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

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

Friendship

My daughter is just getting into that age where I will find her speaking not-so-nice to her friends sometimes. I know from here, it only gets worse (especially with girls!). So, I thought it would be good to have a lesson on friends and how important and special they are but also how we should treat them.


Make a heart (perfect for Valentine’s Day!) with either the word FRIENDSHIP or a picture of friends on it. Underneath write the scripture: “A friend loveth at all times.” Proverbs 17:17. Attach 4 or 5 strings around the heart. On a corkboard (or something similar) use thumbtacks or tape to attach the strings and hang the heart up (don’t attach the heart itself).

Sing “Love one Another”

Ask the children who some of their friends are. Tell who some of yours are too. Ask them questions like what fun things do they do together, why they like them, ect. Ask them how they feel if their friends are mean to them. Explain that friendship is a great blessing Heavenly Father has given us and we need to treat it that way. Just like we don’t like when our friends are mean to us, we need to remember to act nice to them as well.

Activity: draw attention to the heart and strings. Explain that you are going to tell them some stories about different friends. (I have a few, but come up with some of your own that may be specific to your child)

1. Susan and Anna are playing together. Anna starts making fun of Susan. They start calling each other names and their friendship is broken. (Cut one of the strings)

2. Jimmy pushed Alan because he wanted to go first. The first push led to another and soon Alan and Jimmy were hitting and hurting each other. Another friendship is broken. (cut another string)

3. Milly had a bad of candy but wouldn’t share with Justin at all. After a bug argument over sharing and selfishness, Justin went home. Their friendship is hurt. (cut another string)

Continue sharing stories till only one string is left. Tell the kids that when we do mean and selfish things, we can lose or ruin friendships.
Discuss what things we can do to strengthen friendships and make them stronger. I wanted to teach my kids that they need to try and always be the person that will stand up for other people and be nice to everyone. Read the scripture on the heart and remind them that how we act towards others shows them how we feel about them.

Friendship

Kindness

Topic:
Being kind to others

Songs:
Jesus Said Love Everyone (CSB 59), Kindness Begins With Me (CSB 145), I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus (CSB 78), and many more

Materials:
Gosopel Art Book, page 44, picture of the parable of the Good Samaritan

Scripture:
Luke 10:25-37 (Story of the Good Samaritan)

Lesson:
Talk about how Jesus said to love everyone (goes well if you have sung Jesus Said Love Everyone first). Mention that in the scriptures Jesus teaches us with a parable (story) how to be kind to others. Depending on your child's age, read or tell the story of the Good Samaritan and show the picture from the Gospel Art Book. Talk about how Jesus wants us to be kind to other people.

Activity:
-Role play ways to be kind
-Do something kind for someone else (make and take cookies, write letters to missionaries/those who are sick, etc)
-Talk about how to be kind to siblings

Closing:
Sing another song about being kind and help them remember that Jesus wants us to be kind to everyone.

Kindness