2014 Primary Theme - Families Are Forever

I'm not sure how everyone else is doing, but I'm feeling pretty good about this theme.

I've had so many different ideas flickering around in my head for the past few weeks, I can't wait to sit down with my presidency and flesh out our plans.

I love to make plans.  Does anyone else think planning is fun?  Find it strangely exhilarating?

Anyone?

Okay, I'm sure you're out there.  I'm also sure some of you might think I'm nuts.  Oh well, it's alright.

As I just mentioned, I don't have all my plans ready yet, but I thought I'd share a few of the ones making the most noise right now (you know, inside my head...that's normal, right?) and then share a printable with you.

A really cute printable.  Of course I'm biased, but I promise, it's cute.

Right now I'm picturing a few things...

Bulletin Board

We have a two sided bulletin board (small vertical rectangles on each side of the chalkboard at the head of our primary room) and I think we're going to put a tree on one side and a temple on the other.

While sitting in the balcony at the General Primary Auxiliary Training earlier this year, I just knew I wanted to use a tree next year for our bulletin board and I knew it would work (okay, I felt a little inspired, so I hoped it would work).  And it does, perfectly.

The tree will represent our primary family.  As we spotlight each child and teacher throughout the year, we'll add their leaf to our tree.  I also want to somehow incorporate a picture of Christ, perhaps at the base of the tree because Christ should be our base, our foundation.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to physically make the temple right now, but I know how I want it to work.  I want to use the temple closest to us (which is the Ogden, Utah temple) as it will be when it's completed next year.  I also want to make it to fit our board, but then cut it apart into twelve pieces.  Each month, as we learn a new principle, we'll add a piece onto our temple.  We'll make it one step (or piece) closer to our goal of being worthy and ready to attend the temple every month.

The last thing I want to do is have the year theme as a central focus.  This year we talked about it in January, but I don't feel like we're keeping it as front and center as we could be.  Or should be.  I'm not sure how to execute this just yet, but I'm percolating (in other words, if you have an idea, I'd love to hear about it).

Spotlights

I love to focus our spotlights on the annual theme.  This year we've been talking about what each child feels Heavenly Father's plan is for them and how they know He loves them.  Next year, we're going to ask a bunch of family themed questions.  I don't have them nailed down yet (I'll post it here when I get it done), but they'll be along the lines of: What's your favorite family home evening?  What was your favorite family vacation?  What's your favorite family story?  What is your favorite thing to do as a family?

I might also go through the Sharing Time Outline to see if I can gear a few questions toward the monthly topics to make writing next years primary program a breeze.

Binder Covers

Now we've come to my printable.  I love my binder cover this year (it was a cute one I found on Sugardoodle), but I thought I'd try and make my own for next year. I love to play around on Photoshop and this gave me a great opportunity.

It's a little funny, I made the one above first and wasn't quite sure I liked it.  So, I moved things around and then ended up with this one.

(The beautiful temple I use in both versions are from Susan Fitch Illustration and Design, she is such a talented artist!)

After finishing the second one, I opened the first one back up and discovered I wasn't sure (again) which one I liked better.  They're very similar, but still different enough that I thought I'd put them both on here for you.

You can pick which you like best or even print both.  I was thinking, seeing as I have two complementary covers, I might as well use them.  Maybe one for Senior Primary and one for Junior.

I've got a few versions of each, the only difference being how the tag is labeled, one says Class (for the teachers) and one says Presidency (for, you know, the presidency).  I like to just stick the class on the binder (as opposed to the teachers names) so I don't have to print a new one if I lose a teacher.  On the flip side, I like to stick the presidency members name so we can tell our binders apart.  The third pdf leaves the tag blank in case you have a different preference.

Vertical Families Are Forever Primary Binder Covers
Horizontal Families Are Forever Primary Binder Covers

Have you made any plans yet?  Come across any fantastic ideas?  I'd LOVE to hear about them!

Leah

Check out my other printables here and here.  Plus, there are still a few more things I'm working on, so check back through December!