FHE Ideas
Awhile ago my husband read a book which talked about the theory of 10,000 hours. It described the idea that anyone who wants to master something will likely spent 10,000 hours to accomplish it... be a concert pianst, an all star soccer player or golf champion. Of course our interest and skill levels have something to do with it... but mostly those things just give us the motivation to practice helping us reach the 10,000 hour mark perhaps before others. The idea seems like common sense... you need to put in the hours to reach your goal. After our great conversation about this concept I realized that it was the same for our spiritual goals. Maybe our children need 10,000 hours to have developed a strong enough testimony to guide them as strong adults for the rest of their lives... to be spiritual all-stars. Each hour that we spend in family prayer, family scripture study, church attendance, seminary, youth night, faith in God requirements, and family home evening help our children get closer to reaching 10,000 hours. Of course our childrens dispositions, free agency and attitude will be a factor... but we have every reason to believe that the more time spent in 'practicing' to be spiritual all-stars... the more likely we will reach our goals.
And so... every hour counts.
Some of the basics of our Family Home Evening nights:
Family Home Evening Binder
{Our FHE Binder is filled with clear page protectors and holds all of our FHE drawings, letters, collages, posters and monthly themed booklets etc. We add to the binder usually several times a year -- sometimes more. Don't forget to add the kid’s names, dates and ages.} Additional binder ideas...
- Look through old friends and Ensigns… find and cut out pictures of President Monson, the Temple, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, a CTR ring, etc. Make up your own list and make a poster. Label everything. Work in teams to make it a race or let each child make their own.
Three Jars
We have three Family Home Evening jars sitting on the shelf in the family room.
- SONGS: slips of paper with primary songs and family favorites
- NAMES: popsicle sticks with each family member's name... used to pick who will pray, lead, answer questions etc.
- TREATS: a small candy for good behavior during Family Home Evening
Theme of the Month
Sometimes we've enjoyed doing a theme of the month. We've done...
September - Baptism
October - Scripture Stories
November - The Temple
December - The Savior
January - The Proclamation of the Family
February - Faith in God and Duty to God
We've also done months of 'Word of Wisdom', 'Joseph Smith' and several months of 'The 13 Articles of Faith'. Usually I plan out several activities that go with my theme for the month. Some activities are longer and some shorter. On Sunday mornings or Monday nights I can choose one that will fit our time. Many times I make booklets with pictures to draw and sentences with blanks to fill it. We work on the booklets throughout the month.
Whatever your schedule is, plan ahead, write it on the calendar and then be flexible. If you feel like you need a 'love at home' or 'reverence at church' lesson then do it. But I've found that being prepared with a variety of posibilities has helped...? For our theme of the month I wait to decide what subject will be best for my family for the next month instead of planning the whole year out. Studying Baptism in September was to help prepare Emily for her baptism coming up in December. We chose Temples for November as we talked about my sister getting engaged and planning for a Temple Wedding. A conference talk inspired me to focus on The Proclamation of the Family to begin our new year. And the kids requested Faith in God/Duty to God to work on some requirements.
Missionary Month: Start studying from the Preach My Gospel book. Help your kids get ready for a mission. Read excerpts from Dad’s mission journal. Talk about what the MTC is like, what tracting is, and how to teach the gospel. My friend who had six boys often taught them how to ‘fold laundry’ for part of the ‘get ready to be a missionary’ lesson! Have the kids be the missionaries and practice knocking on the door etc. Have this be a month theme! Give them their own mission calls and everything.
Recently I started a FHE wall in our dining room. We post pictures of things that correspond to our recent family home evenings... scripture stories from the gospel art kit, temple pictures, hand-drawn pictures of our family, etc. I usually leave things up for two to three months. Having it right beside our table allows me to ask the kids questions about what we have learned throughout the day.
Family 'Personal History' Binder
We have a seperate Personal History binder for our Family. Each member of the family has a section of the binder marked with dividers. A couple times a year we do another activity. We've include pages like…
- When I was Born
- All about Me
- My Family Likes to
- All about my Mom
- All about my Dad
- All about my Grandparents
- All about School
- All about My Baptism
- Pedigree Charts
I plan on re-doing these same pages several times. The kids will write different things at different ages.
Draw pictures of your family. Moms and Dads can do it too. I draw cute stick people and make them doing something they love to do at the time. Write your name, age and date. Keep it in the FHE binder or file it away. Sing ‘Families Can Be Together Forever’.
Help each child fill out a 4-generation pedigree chart. My three year old wrote everyone’s first name. It’s cute to see their handwriting. Don’t forget name, date and age! Put it in your FHE binder or your Family Personal History Binder or file it.
On-Line Resources
Draw pictures of your family. Moms and Dads can do it too. I draw cute stick people and make them doing something they love to do at the time. Write your name, age and date. Keep it in the FHE binder or file it away. Sing ‘Families Can Be Together Forever’.
Help each child fill out a 4-generation pedigree chart. My three year old wrote everyone’s first name. It’s cute to see their handwriting. Don’t forget name, date and age! Put it in your FHE binder or your Family Personal History Binder or file it.
Using the Gospel Art Kit
- We love the ‘Gospel Art Kit’. A must! Pick out one picture and talk about the story, read the scripture on the back, act it out, have them name everyone in the picture etc. You could even post it up on your fridge for the week and talk about it everyday.
- very time your family has done 4 pictures, then bring them out for a review. Have them name who’s in the picture and tell a little about it. Go through them like flashcards and see who is the fastest to call out each person.
- When our kids were little we did this before Family Prayer every night of the week. Mon – Thursday we pick a new one to talk about. Then on Fridays we review the ones we’ve learned that week. Katie, when she was six, said to one of her friends, “Our family is lucky because we get to have Family Home Evening every night.”
- Where do these stories come from? Pull out several different pictures from different books. Have your kids put them in categories of the right book… Book of Mormon, Bible, D&C etc.
- Use the ‘Prophets’ pictures and put them in order. Learn the primary song that helps you name them all.
- Place 8 ‘gospel art kit pictures’ face up on the floor or table. Have the kids take turns picking one they could name and talk about. If they are right they get to keep it. Keep replacing the pictures so there are always 8 to choose from. Mom and Dad can play too. Make sure there is a Jesus picture out for your one or two year old.
- Look through the gospel art pictures and pick your favorite. Then summarize it and draw your own picture.
- Illustrate a Book of Mormon story together as a family.
Holidays and other Traditions
Valentine's Day Write family ‘love letters’ to each other. We don’t usually write letters to every person but at least one or two. We do this on the Monday closest to Valentines day… and sometimes more. Who doesn’t love a family home evening where you can make your husband write a love letter to you? Read them out loud to each other at the end.
St. Patrick's Day: Have a LUCKY jar and write down things you think you are lucky to have' all month long. At the end of the month or FHE before St. Patrick's Day read them and talk about how it isn't luck but blessings from our Heavenly Father.
Easter: Make Easter timelines discussing what happened when and on what continent when the Savior was born and died.
Thanksgiving Make individual ‘I’m thankful for…” lists at Thanksgiving – (or anytime). Try to come up with at least 40 things. Learn about and act out the story about Christ and the 10 lepers in the Bible.
Christmas: In December focus your FHE’s on the Savior. Fill your song jar with Christmas songs and talk about the life of the Savior, act out the Nativity,
Wrap up each member of the nativity in small boxes and tag with each 'character's scripture. Study the nativity while reading the scriptures and opening each present.
Have a Christ Centered Christmas focusing one night on each of the nine 'characters' of the nativity. Huge undertaking but so worth it.
Fast Sundays: Have a testimony meeting… set up the ironing board with a sheet over it. Put a stool behind and pretend it’s the pulpit. Have the kids practice bearing their testimonies.
Before each Conference I make a new notebook for the kids to take notes.
Make a Conference wall, print out conference packets, made fun treats, make a Conference tree... anything new and fabulous to get the kids so excited!
Miscellaneous FHE Ideas...
Sneaky Service FHE.
Write a letter to our Prophet thanking him for all he does for us. We wrote thank you letters to President Hinckley just after he passed away.
Draw the Plan of Salvation outside on the driveway with sidewalk chalk!
Roll the Scattergories die or pick out any letter of the alphabet, and name as many people, places or things from the scriptures that start with that letter. If two or more people came up with the same thing, cross it out. See who got the longest list. Work in teams if you want.