FHE: Reverence

We did this one awhile ago, but I felt like it was pretty effective and the kids really liked it, so I want to remember it.

We had a talent show where everyone got to show-off a trick for everyone else.  (they LOVED that.  They were all silly tricks.)

After, we talked about how they would feel if when they were performing, people were talking or not watching.  Or, how they feel when they are trying to watch, and other people are talking and they can't hear.   Then we related that to their behavior during Sacrament meeting or Primary- trying to help them see why it's important to be reverent, even if they don't want to listen, other people may and it's rude to distract from the person who has prepared something to share with everyone.

FHE: Pause for Prayer

We've been having issues with our kids not pausing during the prayer, whether it be coloring during the sacrament prayer or sneaking bites during the quick dinner prayer, so I thought I would just point out that this isn't reverent and we talked about what is reverent: fold arms, close mouth, close eyes, bow head, open ears.  I made up a "game" called "Pause for Prayer" so that we could practice.  We would pretend to be in certain situations (Okay, we're all in church coloring.  Oh look!  They're about to bless the sacrament! Pause for prayer!  ... Amen!  Okay, we can color again.  Now we're all sitting at the table, about ready for dinner... Now we're getting ready for bed...)

They did a good job AND i've been using that catch phrase "Pause for Prayer" before all our prayers and they seem to be responding!!  Score!

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: Reverence

This was one of the first ideas we had because we have a great need for reverence in our family- especially during prayers at home and also during Sacrament meeting on Sundays.

The Activity:
I just printed off a full body picture of my 3-year-old son, and cut it into pieces: eyes, mouth, ear, neck, arms, and legs.  I put them in a bag and let my two kids take turns pulling out a piece.  We talked about what body part it was (even my 1 year old could do this) and then what that body part needs to do to be reverent.  We had fun putting the pieces together on the floor too. You could even tape them up on the wall or something.

This was a great success!  Now we'll see if reverence holds...

Here is my source and another idea as well.