A Come Follow Me flipchart is one of those simple teaching tools that quietly does a lot of heavy lifting. It is a stack of illustrated pages, usually bound with rings or a spiral, that a teacher or parent flips through one page at a time while telling a scripture story, teaching a principle, or leading a song. Because each page carries a single image and only a few words, it keeps young learners anchored to the lesson instead of drifting toward the wiggles.
If you have ever tried to hold a manual, point at a picture, and keep a four-year-old engaged at the same time, you already understand the appeal. A flipchart solves the logistics problem so you can focus on the message. This guide walks through what flipcharts are, how they fit the Come Follow Me curriculum, how to pick or build the right one, and how to use them across Primary, nursery, and family study at home.
What a Come Follow Me Flipchart Actually Is
At its core, a flipchart is a low-tech visual aid. Each page presents one idea, usually as a large illustration paired with a short line of text. The teacher flips the page at the right moment in the lesson, and the change of image becomes a natural cue that something new is happening. That rhythm helps children follow a narrative from beginning to end without needing to read anything themselves.
Most Come Follow Me flipcharts are designed to match the current year of study, whether the family is working through the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, or the Doctrine and Covenants. Some are built around a specific lesson or scripture block, while others cover an entire song, a holiday message, or a set of weekly themes. The best ones stay deliberately simple, because the goal is comprehension, not decoration.
How Flipcharts Support the Come Follow Me Curriculum
The Come Follow Me program is built on the idea that gospel learning happens most effectively in the home, with Sunday meetings reinforcing what families studied during the week. That model only works if parents feel equipped to teach. A flipchart lowers the barrier considerably, because it hands a parent a ready-made visual script that can be used in ten minutes at the dinner table or during a quiet moment before bed.
Flipcharts also make it easier to revisit material. A child who saw the pages once during family study might ask to look through them again during the week, which turns a single lesson into repetition without boredom. Repetition is exactly how young children internalize scripture stories, so a tool that invites repeat use is doing real work in the home.
Why Visual Learning Works for Young Children
Children under eight absorb information primarily through what they see and touch, not through abstract explanation. When a teacher says that Nephi was courageous, the word may mean very little. When a child sees a picture of a young man stepping forward in faith while hearing the word "courageous," the concept attaches itself to something concrete. A flipchart delivers that pairing page after page.
Sequencing matters as much as imagery. Seeing pages flip in order teaches the structure of a story, which is a foundational literacy skill as well as a gospel one. That is why flipcharts show up so often in Primary singing time, where children learn lyrics by associating each phrase with a picture they can point to.
Choosing the Right Flipchart for Your Needs
There is no shortage of options. You can buy a professionally illustrated printable, download a free set from a blog, or build your own with images from the Church's media library and a stack of cardstock. Each route has trade-offs in cost, time, and how closely it fits your specific lesson or song.
Before you purchase or start cutting paper, think about your audience and setting. A nursery class of eighteen-month-olds needs bigger images and fewer pages than a group of nine-year-olds preparing a talk. A flipchart that will be laminated and reused for years deserves a higher upfront investment than one printed for a single Sunday.
Printed Versus Digital Flipcharts
Printed flipcharts are the classic version: cardstock pages, a hole punch, and two binder rings. They survive being handled by children, they never run out of battery, and they can be passed around a room. Laminating the pages extends their life considerably, and storing them in a labeled folder or gallon bag keeps sets organized by topic or year.
Digital flipcharts, presented as slides on a tablet or projected on a screen, are easier to store and revise, and they work well in larger classrooms or for remote teaching. They are less effective for hands-on use, though, since a child cannot hold a page or turn it. Many teachers keep both: digital for large groups, printed for small ones.
Designing Your Own Flipchart Step by Step
Start by writing out the story or song in short phrases, one per page. Aim for eight to twelve pages for young children and up to twenty for older ones. Then find an image for each phrase, ideally something clean and uncluttered where the main subject is obvious at a glance. Large text, no more than a few words per page, keeps attention on the picture rather than the paragraph.
Once the content is set, print on heavy cardstock, trim to a consistent size, and punch two holes along one edge. Binder rings let pages flip smoothly and allow you to reorder them later. If you plan to reuse the set, laminate before punching, and consider rounding the corners so pages do not catch as they turn.
- Keep one clear focal point per page.
- Use consistent fonts and image styles throughout.
- Number the pages lightly in a corner for easy reassembly.
- Leave a small margin so nothing is lost when trimming or binding.
Putting Your Flipchart to Work in Real Settings
A flipchart is only as useful as the moment you use it. The same set of pages can serve a nursery lesson, a Primary class, a singing time activity, or a family devotional, but the delivery changes with the setting. Knowing those differences helps you get more out of a single download.
Timing matters too. Flipcharts work best when they accompany teaching rather than replace it. Pause on a page, ask a simple question, let a child point at something, then move on. Slowing down gives the images room to do their job.
Primary, Nursery, and Singing Time
In nursery, flipcharts are typically used for short scripture stories and for songs with repeated phrases. Children this age respond to being invited forward to hold a page or to turn it themselves, which turns a visual aid into a participation activity. Keep the pace unhurried and expect to repeat the same chart several weeks in a row.
In Primary and singing time, flipcharts help a group learn lyrics quickly. Leaders often display one page at a time and have the children sing the phrase before flipping. For older classes, the same pages can prompt discussion questions or help children retell a scripture account in their own words after the lesson.
Family Study and Personal Use at Home
At home, a flipchart fits neatly into a ten-minute Come Follow Me lesson after dinner. One parent reads the short line on each page while children look at the picture, and a brief question or two follows. The whole chart can be finished before attention runs out, which is the point.
Flipcharts also travel well. They slip into a church bag, a car console, or a suitcase for a road trip, and they give children something constructive to do during quiet moments. Some families keep a small collection by topic so a child can choose the story they want to hear, which gives them a sense of ownership over family scripture time.
Whether you buy, download, or make your own, the real value of a Come Follow Me flipchart shows up in the moments it creates: a child pointing at a picture and retelling a story in their own words, a class that finally remembers the second verse, a quiet evening where the lesson actually happened. Start with one set for the lesson or song you teach most often, see how it lands, and build from there. Chances are the pages will be worn thin long before your enthusiasm is.