Title: “Family Home Evening – Ready, Set, Go!”
Exhibitor: Debbie Martinsen
Description: Preparing Family Home Evening kits
from Church
Magazines
and lesson materials ahead of time makes
Family
Home Evening simple for every member of your
family. We have been counseled by our Prophets to
hold a
weekly
family home evening. Everyone knows
that! One
of the
most wonderful resources for FHE comes into your
home
every month in the form of the Friend, Ensign, and
New
Era magazines. In the next few
pages, I hope to show
you how
to prepare FHE kits that your family will love
using
church published materials, especially these
magazines!
How To’s: What
is a Family Home Evening Kit?
Making
a Family Home Evening Kit
What is a Family Home Evening Kit?:
A FHE kit
includes everything (well, almost everything) you need for a lesson! This could include: attention getter or object lesson,
discussion, questions, flannel board stories, pictures, word strips, scripture references, scripture stories,
stories of our day, games or activities, and songs. I place everything needed for a particular lesson (or set of
lessons) in a 9 x 12 manila envelope. These
fit nicely into a file cabinet or box
when they are turned on their side.
I write the tile across the top, and then they can be filed either
alphabetically or by subject. Then
when Monday night comes around, any member of the family can pull an envelope
from the file. We might need to pull a picture from The Gospel Art Kit, grab a visual aid from The Primary Visual
Aid Cutouts grab the white board and find a marker. Then we’re ready!
Accumulating
Some FHE Kits:
Here are
some ways you might think about.
1) Let’s say you are a teacher in Primary or
Young Womens. When you prepare a
lesson, if you find it meaningful and something that would benefit your family,
keep a copy of it and all the things you prepare for that lesson in a FHE
kit. It doesn’t have to be real
fancy. Then if you find something that
goes along with that topic ‑ say an article in the Friend or Ensign,
copy it and add it to the kit. If it
is the Sharing Time article from the Friend, for instance, you might
want to prepare the accompanying visual.
Copy to card stock, color and laminate ‑ then slip it inside your
kit.
2) One great
way is to start a Family Home Evening group.
This worked in our neighborhood for many years and was a really great
thing. A group of six to eight women
meet every six to eight weeks and share a family home evening kit. This means you prepare ONE lesson, make
copies for everyone in your group ‑ including coloring, laminating,
etc. Then you exchange lessons. Everyone goes home loaded with lessons for
the next few weeks. You’ll need to set
a few rules as to what is acceptable ‑ such as, do you want visuals
colored only with markers? flannel
board visuals laminated? how much
should we spend on each lesson? using
only church produced materials?
3) If you
are a member of the Primary presidency, encourage the children to share what
they have learned in sharing time with their families in Family Home
Evening. Occasionally send home a
handout, a game, or flannel board figures they could share in Family Home
Evening. You might have an activity day
where the children make some things for Family Home Evening, including the
treat!
Making a Family Home Evening Kit:
This is
almost the simplest thing in the world with the website lds.org. (I did it for many years without the
internet, though, so it can be done. It
just requires more resources.) Here
are some suggested steps:
1. Decide on a topic or theme, such as faith,
the sacrament, or priesthood. You might
think about doing a lesson on each Article of Faith, on each item listed in the
For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, the missionary discussions or the
yearly Primary themes. I just finished
a lesson for each one of the Primary My Gospel Standards.
2. Think of the objective: what do you want
your children to learn from the lesson?
For example: One of My Gospel
Standards is "I will seek good friends and treat others
kindly." One thing I wanted the
children to learn is what makes a good friend.
I found a definition in an article entitled "True Friends ‑
True to the Faith," by Ron R. Munn in the October 1992 Ensign. He said, "A true friend is one who
makes it easier to live the gospel of Jesus Christ." My lesson then included that statement as a
way to tell if someone is truly a good friend.
3. Go to lds.org and click on
"gospel library", then "magazines". Type in the topic you want to search
on. You can decide to search all the
magazines or limit your search to just one.
You can also search curriculum.
Look for material that can be used for:
Lesson, attention getter or object
lesson, discussion or background material.
Scripture stories, flannel board
figures.
Stories of our day to help family
members apply the principle to themselves.
Games and activities (puzzles, pictures
to color, etc.)
Songs ‑ new music is sometimes published in the magazines.
You’ll
probably find so much material on each topic, you can make it the focus of your
family home evenings for a month!
4. Print it out or go to the original magazine
or manual if you have it. Type or write
out your lesson plan or outline. Copy,
color and prepare as needed. One thing I’ve found helpful is to make word
strips that apply to the lesson and to post a scripture or quote in a place where the family will see it and
be reminded throughout the week
Consider adding music from the hymn book or the Children’s Songbook. Be sure to include your personal
experiences, stories and testimony.
Occasionally make an assignment or issue a challenge. Set a family goal to improve or work on
something you ’ve discussed.
5. Don’t forget to include the little things
like game pieces, paper sacks, questions cut apart for choosing, a copy of a
song to sing, etc. Slip in a note that
will remind you to gather up the materials not included before Family Home
Evening begins. Other things you’ll
want to have on hand would include a white board or chalk board, flannel board,
scriptures, the Scripture Readers, church videos, crayons, tape,
etc.
If you want
to make some family home evening kits and don’t have access to the internet,
just pick a topic. Look through the Gospel
Principles manual, the FHE Resource Manual, any church manuals you might
have at home. If you have a collection
of old Friend magazines, they are the best! Just choose a sharing time, look at the sharing time ideas, and
add any supplemental material you might already have or find. Collate the material you find to fit you
objective and the ages of your children.
Type up or write your lesson plan or outline, color and prepare any
visuals you need, and you’re good to go!
Here are
some of the resources I found on some of
My Gospel Standards...
I will
remember my baptism covenants and listen to the Holy Ghost.
All 2001 Friend magazines
I will seek
good friends and treat others kindly.
"True Friends ‑
True to the Faith", by Ron. R. Munn, Ensign, October 1992 p. 16
"Helping Teens Stay
Strong", by Brent L. Top and Bruce P. Chadwick, Ensign, March 1999
Story of Good Samaritan, Damon and
Phythius from Friend
I will dress
modestly to show respect for Heavenly Father and myself.
"To Clothe a
Temple," by John S. Tanner, Ensign, August 1992
"Allen All‑Weather"
paper doll, Friend, October 1981
(For little ones, we dress appropriately for the weather
and all occasions.)
"My Body is a Temple," by
Lacey Hansen, Friend, Feb. 1998
"The Lord Gave me a
Temple", Children’ Songbook p. 153
I will only
read and watch things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father.
June 2001 issues of both New
Era and Ensign, Article of
Faith 13
"Clean Thoughts," Friend,
November 1995
"Jesus Christ Shows us the
Way", Friend, March 1999, p. 14
I will keep
my mind and body sacred and pure, and I will not partake of things that are
harmful to me.
(The Word of
Wisdom is an obvious topic here; I also wanted to discuss morality,
pornography, etc. as these things are certainly harmful. Discuss meanings of the words sacred
and pure)
Primary 5 manual, pg. 127 has great
attention getter (a snare)
"Teaching Children Morality",
Ensign, March 1981
"Ye are the Temple of
God", Ensign, September 2001, p. 14
"David O. McKay ‑ A Visit
with the Queen", Friend, February 1997, p. 35
I will do
those things on the Sabbath that will help me feel close to Heavenly Father.
Bible Dictionary, Moses and
the Ten Commandments, Friend, June 1998, p. 43
"Call the Sabbath a Delight ‑
", Ensign, April 2001, p. 46
"When I Go to Church", Friend,
June 1991 ‑ illustrations for
song p. 157 CS
"The Right Choice," Friend,
April 1997, p. 46
"Friend to Friend, Elder Gene
R. Cook," Friend, October 1990, p. 6
I will
choose the right. I know I can repent
when I make a mistake.
"Teaching
Children to Choose Wisely," Ensign, October 1998
"Jonah and the People of
Nineveh," Friend, April 1998 (story and illustrations)
"Choose the Right," Friend,
July 1991