This week you could have family home evening based on music. If you have teenagers, they can pass off goals in both the Personal Progress and Duty to God awards that involve music. This family home evening can take place at the beginning of the goal process or at the end or you may want to have a similar lesson after they have reached their goals.
You can open family home evening by reading Doctrine and Covenants 25:12. As a family you can talk about how some music helps you think about Heavenly Father, and how some music can reflect how you feel about Heavenly Father. You can also talk about the different types of music there are. You may want to collect several different types of music, and play samples for your children. If you have a musical family you may want to have your children play some of their pieces during the night. This would be a great time to open your eyes to the different types of music. You can ask each of your children to prepare an appropriate song to share with the family. This way you can hear what your children are listening to as well.
One of the things that the youth need to do to pass of the goal is to learn to conduct music. You can learn more about this by visiting the music section at www.lds.org. You can also learn to play, or play songs with lyrics or without over the Internet. This can help you prepare. As a family you may want to learn how to conduct a 4/4 song. And then practice together while singing. Each person can conduct for a verse.
You may want to end the lesson by singing each person’s favorite Primary song or hymn. You may be surprised at what your children choose. You can have each person briefly explain why the song is his or her favorite. You can find music to accompany the son on the Internet, if you do not want to sing a cappella or do not have access to a piano.
If you are teaching primarily adults you may want to invite each of the adults to choose their favorite hymn and prepare to share on what it means to them. You can then sing the hymns and spend time worshipping together that way.
Do not forget to open and close with a prayer. Refreshments are always good. You can end the activity with a game of musical chairs.
Related Articles:
Family Home Evening: Music and Dancing
Primary Time: Teaching Primary Songs
Music Resources Available at www.lds.org