FHE: Prophets foretold of Christ

On the back of every "Friend" magazine, this year, they had little Book of Mormon story cut-outs.  My son was very excited by this and always had me cut them out, so I've been saving them.  I pulled out the pictures of Samuel the Lamanite, and talked a bit about him and the signs he said that would foretell of Jesus's birth.

The kids were quite rowdy and not really paying attention.  Not sure if it was because of them or me.  I probably should have had the kids hold the pictures or something.

FHE: Music

ok ok, we didn't really have FHE.  I was thinking of enrolling my 2 and 4-year-olds in a music class and the sample class we could go to was on Monday night.  :(  So we just let it be our FHE this once.

FHE: My Body is Private

In our house, we've been having a lot of issues with people talking about "bathroom things" while not in the bathroom and also kids running around naked, inside and outside of the house.  I thought we should probably have a lesson about this.

We mostly just talked about how it's impolite to be naked in front of others and we should only take off our clothes when we're bathing, changing, or using the toilet (or getting a diaper changed) and occasionally at the doctor's office.

We also mentioned that we only touch our private parts when we're cleaning them or using the bathroom and that we don't touch other people's private parts or let others touch ours (unless they're changing a diaper).  We said if someone tries to touch their privates they should be loud and say, "Back off buster!!" and had them all practice.

Finally, we talked about how it's impolite to talk about "bathroom terms" (and we gave examples) outside of the bathroom and if they had questions about anything, or needed to talk about them with us, we should all go to the bathroom together and talk about it there.

This wasn't a particular "fun" lesson, but it's one of those that needs to be discussed and even though we tell them these things every time it comes up, it seems like they pay attention more at FHE.

FHE: Gratitude

With Thanksgiving coming up, we thought it appropriate to talk about gratitude.

We talked about how being grateful makes us happy because we enjoy the things we have while we have them, rather than wishing for things we don't have and being sad about it.

We all traced our hand and colored it to look like a turkey.  Then we took turns saying 5 things we were grateful for and mom & dad helped everyone write them on each finger of their turkey.

My 4-year old absolutely loved this.  He wanted to do another thing for the body.  The next morning he even woke up and said he wanted to make another hand-turkey picture, but use BOTH hands and list things he was grateful for for both hands.

FHE: Stranger Danger

Now that I have 3 kids, if I try to go to the store, only 2 can really fit in the cart, so my oldest (4-year old) tends to run off, or lag behind, drawn by toys, candy, etc.  I thought it would be a good idea to talk about "stranger danger" with my kids, since it's harder for me to keep my eye on all of them when we're out.

We mostly talked about how you shouldn't go with a stranger, or take anything from them and told our kids that if a stranger ever offers them candy or ice cream or ANYTHING tempting, they should say no and run away.  If they tell us about it when they get home, we will double their offer.  (hoping this will be an additional incentive to be safe.)

We also talked about how if a stranger tries to pick them up, they should yell, "You're not my dad!" or "you're not my mom!!" and kick, scratch, hit, anything they can do to get away, and to run to the nearest mom with young kids they can find (if they can't find us) for help.

We also briefly mentioned that sometimes people they do know might try to do something that might make them feel comfortable and told them that they should never have to take off their clothes for anyone except maybe a doctor, and mom or dad would be with them then.

I'm sure my 2-year old was oblivious, but I know my 4-year old understands and that gives me some peace of mind.

FHE: Music

I based our lesson off this one, highly summarized for my young kids.  We did her playlist using iTunes, but I wish I had just made my own playlist based on music I have, so there would be less lag time between songs.  (young kids = short attention spans)  The playlist was fun, though :)

I think I might do a "music" FHE again and have the kids request their favorite Children's Hymns and sing them!

FHE: Pumpkin Carving (Service)

This family home evening idea for pumpkin carving is a nice way to incorporate your annual pumpkin carving into an FHE.  I found it at a blog called Inspiration Organization.

Here's the part I used:

This pumpkin is going to help us remember how we can better serve God.
I can open my mind so I can learn about Heavenly Father and his plan for me to return to him.(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

I can repent when I make a wrong choice.(Clean out the inside)

I can keep my eyes open for opportunities to serve others.(Cut the eyes out in shape of heart)

I can be a good friend to everyone and not turn up my nose to anyone.(Cut a nose)

I can open my ears so I can listen and learn.(Cut the ears)

I can open my mouth so I can share the gospel with the world.(Cut the mouth)

I can follow the Saviors example and let my light shine in all that I say and do.(Place a candle inside and light it)

I made pumpkin smoothies for a treat.  (But I ignored all the vegan substitutions and used regular vanilla, milk, etc.)  but nobody liked them, so use a different recipe :)

Note: since my kids are so young (0, 2, 4) I had already scooped out all the innards of the pumpkins we were going to carve to save time.  GREAT idea.  I had even carved one to just point out the things so the lesson would go quicker and there wouldn't be such a large gap in time between them.