October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Hutch U. Fale › Children

30-minute lesson · Children · Ages 3–11: Primary or home

Heavenly Father Loves Me Always

From “I Am a Child of God,” by Elder Hutch U. Fale · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

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The big idea

I am a child of God, and He loves me.

Objective

Children will be able to say, I am a child of God and He loves me, and will choose to say it in their prayers this week.

Before you teach

  • Read the baby-picture story in Elder Fale's talk so you can tell it in a few simple sentences.
  • Bring a picture of a baby (from a Church magazine, the Gospel Library, or one you draw) and a picture of Jesus Christ.
  • Bring a flashlight, a soft ball, plain paper, and crayons.
  • Before class, draw a large heart on a sheet of paper for each child.
  • Write on the board or a paper: I am a child of God, and He loves me.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 7 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

3 min0–3

Sing and say

  1. Sing the first verse of “I Am a Child of God” together and invite a child to pray.
  2. Teach today's truth with actions: I am a child of God (point to yourself, then point up), and He loves me (hug yourself).
  3. Say it together three times: in a big voice, in a small voice, then in a whisper.
5 min3–8

The baby picture

  1. Show the picture of the baby. Ask the first question below. Let the children answer and show you with actions: sleep, cry, wiggle.
  2. Ask: Can a baby sweep the floor? Carry a heavy box? Read a book? Let them answer No each time.
  3. Tell the story: Elder Fale is a leader in the Church. One day he showed his children pictures of themselves as tiny babies. He told them how much he and their mother loved them on the day they were born. He asked what they had done to earn that love. They said, Nothing. He told them they were right. They did not earn it, and they cannot lose it.
  4. Tell them the most important part: Elder Fale said Heavenly Father loves us even more than that. Say the truth together with the actions.
Ask
  • What can a tiny baby do?
  • Did Elder Fale's children have to do something special first to be loved?
5 min8–13

Before, today, tomorrow

  1. Have the children stand in a line across the room. Name one side of the room Before, the middle Today, and the other side Tomorrow.
  2. Dim the lights if you can. Hold the flashlight and tell them the light is like Heavenly Father's love. Lead the children to the Before side and shine the light on the wall there. Say: Heavenly Father loved you before you were born.
  3. Tiptoe together to the middle and shine the light there. Say: He loves you today. March to the other side and shine it there. Say: He will love you tomorrow.
  4. Do it once more, faster, and let the children say the three sentences with you. Let a child hold the flashlight this time.
  5. Sit down and ask the question below.
Ask
  • Is there any day when Heavenly Father does not love you?
5 min13–18

Heavenly Father sent Jesus

  1. Show the picture of Jesus Christ. Open your scriptures to John 3:16 and tell the children these are the words Elder Fale read when he was a young boy: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”
  2. Explain in simple words: Heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent Jesus to help us come back home to Him.
  3. Tell them Jesus taught us how to pray, and He taught us to call Heavenly Father our Father. Have the children fold their arms and practice the first words of a prayer together: Dear Heavenly Father.
  4. Sing “My Heavenly Father Loves Me.”
Ask
  • How do you know Heavenly Father loves you?
7 min18–25

Draw me in the heart

  1. Give each child a paper with a heart and some crayons. Invite them to draw themselves inside the heart.
  2. Help them write or trace across the top: I am a child of God.
  3. While they draw, walk around and say to each child by name: You are a child of God, and He loves you.
  4. When most are finished, ask the question below. Then invite them to add one more person inside the heart, someone they can be kind to this week.
Ask
  • Who else is a child of God? (Everyone.)
3 min25–28

No one left out

  1. Sit in a circle on the floor. Tell the children Elder Fale taught that when we know God loves everyone, we make sure no one is left alone.
  2. Roll the ball to one child and say: (Name) is a child of God. That child rolls it to someone who has not had a turn, and everyone says the sentence with the new name.
  3. Keep going until every child, and every teacher, has had the ball. Point out that no one was left out.
2 min28–30

Remember and do

  1. Stand and say the truth one more time with the actions.
  2. Tell the children in a sentence or two that you know they are children of God and that He loves them.
  3. Invite them to say, I am a child of God, to Heavenly Father when they pray tonight, and to put their drawing where they will see it. Tell them you will ask next week who remembered.

Key passages from the talk

“I am a child of God and He loves me.”

Elder Fale’s talk, paragraph 1

“You did not earn it; you cannot lose it. It is yours forever.”

Elder Fale’s talk, paragraph 6

“He loved you before you were born, He loves you today, and He will love you tomorrow.”

Elder Fale’s talk, paragraph 7

Scriptures

  • John 3:16 Open to it and read the first part aloud, as quoted in the talk, while showing a picture of Jesus. Explain that Heavenly Father sent Jesus because He loves us.
  • Matthew 6:9–13 Show the children verse 9, where Jesus taught us to call Heavenly Father our Father, then practice the first words of a prayer. An older child can read the verse.

Other voices that agree

“knowing everything about you does not make Him love you less”

Sister Muñoz Spannaus · God Is at Your Side, paragraph 5

Three things to remember

  • I am a child of God.
  • Heavenly Father loves me always.
  • Everyone is a child of God, so I can be kind.

Ways to act this week

  • When you pray tonight, tell Heavenly Father: I am Thy child. Thank Him for loving you.
  • Put your heart drawing by your bed and say the truth each morning.
  • Find someone who is alone and invite them to play or sit with you.

Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.

Music

  • I Am a Child of God
  • My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Keep each part short and repeat the truth with actions after every activity. Tell the baby story in three sentences. Let helpers hold the flashlight and the pictures. If drawing is hard, let children color the heart and place a hand inside it while you say their name and the truth. Sing the song a second time if they get restless.
  • Ages 8–11. Have a child read John 3:16 and Matthew 6:9 aloud, and let one lead the flashlight walk and another lead the ball game. Ask a harder question: If Heavenly Father loves us no matter what, why does He still ask us to follow Jesus and keep our promises to Him? Help them see that because He loves us, He gave us the Savior and the way back home to Him. You may read Sister Muñoz Spannaus's words in the aligned quote and ask how it feels to know that. Have them write on the back of the drawing one way to make sure no one is alone this week.

This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.