Effective Family Home Evenings

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

21 Jan 2008 10:37 PM

Family home evening is very important. The blessings that have been promised with family home evening are worth the effort that goes into it. At a leadership meeting I attended several years ago, we discussed the preparation that goes into family home evening. There may be some nights when you just gather together as a family and talk briefly about a topic and that is all right. However you can make your family home evenings more effective and more enjoyable by preparing before you begin.

One important aspect is to find a way to relate the lesson directly to your children's lives. This may be difficult if you are teaching a wide age range, but it is possible. You can share two or three stories with each one being targeted to a specific age group. You may involve visual aids or flannel board figures for the younger children, with deeper questions for the older children.

Another aspect is to make the lesson as hands on as possible. A great way to do this is through an object lesson. Children often grasp a concept much quicker when they can actually see it working. You may find that playing a game can also accomplish this. If you are learning about the Nephi's dream act it out as a family with a blind fold and then talk about what each part means and how it applies to the Plan of Salvation. This is a hands on lesson that will have a lasting affect on your children.

Another great way to make these lessons more meaningful and successful is to challenge your children to apply it to their lives. You can request that your children do this in a specific way or you can ask each of them to list a way to apply it at the end of the lesson. If you add a time to report on last week's progress into your family home evenings, you have created an easy way to keep growing in the gospel.

Related Articles:

Family Home Evening Resources

Family Home Evening Solutions

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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primaryleaderidaho (167) 05 Apr 2008 08:51 PM

I used to do all the preparation myself and then get disappointed when the children quickly lost interest. Now we let them take turns leading family night, unless we feel a particular topic is critical. They usually choose to do something from the Faith in God or Duty to God booklets. Sometimes they chose a picture from the Gospel Art Picture Kit to discuss. The less elaborate the better, but it does need to interest them. We always begin and end with a prayer and a song. The family home evening after conference I plan to review what we heard with a conference quiz game I found at http://www.ldsgreats.com/general-conference-c-78.html I'm hoping the children won't show the parents up ;)

Miriam Caldwell (8030) 07 Apr 2008 06:22 PM

I agree that children involvement in presenting and preparing the lesson really helps them to pay attention. It also helps them to have something to focus on during the lesson--for some children this might mean coloring a picture during the lesson, other children really benefit from visual aids.