Lately, we have gotten into the habit of having regular family home evenings. It’s always been a goal of mine as a parent, and I’m proud to say that we are finally implementing it on a regular basis! Yay! So, I thought I would start a series every Monday to share how we adapt very very simple family home evenings to our little family of 5. A 5 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby on the way.
My husband and I take turns preparing family home evenings. He gave one recently that my kids LOVED. It was quick, simple, and held their attention. And the best part? They learned the scripture story of the Brother of Jared. He adapted the family home evening idea from this idea from sugardoodle.
He started by telling our kids that we were going on a long trip. They needed to each get a backpack and pack one thing that they would like to take on the trip with us. They grabbed their little backpacks, and each chose a toy, of course. My daughter chose one of her My little Pony toys, and my son chose his Buzz Lightyear toy. They put the toys in their backpacks, and kept them on their backs through the whole lesson. Children love to pretend they are going on a trip! He started by talking about the boat, and how small it was, and how the Brother of Jared and his family could probably only bring things that were really important to them.
We have two very tiny flashlights (one for each child) that he used. They are kind of round in shape, and he told them they were stones. He turned out all the lights, and told them how dark it was inside the boat. Then, he told them the story of his faith, and seeing the finger of the Lord light the stones. As he talked about the stones being lit, he turned on the flashlights. My kids were mesmerized the whole time! And, they were listening. Even my little boy who is the one that is so hard to captivate was listening. Afterward, he followed up by asking a few questions to see if they got the story, and they did!
For a fun activity, we cut hard boiled eggs in half. He cut out pieces of paper for sails and had each child color their own sail for their ship. Then, using a hole punch, he punched holes in each of the sails and put a straw that he had also cut through the holes. It made a perfect sail! Then, we attached the sails to the eggs, and they got to blow on the sails and have a race across the ocean with their boats. The ocean was made out of a glass 13×9 pan filled with water.
The ideas were simple, but they told the story of the Brother of Jared, and they filled the imaginations of my young children. I hope they remember that lesson for a long time to come!