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Brave in Babylon

Daniel and his three friends lived far from home in a king’s palace, and they kept choosing God even when it was scary. This week your kids learn that Jesus will help them do what is right when it’s hard, that Heavenly Father wants them to care for their bodies and pray often, and that His Church is like a small stone that grows to fill the whole earth.

  • Week 46
  • 📅 Nov 9–15, 2026
  • 📖 Daniel 1–7
Start with Monday
Read it togetherDaniel 1–7 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOld Testament 2026, week 46

What your kids learn in class

Stories, verses and games for the week come from each child’s own Primary or youth lesson, so home matches Sunday.

Daily sparks

Five to ten minutes a day, Monday to Sunday. Grown-ups lead; kids act, play and answer. Where a step says to tap something, that’s in the Gospel Sparks app; on the web, use the “Play along” links.

Monday · 10 min · Story

The Three Who Would Not Bow

🔥 Stand tall! Don’t bow to the golden statue!Crowd: bow when the music plays.Friends: stand strong!Sniff test: no smoke!

📖 Read together: Daniel 3 ↗

  1. Pick the three friends (one per kid, or stuffed animals can fill in). Everyone else, parents too, is the king’s crowd.
  2. Tap Story and read each scene out loud. When the music plays (hum, or bang a pot!), the crowd bows. The three friends stand strong.
  3. At the furnace scene, wave red and orange shirts or towels around the friends like flames.
  4. At the scene with four people in the fire, everyone gasps. Say: “God sent help to be with them in the fire.” The friends walk out, and everyone sniffs them: not even a smell of smoke!
  5. SAY“They didn’t know if God would save them, but they chose Him anyway. That’s real courage.”

🎭 Play along: the story scenes (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Why wouldn’t the three friends bow down?
  • When is it hard for you to choose the right?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be the royal band, banging a pot with a spoon every time it’s time to bow.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have your older kid read Daniel 3:16–18 aloud as the three friends’ brave answer to the king.
🧑 Teens (14–18)While a younger sibling reads the friends’ answer, ask your teen to read Daniel 3:24–28 and explain what changed in the king and why. Then talk about “But if not”: is it harder to believe God will rescue you, or to stay true if He doesn’t?
☕️ For grown-upsShadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego didn’t know how the story would end when they said “But if not” (Daniel 3:18). Their faith rested on God, not on a particular outcome. Is any part of your faith waiting on a specific answer, and could you let it rest on Him instead?

Sticker for today: 🔥

Tuesday · 8 min · Verse

The Don’t-Bow Challenge

🧍 Stand tall! Can anyone make you bow?Stand like a statue.Hear the silly offers.Answer with the verse!

📖 Read together: Daniel 3:16–18 ↗

  1. Tap Key Verse and read Daniel 3:17–18 together. Say: “‘But if not’ means ‘even if God doesn’t rescue us, we will still choose Him.’”
  2. Kids stand tall like the three friends. Parents are the royal court and try to get them to bow with silly offers: “Bow and you get a million cookies!” “Bow and you never have to clean your room again!”
  3. Kids stay standing tall and answer each offer by saying the verse together.
  4. Anyone who giggles has to start the verse over.
  5. SAY“Sometimes people try to get us to do things we know are wrong. We can stand tall like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and Jesus will help us.”

📖 Play along: the key verse (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • What does “but if not” mean?
  • What might someone try to get you to do that you know is wrong?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one stand on a cushion like a tall tower and say “No bowing!” every time.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have older kids take a turn as the royal court with real-life temptations kids face, then talk about brave answers.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Flip it for your teen: they stand alone while everyone else, parents included, bows and pressures them with realistic offers (go along with the group chat, skip church for the big game). Afterward ask what made it easier or harder to stay standing, and who helps them stand in real life.
☕️ For grown-upsAdults face golden images too, just quieter ones: status, money, approval at work. Kids learn more from watching us decline those invitations than from our lectures. What’s one way you could stand tall this week where your kids can see it?

Sticker for today: 💪

Wednesday · 10 min · Activity

Daniel’s Taste Test

🥕 Blindfold taste test: be healthy like Daniel!Close your eyes.Taste the mystery bite.Guess what it is!

📖 Read together: Daniel 1:8–20 ↗

  1. Read Daniel 1:12–15 together. Say: “Daniel asked to eat vegetables and beans and drink water instead of the king’s food. After ten days, he and his friends were healthier than everyone else!”
  2. Set out 3–5 small bites of healthy food: carrot, beans, apple, cucumber, peas, a strawberry (skip anything someone is allergic to).
  3. Blindfold taste test: kids close their eyes or wear a sleep mask, taste each bite, and guess what it is.
  4. SAY“Heavenly Father gave us the Word of Wisdom to help us take care of our bodies. He promises health, wisdom, and strength when we live it (Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21).”
  5. Each kid picks one healthy food to eat more of this week.
Talk about it
  • What blessings did Daniel and his friends get?
  • What’s one way you can take care of your body?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one feed you the mystery bites while you guess, then switch.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have older kids compare Daniel 1:17, 20 with Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21 and list the blessings that match.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to read Daniel 1:8 and notice the order: Daniel “purposed in his heart” before the food was ever set in front of him. Talk about deciding ahead of time: which standards have they already settled, and which are they still deciding under pressure?
☕️ For grown-upsDaniel asked politely, proposed a ten-day test and worked with the official in charge of him (Daniel 1:11–14). Keeping standards doesn’t require being harsh or preachy. How do you want your kids to see you hold your standards around other people?

Sticker for today: 🥕

Thursday · 8 min · Game

Mystery Picture: Lion’s Roar

🦁 Roar when you guess the mystery picture!Answer a question.A tile disappears.Roar and guess!
  1. Tap Mystery Picture. A picture from Daniel’s stories is hiding behind the tiles.
  2. To remove a tile, a player answers a quick question: name a time Daniel chose the right, a way to take care of your body, or a place you can pray.
  3. Know the picture? Roar like a lion, then act it out!
  4. Play until everyone has guessed at least one picture.

🧩 Play along: Mystery Picture with this week’s words (from the CTR 8 lesson; pick your kid’s class above for theirs)

Talk about it
  • Which story from Daniel is your favorite?
  • Who was brave in Daniel’s stories, and how?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one tap the tiles and roar with you at every guess.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Older kids earn a bonus if they can find the chapter in Daniel where the picture belongs.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Make your teen the game master: they choose each player’s question and connect every picture to a chapter of Daniel, including Daniel 7:13–14, where Daniel sees “one like the Son of man” coming with the clouds. Ask them who that is.
☕️ For grown-upsJesus often called Himself “the Son of man,” a title that reaches back to Daniel 7:13–14, where one like the Son of man receives an everlasting kingdom. When He used it before the high priest, they understood exactly what He was claiming (Mark 14:61–64).

Sticker for today: 🦁

Friday · 8 min · Service

Rolling Stone Kindness

🪨 Grow the stone with every kind act!Make a tiny stone.Do a kind act.Add a layer. Watch it grow!

📖 Read together: Daniel 2:31–35, 44–45 ↗

  1. Read Daniel 2:34–35 together. Say: “In the king’s dream, a small stone rolled and grew until it filled the whole earth. Prophets teach that the stone is like the Church of Jesus Christ, which started small and keeps growing.”
  2. Make a tiny “stone” by scrunching a small piece of aluminum foil (or paper) into a ball.
  3. Every time someone does a kind act or chooses the right, they wrap another layer of foil around the stone.
  4. Start now: each kid does one quick kind act (help set the table, write a note, share a toy), then adds a layer.
  5. Keep it going all weekend. How big can your stone grow by Sunday night?
Talk about it
  • How did the Church start small and grow?
  • What kind act will you do to grow our stone?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one squish each new layer of foil on after a kind act, with lots of high fives.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have older kids read Daniel 2:44 and Doctrine and Covenants 65:2, and talk about how they can help the stone roll forward.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to read Daniel 2:44–45 and notice that the stone was cut out “without hands”: no person made it. Then ask how they help it roll forward (sharing what they believe, inviting a friend, family history, service) and let them add a layer for each real thing they do this weekend.
☕️ For grown-upsDaniel’s stone starts tiny and ends up filling the earth. The kingdom grows the same way in our homes: one family prayer, one kind act, one testimony at a time. It’s okay if your family’s part feels small; so did the stone.

Sticker for today: 🪨

Saturday · 7 min · Activity

Quiet Lions

🤫 Lions, hush! Daniel is praying.Roar and prowl!Daniel prays: freeze!Beat the quiet record.

📖 Read together: Daniel 6:10, 16–22 ↗

  1. Tell the story fast: Daniel kept praying three times a day even when it was against the law, so he was thrown to the lions. God sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths.
  2. Kids are hungry lions: roar and prowl! When a parent kneels to pray like Daniel, the lions must instantly lie down with their mouths shut.
  3. Tap Timer. How long can the lions stay perfectly still and quiet? Try to beat it each round.
  4. SAY“Tomorrow during the sacrament, we can be quiet lions too, thinking about Jesus.”
  5. Get Sunday-ready: set out clothes, shoes, and scriptures, and pick a spot by a window for tomorrow’s family prayer.

⏱️ Big Timer (in the Gospel Sparks app)

Talk about it
  • Why did Daniel keep praying even when it was dangerous?
  • What can you think about during the sacrament?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Let your little one be a lion cub who curls up in your lap when it’s time to be quiet.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Have older kids be the timekeeper and the angel who gently “shuts” each lion’s mouth with a tap on the nose.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen to read Daniel 6:4–10 and notice two things: Daniel’s enemies could find no fault in him except his faith, and he prayed “as he did aforetime.” Ask: which of their habits would still stand if it suddenly became costly?
☕️ For grown-upsDaniel didn’t start praying three times a day when the decree came; he simply didn’t stop (Daniel 6:10). Crises reveal habits more than they create them. What spiritual habit do you want firmly in place before your next hard season?

Sticker for today: 🤫

Sunday · 7 min · Sabbath

Brave Choices, Thankful Hearts

🙏 Share your brave choice and say thank you!Tell what you learned in Primary.How big is our stone?Pray together by a window.

📖 Read together: Daniel 6:10 ↗

  1. Ask: “What did you learn in Primary today? Which story did you hear?”
  2. Check your foil stone from Friday. How big did it get? Name the kind acts that made it grow.
  3. SAY“Daniel and his friends were brave because they knew God was with them. He’s with us too.”
  4. Each person shares one brave choice they made or saw this week, and one thing they’re grateful for.
  5. Share a short testimony that Heavenly Father hears our prayers, then kneel by a window for a family prayer.
Talk about it
  • What did you learn in Primary today?
  • What brave choice did you make this week?
🧸 Little ones (2–5)Help your little one fold their arms and say one thank-you in the family prayer.
📚 Big kids (10–13)Invite your older kid to offer the family prayer and share a time they felt Heavenly Father was with them.
🧑 Teens (14–18)Ask your teen what “Babylon” looks like for their generation, the pressures adults might not see, and really listen without fixing. Then invite them to share a time they felt Heavenly Father was with them in one of those moments.
☕️ For grown-upsDaniel and his friends were young when they were taken to Babylon, far from their parents (Daniel 1:3–4). The faith they carried there was faith they had brought from home. Today, thank Heavenly Father for the faith your kids already have and ask how to strengthen it while they’re still with you.

Sticker for today: 🙏

Family challenge

Brave Lion Tally

Draw a big lion on a paper and hang it on the fridge. Every time someone makes a brave choice this week (telling the truth, walking away from a bad show, standing up for a friend, praying when it’s hard), draw a line in the lion’s mane. Celebrate your brave lion on Sunday!

Parent Corner

Daniel and his friends were taken from Judah as young men and trained to serve the most powerful empire of their day. Babylon gave them new names, new food, a new education and constant pressure to blend in (Daniel 1:4–7). What stands out is how they stayed faithful. The dramatic stands came, but they grew out of quiet habits decided in advance: Daniel “purposed in his heart” about the king’s food (Daniel 1:8), prayed three times a day, and kept close to friends who shared his faith. When the furnace and the lions came, those habits held. The book also lifts our eyes beyond Babylon: every earthly kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream falls, but a stone cut out without hands becomes a kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44). Our children are growing up in their own Babylon. Our work is less to wall them off from it than to help them become Daniels within it.

  • Ponder: What small daily habits are we building now that our kids will still have when they face their own furnace, and which of them are we actually modeling?
  • Try this: Try Daniel’s pattern for one week: three short, deliberate prayers a day at set times (morning, midday and night), even if the midday one is thirty seconds in the car. Notice how it changes your days.

From general conference

“The Church is that prophesied latter-day kingdom, not created by man but set up by the God of heaven and rolling forth as a stone “cut out of the mountain without hands” to fill the earth.”

— Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “Why the Church,” October 2015

Share on Friday before you start the foil stone, after reading Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45.

Read the talk ↗

Dinner-table questions

  • Would you rather eat beans for ten days or give up screens for ten days?
  • What’s a brave choice a kid your age might have to make?
  • Where are some places you can pray?
  • If you were one of Daniel’s friends, what would you say to the king?
  • How do you know Heavenly Father is with you?

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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