FHE: Prayer Reverance

My kids have been having a hard time staying reverent during prayers and so I thought I would focus a lesson just on being reverent during prayers- as opposed to general reverence.

I made the print-out boy from this site and called him "reverent Rex".  We started by having him do things like wave hello, jump, wink, blink, sit, etc. while the kids copied him and then we used him as an example of how to be reverent during a prayer.  We all practiced a couple of times

update: all week long before a prayer we would say, "now, remember what reverent Rex does during a prayer" and they were both MUCH more reverent this week.  It was awesome!

FHE: Prophets

This week is president Monson's birthday, and were we not already having another birthday this week, I might have made cupcakes for it...  Nevertheless, I thought we'd have another lesson on Prophets.

This was very simple.  I just printed out a picture of our prophet for my kids to color and while they colored, we talked about what a prophet is, who is our current one, and a little bit about other prophets they might know.

I was so proud that my almost 4-year-old son knew about Daniel and Adam.  The cutest was when he was trying to get us to guess Adam and described him as, "wearing green all the time and helping things to grow".  Adorable!

FHE: President Monson

Since it is the Prophet's birthday month, I thought it would be fitting to learn a bit more about him.  We played President Monson Bingo which taught us some fun facts about him.

I thought it would be fun to let the kids cover their pictures with M&Ms and they could eat them at the end as a treat, but actually, my almost-2-year old just cried the whole time because she couldn't eat hers.  haha.  My almost 4-year-old had fun though!

I also printed out a coloring page here, but decided we had enough and didn't need to do that also.  Maybe next week.

FHE: Contributing to the Family

So, I decided it's time to let the almost 4-year-old start having some basic chores and this seemed like a great way to introduce it.  I came up with a plan for displaying a daily schedule for him, and there are chores, fun things, and also some educational activities interwoven throughout the day.

I explain my chart too thoroughly here, if you're interested.

We talked about how I'm having a baby in a few months and how I'll need some extra help and he (well, both of my kids) are big enough to do one thing every day to help me out.  (although, there are really a few things on there... They've already had to help out cleaning up their toys and I think clearing your own plate after you eat is regular enough that it should just be a habit, not really a chore.)

Then I showed them their schedules (not chore charts) and how they work and I've waited awhile to post anything so I could say how well it's working out.  I must say, it's been working quite well!

Here's some pics of the charts:

And here's a link to the cards I put together, printed out, cut apart, laminated, and then display in two 3x3 pocket page protectors.