When The Family Gets Together

Pioneers

2009-07-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

There are lots of Pioneer activities out there, but these were the ones we researched and thought were best for toddlers and preschoolers. Hope you enjoy!

We spread quilts out on the floor and started our Family Home Evening there.

Gathering Activity: The kids built log cabins out of Lincoln Logs while they waited for us to get all of the materials together (and while I hid the scavenger hunt clues).

Musical Game and Lesson : I printed out the Pioneer Flannel Board Pieces from the Friend and wrote the names of pioneer songs on the back of each one. I placed them in a basket. The children took turns choosing one out. We talked about what the children in the picture were doing and then listened to the song. We listened for things that the Pioneers did and then talked about them after each song. We used our Children's Songs CD to sing along with or just listen to the songs because not all of them were familiar to my little ones. (or Daddy). We marched to Pioneer Children Sang as the Walked, and played a pushing and pulling game to The Handcart Song. Andrew heard a guitar in one, and pulled his out to play along.

Songs we used were in the Children's Song Book pages 216-222.

Scavenger Hunt: We used the Pioneer Treasure Hunt from the Friend magazine. The kids had a lot of fun hunting for the clues and learned fun facts about the Pioneers along the way.

Games: We played some pioneer games together including Horseshoes and Button, Button, Who has the Button. (That one was a little harder for my 2 year old, but he eventually got the hang of it with some help).

Snack: We made Johnny Cake (very similar to cornbread) together in the afternoon and ate it for Family Home Evening treat with homemade butter the boys also made. The picture of them jumping around is of them shaking the butter. They also tried (and LOVED) some beef jerky.

Craft:Tin Punch Art: This was my kids favorite! Take a pie tin and draw a design upon it with a sharpie using dots. (looks like a dot to dot) Then with CLOSE supervision, allow the children to use a mallet and nail to punch out the dots. My two year old was even able to do this, and they both felt so grown-up. We had a grown-up per child helping.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

2009-07-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Attention Activity: PREPARATION: Print off 9 lamb pictures and write one word on each of the sheep from the memory verse Psalms 23 "The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want." Number the sheep 1-9 in order so that they will be easy for your little ones to arrange. Hide the sheep with word #5 with "SHEPHERD" printed on it.

Ask the family to help put your little sheep in a row in order. When they realize that one is missing, ask them what we should do? (Hopefully they will answer look for it).

Seek for the sheep together and then finish the verse. Read it together several times until everyone has it memorized.

Scripture Story: Tell the children that you are going to read a story together about a lost sheep that Jesus told. Read Luke 15:4-6 together and explain that the Lord says that we are all His sheep and that if we are lost He will find us. That we are all important to Him, even though there are many of us on Earth. We counted together to 100 and talked about how one little sheep might not seem like a lot, but that all are important to Heavenly Father. We talked together about how Heavenly Father has asked us to help Him look after each other here on Earth. We discussed ways we can be shepherds and explained a little about why Mommy and Daddy go Home and Visiting Teaching.

Game: We played hide and go seek together. When Daddy found the Lost sheep, he picked them up and carried them on his shoulders like a shepherd carrying the sheep. There was lots of giggling.

Service: After our lesson, we carried a treat to share with a family Daddy home teaches.

Brother of Jared

2009-06-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

We moved to different locations for this FHE. It was tons of fun. The write up was long, but this was a relatively short FHE. (Under an hour including dessert). When it was over our 4 year old asked if we could do this every day!

1-LIVING ROOM: (Set up a very tall block tower before lesson, have a back pack for each child, pictures or small objects to represent the items they took with them, and a cloud cut out of construction paper)

Opening Song: Book of Mormon Stories CS pg 118

A-Tell the family that we are going on a big adventure tonight and we will pretend to be the family of Jared.

Read First 4 Pictures in Jaredites Leave Babel.

Show the children the tall tower and talk to them about how we can get closer to Heavenly Father. Can we really build a tower there? In the middle of your conversation about the tower ask them questions in a foreign language. My hubby speaks Spanish and I know a limited amount of French. (If you do not know a foreign language, talk jibberish or pig latin to your kids). Pretend you don't understand them or your spouse. Once they get the idea, ask the kids if they think it would be hard if everyone at our house spoke a different language. What if their friends couldn't talk to them. What might be harder? Discuss why it was important that everyone in Jared's family spoke the same language and understand one another.

B-Read the Next 5 pictures in The Jaredites Leave Babel. Ask them to listen for the items the Jaredites brought with them.

Pull out a back pack for each child. Let the children pack their bags for a long trip. We placed honey, seed packets, toy sheep, birds, and fish, in their backpacks. (My kids aren't in school yet, so backpacks are a BIG DEAL)!

C-Read the remainder of The Jaredites Leave Babel. Play follow the leader using the cloud. My husband gave directions to our family from behind the cloud and we followed him around wearing our backpacks. We ended in the kitchen.

2: KITCHEN: (You will need play dough and 16 marbles or smooth rocks).

A-Read the first 5 pictures of The Jaredites Travel to the Promised Land
Using the playdough, build 8 barges. (Our familyhad 4 people, so we each built 2).

B-Next read pictures 6 and 7 of The Jaredites Travel to the Promised Land.
Have everyone had holes on the top and bottom of their barges for air.

C-Read pictures 8 and 9 of The Jaredites Travel to the Promised Land. Ask the children to think of ways to get light inside the barges. (Mine thought we could put either flashlights or the sun inside the boat).

D-Read pictures 10-17 of The Jaredites Travel to the Promised Land.
Place 2 marbles on each of the barges you built, one on each end.

E-Finish reading the remainder of The Jaredites Travel to the Promised Land. Allow the children to drive the boats up and down as you finish up the story.

Closing Song: "The Lord is My Light" (Hymnal pg. 89)

Treat Suggestions: Banana Boats or Homemade Bread with Honey Butter

Easter

2009-04-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

****I am several weeks behind in my posts. We have had FHE each week, but I just haven't had the time to share what we have done recently, as I prepare for our new baby. However I came up with our Easter FHE for Monday night and thought I'd share it with anyone still looking for ideas. There won't be any pics until tomorrow night, but here are the plans.

Opening Song: "Did Jesus Really Live Again?"

Attention Activity: Hide the 12 Resurrection Eggs (see below) and allow the children to find them and place them in a basket.

Lesson: Resurrection Eggs. The idea is to place objects representing the last week of the Savior's life inside eggs to teach about Easter. There are tons of ways to do these and I have found lots of ideas on the internet. I have combined my favorite ideas for toddlers and preschoolers here below. WE ARE NOT DOING THESE ALL IN ONE NIGHT. OUR FAMILY HAS DECIDED TO DOspread the 12 eggs over the entire week at bedtime for our family scripture study between FHE and Easter Sunday. But they could be used as a lesson if your kids' attention span is a little longer. We are just introducing the eggs and Opening the first one at FHE.

A-Gather 12 Easter Eggs and number them on the outside. Fill them with the following objects and collect the pictures from your Gospel Art Kit or find them online here.

B-Allow the children to open each egg in order and ask the children to look at the picture or listen for the scripture story to talk about the object in the egg. I am reading the scripture on the back of each picture. In some cases there was no picture so I am using the Children's New Testament. (CNT)

1- Palm Sunday: a leaf : GAK 223 (Monday Night)
2- The Sacrament/ Last Supper: a sacrament cup GAK 225 (Tuesday Night)
3- Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet: a cloth GAK 226 (Tuesday Night)
4- The Garden of Gethsemane: rock GAK 227 (Wednesday Night)
5- Judas's Betrayal: three dimes GAK 228 (Wednesday Night)
6: The King of The Jews: thorns CNT pg. 117 Chapter 41((Thursday Night)
7: The Cruxifiction: a cross made of toothpicks GAK 230 (Friday Night)
8: The Cruxifiction: a nail GAK 230 (Friday Night)
9: Mocking the Savior's Thirst: a sponge GAK 230 (Friday Night)
10: Preparing the Savior's Body for Burial: a bundle of cloves GAK 231(Saturday Night)

11: The Stone in Front of the Tomb is Moved: a stone–rounded would be best GAK 232/245 (Saturday Night)
12: The Savior is Resurrected: leave empty GAK 239 (Sunday morning before our Easter Baskets)

Activities:

1-We played the Savior Matching Game together. I printed and colored the pieces and placed them in a basket. The boys took turns taking out a piece and matching it to the game board while I read the sentence about Jesus.

2-I made these moveable Easter Story Pieces from the Friend for the boys and we said the fingerplay below while we moved the pieces .

Jesus is Risen (Fingerplay)

by Dana Eaton

Here is the place where Jesus lay; (point)

See, the stone has been rolled away!

Stoop down; look in (stoop sown and shade eyes with hand)

He is not here! (stand up)

Jesus is risen! Be of good cheer! (clap hands)

3-Then we painted Easter Eggs together. We have found painting boiled eggs with washable paint to be an enjoyable and less messy experience for everyone.

Closing Song: "He Sent His Son."

Obedience

2009-04-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

Opening Song: "Quickly I'll Obey"

Story: I told the boys a story about a little lamb who kept leaving his fence and running away. I asked them why the farmer had a fence for his lamb. We talked about how the fence kept the lamb safe. I told them that this is why we have rules and why we need to listen to Mommy and Daddy, so we can be safe and happy. The boys helped me build a fence for our lamb while we talked about what kinds of rules keep us safe in our family. Then we read Ephesians 6:1.

Activity: We talked about the rules on the road that keep us safe, too. We played "Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light" with our cars speeding around the house. We had to practice obeying the rules together.

Art: We made our own traffic lights that said "I Can Obey." Andrew cut his out on his own and wrote the words and glued it down. I had pre-cut Ryan's and written the words for him, so he just glued his down.

Closing Song: "Choose the Right"

Daniel and the Lion's Den

2009-01-25T17:27:00.000-08:00

MUSIC: We sang the chorus to "Follow the Prophet" and "Called to Serve"

LESSON: I gave each family member a lion mask I had printed on yellow paper and cut out ahead of time.

Lion Mask

I then read the following version of the Daniel and the Lion's Den story . Each time I said the word "Lion" I had the entire family put on their masks and "Roar" as loud as they could. I added in a couple of extra "Lions" in a few spots. As we read I asked questions such as "Is it a good choice to pray?" "Who was making good choices?" "How did Heavenly Father protect Daniel because he made a good choice?" The kids loved this part and listened hard to the words to hear when to "Roar."

GAME: We played a variation of "Duck, Duck, Goose" but instead said, "Daniel, Daniel, Lion" and roared as we chased each other.

ART: Paper Bag Lion Puppet. The boys colored these and we helped cut them out.

SNACK: The boys and I made lion cupcakes during the afternoon for FHE snack. We used yellow and orange icing, and M&Ms for the eyes. (These are not the ones we made. Ours were eaten before we remembered to take a picture. Oops)!

Wiseman and Foolish Man

2009-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Opening Song: "The Wise man Built His House Upon the Rock"

Flannel Board Story: Tell the story from Matthew 7:24-27 of the Wise man and the Foolish man. Act out with Flannel Board Pieces.

Discussion/Activity: We want to build our house upon a rock not sand. Jesus taught us that his gospel is the rock. D&C 11:24 Jesus has given us some tools to help build our house on the rock. Satan wants us to build our house on the sand. He has given us tools to make our house shaky and sink.

Pull Out Tool Box (I labeled tools (Tools to Build Our House I modified this idea for preschoolers and toddlers) from the boys' play tool kit with good tools and bad tools. We sorted them and decided which ones Jesus would help us build a house on rock and which ones would help us build a house on sand).

(Rock tools were: Sharing, Scriptures, Prayer, Helping, FHE, Nice Words, and love. Sand tools were things we are working on extinguishing from our home: Mean words, hitting, lying, not sharing)

We played with the tools and built two houses out of lego blocks.

Then we placed one on sand in a casserole dish and one on a large rock in a casserole dish. We used duct tape as one of our rock tools and labeled it love. We made sure that we used a lot of this "love" to firmly attach our house to the rock.

Next we poured water on each house. The sandy one washed away and the rock house stood firm. (Thank goodness).

Art: We colored Wiseman Foolish Man "Filmstrip"of the song and played with them together. (This are really long, and neither boy finished coloring, much better for older children).

Scripture Memorization: We pounded our fist on our open hand as we repeated D&C 11:24 together over and over.

Snack: We made houses out of Rice Krispie Treats and ate them! We actually had a kit, but I found this cool site with directions for making your own.

Grown-up Lesson: After the boys went to bed, Chad and I used this time to make our own goals for the New Year together to help us Build our house Upon the Rock.

Gratitude and Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Music: Children All Over the World (CS 16) and I am Glad for Many things (CS 151).

Attention Getting Activity: I set up a bowl of water, a 1/4 measuring cup, and a glass goblet (inside a plastic container) on the table. I read Psalms 23:5 and we discussed what it meant to have so many blessings that our cup would overflow. We each took turns pouring water from the bowl into the cup and naming something we were thankful for. We each went several times until the cup overflowed with our gratitude. The boys loved the water splashing over.

Lesson:Using the Children's Scripture Stories, we read the story of the 10 Lepers. We talked about how only one came back to say thank you. I asked how he thought Jesus felt when only one said thank you. Then we talked about how Jesus felt when someone did say thank you. We showed on our fingers how many did say thank you and how many did not.

Activity: I have a flannel board Thanksgiving set that we used to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving. You could use the internet to print out pictures of your own to tell the story or get a book from the library. (If you choose to do this lesson at a different time of year, skip this part altogether).

Game: We played a turkey hunt game using turkeys I printed on different pieces of colored construction paper. We picked up the turkeys and said something we were thankful for that was the same color as the turkey we picked up. If you do this at a time other than Thanksgiving, you could just hide pieces of colored construction paper and play the same way.

Art: We made Mayflower boats as seen below.

Snacks: Make turkey cupcakes.

Creation Day 7-The Sabbath Day is A Special Gift

2008-11-26T17:37:00.000-08:00

Music:
"There Are 7 Days in a Week" (This is a song I sang with my kindergarten class each morning during circle time). I used word strips with the names of the days of the week written on them. Then we counted them together to make sure there were 7.

There are 7 Days, there are 7 days, there are 7 days in a week. There are 7 days, there are 7 days, there are 7 days in a week. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday."

"Saturday" (CS 196)

"The Chapel Doors" (CS 156)

Lesson/Activity: We read Genesis 2:1-4 together.

Heavenly Father and Jesus spent 6 days making our beautiful world. What are some of the things they made for us? (We looked back in our creation books we made). On the last day, Heavenly Father gave us a very special present. It is a gift that we get to enjoy each week. Can you guess what that gift was? I pulled out a gift box that I had filled with the following things.

*A set of scriptures, several Gospel Art Kit pictures showing Appropriate Sabbath Day activities, (Sacrament, attending primary, visiting the sick), Scripture Story Flannel Board pieces, Children's Scripture Stories, envelopes and crayons (for writing letters), picture of family members that live close enough to visit on Sundays, Friend magazine, a whisk, (we like to make treats for neighbors on Sunday together) and the Children's Primary Songbook.

The gift Heavenly Father gave us was Sunday. We call it the Sabbath Day. On Sundays we get to rest from all of our work and do things that help us feel closer to Heavenly Father and our family. In this box I have some things that we can do on Sundays to help us feel closer to him.

I let the boys take turns pulling out one object out of the box at a time and we talked about how we used those things on Sunday. I really tried to focus on what a special day it was and all the things that we GET to do, and not on the things we don't choose to do.

Scripture Memorization: After we pulled out all the items and discussed them, we opened the set of scriptures from the box and read Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy." We memorized this scripture together by repeating it several times.

Snack: Ice Cream Sundaes

Creation Day 6- Animals

2008-11-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

Music: We sang All Things Bright and Beautiful (CS 231), Old McDonald Had a Farm (We pulled out different animals to sing about with each verse)., and I Went to the Animal Fair.

Lesson: We read Genesis 1:24-30 in the Old Testament. We talked together about Heavenly Father making all of the animals and then about him making us.

Activity: We named as many animals as we could think of together. I brought all of the animals in the house into the living room. All stuffed animals, flannel board pieces, plastic animals, Fisher Price animals, and puppets. We played three different games with the animals.

Game 1: Guess Who I Am? : I placed an animal underneath two pillows. Then I described the animal using clues such as "I am gray. I like to eat cheese. I squeak." After a few times of guessing, my three year old was ready to give the clues and the rest of us guessed.

Game 2: Animal Train: We placed all of the animals in a long line around our living room and then named and counted them. We talked about how many different kinds of animals Heavenly Father had given us and how they help us.

Game 3: Animal Sort: We sorted the animals into different groups. We sorted by colors one time, size, and habitats. Then we sorted them all back into their "place" in our home.

Art: We made our page for our Creation book using foam animal stickers.

Snack: We simply ate animal crackers with milk.

Day 5-The Birds and the Fish

2008-11-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Opening Song: Birds in a Tree (CS 241)

Lesson: We read Genesis 1:20-23 in the Old Testament. We asked the boys to name animals that live in the water and animals that fly. We showed pictures of birds and fish from books we have.

Music: We sang songs together about birds and fish. We sang In the Leafy Treetops,(CS 240),
I'm a Little Fishy. and "The Goldfish Song" by the Laurie Berkner Band.

Activity: We played a a Go Fishing Game with a magnetic pole and magnetic fish. You can make your own by following the directions here.

Art: We made birdseed feeders to hang outside from pine cones, birdseed and peanut butter. This can be really messy, so I highly recommend paper plates, plastic table cloth, and parental assistance. Then we took them outside and let each boy choose where to hang his.

Snack: Make bird's nest snacks to eat.

Thanks and Giving Tree

2008-11-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

As we focus on our blessings this month of Thanksgiving, our family is creating a Thanks and Giving Tree. Each night before bed time we each write one thing we are thankful for on a leaf and on the other side one thing that we did to help someone that day. We have a fun time coming up with our many blessings and recognizing the service performed by one another. This is our tree about mid-month. It should be completely full by Thanksgiving Day. We will take off all our leaves and read our blessings together that day.

Thanks to Chocolate on my Cranium for the idea. They have a print off of a tree worksheet so that each family member can make his own, instead of a big family tree, if you would like. This just worked better for my preschooler and toddler so they would have more room to write.

Day 4-Sun, Moon, and Stars

2008-11-06T19:29:00.001-08:00

Opening Song: I Am Like A Star Shining Brightly (CS 163)

Lesson: We headed outside with a flashlight, blanket, and binoculars. Together we read the scriptural account of the creation of the sun, moon, and stars in Genesis 1:14-19. We looked at the stars and the moon with our binoculars.

Activity: With our flashlight as our light, we sat outside in the dark and sang songs and read stories about the sun, moon, and stars. We sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "I See the Moon," and "You Are My Sunshine." We read Goodnight Moon, Happy Birthday Moon, What the Sun Sees/What the Moon Sees, Wake Up Sun, and The Sun and Moon.

Snack: We came inside and ate Astronaut Ice Cream in honor of our outer space creations.

Craft: We made pretend telescopes together out of paper towel rolls. Paint the telescope, add star stickers, and have fun looking through it outside at the stars.

Art: For the 4th page in our book we glued down die cuts of a star, moon and sun.

Closing Song: Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam (CS 60)

Day 3-Plants and Trees

2008-11-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

We headed to a local park with a beautiful, wooded nature trail and picnic area to hold our FHE on the creation of plants and trees. We had our lesson, snack, and activity there.

Opening Song: Little Purple Pansies (CS 244)

Lesson and Food: We ate a picnic dinner at the park. All of our foods were plants. (strawberries, grapes, crackers with bean hummus, carrots, popcorn, cucumbers). We read Genesis 1:9-13 as we sat together under the trees.

Then we listed all the plants we could think of together. Being outside and eating fruits and vegetables helped spark ideas.

Activity: We went on a nature hike together and collected plants and pieces of land (rocks, dirt,etc...) in plastic bags to use on our art project later at home.

Closing Song: Leaves are Falling All Around (CS 241)

Art: We came home and created the third page for our Creation Book. Using contact paper, the boys stuck their findings from the nature walk on the sticky side and I folded it over and glued it to their page in the book.

Water, Water!

2008-10-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Opening Song: Give Said the Little Stream

Lesson: Give each family member a glass of water. Ask them who made the water. We read in Genesis 1:7-8 that on the Second day the water was divided and some was on the earth and some was in the clouds. We discussed why water is important and listed all the ways we use water. (bathe, play, drink, swim, cook, help our garden and animals, wash cars, clean, baptize, etc...)

Activity: We played outside in water! It happened to be warm enough to do so here. However if it had been too cold, I would have brought the water table in the kitchen or garage or used small dishpans to play in. Andrew decided to wash the car, since cleaning was something we talked about doing with water. The evening ended with a huge water fight between Daddy and Andrew.

Learning Activity Outside:
Simple Water Cycle Experiment
1. Give each child a cotton ball to hold. Tell them to pretend that they are holding a cloud.
2. Ask them how does the cloud feel: heavy or light, soft or hard.
3. Instruct the children to place the "cloud" (cotton ball) gently over the cold water. Explain that water that has evaporated has traveled up to the cloud and it is a lot colder up in the sky, so the vapor turns into water, and it is filling up the cloud. Ask: Can you see the "cloud" (cotton ball) filling up with the water.
4. Ask the children to gently pick up the "cloud" (cotton ball) from the pan. Ask: How does the "cloud" feel now? Light or heavy. Warm or cold? What is happening with the water? Yes, the water is dripping from the "cloud". Why? The cloud cannot hold all that water, is too, too, heavy. What do we call when water falls from the clouds because they are too heavy with water? Yes, you are right, rain! It is raining! And what happens to the water? Yes, it is coming right back into the pan, and the pan could be a stream, river, ocean or the ground.

Art Activity: (after we dried off and put on our jammies we did art). We made the second page in our book. We glued clouds (cotton balls) to the top of the paper and water (blue freezer wrap) to the bottom. Ryan went a little crazy with his clouds, and we finally had to cut him off. He loves to glue!

Dessert: We enjoyed blue jello (water) and whipped cream (clouds).
Closing Song: "Rain is Falling"

Let There Be Light

2008-10-07T06:54:00.001-07:00

We are teaching the boys about the creation of the Earth. We are focusing on one day at a time, so the next seven weeks will be centered around those themes. Feel free to join us!

Lesson: I turned off all of the lights in our home for the lesson. I pulled out a flashlight and we read about Day One: The Creation of Night and Day in the Children's scriptures. We also read the story from the Bible together in Genesis 1: 1-5. After we had read it through one time from the bible, I gave everyone a flashlight. Each time I said the word "light," they got to turn on and off their flashlights. We read through it several times.

Song: We sang "This Little Light of Mine" together while we made our flashlights dance.

"This little light of mine,I'm gonna let it shine,
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

(Ryan is using the flashlight as a microphone).

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 1:3 "And God ^asaid, Let there be ^blight: and there was light." For some reason the novelty of flashlights allowed us to accomplish a lot this evening and so we twirled our flashlights while we repeated this scripture over and over until we knew it by heart.

Art Activity: We are making a Creation book over the next 7 weeks. So tonight we did the first page. We gave each boy a piece of yellow and a piece of black paper. We glued them to our first page. It was Ryan's first experience with a glue stick and he loved it!

Activity: We played Flashlight Hide-N-Seek. Each parent took a boy and we took turns hiding in the dark house with our flashlights. Only the call to dessert to get them to stop. (Mommy and Daddy had fun, too).

Snack: Not very creative, but we ate chocolate pudding (night) and topped it with whipped cream (day).

Closing Song: We sang the chorus to "The Lord is My Light" .

The Good Samaritan

2008-09-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

Opening Song: Kindness Begins With Me

Attention Getter: Give Each Family Member a Band-aid. Ask them to think of a time they were hurt. How did they feel? Who helped them? Let them put the Band-aid on the place that got hurt. (My kids love Band-aids). Tell them that you are going to tell a story about a man that was hurt and about the kind person who helped him.

Lesson: Read The Good Samaritan Story from the Children's Illustrated scriptures. (I chose to skip the part about them beating him up when telling the story to my little ones. I just said he was hurt). After I read the story we used Flannel Board Pieces to retell the story. (My mom had made some for us previously, but the link is to a set available to print online).

Activity: I had a larger image of the injured man that we laid on the flannel board. (just enlarge from the flannel board pieces or draw your own). We talked about how we can help our friends and family when they are hurt. We wanted to give the boys a chance to practice how to show compassion in different situations. We gave several examples of how to handle the situation if we hurt the person on accident (running into someone when playing chase), on purpose (pushing your brother), and when a friend falls and gets hurt. We walked through the appropriate behavior. After each example we let the boys place a band-aid on the hurt man to help him feel better.

Closing Song: Love One Another

Snack: We actually ate birthday cake in honor of two family members who live far away and share the same birthday. A themed suggestion would be heart shaped cookies.

Reality: This final picture is just to show that our FHEs are normal. By the end of the lesson, Ryan was finished and had laid down in the middle of the flannel board to let us know.

A New Baby

2008-09-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our family held a special FHE to share our exciting news with our two little guys!

Opening Song:"I Lived in Heaven"

Lesson: We talked about where we lived before we came here and how Heavenly Father chose each of us to be part of our family. I showed a picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus and a picture of the earth. We talked about how there were other children who are also part of our family, but that they still live with Heavenly Father. When it is time for them to join our family here on earth, they come as babies. I showed pictures of our boys as newborns with mommy.

Activity:I had prewrapped several baby items like gifts. (baby rattles, bottles, nose syringe) As the boys unwrapped each item, we discussed why a baby would need these things. We talked about how much each of them has grown and discussed things that they can do now that they are big. (walk, feed themselves, color, blow their own noses, etc)... We talked about what they can do to help a baby.

Then we told the boys that we were going to have a new baby join our family. (Andrew decided it should be a sister, since we don't have one of those yet).

Activity Song: We sang "Once I Was a Baby" (to the tune of Once There Was a Snowman) From the Sunbeam Manual (we crawled on the floor like a baby and then grew taller).

Once I was a baby, baby, baby, once I was a baby, small, small, small.
Now I'm getting bigger, bigger, bigger. Now I'm getting bigger, Tall Tall, Tall.

Snack: We ate watermelon. (Insert your own pregnancy pun here). The real reason why though is because my grandma found out she was expecting my mother because she got sick eating watermelon. (The only time she was ever sick in 7 pregnancies).

Closing Song: "Families are Forever"

New Nursery Manual

2008-08-31T16:34:00.001-07:00

The church just published a brand new manual focused specifically on the needs of the Nursery Aged child. I am so excited. It is well-written and easy to use. The lesson plans are perfect for this age and you can use them at home too if you have nursery aged children. Each lesson has a gospel art picture and a coloring page. There are movement activities and finger plays.

Now I feel a little silly posting our FHE ideas, because this resource is perfect. So this week, I am going to refrain from posting our FHE from last week and just share this new resource with you. I hope you enjoy exploring the new manual as much as I did.

(Side note) I know we are not supposed to aspire to callings, but here is my secret wish. Someday I would like to be on the curriculum committee and plan lesson manuals for primary aged children. I think it would be so much fun. When I saw there was a new nursery manual I was truly as excited as I am at Christmas time! I called my husband at work. I was bubbly. I told everyone I spoke to that day. But no one cared quite as much as I did. At least they weren't ready to flip cartwheels over it. But I love that the church sees needs and fills them so perfectly. I love being a member of such an inspired organization. I love that our leadership is in tune with our Father in Heaven's plan for each of his children and that even our youngest members are important enough to teach the truths of the gospel.

ONE MORE SIDE NOTE...IS ANYONE ACTUALLY USING ANY OF THESE IDEAS? IF YOU ARE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF IT IS WORTH THE TIME TO SHARE THEM. THANKS!

Sharing

2008-08-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Preparing: We made 9 dozen cookies to share with other families. We made these yummy cookies from my cousin's blog.

Learning: We read the story of Jesus Feeding the 5000 from the Children's New Testament. Then Andrew helped read a Sharing Pictostory from the Friend. We talked about how we feel when we share.

Storytelling: I shared the story of The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchens using flannel board characters and cookies that Ryan and I had made together. I used paper plates and we acted out the story by dividing the cookies up between the plates for each character.

Sharing: While we each ate a cookie, our family chose four other families to bring cookies to together that evening.

Singing: We sang Give Said the Little Stream as we drove around delivering the cookies.

Scripture Memorization: Acts 30:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." We memorized the scripture a we drove to deliver the cookies, too.

Feelings

2008-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

On the way home from church last week, I told Andrew that our FHE was going to be about sharing on Monday night. This is the conversation that followed.

A-I don't want to learn about sharing.
M-What would you like to talk about?
A-Laughter
M-We can talk about feelings. That sounds like a fun idea. What makes you feel like laughing?
A-Well, you see, what makes me happy is not sharing.

This is a really simple lesson that was a lot of fun and not really much prep work at all. It almost seems too simple to post, but someone might need a quick lesson one night.

Learning: These ideas are from the Sunbeam manual. Andrew really liked talking about his feelings and it was eye-opening to hear some of his responses.

My Feelings

Sometimes when I’m very sad (make a sad face),
My mother hugs me. Then I’m glad (hug self and make a happy face).

Sometimes when I’m very mad (make an angry face),
I walk away and talk with Dad (walk in place and nod head, as if talking).

If something ever frightens me (make a frightened face),
I say a prayer to comfort me (fold arms).

Then when I go out to play,
I’ll be happy every day (make a happy face).

Activity

Draw four large circles on the chalkboard. Draw in simple features to make faces showing different emotions: happy, sad, angry, and frightened (see illustration below). As each face is drawn, ask the children to describe the feelings expressed on the face, and then ask them to make their own faces look happy, sad, angry, and frightened.

• What makes you feel happy?
• What makes you feel sad?
• What makes you feel angry?
• What makes you feel frightened?

Share with the children a time when you have been sad, angry, or frightened and a time when you have been happy.

Singing: We sang "If You're Happy and You Know It," "The Smile Song" and "What Are You Feeling" (from Signing Time).

As a child, I was always a little freaked out by this old man that frowned and smiled, so I was really excited to find this idea that uses a simple braid and smiley face to sing the song with. We made two faces with frown/smiles for us to use in our lesson and with the songs.

Playing: Musical Smiley Faces: I printed out several smiley faces and placed them on the floor. We played several feelings themed songs. We paused the music and took away a smiley face each time (similar to musical chairs). Instead of leaving someone out, we shared smiley faces with each other until we removed enough that all of us were on the same smiley face and then had a group hug and a tickle fest!

Snacking: We made homemade ice cream sandwiches. They were yummy and simple to make. While we ate treat, we told "Knock Knock" jokes to each other. Ryan learned to say "Knock Knock" and then giggle hysterically. Andrew perfected the "Boo-who?" joke.

Jonah and the Whale

2008-08-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Learning: We began FHE in the living room and told the story of Jonah and the Whale using the scriptures and the Flannel Board Story. The Sunbeam Manual has a great outline for questions for young ones that you can use to help them listen for answers in the scriptures.

Hold up the Bible and explain that we can read about fish in the scriptures. Tell the story of Jonah, as found in Jonah 1–3. Explain that Jesus prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah so Jonah would not drown. Jesus had work for Jonah to do. You may want to read aloud a verse or two, such as Jonah 1:17 or Jonah 2:1, as you tell the story. (If you read a verse aloud, explain that Jesus is sometimes called “the Lord.”)

• Who sent the big fish to swallow Jonah? (See Jonah 1:17.)
• What did Jonah do when the fish swallowed him? (See Jonah 2:1.)
• What did Jonah do when he got out of the fish? (See Jonah 3:1–3.)
• Did the people believe Jonah and repent? (See Jonah 3:5, 10.)

Pretending: Daddy had a great idea to use the Ryan's laundry hamper as the giant fish and the boys pretended to be Jonah as he was swallowed. The result was lots of giggles and pleas of "Again, Again."

Playing: We played "Mother May I?" and practiced listening and obeying.

Painting: We made a whale together as a family project. We sat it on top of our refrigerator this week to remind us to listen and obey. This was a fun activity. Both the boys were able to help and really enjoyed it.

Whale Paper Bag Craft

Singing: We sang the verse about Jonah in the primary song "Follow the Prophet." We also sang "Called to Serve."

"Jonah was a prophet, tried to runaway. But he later learned to listen and obey. When you really try the Lord won't let you fail. That's what Jonah learned deep down inside the whale."

Snacking: Whale Cupcakes: Try these cute cupcakes or go simple and buy the Whales crackers (generic goldfish) from Wal-mart.

Jesus Calms the Storm

2008-08-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

Jesus Calms the Storm

This is both of our boys very favorite family home evening. We have done it many times. We change it up a little bit each time, but Andrew asks for it whenever it is his turn to "teach." It is really easy to put together on a really busy day. It takes virtually no preparation! (Those of my friends who are immersed in Edward and Bella's world right now might need that this week). This past FHE we really focused on the obedience part of the story and how we need to listen to the things Jesus has taught us to do.

Listening: At the dinner table we read the story from the Children's Illustrated Scriptures, Jesus Commands the Wind and Waves. Andrew actually knows this one by heart, so he tells the story to us.

Pretending: We create a storm in our living room. We use our rain stick, musical instruments, and shake a blue blanket to create a storm on the water. Andrew turns the lights on and off to make lightening. I hold up the picture of Jesus that is shown above. When I hold up the picture, all noise and lightening stops, and the winds and the waves obey Jesus. Both boys enjoy this game and we can make it last a long time. We talk about how we need to obey Jesus, too.

Scripture Memorization: To memorize our scripture we all take corners of the blue blanket and shake it up and down while we say the memory verse over and over again. Luke 8:25 "for he commandeth even the ^awinds and water, and they obey him."

Singing: We sing the chorus to "Master the Tempest is Raging" and then a song of the boys' choice.

Fun Activity: We have included water play at our water table outside with this lesson during the summer.

Snacking: For snack we make Banana Boats . These are fun camping treats we make in the oven. The boys are able to stuff the boats themselves with their favorite treats.

Tree of Life

2008-07-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Listening: After dinner we stayed at the table and read the Scripture Story of Lehi's Vision as told in the Children's scripture stories. Then we let Andrew help read the "The Wonderful Fruit" Pictostory.

Pretending: We moved into the living room where I had previously set the stage for us to act out the Vision together. Each of us played a role. We did it several times and the boys never got bored with it. We wrapped a piece of wood with foil for the iron rod. The blankets represented the dirty water and the mist of darkness. They created a straight and narrow path. Our ficus tree was decorated with white popcorn balls which represented the tree of life and the fruit. The barn and little people were the great and spacious building.

My Little Nephi

Ryan kept "saving" the wicked people and bringing them to the "tree of life." My little missionary.

Singing: We sang the chorus of "Hold to the Rod" together several times until Andrew knew the words. We ended with "Popcorn Popping", of course.

Ryan "holding to the rod"

Snacking: We ate the yummy "fruit of the tree of life." (AKA Popcorn Balls)

1 Nephi 8
1 Nephi 11

FHE With Preschoolers and Toddlers

2008-07-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

I know there are tons of blogs out there with great FHE ideas. Bloggers who are much more creative than me! I enjoy reading them and using their ideas in our FHEs. Most of what I have found has been a little too old for my 3 year old and one year old boys. They have very short attention spans. So on this blog, I will share what I have found or created myself (rarely) that has worked with my little ones. I will also share what may have flopped completely, so you can learn fom our trial and error.

At our home, FHE is informal, never stiff. (How could it be with two tiny boys)? Sometimes our activity and lesson are combined. Sometimes we memorize a scripture while we stuff our mouths with the treat or while we play with a parachute. We change locations and presentation methods often. We usually start the lesson at the dinner table while we have a "captive" audience. Then we move somewhere else for the activity part of the lesson. We always have prayers, music, scripture reading, and a treat. The lesson portion is generally a combination of several interactive activities. That way I can get more than 5 minutes of teaching in. By planning 5 or 6 different segments of FHE, we are able to have about an hour of focused family time teaching a principle of the gospel.

I also don't use ideas that take tons of preparation. I don't have time for hours of prep with two little boys to enjoy all day. I try and spend Sunday evening gathering my materials and planning. I do feel like it is something I should spend time and energy on so we can be successful, but I don't feel like it is something that should take away from time I spend with the boys while they are awake. (Especially when they are just as happy if Daddy pulls out his guitar and plays primary songs for an hour. That is our favorite).

Occasionally our Family Nights are very simple. We read a gospel art picture, sing primary songs, and play Ryan's favorite "Duck, Duck, Goose." Others are elaborate with a theme. I just feel like it is important that we have them every week, no matter what. I don't want my boys to ever remember a time when we didn't have FHE in our home.

My greatest resources for planning are the Gospel Art Kit, the Sunbeam manual, the Friend, and the internet. I will come up with our topic and google it. If you are doing a bible story, there is a wealth of information available. Some of the sites I frequent are linked on the side.

If you have done lessons on similar themes, please share your comments. If you use one of our ideas, let me know if it worked for you.