Activity Days-Thanksgiving Activity

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Meredith

Today is our activity for Activity Days. I had to make it about Thanksgiving since it is only a week away. I decided to go with both cooking and a craft! I hope I don’t regret fitting too much into one activity, but since I am lucky and get to have activities at my house, I can do crazy stuff like that! I decided that I wanted to help the girls learn the importance of gratitude. So, we are making thanksgiving cards. One of the cards says, “Grateful” on the front. Another says, “Thankful for….” and then you open it … Continue reading →

Preparing a Talk with your Primary Child

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Meredith

My four-year-old was assigned her first talk this past Sunday in Primary. I was told that it could be anywhere from 5 seconds in length to 10 minutes. That’s a big gap huh? But, I guess for the sunbeams, you never know what to expect! Her topic was, “The mission of the church is to invite all to come unto Christ” That’s a big topic for such a little person. How do you write talks with your primary-aged child? This can be a little daunting. Do you write it for them? Do you let them write it? What’s the protocol? … Continue reading →

Primary Time: Missionary Work

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Miriam Caldwell

Sharing the gospel with others is an important part of the teachings of the church. As we do this we are not force our beliefs on others, but rather open the door for them to ask questions and to learn as much as they feel comfortable learning. Primary children can also participate in inviting friends and loved ones to learn more about the church. You can have your children invite friends to participate in family home evenings and family activity nights. One great way to do this is to invite the entire family to participate not just the friend. This … Continue reading →

Primary Time: Tips for Successful Quarterly Activities

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Miriam Caldwell

Primary quarterly activities are a great way to encourage spirituality and to allow the children to build friendships with each other. There needs to be a good balance that allows the children to interact with each other in a fun and positive way that is different from church each Sunday. The activities should take place once a quarter and should focus on the year’s theme. It is a good idea to have at least one activity focus on service each year. Many wards often have one of the activities focus on the pioneers in the summer, but that is optional. … Continue reading →

Primary Time: Remember to Use The Friend

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Miriam Caldwell

Whether you are thinking about preparing a Family Home Evening lesson or looking to supplement your Primary lesson or sharing time idea, you really should look at The Friend for more ideas. The Friend has a lot of great resources available, and they are easy to access online and to search. You can search for activities that are based on your topic. The Sharing Time activities and suggestions pages each have several ideas on the topic for the month, and are a great resource to look at when you are searching for a specific topic. They also include some sort … Continue reading →

Primary Time: Working on Transitions

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Miriam Caldwell

As parents one of the most important things we can give our children is stability. Often our children will act out when things are going differently then they expected. If your children have been struggling with Sacrament meetings or family home evenings establishing a routine and order to help your children to know what to expect may help them to change their behavior. You can set up a Sunday morning routine that will set it apart from other days of the week. This way your children are preparing for Sacrament meeting from the beginning. Sunday may be the day that … Continue reading →

Finding Family Time

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Miriam Caldwell

As parents it is important to find a balance between church meetings and family time. This becomes even trickier if you are in a leadership position or once you have youth aged children in the home. It is difficult because you are also trying to juggle other activities as well. As you take the time to make the right choices for your family, you should make sure that you are making the most of the time you do set aside for family. Here are some things to consider as you find the right balance for your family. Are the meetings … Continue reading →

St. Patrick’s Day Activity

Posted on March 12, 2008 by Lyn Newton

In a previous article I discussed the importance of motivating students and getting them excited about learning. One way that I suggested to spice up lessons is with food. Children of all ages love manipulatives. However, when food is involved they simply cannot resist paying attention and getting involved. In addition to food, holidays make for great learning fun. Including both in your lessons can be a wonderful experience! Monday is St. Patrick’s Day and what better fun to kick off the week than with a box of Lucky Charms cereal? The cereal adds to the holiday spirit with rainbows, … Continue reading →

Family Home Evening: Five Ideas to Help You Spend Time Together

Posted on October 27, 2007 by Miriam Caldwell

When you have family home evening, you may be struggling with what to do with your time. The term family home evening implies more time spent together than just a twenty-minute lesson. (Although if that is all that you family can do, then that is all that your family can do.) If you are scrambling to find more to do with your family during family night here are five ideas. 1) One thing you may want to consider adding to your family home evenings is music time. This could mean different things to different families, but initially you may want … Continue reading →