Tonight I used President Uchdorf's talk from the General Womens Meeting as inspiration. He gave the analogy that the Lord is constantly showering down blessings and we block them with an umbrella of sin.
Tonight over dinner, I asked the kids about why Heavenly Father gives commandments. (because he loves us and wants us to be happy) Then I pointed out that some commandments have natural consequences that are blessings like keeping the Word of Wisdom keeps us healthier, or being kind to others helps them be kind to us. Then I asked them about other commandments that may not have obvious, immediate blessings tied to them. (Like tithing, fasting...)
I had 5 balloons blown up and I told the kids they are blessings we get from Heavenly Father. I asked them to list 5 blessings and then wrote them down on the balloons. (I think we did "Family Forever", "Inspiration from the Holy Ghost", "Knowledge and Truth", "Health", and "Financial and Temporal Security") We gave each child an umbrella and then, Jay and I pretended to be Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother and said things like, "let's give our children inspiration from the Holly Ghost!" and in order to put their umbrella down to "get" the blessing, they had to say what commandment they would follow to get that blessing.
We sang "Keep the Commandments" at the beginning and "Count Your Blessings" at the end.
I think it went over really well!
