Little children make decisions all the time; some good, some not so good. Here is a simple Family Home Evening lesson to help them learn that learning from others’ wisdom and asking for help is a very good thing. Time for some FHE Fun!
Opening Song: #178 Teacher, Do You Love Me? (Children’s Songbook)
Opening Prayer: By invitation.
Emergency Preparedness Moment. What emergency preparedness activity would you like to do this week for your family? Make this a matter of prayer and you will be surprised at the promptings you can receive. These few minutes every seven days during FHE can help your children be ready for a variety of emergencies. Problem solving skills, first aid skills, putting together backpack 72-hour kits, or any other kind of creative endeavor shows your family you love them and teaches them how to take care of themselves in tough scenarios. What will you choose this week?
Devotional. Devotionals can be a way to bring a sweet spirit to FHE and to show your children you value the scriptures. Try using a “favorite verse” time to jumpstart the actual FHE lesson. A moment of short-verse-reading-and-testimony-sharing can bring a powerful spirit to your home and help settle the children for a more spiritual FHE learning time.
Lesson. Feel free to get ideas from the sample lesson listed below, but make sure to go to the Lord in prayer to determine what your family really needs for this week. You are the one the Lord has blessed to know your family’s spiritual needs during your weekly FHEs.
Items Needed:
- Torn up pieces of paper in a small bundle
- Candy bar
- Pre-made “icky” cookies made with salt (instead of sugar as a sweetener)
- Pre-made delicious cookies made correctly
Prior to FHE, make two batches of cookies. Use your favorite recipe, but for the “icky” batch, substitute salt for the sugar. The point is to make the cookies look identical, but one batch will taste awful. Have them displayed on separate, but identical plates.
To start the lesson, bring out the wad of garbage/paper pieces and the candy bar. Let a volunteer come forward. Invite her to pick whichever offering she desires. Once the choice is made, have her sit down (allowing her to eat the candy bar).
Then bring out the two plates of identical cookies. Invite another volunteer to come forward. Let him know he can choose an entire plate of cookies, BUT one of the plates of cookies was made with sugar and the other set was made with salt. Thus, one will taste awful. Do not give any hints; but if help is asked for, give it honestly.
Once the choice is made, allow the volunteer to pass around the plate and let people have a cookie. Once everyone has the cookie in hand, have them all take a bite out of it at the same time.
SUMMARY.
Some decisions in life are easy decisions—kind of like choosing between the wad of papers and a candy bar from the first activity. But some decisions are risky. What happens if we do not ask adults or others for their advice? We might make choices that leave us with an awful “taste” in our hearts.
This is why the Lord gives us all parents. Most parents want to help their children avoid heartache and/or difficult consequences. Listening to parents can be a very good thing!
Finish off by reading the following scripture found in Ephesians 6:1-4:
1 aChildren, bobey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 aHonour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
4 And, ye afathers, bprovoke not your cchildren to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Why might honoring parents be “the first commandment with promise”? Why might the Lord counsel parents to be careful with their children?
After listening to your family’s ideas, you may want to remind your children you love them—even when sometimes you are tired and may not respond the best. You might share Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-44 to let them know how much you are trying as a parent to love them and to teach them properly. Let them know you do all this because you don’t want “icky cookies” of any kind in their lives.
Invite them to talk with you any time they need support with difficult decisions. (Do be careful if they open up in the future not to rush immediately to judgment; instead, listen long before talking so you can hear entire concerns.)
Closing Song: #160 Choose the Right Way (Children’s Songbook)
Closing Prayer: By invitation.
Struggling with your teens? C.S. Bezas’ book is an essential help for parents and youth leaders. Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers teaches you how to create powerful change. Visit your local LDS bookstore or get your copy online here.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON PARENTING:
- “Teach the Children”, President Boyd K. Packer
- From LDS.org: “Good parenting, while very challenging at times, offers great potential for happiness. (See 3 John 1:4.) The Lord has commanded parents to ‘bring up [their] children in light and truth’ (D&C 93:40). This includes teaching them to understand the doctrines of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 68:25) and to love their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This teaching should take place primarily in the home, with Church classes and programs supplementing and supporting parents’ efforts. Parents can teach their children formally during family home evening and other family gatherings, such as daily family prayer and scripture study or at mealtimes. Teaching opportunities also come in unplanned moments as parents and children spend time working and playing together. Whatever the setting, the Lord will guide parents as they prayerfully seek to rear their children in love and righteousness.”
