Family Home Evening's (FHE) for Kiddos

Sometimes we need a quick idea for FHE, and that can be tough when you have little kiddos at home...it's not like you can just open the scriptures and read or have them read from scriptures, or play trivia games, and that sort of stuff.  So I thought I'd pass along some of our FHE's that we've had a blast doing with our toddler.



1.  Stories of Jesus (For children just old enough to begin participating in FHE (~18 mo-2.5yr) )

Song: Tell me the Stories of Jesus #57

When Ethan was really young and finally able to begin participating in FHE's.  We began by just showing him different pictures of Jesus and having him point out things that he knew.  For example, the picture "Jesus at the Door".  Ethan had just learned the word door and what it was, so we showed him the picture, pointed to the door and asked him what that was.  After he said "Door" and was very proud of himself, we pointed out that there was no door handle on the door and asked how was Jesus going to get in.  We then explained that we have to open the door for Jesus and let him in and we can do this by going to church, saying our prayers, and other things that Ethan would be able to understand that he was currently doing. We kept with this theme until Ethan was about 2.5 years and we could move into "deeper" lessons.  Kids this age really enjoy and thrive on consistency and knowing what to expect.  The consistency of same Song, Jesus-themed pics, and followed by dessert was a great way to introduce our child into the idea of having a regular FHE without overwhelming him or boring him.  We continued with this theme of several different pictures of Jesus, each time asking our son to point out things he knew, boats, storms, Jesus, etc and then following with simple versions of the gospel stories.

Desserts:  We just made whatever we liked during this time period, nothing too elaborate...chocolate chip cookies, brownies....just to getting Ethan into the idea that after FHE we all get to eat dessert together.



2.  Holy Ghost (For Children 2.5 years +)

Song: The Holy Ghost #105 or The Still Small Voice #106
Lesson:  We keep it very basic, age-appropriate, by just telling Ethan that the Holy Ghost is a Present (because Ethan definitely understand what "present" means :) From Heavenly Father.  It warns of us danger, tells us when we're doing the right thing, tells us to be cautious or "slow down", etc.
Game: Holy Ghost Red Light, Green Light.  We explain again that the Holy Ghost will tell us when to "green light, Go", "Yellow Light, slow down and take caution", and "red light, Stop", then we play a simple game of red light green light, because toddlers love to run around :)  Anytime our toddler tried to tell us what color the light was or wasn't doing the light we called, we simply reminded him that we need to listen to the Holy Ghost.
Dessert:  Anything red and green, have fun with food coloring or red and green sprinkles, or you could do red and green puddings or jellos (lime jello with strawberry junks maybe)

3.  Light of the World  (For Children 2.5 years +)

Song: Teach Me to Walk in the Light #304
Lesson:   After Reading Matthew 5:14-16, We talked about being light to others by our example.  If we do what Jesus and Heavenly Father ask us to do we can be a light to others.  We had a flashlight, which we let him hold, and turned off all the lights to make it dark in our house.  We then repeated to him that he could be a light, bright and shiny, just like that flashlight by following the example of Jesus Christ.
Game:  Leaving all the lights off, we would hide a nerf ball of Ethan's (but you could use any object you like), we then let Ethan use his flashlight to find the object.
Dessert: Lemon bars

4.  Sharing  (For Children 2.5 years +)

Song: I'm Trying to be Like Jesus #78
Lesson:  Our son LOVES cars so we read him this article from the FRIEND  http://www.lds.org/friend/2012/08/cool-cars?lang=eng&query=sharing
We talked about how sharing makes us feel happy.  We got out a couple of play cars and shared them with Ethan and asked everyone how they felt.  We then took them all away and only let Daddy play with them and then asked how everyone felt.  We explained again that sharing makes us feel happy and we can follow the example of Jesus by sharing our toys with our friends and with our sister (or siblings).
Game: We used a cardboard box and pulled it apart and turned it into a car ramp.  We all played cars together and raced down the ramp.  Anytime during play that we heard "that's mine" we reminded that we are sharing because sharing is nice and makes everyone feel happy, and that we're trying to be like Jesus.
Dessert:  Mini chocolate donuts as "tires" or chocolate covered pretzel rods at "dipsticks" or ginger-ale floats as "gasoline".