Families are Important

Cousins with their Grandpa

My husband and I both have big families and many of them don't live nearby so our children rarely see them and have a hard time remembering them. I decided to make a picture album with a picture of each family.

After I made this album we showed it to our children for FHE and emphasized the importance of our families. We talked about how important it is to help each other out and pray for each other (among other things). We talked about how we are sealed together as a family and can be together always. We then went through the photo album and looked at each family and named everyone off. We tried to talk about past experiences with certain cousins and/or aunts and uncles so that our children would better recognize and remember them.

We now keep the photo album in our living room for our children to look at. We look at it on occasion and go over everyone with our children. Our kids have a lot of fun looking at it. We also try to send home made birthday cards to family members when it is their birthday. When doing this we refer to our photo album so my kids have a better understanding of who they are making the card for.

Song Ideas: A Happy Family, Families can Be Together Forever

Families are Important

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

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

Angels

Opening Song: An Angel Came to Joseph Smith

I used pictures in the Gospel Art Book to teach what angels are. The definition I used was from the Bible Dictionary: "Angels are messengers of the Lord."

Page 28: The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary

Page 31: The Angel Appears to the Shepherds

Page 62: The Ascension of Jesus

Page 77: Conversion of Alma the Younger

Page 91: Moroni Appears to Joseph Smith in his room

Page 66: The Second Coming

I had my daughter point out the angel in each picture and then told her what was going on in the picture. For #91, we also discussed how that relates to Angel Moroni on the temple. For the last picture, we talked about the difference between Jesus and angels. (This was the motivation for the lesson, my daughter was confused on who everyone was in that picture.) I closed with my testimony of how though we will probably never see an angel, I know they are messengers from God.

Angels

I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me

Topic:
We should say "I am sorry" when we make mistakes and "I'm sorry, please forgive me" when we do something wrong purposefully.

Scriptures:
James 5:16
3 Nephi 12:23-24

Materials:
Scriptures
Children's Songbook
Four pieces of paper
Picture of Jesus
Pictures of people (optional)

Song Suggestion:
I'm Trying to be like Jesus (Children's Songbook, 78-79)

Lesson:
Show picture of Jesus. Jesus wants us and others to be happy. He has taught us some ways to make ourselves and others happy. One of these ways is to say we are sorry and to ask for forgiveness.

Whenever we make a mistake we should say we are sorry. Whenever we do something wrong purposefully, we should say we are sorry and then ask for forgiveness from the person we wronged (this second idea is just a suggestion).

When we say these kind words to others we make ourselves and others feel happy. Have everyone repeat after you, "I'm sorry and if you want, "I'm sorry, please forgive me". Emphasize that there is no reason to feel embarrassed to say "I'm sorry". We are a bigger person for doing this and should feel proud not ashamed.

Next you can tell of a story in the scriptures where someone did something wrong, felt bad about what they did, apologized, and then were happy. You could also tell of a personal experience where this happened.

Activity Ideas:
Gather four pieces of paper. On one piece draw a smiley face, on another draw a frown, on another piece write "I'm sorry" and on the last piece write "Please forgive me". Depending on your number of children old enough to participate either give all the pieces of paper to one child, or hand them out to different children. Tell of some stories of people making mistakes or doing something purposefully wrong (show pictures of people if desired). When you get to the sad part where someone does something wrong, have the child with the frown hold it up. When you get to the happy part, have the child hold up the happy face. Continue from there with the other pieces of paper.

Have your children act out different situations where someone makes a mistake or does something wrong making sure that they say the words "I'm sorry" and "Please forgive me" where appropriate. Discuss how they would feel (sad/happy) if these situations really happened to them.

Weekly Challenge:
Challenge your children to say "I'm sorry" and "Please forgive me" when appropriate this week.

I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me

I Have a Family that Loves Me

Recently my husband and I thought it was a good idea to teach our oldest (I can say that now that I have two children :) what his last name one. We thought it would be a good idea in case he ever got lost somewhere or something like that. In the process, we started to teach him that mom and dad have the same last name as well as one set of his grandparents. We then taught him that his other set of grandparents had another last name. This is pretty simple for an older child to understand, but for a two year old it can get a bit confusing. We decided a FHE lesson on families might help explain things to him.

First we drew a picture of a family. We showed him a mommy and daddy and some brothers and sisters. We named off these people explaining their relationships to each other (brother, sister, daughter, son etc). We then went around our family and named everyone and talked about their relationship to each other. This talk can of course be adjusted to fit any type of family. If my son was older I would probably have gone into more detail about how some families have step parents etc. But this would probably have confused him out of his mind at the age of 2.

After talking about family member relationships we talked about how families love each other. We then went around and told everyone that we loved them. We would have given hugs too except my toddler is anti-hugs much of the time :)

I Have a Family that Loves Me

Resources for Enhancing your FHE Lesson

If you are looking for a way to enhance your lesson or activity I found this resource through The Friend website.

They have an activities archive where it has a list of different coloring pages, activity pages, flannel board art, hidden pictures, etc. They are listed according to topic and have quite a few. You do have to be careful if you think your activity might be a two page activity. I have found some that are missing the second page. Sometimes by looking at the link though, you can figure out the year and month that the activity was originally included in The Friend and get the second page.

You can get to the archive by going directly to http://www.friend.lds.org/ and on the right hand side you'll see the link or you can click on this link here to go straight to it.

Below the link to the activities archive is an archive of Friend stories by topic. This way if you need story for your child for a specific topic you can look one up there.

Resources for Enhancing your FHE Lesson

Music

Music is a great FHE tool. Here are some of my favorite ways to use music in FHE:

• You can use choose an opening song to help introduce the topic you are going to talk about. For example, Our Bishop if you are going to talk about the bishop and Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime? if you are going to teach about seasons.
• You can use a fun song to help catch children's attention (songs with actions are a great choice). See Section Below.
• You can choose a song to base your lesson around. Baptism is a great example of a song that you could base your lesson around. You could have your children listen closely while you sing the song and then quiz them on it. You could also go over each section of the song explaining what it means. A Prayer Song and I Pray In Faith are other great examples of songs to base your lesson around.

Since the oldest child in my family is 2, many of the songs we sing are action songs that often don't go along with the lesson. Sure, lesson specific songs are great, but a two year old is much more interested if he has 1)heard the song before and 2) there are fun actions with the song. It is hard enough to keep him interested in FHE as it is!

We also often sing the same song at the beginning and end of the lesson. This is especially true if it is a song we are singing for the first time. We find that it helps our son remember the song (and actions) better.

Some Songs from the Children Songbook that are easy to add actions to:
*Once There Was a Snowman
*A Prayer Song
*Popcorn Popping
*Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
*Faith
*Book of Mormon Stories
*Love One Another
*I Am Like a Star
*Daddy's Homecoming
*My Heavenly Father Loves Me
*Saturday
*Falling Snow
*If You're Happy
*Smiles
*Two Little Eyes
*I Have Two Ears
*Two Happy Feet
*I Wiggle
*My Hands
*Roll Your Hands
*Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
*To Get Quiet
*Do As I'm Doing
*Hinges
*Stand Up
*Oh, How We Love to Stand
*The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

Here's a list of suggested songs for Nursery from LDS.org

Music

Temples

Opening Song: I Love to See the Temple

Display pictures of temples from the Gospel Art Kit, framed pictures from around your home, and maybe a wedding picture.

Show each picture to the children. With each picture explain that this is a temple and have them say "temple". Also mention an characteristic of temples with each picture. For example, house of God, peaceful place, where we can feel the Spirit, a place where we help others, etc.

Explain that Mommy and Daddy were married in the temple and that means our family can be together forever. Share your hope that they will each be married in the temple too.

Close with your testimony of temples.

Temples

If Ye Are Prepared...

"If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear" (D&C 38:30).

President Hinckley has warned of possible disasters
and has counseled members to prepare:
“There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to
which we had better give heed. . . . No one
knows when emergencies will strike. . . . Set
your houses in order. If you have paid your
debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be
small, then should storms howl about your
head, you will have shelter for your wives and
children and peace in your hearts. That’s all I
have to say about it, but I wish to say it with
all the emphasis of which I am capable” (in
Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 70–72; or
Ensign, Nov. 1998, 53–54).*

My family always uses Conference time to rotate our 72 hour kits. We have a family night where we pull out the kits, rotate the food, and put in better-fitting clothes that are more suitable for the weather. For example, in the Spring, we take out the cold-weather clothes, and put in warm-weather clothes and vice versa in the Fall. We replace the water and the food. It's also fun to have the food as a snack for Family Home Evening.
We also like to check our smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors, make sure our doors and windows are properly secured, and go over evacuation and life-saving procedures. Be aware that disaster could strike at any time anywhere. It would be ideal if the family were together during such a disaster, but if some are at school or work, be sure to form a plan as to how you would meet up with each other. Be sure the children know their emergency contacts and have a meeting place decided if there is a fire or the area needs to be evacuated.

Heavenly Father has promised us many times that if we do all we can, He will make up the rest. If we follow the Prophet's council to keep our home in order, and we prepare "every needful thing" (D&C 88:119), we are assured that He will make up for that which we cannot prepared for. After all the natural disasters that have been happening recently, it is daunting to think of all the horrible things that could happen. That is why I take comfort in this scripture, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." I can rest easy knowing that I have done all I can to prepare for the unexpected.

*Review:
http://www.providentliving.org/pdf/English_TrainerResource_37058.pdf

If Ye Are Prepared...

Giving Thanks to Heavenly Father

Topic:
We should express thanks to God for all the many things he gives us.

Preparation:
With older children you can have them find pictures of things they are thankful for from the materials listed below. You can also have older children help you make round sugar cookies and frosting.

Materials:

• Scriptures
• Children's Song Book
• Pictures of things we are thankful for. These can be pictures from the gospel art kit/book, primary visual aids cutouts, church magazines etc. You can also find pictures in the LDS image library.
• Sugar cookies and frosting (optional)

Song Suggestions:

• Thanks to Our Father (Children's Songbook, 20)
• A Song of Thanks (Children's Songbook, 20)
• For Health and Strength (Children's Songbook, 21)
• I Thank Thee, Dear Father verse 1 (Children's Songbook, 7)

Scripture:
D&C 59:7 ("Thou Shalt Thank the Lord they God in all things")

Lesson:
Tell your child(ren) that Heavenly Father has given us many blessings. Show the pictures you have gathered beforehand of things that we are thankful for. Have each member of the family take turns looking at a picture and saying what it is. Mention that all these pictures show things that Heavenly Father has given us. We can show our love for Him by saying "thank you". We often say "thank you" to Him in prayer.

Activity Ideas:
1) Remind your child(ren) that Heavenly Father has given us our bodies. Have your child(ren) stand and do the following activity verse with you. Do actions with the words.
Touch your eyes, touch your nose,
Touch your ears, touch your toes
Stretch your hands way up high,
Even higher, toward the sky.
Put your hands on your hair.
Sit down quietly on your chair.

2) Have your child(ren) stand and repeat and follow after you as you point to different body parts and say that you are thankful for them.

3) Have your child(ren) color a picture of something they are thankful for.

4) Walk around your house and have your child(ren) point out things they are thankful for.

Closing Remarks:
With younger children, have them practice saying "thank you". With older children remind them
the importance of saying thank you to Heavenly Father. Share your feelings of gratitude for Heavenly Father and Jesus and how you are so thankful for all that they have given you. Encourage your children to try to remember to say thank you for the things that we have when praying the next week.

Treat Time: Decorate a round sugar cookie to look like a face. While doing this, point out to your child(ren) that Heavenly Father gave us our faces and bodies and that we should be thankful for them.

Giving Thanks to Heavenly Father

The Life of Jesus Christ

Objective:

To help your children learn the basics about the life of Jesus Christ

Prep:

Prepare the booklet The Story of Jesus Christ (Go to page 30 of the magazine). Some of this could be completed as part of the activity, but you will need to print it out and have it all ready with the necessary supplies.

Materials:

• Picture of Jesus Christ
• Scriptures
• Printed booklet
• scissors
• cardstock
• hole punch
• yarn

Song Suggestions:

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus (Children's Songbook, 55), Jesus Once Was a Little Child (CSB, 53), Or any other song about the Savior's life

Lesson:

1. Show your children a picture of Jesus Christ. Ask, "Who is this? What do you know about Him?" Talk through their responses. If you have older children, write down what they know. For babies, just tell them that this is Jesus Christ.
2. Tell them that you are going to read this short book about Jesus Christ. If you have already prepared the booklet, hand it to your child and help them look at the pictures while you read it. If you are preparing the booklet for your activity, show them the pictures and read it.
3. Explain words they may not understand (ie. crucified)
4. Talk about Jesus and bear your testimony.

Activity Ideas:

Your activity could be putting together the book (this works better for the older kids), or you could do something to help your child learn to recognize the Savior. You can play a Jesus Scavenger hunt where you put pictures of Jesus around the house and your child(ren) find them. You can also looked through the Gospel Art book and found pictures of the Savior, and referenced them to pictures in the booklet. You can read other age appropriate books about the Savior.

Adaptations:

This lesson is geared mainly towards the toddler and preschoolers. For babies, just show them the pictures in the booket and read it to them. Constantly point and say, "This is Jesus." If you have older children, you can have them look up the scripture references in the booklet, or go more into depth about the life of the Savior.

The Story of Jesus Christ is found in the March 2008 Friend magazine, page 30.

The Life of Jesus Christ