Family Home Evening -- Lesson by Two Year Old

Well after assisting in the preparation for two Primary talks (both by Jaxon) recently, I decided we could make it work for Jinaya to give the FHE lesson. Last week she was to give the lesson and with no preparation Daddy helped her read us a story. Jinaya was very lucky and her name got drawn to do the lesson again the following week. She loves to take her turn standing in front of the family.

Jina's lesson was on Families. I printed off the little family coloring page from the manual "Behold Your Little Ones." (a brief insert: I am totally impressed with everything you can find on the LDS webpage. ...and it just keeps getting better!!!) Anyway, I asked her to color the family. She called it her "Family Homework." Then I cut out the people. I also printed off the words "I love my Family" our family name "Sharp" and each of our individual given names (to take the lesson a little farther.) During her lesson, Jinaya put each member of the little family up on the magnet board (or whatever you have.) She told us who they were (Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Sister, Baby) and talked about loving her family. She stayed and rearranged the people while I talked with the kids about different kinds of families and sizes. By this time Jinaya was "in and out" (meaning, I think she went to play in the bedroom, then came back a few times.) We also talked about our family name SHARP, then had each child come up and talked about where they got their name. I also taped their name to their shirt. For our activity we played "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar." It was a first for my kids and we all had a great time. Boo was a little nervous to play at first, because she knew that is was wrong to steal and didn't want to be the one picked.

So if you don't already know, I have a very strong testimony of Family Home Evening. I know it is important and helps us form those strong spiritual bonds. There are times when we don't have it every week...it's like church if you miss one week, it just keeps getting easier to stay home. When Mommy was really sick for a few months we missed out and after a while our kids started begging us during the week to have "that time where we learn about the scriptures and stories and stuff." So a few times we had it on a different night.

My children are young, but growing older and that does make it easier. In the beginning our entire FHE was 10-15 minutes. We had prayer, song, Scripture, teeny story, and coloring. Eventually our kids learned to sit longer and pay more attention. We used to have them copy what we said as we read the scripture (as if learning to pray). The more frequently we have FHE, the more reverent they learn to be. They also learn to do their best to ignore the two year old and try to focus on the teacher. If you are wondering where to start with your family...JUST DO IT!! Start small. Another thing to keep in mind....it is YOUR responsibility to keep it going. In our house Mommy prepares (or assists) for FIVE lessons and Daddy does one (usually something already laid out to teach).

Allright....summer is coming....keep it together!!! Ready, Set, GO for Family Night!!