Family home evening is very important. The blessings that have been promised with family home evening are worth the effort that goes into it. At a leadership meeting I attended several years ago, we discussed the preparation that goes into family home evening. There may be some nights when you just gather together as a family and talk briefly about a topic and that is all right. However you can make your family home evenings more effective and more enjoyable by preparing before you begin.
One important aspect is to find a way to relate the lesson directly to your children’s lives. This may be difficult if you are teaching a wide age range, but it is possible. You can share two or three stories with each one being targeted to a specific age group. You may involve visual aids or flannel board figures for the younger children, with deeper questions for the older children.
Another aspect is to make the lesson as hands on as possible. A great way to do this is through an object lesson. Children often grasp a concept much quicker when they can actually see it working. You may find that playing a game can also accomplish this. If you are learning about the Nephi’s dream act it out as a family with a blind fold and then talk about what each part means and how it applies to the Plan of Salvation. This is a hands on lesson that will have a lasting affect on your children.
Another great way to make these lessons more meaningful and successful is to challenge your children to apply it to their lives. You can request that your children do this in a specific way or you can ask each of them to list a way to apply it at the end of the lesson. If you add a time to report on last week’s progress into your family home evenings, you have created an easy way to keep growing in the gospel.
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