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Tag: family home evening

  • Making Resolutions the Anti-Nephi-Lehi Way FHE

    Making Resolutions the Anti-Nephi-Lehi Way FHE

    Originally posted on YourLDSBlog
     
    Have you made resolution yet? It’s never too late to think about what you’d like to be better at, and put the bad habits behind you. This quick and easy Family Home Evening Idea can be done any time of the year. 
     
    I’m happy to say that just over a year later, and we’ve done pretty well with our buried resolutions. There has definitely been a change for the better in our home. 
    Making Resolutions the Anti-Nephi-Lehi way. Family Home Evening Idea.

    Making resolutions the Anti-Nephi-Lehi way

    What you’ll need
    craft sticks
    markers
    glass jar with lid

    Begin by telling the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies found in Alma 24. I love to dive into the scriptures with the kids, letting them hear the words and language to get familiar with it. With the young ones, though, sometimes reading 1-2 verses and then summarizing the rest will hold their attention longer.

    After recounting the story of how the Anti-Nephi-Lehies had a change of heart and buried their swords, discuss ways your family can make changes to become better. What is something you’ve struggled with? Individually or as a whole family. Write these things down on the craft sticks, then place them in the glass jar.

    Resolution Swords. Anti-Nephi-Lehi Family Home Evening

    Unlike the story, we are only figuratively burying our swords. To help us remember that we want to change and be better, we placed the jar in the center of our table. It gives us a reminder daily as we gather for meals, games, homework, and crafts.

    We ended our FHE with a good old family game of hide-and-seek, to start out a resolution to spend more quality time together.

  • Guest Posting at YourLDSblog

    Guest Posting at YourLDSblog

    Hey everyone, for the last couple months I’ve been guest blogging over at yourLDSblog. You can find me there most first Thursdays of the month. Today I’ve shared both a free printable and chocolate chip cookie recipe with their readers. I would hate for you to miss out though, so go check it out – Have I Done Any Good in the World Today FHE

  • The 6 B’s Lesson 6: Be Prayerful #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 6: Be Prayerful #FamilyHomeEvening

    “You need His help, and you know that you need His help. You cannot do it alone. You will come to realize that and recognize that more and more as the years pass. So live that in good conscience you can speak with the Lord. Get on your knees and thank Him for His goodness to you and express to Him the righteous desires of your hearts. The miracle of it all is that He hears. He responds. He answers—not always as we might wish He would answer, but there is no question in my mind that He answers.”
    – Gordon B. Hinckley November 2000
    Opening Song: Children All Over the World (Children’s Song Book pg 16) This is a fun opening song the kids will love while teaching them to say Thank You in many different languages. 
    Prayer

    Lesson:  We started the 6 Be’s series with Being Grateful, what better way to end then learning to Be Prayerful where we can offer our thanks to God who gives us all we have?   This lesson is intended to teach young children the basic outline of a prayer.  In the LDS church when we pray, we believe our Father in Heaven listens to us, and that He wants to really hear from us – so our prayers are not rehearsed but rather from the heart.

    There is no better place to start teaching then with an outline. I remember as a child learning this simple order of prayer from my parents.

    • We must first address who we are talking to – Heavenly Father. 
    • Next it is important to recognize His hand in our life. Think of all the things you have and give gratitude to the Lord for those blessings. 
    • Now that we’ve thanked Him, we can ask for other blessings. Perhaps you or a loved one have been sick, maybe your child has a big test coming up, or maybe you just need a little extra help being happy. When we ask with sincerity of heart He will help us. 
    • Finally close in His son’s name Jesus Christ, and end with an Amen. This is because Christ is our Savior and the one who will intervene on our behalf at the judgement seat. 
    I put together this simple outline that can be printed out, framed and placed near your child’s bed to help remind them how to pray, and to be sincere about it. 
    Download the Prayer Printable
    Closing Song: Family Prayer (Children’s Song book pg 189)
    Prayer

    Get the whole series
    Be Grateful  *  Be True  *  Be Smart  *  Be Humble  *  Be Clean

  • The 6 B’s Lesson 5: Be Clean #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 5: Be Clean #FamilyHomeEvening

    We’re back and so close to finishing up this series!  If you missed the first 4 lessons you can find them at the following links

    Be Grateful  –  Be True  –  Be Smart  –  Be Humble
    Opening Song: When I am Baptized children’s hymnbook pg 103
    Prayer
    Scripture: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
    If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Cor. 3:16–17).
    Thought: “We live in a world that is filled with filth and sleaze, a world that reeks of evil. It is all around us. It is on the television screen. It is at the movies. It is in the popular literature. It is on the Internet. You can’t afford to watch it, my dear friends. You cannot afford to let that filthy poison touch you. Stay away from it. Avoid it.” President Gordon B. Hinckley 2001
    Lesson: For this lesson, you can either print off, or show on your computer the following pictures, or find your own similar photos.
    Begin by asking your children what they see in each photo. What message is it telling them?
    A lot of piercings ans tattoo's
    Now let the discussions flow.  Here are a few questions I asked my kids to help get them thinking, but use what works best for your family
    • Why should we clean our homes?  Is it important?
    • What are these kids doing? Does it look fun? Do you think they need to get a bath after? What if they stay covered in mud?
    • Should we write on our bodies? Why? At this point it would be great to reiterate the scripture above – our bodies are a temple. 
    Closing song:  Fun to Do Children’s Hymnbook pg 253
    Prayer

    Refreshments: Popcorn or Fresh Fruit and Veggies. A reminder to put Clean things into our bodies as well. 

    Stay tuned this month for the Lesson 6: Be Prayerful
  • The 6 B’s Lesson 4: Be Humble #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 4: Be Humble #FamilyHomeEvening

    It’s been awhile, and I apologize for that. Our Family Home Evening’s have been hit and miss since moving. We are getting much more settled into our home and school routines though, that I am getting back into it. I hope you enjoy the following simple lesson on President Hinkley’s 6 Be’s.

    Opening Song: Give Said the Little Stream (Children’s Primary Songbook pg 236)
    Prayer


    Scripture: “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” Doctrine and Covenants 112:10

    or
    “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5

    Thought: “There is no place for arrogance in our lives. There is no place for conceit. There is no place for egotism. We have a great work to do. We have things to accomplish.” President Gordon B. Hinkley

    Lesson
    For this lesson I wanted to keep it simple. So I grabbed our most recent Friend magazine, and found a story that I felt showed how to be humble. It’s a hard concept for small kids to understand. I don’t believe they truly understand being prideful, and therefor being humble is also foreign. Kids rely on the adults around them for learning, and example.
     The following story exemplifies how kids can be selfless, and in turn be humble, as they serve their friends in daily activities – Read I Will Serve God with All My Heart, Might, Mind and Strength.
    After reading the story, and looking at the different ideas of how you can give service, make your own family list of ways to serve God with our hearts, minds and strength. 
    If you would like a fun activity to go with this, I found a fun clay activity over on Family Home Evenings Made Easy.  You take a lump of clay and a rock. Let the kids play with the clay and shape it into different things. Than ask them to do the same with the rock. You can’t shape a rock though. To Be Humble, we have to be like clay in God’s hands. 
    The older kids recently came home with a service necklace from church as well. We added these into our lesson, and are working on giving anonymous service within our family. As we do something we take the necklace and leave it for whoever we served. It is then that person’s turn to find some way to serve. So far Princess V has made our bed twice…and let me tell you she’s a good bed maker!
    Closing Song: Called to Serve (Children’s Primary Songbook pg 174)
    Looking for the last 3 Lessons in the 6 B’s? Check them out here
  • The 6 B’s Lesson 3: Be Smart #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 3: Be Smart #FamilyHomeEvening

    I really enjoyed putting this lesson together for the kids. It had started with an idea to start the girls on a class from Craftsy, but I soon found they didn’t really have anything quite at my kids age. (Great adult classes though, by the way).

    So I got to thinking, and decided have a couple mini classes for our lesson.

    Opening Song: Teach Me to Walk in the Light. Childrens hymn book 177
    Prayer

    We began the lesson by reviewing the first 2 Be’s, and then asked if they could remember the next Be on our list. When I introduced the topic of Being Smart, we had a nice discussion on what it takes to be Smart.

    Princess C: Scientists are Smart!

    Yes they are. And how do they get to be so smart?   *crickets*  They had to study and go to school. They had to work hard and pay attention to their teachers. Would you girls like to be smart?  

    Yes!  

    The perfect lead in to our mini classes. Mark began as our first teacher in “Music Class”. He found these flash cards of all the music notes, and a “cheat” guide for the kids. They have done amazingly well at remember most of the notes, and with more practice they will have these down with no problem

    After the Music Lesson, we moved to the kitchen for baking class. I became teacher and Mark took over the camera and keeping Lincoln happy. For this class, I thought it would be fun if we made our FHE refreshments – a quick, though involved recipe for Peanut Free No Bake Cookies. 
    We talked about reading a recipe, and how when you are really smart you’ll be able to create your own recipes. Then we took turns adding, mixing and shaping the cookies.

    There were points during the baking lesson that some of the kids were a little bored waiting for their turn, or we had to wait for butter to melt, and liquid to boil. At these points Mark took one girl at a time for a Math Lesson.
    Math was real simple for Princess V and Princess C, and was more directed to helping Princess R.  Here I used our Teach My kit train number cards. See there was a train carrying numbers, but it crashed. We need to help put the train back together in the right order.

     I didn’t get to see Mark teaching the girls this little lesson, but I could hear them having a lot of fun. Once the cookies were cooling, we moved on to our last lesson, and the one I consider the most important for lifelong learning – Reading.

    Again I pulled out our Teach My kit, and used Books 1, Book 2 and Book 7 for this lesson. Books 1 and 2 go through the letters and the sounds they make. Book 7 is a beginning reader. I handed this one to Princess V and had her read it to us. She struggled just a little, but really enjoyed being so involved in this lesson. After Princess V read it, we tried Princess C to see if she could remember the story, and learn to read in the process.

    Closing Song: I am a Child of God
    Prayer
    Refreshments before bed.

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  • The 6 B’s Lesson 2: Be True #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 2: Be True #FamilyHomeEvening

     
    Young kids don’t often know right from wrong. They are still learning, and as parents, we need to kindly and gently guide them to make good choices as they grow to be adults. One way we do that is through Family Home Evening – a night we set aside each week to teach our children principles and gospel lessons from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I hope you’ll join me in these lessons, and add any insight in the comments. 
     
    We are on the 2nd Be from President Hinkley’s 2001 address to the youth – Be True.  But to be perfectly honest with you, I’ve got ours a little out of order. Be True was actually number 4 on his list, but it all works out in the end.
     
    Opening Song: Choose the Right 
    Prayer
     
    Lesson:  Mark took over the lesson this night. He began by telling a fictional story of the girls. 
    “You were outside playing one day, and V thought it was a good idea to throw some rocks.  One hit the car window and broke it.  V didn’t tell mommy or daddy what happened. 
    When I found the broken window, I asked C if she knew what happened.”
     
    At this point, we turned to C and asked her, do you know how the window got broken?
    To which she answered “I think L did it”
     
    This was the perfect lead up into telling the truth. We told Princess C that if we ask her something, and she doesn’t know, she shouldn’t guess at what happened. Unless she saw it happen she can tell us “I don’t know”.  
     
    Once we finished the story, and talking to each kid about their different answers, Grandma P (who was in town for a visit), shared a personal story of how telling lies left her unable to play at a friends house once. 
     
    Finally we led up to being true to ourselves, as a Child Of God, we should always behave well. When someone does something wrong, or something we don’t feel comfortable with, we don’t have to go along with it.  
     
    This not so simple concept was a great lead into watching a family movie – Wreck It Ralph. Just don’t make the blunder I did and tell your kids 

    Ralph is being true to him. He’s a bad guy, and it’s ok to be ba…. (insert a raised eyebrow from Mark here) it’s ok to be you, and not let others change you. Pushing for something we want is good, as long as we stay true to ourselves.

    Closing Song: Stand for the Right 
    Closing prayer

    *Side note – Because I mentioned Wreck It Ralph I also wanted to share my friends blog with you – Fun Filled Flicks.  She created a fun Wreck It Ralph game for her kids one day, that I know my kids would love!

  • The 6 B’s Lesson 1: Be Grateful #FamilyHomeEvening

    The 6 B’s Lesson 1: Be Grateful #FamilyHomeEvening

    Be Grateful
     
    As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one thing we do is set aside Monday nights for what we call Family Home Evening. It’s a night we try not to have any activities planned outside the home with friends, or work. We come home together, and spend the time as a family.  Some night it means watching a new (or old) movie or playing a game, while others we try to have a gospel-centered lesson. 
     
    So a few Mondays ago, I asked Mark to put together a lesson. He did great! He pulled his lesson from President Gordon B Hinkley’s address in November 2000 where he gave us what quickly became known as the 6 B’s
    • Be Grateful
    • Be Smart
    • Be Clean
    • Be True
    • Be Humble
    • Be Prayerful
    After Mark’s lesson that night, I got to thinking, and decided I wanted to cover more in depth each Be. So the following Monday I took my turn with the lesson, and covered Be Grateful.  It was one of the best lessons we have ever had!  So get ready to teach your kids about gratitude!
     
    Opening Song: Thank Thee for Everything (Primary Song Book pg 10)  This was a new song to the kids and one I’ve sung very rarely. So we attempted to learn it as a family. If you follow the link, you’ll find the lyrics and music.
    Opening Prayer.
     

    Lesson Time!

    I began the lesson asking if anyone remembered the 6 B’s. Princess V and C both did a pretty good job remembering most of them. I was impressed, and so very happy that they actually remembered some. It told me they really do pay attention sometimes. After we recited the B’s a few times, I told the girls that I wanted to talk about just the first B – Be Grateful. 
     
    We had a quick, child-friendly discussion on what the word Grateful means. Just like being Thankful, and saying thanks to people when they are kind to us, or help us, we are grateful for the things we have. 
     
    At this point, we then grabbed some blankets and headed outside to lay under our big tree. After we laid mostly quietly for some time contemplating the things we could see, hear and smell, I started one by one, asking the kids, and Mark what the were grateful for. As the talked, I compiled a list in my notebook.  Once again, my children impressed me with how well they understood and grasped the concept. Instead of saying things like their toys and material objects, the first few “I am thankful for” included – Family, Friends, Teachers, Sisters, and Brother. As I encouraged everyone to keep thinking and listening and looking around them at our beautiful earth – the answers branched out to things like Butterflies, Sticks and Flowers. 
     
    We ended the lesson by remembering who we need to thank for our beautiful earth – Our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ. We packed the blankets back inside, and closed the evening.
     
    Closing Song: Children All Over the World (Primary Song Book pg 16) 
    Closing Prayer.
     
    Refreshments! A good FHE always ends with a yummy treat.  You can try and tie it into the lesson, or just enjoy some Ice Cream Sundaes like we did – which by the way, is just another thing we should be grateful for.
     
    Of course after a few days, and some playing around, I created a little reminder for our home to Be Grateful all the time.  And, I even took the time to find the best way for you to be able to download this and use in your own home. Not only is it a great reminder year round, it would also make great Thanksgiving Decor. 
     
    Be Grateful Printable
     
    Download this FREE Printable
     
    Keep an eye out for the next 5 lessons in this 6 part series.