The Brass Plates

Lehi had a dream from God about some special plates. God wanted Lehi to tell his sons Nephi, Sam, Laman and Lemuel to travel back to Jerusalem to get these special plates. Laman and Lemuel of course didn't want to do it because they thought it would be too hard. Nephi didn't complain and this made his father happy.
Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi went back to Jerusalem to get the plates from a man named Laban. (this would be a good time to talk about different metals and how these plates were made from BRASS) They didn't think it was a good idea for all them to go to Laban's house so the decided to cast lots. Laman was chosen to go and talk to Laban and went to his house to see about getting the brass plates. When Laman asked Laban for the plates, Laban got angry and said NO! Laban made Laman leave. Laman and Lemuel were done trying and wanted to go back home. Nephi decided it would be best to try again since God asked them to do this special job. Nephi knew these plates were sacred.
All the brothers went to Laban's house a second time. They offered Laban gold, silver and all sorts of precious things in exchange for the plates. Laban got angry again and his servants chased the brothers out of town, taking all their gold and silver away from them.
Laman and Lemuel were mad at Nephi and Sam for making them try again and started hitting them with a rod. Suddenly, an angel appeared to Laman and Lemual and told them not to hurt Nephi and Sam because they were following God's word. Before leaving, the angel told the brothers if they tried one more time to get the plates, it would work.
Even though they had just spoken with an angel, Laman and Lemuel complained again, but decided to go ahead and try one more time with Nephi and Sam. When it had gotten dark, Nephi went into the city and told his brothers to wait for him on the outside.
Being very brave, Nephi went by himself to get the brass plates. When he got near Labans house he saw him, laying on the ground. Nephi took Laban's sword and chopped Laban's head off! Next, Nephi decided to pretend to be Laban and dressed up in Laban's clothes. One of Laban's servants named Zoram didn't realize the man in Laban's clothes was really Nephi. Nephi asked Zoram to take him to the brass plates and he did. With the brass plates in Nephi's hands, Zoram followed Nephi out of the city.
When Nephi's brothers saw him they were afraid because they thought he was Laban. Nephi called out to his brothers to tell him it was safe. Suddenly, Zoram realized Nephi was not really Laban and started to run away. Nephi took ahold of Zoram and told him not to be afraid and that he needed to go back to the wilderness with the brothers. Zoram promised to go with the brothers.

James' Brass Plates

We just covered cardboard with foil and tapped the back. They were "written" with the back of a paintbrush...but had to be very careful as it ripped easily.

Andrew and James painted some brass plates. We mixed up food coloring and water and literally used paintbrushes to paint our "plates". They seemed to really like this and it's and inexpensive craft they will remember!

Just like Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi did to see who was going to talk to Laban first, James and Andrew played CASTING LOTS to see who was going to do a task for me. (I just had whoever got the shortest crayon get me a book)

Not really sure what else to include with this picture, but have been thinking about things kids could cast lots for: doing the dishes, who gets to ride in the front seat, who gets to say the prayer at meals, (these two boys always fight about who gets to say it so we always end up with two prayers!) maybe deciding on a snack...really there are endless possibilities.

There is a little play that goes with one of my books and these faces are from it. I'm going to try and make packets this week so I can get these extra little things to everyone! We just taped the face to colored paper and then attatched it all to a craft stick. The boys liked holding up each character while I read the short play.

We made a family to tree and compared it to the brass plates and how they held the records of families and why it was important to know these things. I told the boys to go and disquise themselves like Nephi did in Laban's clothing. This is what they came up with :)


Got this idea from one of the books and was able to just use Word to create my own personal PROMISE SHEET. Makes the kids accountable for something just like God made the brothers accountable for getting the plates.

The boys did such a good job with so many projects I printed out a TRYING HARD LIKE NEPHI award. They were pretty proud to have it. It will also be a good reminder when they don't want to do something because all I will have to say is..."Don't you want to try hard like NEPHI?"

One more thing, the boys were eating lunch and asked for some water. I just flipped up the faucet and filled up the cups. Andrew says...hey, this doesn't even have ice in it!!! Due to me thinking it is absurd for a child to HAVE to have ice in water said, "do you think Nephi got to have ice in HIS water?" The answer was NO and from that point on, when the boys got thirsty, I told them I was giving them NEPHI WATER. They thought it was way cool.

Questions:

What were Lehi's 4 sons names?

What happened when Laman and Lemuel were hitting Nephi and Sam with a rod?

Why did the 4 brothers go back to Jeruselum?

How did Nephi kill Laban?

What does casting lots mean? How do you do it?

Who was Zoram?

Do you think the brothers were afraid to go on such a dangerous mission?