Baptism Prep

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Look who is turning 8! …. in May.

So why am I writing about Crew’s 8th birthday this early?

Because when you are a Mormon, 8 is the age when we are generally baptized.   We believe children know right from wrong and can make their own choices at this age.  And Baptism is one of the critical choices. (Click here for several scriptures and resources on Baptism.)

Although Crew isn’t getting baptized for 8 months,  it is my job as a parent to help him prepare for this important step.

And I take my job seriously.

So over the next 8 months there will be a more focused intention on preparing Crew for his baptism.

I plan on doing the same things I did with Elle to prepare her for her baptism.

Here are a few ideas that I tried.  Hopefully, these tips can help other moms out there prepare their children for baptism too.

  • Attend Baptisms. Have children attend as many baptisms of friends and family as they can prior to their baptism.  This gets the kids comfortable with what will happen at their baptism and they are taught important doctrine from the talks.  Plus, I have never been to a baptism where I haven’t felt the Spirit.
  • Read Scriptures.  Elle and I read every scripture in the New Testament and Book of Mormon that had to do with baptism.  I went in her room at night for snuggles and we turned to the topical guide and looked up ‘Baptism’.  We read a few scriptures each night for several months.

For Crew, I typed up a list of the scriptures, so we could cross them off when we finished them.  (He inherited my appreciation for a good-ole check-off.) Here are a few check off lists for you to print if you are interested:

Book of Mormon Baptism Scriptures

Doctrine and Covenants & Pearl of Great Price Baptism Scriptures

New Testament Baptism Scriptures

  • Read Books.  There are several great books out there on Baptism.  Elle and I read two books that were on her reading level: “Baptism: Entering the Path to Eternal Life” by Chad Daybell and “Seven Years Old and Preparing for Baptism” by George Durrant. I got them at Deseret Book.  They were easy for her to understand.
  • Practice. Have dad go over the proper hold and the dip into the water so they are really familiar with the process.  Do this as many times as necessary for your child to feel comfortable.
  • Go on a Field Trip.  Visit your Stake Center or the church where your child will be baptized.  Check out the font and the changing room.
  • Have Family Home Evening.  Once a month for several months we held an FHE on Baptism with Elle.  I plan to do 8 lessons with Crew starting this month.  Here is our tentative outline penned at a Chili’s on a date night.  (I may or may not post lesson plans for you depending on my mood and if the lesson is “blog worthy” or not.)

1-    God’s Plan

2-    Faith in Jesus Christ

3-    Baptism: Overview

4-    Baptism: Covenants

5-    Holy Ghost

6-    Repentance*

7-    Sacrament

8-    Endure to the End

(* For those of you that think repentance should come before Baptism, I purposely put this principle after Baptism.  The kids aren’t getting baptized to wash away sins.  They haven’t done anything wrong.  They are getting baptized to obey a commandment from God.  I put repentance after baptism because that is when they are old enough to sin and repent.)

  • Invite Other Families Over.  To help teach the doctrine we invited our grandmas and grandpas over for Family Home Evening and they taught some lessons.  We also invited other families over that had 7 year olds turning 8 to share in our FHE lessons.  It was nice to share our lessons with guests.
  • Do the Packet.  When I was Primary President I revised and compiled an informational and fun packet for kids who were getting baptized.  The packet has coloring pages, activities, a wordsearch, crossword, plus lots of helpful information.  I saved my file and printed Elle a copy when she was 8. Then I added a binding so she had an easy booklet to carry around with her.  Here is a PDF of the packet.

Crew and I have already started reading books and baptism scriptures and going to baptisms.

And Crew has already read the Book of Mormon  and the New Testament by himself.  Last week I woke up early and found him on the couch with the iPad …. reading Exodus.  I told him he just might be the first boy in the history of the world to finish reading the whole standards works of scriptures before he is 8.

I pretty much love him and am excited to help him prepare for his baptism.

 

49 thoughts on “Baptism Prep”

  2. Lindsey erickson

    You are such a good mom! Crew is amazing. Such good examples. Thanks for the help! I will share with my friends too!

  3. Kelsie Rae

    You’re defiantly a barbie mom in that picture!! I know this post is about baptism but I’m just really digging that gray shirt/coral pant combo!

    Pinning this for the future!

    1. tiffany

      Ashley,
      My husband hates the “thank you” for the “thank you”, but I am going to do it anyway. As a blogger, I see my work downloaded all the time or I see it pinned, but rarely do people take the time to stop and comment and say thank you for my work. It took me hours to put together that booklet and the scripture check offs. It is nice to know that someone can use them and that my time was appreciated. So thank YOU for the thank you.

  5. Kay-Lynn Pack

    I want to say thank you as well my daughter will be turning 8 next year (October) as well and I am starting to get ready to teach her these things too. I am so glad that I ran across this on pinterest. This is going to be a big help!! I also plan to include the missionaries in helping to teacher her since I am a convert.

  6. Emily Shaw

    Thank you for this! I just saw this pinned on Pinterest (and I will be re-pinning it to share with my friends) and I am so excited to use your outline to help my son prepare for his baptism in March. Thank you for all your hard work!

    1. tiffany

      Thanks Emily. Hope I didn’t sound too needy in my previous comment. I guess everyone just wants to feel appreciated every once in awhile. Glad you will be able to use the ideas so soon. Good luck!

  7. Heidi Higley

    Thank you for this. I wish I would have found it months ago! My daughter is getting baptized on Saturday…needless to say, we will be cramming a little 🙁 You have saved the day! Thank you.

  8. Haylee Moore

    Thanks so much!! I really appreciate all your hard work. You saved me soo much time and I really appreciate it!!

  10. Kacey Kalmar

    Thank you very much for all the time and effort to put together such a wonderful post about preparing for baptism! I am in the primary and in charge of baptisms so the packet is great for that. And my own daughter is turning 8 this year so this will really help me prepare her as well. Job well done and appreciated!!

  11. Courtney

    Thank you so much for taking all that time to not only put this together, but share it online. My oldest is turning 8 in October and I have been trying to find some fun and special ways to teach him more about being baptized. He is very excited to start reading the baptism scriptures at night and work on the pages in the book. So thank you for helping out this mom in Virginia!

  12. Kelly

    Baptism is also for washing away sin (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). One should be baptized when they’re old enough to repent. Who was baptized in the bible at age 8?

  13. Ashley

    I just found your blog through Pinterest. I have a daughter turning 8 this year. I love this post and your blog. Thanks for sharing!

  14. Amy Glassett

    I love this so much. I have been looking around trying to find something for our primary kids this year. I do however have a quick question. I need to take out the part about the baptisms being stake wide. We don’t do that. I would LOVE to use this though!!!! It is perfect so thank you so much!!!!!! Please email me to let me know how I can take that part out. My email is amy.glassett@gmail.com.

    1. Ashley

      When you originally print it just don’t print off page 3. Make your own letter instead. Then insert the new page in place. Use that as the master copy to get photocopies from.

  15. Amber

    Thanks from me, too! My goal this week was to make a list of baptism scriptures to go over with my daughter. These lists are amazing! And I’m excited to share the book with her, too.

  16. Anne-Marie

    I have been searching and searching for the perfect Primary booklet and I didn’t like any of them until I found yours! Thank you so much for making my life easier and the kids and parents will love it!

  18. Cheryl

    My 3rd boy is turning 8 in june and I was just thinking about how we need to get him started on preparing. I went on Pinterest and found this. I made him up a binder with your packet and the scriptures to read. He will be so excited, this is right up his alley! Thank you, thank you!

  19. Jessica

    Thank you so much for posting these great ideas! I found your packet via Pinterest and have saved and printed it for my son. I wish I had found this months ago…. as he is very close to your son’s age and the extra time would have been great. That’s okay though, I’ll just have to be even more diligent with teaching him until then!

  20. Natalie O

    Thank you for sharing! I also really want to thank you for pointing out that the kids don’t need to repent before they’re eight (at the age of accountability) because they haven’t sinned. They are still learning right from wrong before that time. Thanks again!

  21. Missy

    Thank you for taking the time to put this together! My son and I are going to start studying together today.

  22. Nina Bowen

    This is a beautiful resource thanks for your work! Keep blessing those around you! You do Great Work.

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  26. Stina

    I really REALLY appreciate all the time you put into this…and, as someone who could only come up with maybe one or two of these ideas(she’s reading through the scriptures, so at least we have a big one down!), I especially appreciate finding resources like this to help prepare while still making it fun. Thanks so much!!

  27. Renao5

    Thanks bunches for the baptism thoughts and ideas as well as the scripture verses and booklet. We are baptizing our fifth and final kiddo shortly and I thought I had baptisms down pat … but I loved many of your ideas and plan to bring them in for the final few weeks of preparation before he is baptized. He is going to love it … and I think I’ll have to print axtras for his siblings who will surely want to complete them as well. THANK YOU!!

  28. Kelly21

    Thank you for all your effort in putting these things together! My second child is to be baptized soon, a little too soon (less than 2 weeks).
    I haven’t done any of these things, and I wish I had put more time and energy into it. I will use these resources you’ve created, as best I can in this short time.
    Thank you!!

  29. KELLI

    Thanks so much for the “tools” a mom needs. I am so very Thankful for your downloads and all the help it gives me. I am glad you have been given the talents and desire to offer these free things to all of us! Thanks again!

  30. Gina

    Your baptism booklet is wonderful! I have recently been called to the stake primary presidency and we are in the process of redoing the booklet we give to the children at our baptism orientation. We were wondering if we could use yours as a template. Can you e-mail an editable file to me?

  31. Stephanie

    Thank you for the scripture checklists. I printed one set for my daughter who turns 8 tomorrow, and a second set to save for her younger brother.

  33. Lindsey

    Thank you so much for this post! It is just what I was looking for! I was a convert in my early adult years and I had no clue how to prep our oldest as he embarks on this journey! The scripture checklist and prep packet are perfect! He turns 8 in September, so we will work on these until then…thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

  34. Jenny

    I love your packet and list of scriptures! Thanks for being willing to share it with others…it will benefit many. I would like to include the list of scriptures relating to baptism in the packet we hand out. I noticed on the D&C/Pearl of Great Price list is says “baptism scripture” rather than “baptism scriptureS” as the other two lists say. Any chance you’d be willing to add the S? Thanks so much!

  35. JP

    Thanks so much for this wonderful packet. You can tell that it took a lot of time to put together! I’m so glad I found your blog.

  36. Melissa Basua

    Thanks so much! I have been searching for the perfect packet to use for church and this is exactly what I have been looking for. Thanks for saving me the work of doing it myself!!

  38. Crisanta Estayo-Padilla

    Thank you so much! You’ve been such a great example and help. I am excited for my daughter’s baptism on April 4th 2014.

  39. Terresa James

    I, too, am a Primary President. I’m so very grateful for all of the work you’ve lovingly donated to all of us to help build the kingdom of God. We really are all in this for the same purpose; to glorify Him!

    I have a project I’ve worked on for weeks and weeks…creating conference journals using notebooks and pictures/tabs/fun facts about the general authorities. I’d like to ‘put it out there’ but I have no idea how to. Would you like to email me and give me some tips, please? Thanks again…

  40. Charlotta Sorensen

    Thank you! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! You’ve made my busy mommy life much easier. I so appreciate your hours and hours of work in putting these resources together. Just perfect!

  41. Jodi

    THANK YOU! I can tell this took a lot of time to put together and I love the pdf! Thank you for being willing to share your talent, ideas and experience with your baptismal prep. Our first will be baptized next year! Thank you!

  42. Tia L

    Thank you so much for sharing your talents and time and energy. This is perfect for my soon-to-be-baptized son. Printing everything off now and we’ll start preparing in the morning. Thanks again!

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