Sing “I Will Be Valiant” (Children’s Songbook, 162).
Print or draw some road signs that help you stay safe, like stop signs, speed limits, and other warnings. Take turns holding up the signs and having people follow them in pretend cars! What would driving be like without those signs?
Abinadi taught about the Ten Commandments (see Mosiah 13:12–24). How does following the commandments keep you safe and happy?
I love this idea from the Come Follow Me manual: Mosiah 2-3
It might be fun for your family to create the setting for King Benjamin’s speech. You could make a small tower and let family members take turns reading King Benjamin’s words while standing on it. The rest of the family could listen from inside a makeshift tent.
I’m so excited about this project! I really want to bring Christ to Easter this year and have a fun way where my kids can come closer to Christ. I feel like there are so many different ways you can do this with your family. Follow the spirit and use this as a resource of how to help your family come closer to Christ this Easter.
Here is a sample of some of the clue cards:
Here is a link to a FREE PDF of the Christ Centered Treasure Hunt:
You can print off these clues in color or black and white. (They print one clue per page, but I was able to print 2 per page in the printer settings.)
My kids like it when there are pictures that show what scriptures are teaching. It brings the scriptures to life.
I had printed out pictures last year and I wanted to share some resources so that you can print some at home if you think your family would benefit from it. I know that all the pictures on the church’s website are free to use for personal use.
Day of the Holy Week. I thought this might be useful if you wanted to have a treasure hunt that lasted the whole week and do 1-4 clues each week. (You also can do it all at once.) Or just so your family would know when certain events happened throughout the last week of the Savior’s life.
The scripture. This is where the teaching is. I got the scriptures from last years Come Follow Me manual (New Testament) and some scriptures from this years Come Follow Me manual (Book of Mormon.) The words of the prophets teach and testify of Christ. I feel the best way to come to know the Savor is through the scriptures. The scripture also contains the next clue location in this activity.
There is a specific verse that is highlights where the next clue will be found along with a hint to that clue location.
All clues are locations in your home. The first clue send you to a branch of trees. This is the only one that could be an outside clue if you want it. You could have an indoor plant or print a picture of a tree to put in your home.
Event highlights are also a part of each clue. It will help everyone know what the central point is. Especially with little ones.
If you want to go the extra mile you can do the activity idea on each of the clue cards. If you do follow the Holy Week timeline of clues it would be a great way to reinforce the teaching in the scripture.
Also hide the clues that work for you. There are three ways that I thought of:
The end of the treasure hunt you can have whatever treasure you want. If you do it on Easter, maybe have your Easter baskets there. Do what feels right to you. The treasure hunt does end where you have your speaker system so it is a pretty visual spot. Just something to consider when planning.
Another way to look at the Christ Centered Easter Treasure Hunt is the treasure map. These are the same clues and scriptures but just the bare bones.
Here is a FREE PDF of the simplified Christ Centered Easter Egg Hunt treasure map:
Last year I discovered The Small Seed. She makes beautiful displays for Easter and some great Easter activities that are all Christ centered. Check her out! https://www.thesmallseed.com/
Here are some of the things we do in our family to make General Conference meaningful and fun!
This is a picture from last April’s General Conference. My kids look forward to conference and that makes my heart so happy! They now ask why I haven’t set up yet and ask to help.
I was trying to figure out how long we have been doing our General Conference activities. I found this picture from April 2013. My babies were 1 and 3. I wanted so badly to listen to the prophet and apostle and make it fun for my family too. I even recorded what website inspired me in 2013… and the inspiration came from: http://welovebeingmoms.blogspot.com/2012/03/general-conference-with-kids.html.
This is what I wrote about our first experience:
“Overall I think that the girls liked it. At the beginning of the afternoon session on Saturday Allie asked “Why are we still watching this?” But after the session was over and there were still apostles and activities to do she asked “Can we just watch the rest of it?” I don’t think that it helped the girls to listen and pay attention to conference but it did help so that we could.” I love the last sentence. So true!
But I will tell you that they have grown to love it and I’ve been impressed over the years how they have been paying more attention than I would have originally given them credit for.
So this is what I’ve found that works for us. The activities will change depending on your children, their ages, and what they are interested in. Use things that you already have. Don’t feel like you have to go and get all new activities.
I usually do like to go to the dollar store and get a few activities that are new. You don’t have to do this though. There are so many things you can print at home or use that you already have.
Gathered Mountains (https://gatheredmountains.com/) has an awesome free printable for you and your family to use for General Conference. We have added it to our General Conference routine. I love that they have pictures of all of the General officers of the church and blank cards for the members of the Quorum of the Seventy with a space for you (or your kids) to write a thought you had while they were talking or the topic. After each speaker speaks we grab the picture (or draw one for one of the 70) and then write a little of what we learned.
I print out pictures of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve from the Gospel Media Library. You can print them for home or church use only. You can do this from home or send them to your favorite place to print. I used to use Costco and now we live too far from one so we use CVS. Once you print them you can just put them in a safe place and keep them until the next conference.
I like to set up at least a week before conference to get my family excited for it.
We set up on our mantle, but you can put it on a table, in a basket, or whatever works for you and your family.
With our current need to use social distancing from those we love and minister to, I thought it would be fun to set up a few activities and pictures of the apostles in a box to give to them. I printed off a few sheets and grabbed some things around the house and I hope they can use it for conference or to help them to pass the time during the quarantine.
What do you do in your families to make General Conference something that your family looks forward to?
In continuing teaching about prayer we are going to talk about the similarities of talking to dad and talking with Heavenly Father and write them down and then write down some of the differences.
After reading Enos 1:4 We are going to invite everyone in the family to pray “all day” the next day.
Even though it is best to kneel down and pray reverently in a quiet place, we can pray wherever they are. I’m going to try painting a finger nail or a tying a string on everyone’s finger so that we can try and remember to pray throughout the day. Talk to Heavenly Father about the things that are happening throughout the day. To try to always remember him.
We will see if we can be like Enos and pray all day. More important than trying to be like Enos we will be trying to get closer to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.
I’m excited to see how it goes with our family.
Scripture: Omni 1: 26
Come unto Christ.
Scripture: Words of Mormon 1:7
Activity: Play a trivia game as a family.
Here our some of our favorite “trivia” games.
We don’t know everything but God does. Play as a family to see what you do and do not know!
We decided to dress up in our Sunday clothes for our church services. We didn’t wear shoes nor ties. We didn’t wear them the whole day. We just wanted to act differently for our little meeting and to have us remember that this is the Sabbath. (No judgement how you and your family decided to dress.)
I just wanted to share a little of what we did in our first Home-Centered Church while meetings at the church are suspended for a little bit. Not that we know what we doing or that we are doing it perfectly, but to give ideas.
What we did for a program:
We asked 2 of our kids to prepare a talk for Sunday. We gave them a topic (prayer.)
Dad conducted the meeting (but we will most likely rotate this assignment next week.)
Opening Song
Opening Prayer
Talks (we had 3…2 kids and an adult)
Closing Song
Closing Prayer
We took a little break and then dad talked to each of them one on one about their goals for the youth program.
After a lunch break we finished up with some singing time (Primary.)
I’ve thought that it would be great to have classes. Maybe next week.
Some ideas for the classes:
Discuss Come Follow Me
Have a Come Follow Me activity
Watch the new Book of Mormon videos
Listen to General Conference talks
Study the restoration
The kids really liked having the table as a “podium.”
I was really touched by the spirit as we were edified together as a family. What a precious opportunity to grow closer to God and as a family together. I’m so grateful for it.
What are some of your successes? Or things that worked well in your family?
Activity ideas: Laboring in the Vineyard and the Allegory of the Olive Trees
#1: Show kids pictures from your mission(s). Jacob 5: 70. “other servants” were called into the Lord’s vineyard to teach and gather Israel.
#2: Buy some potted plants (garden vegetable plant maybe, or a flower?) and put them in a different types of ground. Cup filled with rocks. Cup filled with sand. Cup filled with good dirt. See how they grow. Talk about it as time progresses.
#3: Learn about the allegory of the olive trees and learn about the house of Israel.
Growing up I never really understood what the house of Israel was and why it was important to me. I want to have my kids be able to visualize what it is and use a part of our family tree to help them understand what it means for them.
In the manual it talks about what is being taught in Jacob 5
verses 3-14 talk about the scattering of Israel before Christ
verses 15-28 talk about the ministry of Christ
verses 20-49 teach about the Great Apostasy
verses 50-76 teach about the gathering of Israel (now)
“Be Reconciled Unto God Through the Atonement of Christ”
March 9-15
Scripture: Jacob 1: 7
Activity:
Write a letter to our bishop and/or bake a treat to take to him and his family.
Activity Idea #2 for Jacob 1: 7:
Read about callings that family members hold on the church’s website and talk about what you can do to labor diligently. Follow the the promptings of the spirit.
I feel so strongly about this. I feel like it is not talked enough in our homes. I want my kids to get their information about sex/intimacy from my husband and myself. If I don’t teach them, they will learn it from the media, the internet, and their friends. I want my kids to learn about it from us.
The worlds view and God’s view of intimacy are so different. Satan has taken something so beautiful between a husband and wife and made it to be something ugly. I want my kids to see the truth about it.
God commands us to live the law of chastity. Too many people are afraid of it. We need to stop that culture. How are our kids going to know how to keep it, if they don’t know what it really is?
I’m no expert on the matter, but I love the Law of Chastity. I LOVE it. Here are some tips to consider when teaching your family:
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid
Don’t beat around the bush. Use real names: penis, vagina, sex (okay, you can use intimacy…but kids will appreciate you being frank), sperm, egg, orgasm & masturbation e.c.
Teach them it is something beautiful and wonderful between husband and wife. (Let’s not perpetuate the no, no, no) It is something to wait for and be excited about in the right time with the right person. It is not something to fear.
Ask them what they have heard and if they have questions, and try not to be awkward when you respond.
If you and your spouse need to role play before you talk about it so you aren’t awkward or so you can work through how you want to say it, do!
There are some good books as resources. Message me if you want those suggestions.
Remember this will not be a one time talk. Try and keep an open dialog about it.
Don’t be afraid.
I love the law of chastity. Let me tell you a little about why I love it: the law of chastity is all about families. In the church we love to talk about families. Part of family talk is how families come to be. We talk a lot about marriage and temples at church and at home. The way in which we add members to our families is through sex. Sex is an important aspect of the creative power that God gave to us. We can help CREATE life. How wonderful. How humbling to be a part of such a sacred work.
And sex is a fun, bonding time between husband and wife.
Here are some resources that I thought might be useful for you in teaching Jacob 2:23-3:12 (DON’T SKIP IT!! TEACH IT!!! EVEN/ESPECIALLY if you have young children):
The scripture says that we need to be reconciled unto our Heavenly Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Some synonyms of reconcile are: to make peace; adjust; harmonize; rectify; resolve; reunite.
We need to make peace with our Heavenly Father because of our mistakes; harmonize our lives with His teachings; resolve our differences. This is only possible through Jesus Christ!
8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
Activity: Learn to Pray- Talk to dad on the phone
Have the kids use mom’s phone (or the house phone if you have one) to call dad. Have him be in the other room. Give them instructions to
Tell him Hello
Tell him thank you for at least 3 things
Ask him for something
Say Good-bye
Dad has instructions to talk when given time and asked questions.
Let each kid have a chance to talk to dad.
Then talk about prayer.
Our kids need a good little reminder about the importance of prayer and how to be reverent during (i.e. don’t eat during a prayer, don’t move around during a prayer, no touching siblings while praying…basic stuff).
I want to talk about how we have the chance to talk to our Heavenly Father. And we should really talk to Him. He really wants to hear from us and talk back to us. We just have to give Him the time and pay attention to the Holy Ghost.
Scripture: 2 Nephi 33: 10
Activity: DO GOOD
One of my favorite quotes is from Sister Camilla Kimball: “never suppress a generous thought.” By following her counsel, we can know that our Heavenly Father knows us personally because He sends us to be His hands and heart to those in need. As we do so, our faith in Him is strengthened.
When a generous thought comes into your mind do it!
Keep a list throughout the week of GOOD DEEDS that you and your family do. Or talk about them over dinner. Or come up with a good deed to do as a family and DO IT.
What will the Holy Ghost inspire you to do for someone else today? We just learned about prayer…what does God want you to do?
Don’t ignore those generous thoughts that come in your mind.
Scripture: 2 Nephi 33: 15
Mic drop.
Last words of Nephi….I must obey. When he said this at the end of the book of Second Nephi I felt like he closes with a mic drop.
He was true to those words in his lifetime. I’m grateful to have so many examples of him ‘going and doing’…because that is obedience, right? The whole youth theme this year is to ‘go and do’ and what I’m learning is that means being obedient to God. Being obedient to what God tells us to do in the scriptures. Being obedient to God by heading the words of the living prophet of God. And being obedient to His voice to our hearts or the spirit. #hearhim
Nephi showed in his life that he obeyed what God taught in the scriptures by obeying the law of Moses and by getting the scriptures to learn from them. He listened to the voice of the prophet…he even went to the Lord to help soften his heart so he could follow his father, the prophet, into the wilderness. (1 Nephi 2:16). And what I love most is finding him following the promptings of the Lord that he received through the Holy Ghost.
I pray that I can feel that I must—-be compelled to/forced/obliged—to obey. Because I love God so much that I can’t see myself not obeying.
I still have a long ways to go in feeling that I MUST obey. Right now I’m in a stage where I really want to (with most things) obey.
Even amid my weaknesses and shortcomings to obey the voice of the Lord in my life I’m so grateful for the hope that Christ brings. That not only I can repent when I don’t obey, I can be empowered through Christ as I do my best to obey even when it is really hard.
I’m trying to obey.
Activity: Simon Says- (You must obey)
Read the 2 Nephi 33:15. I love that Nephi ends his words by his faithfulness in obedience. Nephi had the confidence that the Lord wouldn’t ask him to do things that he couldn’t do. When the Lord asked, Nephi did! We can too!
A fun easy way to talk about the need to obey is to play Simon Says. Some fun ideas to spice up your Simon Says game are:
Simon says play air guitar
Simon says roll over
Simon says waddle like a penguin
Simon says to dance
Simon says cry like a baby.
Simon says to start singing (what do you what them to sing???)
Simon says smell your feet.
Simon says hug yourself.
Simon says walk backwards.
Simon says act like a robot
Simon says blow a kiss
Simon says freeze
Simon says be your favorite superhero
Simon says stick out your tongue
Simon says swim
Simon Says make a funny face
Simon Says slither like a snake
Activity: Feast on the words of Christ:
2 Nephi 31:20
Prepare everyone’s favorite food items. Cover them. Have everyone describe how much they want to eat their food item and why they like it so much. Invite them to have the smallest taste with their finger. Is it enough? Or do you want more? Have each food item be listed with things that represent the word of God; like the scriptures, General Conference addresses, sacred music, and prayer. Talk about if we are just getting a taste of each of these things or are we feasting upon them.
Scripture:2 Nephi 31:10-13
10 And he said unto the children of men: aFollow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we bfollow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father agivethe Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, bfollow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall afollow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no bhypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real cintent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are dwilling to take upon you the ename of Christ, by fbaptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the gbaptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the htongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
I was impressed by the repeat of Christ inviting us to FOLLOW HIM. It is so much more than a little game but I hope my kids will learn little by little things they can do to follow Christ daily in their lives.
Activity #1: Follow a recipe! (So you can learn line upon line)
Chocolate Chip Cookies (shhh don’t tell them what it is)
Get out the ingredients:
2/3 cup Crisco
2/3 cup Butter (softened)
1 cups White Sugar
1 cups Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3 cups Flour
2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Follow these instructions step by step (line upon line):
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Put 2/3 cup Crisco in bowl
Add 2/3 cup softened butter to the bowl
Add 1 cups White Sugar
1 cups Brown Sugar
Cream together until light and fluffy (this is the most important step. You want to make sure it is very light and fluffy).
Add 1 egg
Mix in egg
Add 2nd egg
Mix in
Add 1 tsp vanilla
Mix
Add 1 tsp baking soda
Add 1 tsp salt
Add 1 cup flour
Mix
Add 1 cup flour
Mix
Add 1 cup flour
Mix
Add 2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Mix
Spoon out ball of dough.
Roll into a ball
Place on baking sheet.
Repeat steps 23-25 until there are 12 cookie dough balls are on the baking sheet.
Put the baking sheet with cookies into the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove tray from oven.
Wait two minutes to cool and transfer cookies onto cookie rack.
Enjoy!
As I’ve been thinking about this activity I feel like you can take it a step further and talk about receiving revelation and how that works. I think for my family we are going to talk about how we can know for ourselves that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. 2 Nephi 27 talks about the Book of Mormon coming forth. I feel like we all need to learn for ourselves if it is the word of God or not. We can learn line upon line. Even if I believe that it is true and I have received revelation from God about it I can still learn more.
I think that I’m going to label my ingredients to enforce this idea of how we can learn line upon line:
2/3 cup Crisco = going to church
2/3 cup Butter (softened) = softening our hearts to hear what God wants to teach us
1 cups White Sugar = reading the Book of Mormon
1 cups Brown Sugar = studying the Book of Mormon
2 eggs = praying
1 tsp Vanilla = listening to the Holy Ghost and the testimony of others
1 tsp Baking Soda = studying it out in your mind
1 tsp Salt = pondering the words read
3 cups Flour = applying the teaching in the Book of Mormon in your life
2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips = Sharing your thoughts and feelings
Follow these instructions step by step (line upon line):
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees = Be prepared for results!
Put 2/3 cup Crisco in bowl = go to church
Add 2/3 cup softened butter to the bowl = soften heart to hear what God wants to teach us
Add 1 cups White Sugar = read the Book of Mormon
1 cups Brown Sugar = study the Book of Mormon
Cream together until light and fluffy (this is the most important step. You want to make sure it is very light and fluffy). = keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon. Do this for a prolonged period of time.
Add 1 egg = pray about it
Mix in egg = pray about the Book of Mormon as you keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 2nd egg = pray about it again
Mix in = keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 1 tsp vanilla = listen to the Holy Ghost and the testimony of others
Mix = listen, pray, keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 1 tsp baking soda = study it out in your mind
Add 1 tsp salt = ponder the words read
Add 1 cup flour = apply the teaching in the Book of Mormon in your life
Mix= apply the teachings, listen, pray, listen, pray, keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 1 cup flour = apply the teaching in the Book of Mormon in your life some more
Mix = apply the teachings, listen, pray, listen, pray, keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 1 cup flour = continue to apply the teaching in the Book of Mormon in your life
Mix = apply the teachings, listen, pray, listen, pray, keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Add 2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips = Share your thoughts and feelings
Mix = share, apply, listen, pray, listen, pray, keep a soft heart as you attend church, read & study the Book of Mormon
Spoon out ball of dough = take part of what you have learned and felt
Roll into a ball = form thoughts about what you have learned and felt
Place on baking sheet = place your thoughts and feelings about it out
Repeat steps 23-25 until there are 12 cookie dough balls are on the baking sheet = repeat above
Put the baking sheet with cookies into the oven for 10 minutes = allow for a time of trial and refinement
Remove tray from oven = remove from trial and refinement process
Wait two minutes to cool and transfer cookies onto cookie rack = wait and be patient
Enjoy! = Enjoy knowing for yourself that the Book of Mormon is the word of God (“And as I partook of the [cookie] thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also” -1 Nephi 8: 12 [with slight wording changes])
Activity #2:
Book of Mormon is of great worth (2 Nephi 28:2). Picture of the Bible and the Book of Mormon and a world map and play “Pin the tail on the Donkey” but put where the Bible and Book of Mormon came from. Then talk about truths learned from the Book of Mormon.
If you would like to print these out and play with your family, here is the free download:
Another option would be to use a world map or globe and print out pictures of as many Book of Mormons and Bibles for each member of your family and see who can put them on the map closest to where they came from. (Pin the tail on the donkey)
Study insight:
As I was studying I noticed something new to me in 2 Nephi 29:11:
“For I command aall men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall bwrite the words which I speak unto them; for out of the cbooks which shall be written I will djudge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.”
“For I command ALL MEN…that they shall write the words which I speak unto them”
I realized that meant ME too. I need to write in places such as my journal the words which I hear the Lord speak unto me.
I have the same command to write the things of God. Not for all men, like the prophets of old and new, but for me and for my family.
Happy studying! I hope you find some treasures for you this week too.
Come Follow Me in my family 
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