Prioritizing Things that Matter Most

This lesson stems from Elder Dallin H. Oaks conference address "Good, Better, Best," , October 7, 2007 found here.

Another good reference is Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most," during the October 2, 2010 found here.

 Goal: To teach children the importance of doing the things that matter most first.
Things needed for object lesson:
-Jar or see-through container of some sort
-a few larger objects like pink pong balls, rocks, tennis balls -depending on the size of your container
-Lots of little items to fill space such as dry rice, dry beans ect.


There are so many things to do in our day to day that sometimes we forget to do the things that matter most. Discuss with your children the most important things we do each day. Some answers may include: pray, scriptures, journal, family time, family meals, ect.

Then you can discuss some other less important activities that can be done each day.

There is an "oldie but goodie" object lesson that works really well. Take your jar and list with the kids the non-important things we can do each day that fill our time. Pour the smaller objects into the jar. Then talk about the important things we should be doing each day and try to then put the larger objects in. They do not fit! Then do this activity the other way around. Putting in the most important things first, then the lesser important, and they all fit perfect!

Teach the children that when we do the things we should each day, our Heavenly Father will help us make time for everything else. If you want you can write on your golf balls (or other objects) what the most important things are, then leave the jar somewhere where people can see it throughout the week.

Quotes that go along with this from Elder Oaks talk are:
"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all."

Prioritizing Things that Matter Most

Setting Goals

Image source

Setting goals (and meeting them) is an important part of life, and something people naturally tend to do around this time of year. Well, the setting, maybe not the meeting ;).

For family home evening last night, we all thought of something we wanted to improve on. We had our two older children think of something on their own. Our five year old decided he wants to be nicer to people. Our three year old decided she wants to stay in her bed at nap time (hurray!--we have been struggling with this for a few days). My husband and I decided we want to do better about taking time to play with the children.

Having the child think of a goal to strive toward on their own gives them some ownership and some sort of desire to meet the goal. We have decided to make a picture representing their goal and put it on the bathroom mirror to remind them of it. We will see how the "meeting goals" portion of the goal setting and meeting task goes :)

I think it is also valuable to tell your children of your own goals. They can then watch you work toward and hopefully meet that goal. It will be a great example to them and help them really learn how the process works.

Setting Goals