Family Home Evening-Intro

So I've decided to attempt to add sharing our Family Home Evening Lessons for all, to hopefully help inspire ideas for your own F.H.E. nights.

I love having Family Home Evening! In our family it is a nice way to dedicate at least one day a week as "Family Day." We figure while this isn't a big deal now since everyday is practically family day, it's a good habit for our family to have for when the kids get older and they actually want to leave...oh oh wait! Monday is Family Night! (See how that works?)

So this post is our intro post into F.H.E. (family home evening) Burt Family Style!

First, we like to mix things up sometimes we have a lesson, sometimes we just go out and do something together as a family, sometimes we just work on craft projects together. Do what works best for your family as long as you do it TOGETHER. For us this works, our kids are all little (6, 4, 3, and 9 months) and have little attention spans so hammering home a lesson every week gets a little tired for them and for us.

Second, for us it has worked well when we do have a lesson to tailor it to the needs of our family that particular week. For example, if we've had a hard week of naughtiness in our house we might have a lesson on obeying, honoring your mother and father, or maybe on doing your part to make a happy home.

Another example, my brother in law just recently left for his mission, for our kids this is a new concept and something they didn't quite understand. So for F.H.E. we had a lesson on Missionaries, what they are, what they do, and we had the kids write a letter to him at the MTC.

We often will do craft projects that coincide with Holiday's or Birthday's that might be coming up, or we'll take the kids to do something fun that maybe they've been asking to do.

And of course when in doubt pick a gospel lesson! We do throw in a gospel principles lesson I would say 2/4 F.H.E.'s at our house.

Third, the key to lessons is to keep them short and simple, keep them age appropriate, keep your kids involved, throw in an activity and always, ALWAYS end F.H.E. with a TREAT!!

Fourth, get organized and get the whole family involved. The reasoning for this is twofold, one if you get everyone involved not only are they more excited for F.H.E. it also holds more meaning for them because they were involved. Second, it takes all the pressure off of you. Don't let F.H.E. be a one woman show, and don't take on all the burden. For me I've come to learn that when the burden of F.H.E., falls solely on me it becomes more of a chore...and more of a chore that I end up not looking forward to. Having everyone hold a certain responsibility is a game changer. The best way I've found to do this is to get some kind of F.H.E. board. There are printable versions such as the one here, and there are also wooden boards you can find such as the ones here or chalk board ones like this. Or make your own. However you do it, DO IT!

Finally, here are a list of great resources that I frequently quite regularly to help me find inspiration for my lessons:

1. A Year of F.H.E. (they are on my list of favorite blogs, she is awesome, lessons are free, and if you want you can follow her lesson plan for the entire year!)

2. LDS.org

3. Scriptures 4 Kids

Maybe in my next post I'll show you my giant Family Home Evening Binder...it's a whopper!

Good luck with your own F.H.E. adventures and please feel free to share any great resources or tips/tricks that you use to make your Family Home Evenings go off without a hitch!