I am thankful for the earth

For FHE a couple months ago my family decided to go up the canyon to take a look at nature. We brought dinner and had a picnic and then after dinner went on a hike. 

During the hike we talked about all the beautiful things we saw and how Heavenly Father made everything on the earth. We emphasized how we need to try to be thankful for everything he has given us. We had our three year old point out all the things he could see in nature. He got really into it and was super excited as he walked by and pointed out every tree and rock and bush. We had him try to figure out what his favorite thing in nature was. It also started to rain which was another learning opportunity for our kids. Being in Utah, it was raining and sunny at the same time...

Just the other day we did something similar to this but went to cascade springs and walked around. We once again talked about all the beautiful things in nature and how heavenly father made them for us. We encouraged our children to be thankful for all these things. Since the leaves were changing colors, we also gave a little lesson on the season fall.

Hiking with young children is very possible. We do it all the time, lasting several hours sometimes. All you need is a good  baby/toddler carrier and you are set!

I am thankful for the earth

Children Activities for General Conference

If you are looking for ways to keep your children busy and quiet during conference there is a great LDS link found here: http://lds.org/general-conference/children?lang=eng

It includes coloring pages and other sorts of activities to keep a child's mind conference oriented. Come... listen to a prophets voice!!

Children Activities for General Conference

Role Playing

An idea for Family Home Evening is to do some role playing. We all know of things our children need to work on. It could be sharing, it could be responding happily when given an instruction, responding to friends, etc. These things are most easily addressed in what you call "role-playing." This is also best at times of non-conflict. You don't teach about sharing while two children are fighting over a toy. 

You best teach before the child is in the situation. Our church teaching our youth with this idea all of the time. We implore our youth constantly to have a plan for situations (drugs, dating, parties, etc.). You respond best if you have a plan already in your head. 

We recently chose answering the door for our Family Home Evening Lesson. We have a couple of extremes in our house. If our son answers the door, you will be greeted in a not-very-friendly manner. If our oldest daughter answers the door, you will be asked to come in and relax. That is great unless a stranger comes by. 

We talked about what to do in each scenario (someone we know, someone we don't know, a friend, someone for mom, and so forth). We then practiced. We dressed up, knocked differently, and had a lot of fun with it.

You might be wondering what this has to do with Family Home Evening and church-related lessons. I think learning proper manners is a great thing to know for life and especially for missionary work--whether from home or out in the actual field. We sometimes expect children to just know things like social customs. Some are socially adept enough to figure it out, but others need help. I think even the adept children benefit from teaching (like my daughter and strangers). 

Role Playing

Quick and Simple Lesson Ideas

Sometimes the simplest lessons are the best...and the easiest when preparation time is tight!

• If you teach church, teach your children the same lesson on Monday that you taught on Sunday. If you are a primary teacher you might not need to make any adjustments to the lesson!
• Choose an article of faith to talk about and possibly memorize. You can also do a discussion of the articles of faith as a whole.
• Choose one of the commandments to talk about and memorize. You can also do a discussion of the commandments as a whole.
• Pick a favorite church song and talk about the words in it or learn a new church song that you can discuss as you learn it.

Quick and Simple Lesson Ideas

Being Honest

Something we’ve had to deal with in our home lately is honesty. We are trying to teach our 4yr-old the importance of telling the truth. So, we did this honesty family Home Evening the other night. I felt it was really important to stress that not only would she get in trouble by mom and dad if she lied, but that lie would make Hevenly Father very sad because He has asked us to be honest in all that we do. April’s issue of The Friend had some great resources for this lesson.

Read the story Niya's Choice from the April 2011 Friend.

Talk about the choice Niya had to make. What would have happened if Niya made the wrong choice? What happened because she was honest?

Give your children the Honesty Quiz from the same Friend.

Songs:
 I Believe in Being Honest - CSB#149
The Commandments - #112

Being Honest

Because I have Been Given Much

Opening Song: Hymn #219: Because I Have been Given Much

Scripture: Mosiah 2:17  And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

It is important for children to not only learn about service while they are young, but to actively take part in serving. Whether it be others in your immediate family, a neighbor, friend, relative or even a complete stranger, it is vital to their understanding it's importance. There are many ways you can encourage service. Here is one example we are working on currently in our little family.

In our neighborhood there is a family who is expecting their first child within a couple weeks. They are not currently active in the church. The husband has been out of work for at least two years, maybe longer. They have very little, especially considering the needs of a new baby.

As luck would have it, they are expecting a baby girl. We have two girls and have been blessed with much in way of clothing for our children. So, although we may not be able to help this family out monetarily we can give them some of our childrens clothing. For our FHE activity we went through our overflowing boxes and put together a couple large bags full of clothing. Although we have never met this couple, it gives us great joy and satisfaction know we can serve them. It is wonderful to be able to include our children in this service and to see how willing they are to give to those in need.

Because I have Been Given Much

Scriptures Stories

This is an idea my husband picked up from our Ward Conference back in February. This is seriously one of the best ways we have found to really teach the scripture story for Family Home Evening. Our kids are currently 5, 4, and 2.

You get a large sheet of paper and cover your table with it. My husband got this at a local copy shop. 

You then gather around the table and everyone has crayons. You choose a scripture story or scripture figure to talk about. My husband went with Nephi. 

My husband just started drawing a scene from one of his favorite stories of Nephi from the Book of Mormon. As he did so, he asked our oldest what he liked about Nephi. Our son's favorite is Nephi building a boat, so he drew a boat. The picture below is in the middle of the lesson; there are a lot of things to draw about Nephi. 

This was great. Kids listen while coloring. It gives you the chance to talk about the stories and the great things you learn from the stories, and it is all in a very casual way--it didn't feel forced at all. It gives kids a visual, and it also connects the learning with physical movement, which helps solidify learning.

I can see this being done for various holidays and celebrations. Maybe for the days leading up to the Ressurrection. Maybe during July as you talk about the Pioneers. Perhaps around Christmas and talking about Christ's life. 

This one is definitely a keeper!

Scriptures Stories

Tender Moment

Last night was one of those payoff moments you get in parenting and in diligently doing what you have been asked.

A couple of months ago, I shared how we started having our kids teach the lesson in a way they can prepare and give themselves (see http://fheforchildren.blogspot.com/2011/02/favorite-scripture-story.html). Last night, our five year old Brayden taught the lesson on Jonah and the Whale.

He did a super job--I was a bit shocked at how well he did. He has obviously been thinking about this since he last did it and has made major improvements.

But the best part was at the end. He turned to a picture of President Monson and quizzed his sisters on who it was. Then he bore his testimony! He told us that he knew President Monson was a true prophet. It brought tears to my eyes to hear my little boy spontaneously bear testimony. What a great blessing!

Tender Moment

Easter Week

The April 2011 Friend has a wonderful way to learn about what Jesus did during the 8 days leading up to Easter. You could read this all at once, or you could read them the 8 days leading up to Easter. To find it, go here.

Easter Week

Everyday is April Fools to Satan

Today is April Fool's Day... I am sure every kid knows about april fools and tries to come up with the best prank. I found this cute idea from pettiskirtsandmudpies blog and thought it was so clever! So, I'll share it with you.

FHE lesson....Satan is deceiving....

I was laying in bed thinking about April Fool's Day....which I love...
and I thought of a perfect Family Home Evening Lesson to go along with all the April Fool's pranks!

I started off with sponges....from the dollar store...and I cut circles...
I have to admit, my circles where far from perfect...but the kids did not notice!

I stacked them three high...and hot glued them so they would hold together.

I bought some gum, and wrapped it to look like a little purse, and wrote on the back...."Chews the right!"

I started the lesson off with a pack of gum that I had emptied, and replaced with white card stock, that had scripture references on them.

I asked them to take a piece of gum and pass it around!
They were so excited to be getting gum right in the beginning of FHE...

I was happy to see, that they were equally excited to have scripture references to look up! =)

We read 10 scriptures about how Satan wants to deceive us and lead us away from Christ!

They thought my false pack of gum was the punch line....so they were NOT prepared for my delicious looking mini layered cakes!

I also made cupcakes which I offered them. I tried to encourage them to take a cupcake, they know I make good cupcakes...but I have never made these mini cakes!
They could not resist the mini cakes!

They took their butter knifes and started to cut!

Brooke, being the oldest, and strongest, decided to take over the cutting!

OH! They were so excited to reach blue cake....they couldn't believe it...but they needed a sharper knife!

Chelsea could not wait any longer, she took her fork and dug in...taking a big chunk of sponge along with her butter cream frosting!

"YUCK!!!!"
"We've been tricked!!"

They understood perfectly what I was trying to teach them.
Satan will try to tempt us by creating a picture of joy...fun...excitement...and make the ways of Christ seem boring...ordinary...and plain!
We must be close to the spirit to recognize and avoid his cunning ways!

The truth of Satan's path is that once your in, you realize You've been tricked!!!

I ended the evening with the gum handouts...

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Isn't that a cute idea? I love it. Happy April Fools Day! Don't get tricked!

Everyday is April Fools to Satan