and made pitter-patter rain. We grew up, up, up. Then we cupped our ears and said, “I can listen to Jesus!” Try it at home. Whisper “Listening ears!” before family prayer, and see if your child cups their ears too.

📝 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.

🧺 Good Ground Garden · 10 min

  1. Spread the green blanket or a rug on the floor: “This is the good, soft ground!” Set out big toys and let kids play.
  2. Every few minutes, call out, “Time to plant!” Help each child lay a toy on the garden and pat it: “Pat, pat, pat.”
  3. Tap rain on the Sound Board and wiggle rain fingers over the garden: “Grow, grow!”
  4. Lift the toys up high: “Up, up, up!” Cup your ears: “Listening ears! Jesus told a story about seeds.”
  5. Only big toys go in the garden, and one adult stays close by.

🎵 Listening Ears Dance · 5 min

  1. Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” Children’s Songbook page 275. Stop on “ears” each time and cup them: “Listening ears!”
  2. Sing “Do As I’m Doing,” Children’s Songbook page 276. Lead tossing seeds, flapping wings, rain fingers and growing tall.
  3. Tap Freeze Dance on your phone or tablet. When the music stops, cup your ears and freeze: “Shhh… listen!”
  4. Don’t know a tune? Play it once in the Gospel Library app. Or just chant “Toss, flap, grow!” while you move.

🍌 The Farmer’s 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, seeds, whole grapes, hard candy and raw carrot chunks.
  3. Fold arms while a grown-up says a short blessing. Hold up a piece: “Our food grows from little seeds! This grew up, up, up!”
  4. Sip water together: “Plants drink water too. Pitter-patter!”
  5. No snack today? Pick pretend apples from a tall tree, munch them and say thank you to Heavenly Father.

🌷 Sticky Flower Wall · 8 min

  1. Tape clear contact paper to the wall at toddler height, sticky side out. Draw a long green line along the bottom for the ground.
  2. Hand each child one big paper flower or leaf at a time. Show them how to press it on: “Pat, pat! It grew!”
  3. SAY“Seeds in good ground grow big. When we listen to Jesus, we grow too!”
  4. Every shape is bigger than your palm, and an adult sits right there. Count back any shapes that fall.
  5. No contact paper? Tape paper to the table. Each child scribbles grass and flowers with one chunky crayon.

🌧️ Rain Cloud Squeeze · 6 min

  1. Before class, wet two or three washcloths and wring them out well. Set an empty dish tub on an old towel.
  2. Hold a damp washcloth over the tub and squeeze: “Rain clouds! Pitter-patter!” Then squeeze with a child’s hands under yours.
  3. Crouch down and grow up tall together: “Rain helps the seeds grow!”
  4. No tub of water, and no foam sponges, which toddlers bite. Keep washcloths damp, not dripping, and empty the tub right away.
  5. No washcloths, or the ward says no? Squeeze dry ones and say “Pitter-patter!” Or wiggle rain fingers on backs of kids who like it.

🖼️ Picture Walk: Seeds and Birds · 5 min

  1. Sit with a child or two in your lap. Swipe through today’s story pictures, or open a book about gardens or birds.
  2. Name one thing in each picture: “Bird! Tweet, tweet.” Ask, “Where’s the flower?” and let them point.
  3. Walk to the window and look for trees, grass or birds: “Heavenly Father and Jesus made the plants and the birds.”
  4. Finish at the picture of Jesus Christ. Cup your ears: “I can listen to Jesus.”
  5. Both adults stay in the nursery room. If a child drifts off, let them go.

🐦 Fly, Birds, Fly! · 4 min

  1. Call out, “Let’s be birds!” Flap your arms and fly slowly around the room while the kids follow you.
  2. Call out, “Birds, land in the nest!” Everyone flies to the other adult and sits down: “You found the nest!”
  3. Cup your ears and listen for a moment: “Shhh… listening ears!”
  4. Tap rain on the Sound Board: “Rain! Fly again!” Play three or four times.
  5. Keep it slow. Slow-motion birds don’t bump heads.

😴 Sleepy Little Seeds · 4 min

  1. Spread out the blanket. Kids can curl up like seeds, sit or climb into a lap. Nobody has to.
  2. Play soft rain on the Sound Board with the volume low.
  3. Softly hum “I Am a Child of God,” Children’s Songbook page 2. Pat backs gently, like soft rain on the seeds.
  4. Whisper each child’s name: “Ella, you are a little seed. Jesus loves you.”
  5. Upset child? Hold them, rock side to side and walk to the window together. Calm comes before learning.

👋 Grow-Tall Goodbye · 5 min

  1. Five minutes before the end, whisper “Listening ears!” and cup your ears: “Time to put the toys in their beds!”
  2. Clean up together, then sit together once more. Curl up tiny, grow up tall and cup your ears: “I can listen to Jesus!”
  3. Hand each child only to their own parent or guardian. Give an ear-cup wave: “Show Daddy your listening ears!”
  4. Share today’s family note from the app, and tell parents one happy moment about their child.
  5. Kids still waiting? Play Fly, Birds, Fly! 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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