Easy FHE (Family Home Evening) Ideas for Toddlers and Kids - POST 3 Baptism

Baptism and Confirmed

This FHE was taken from Lesson 26: I Will Be Baptized and Confirmed from the LDS nursery manual "Behold Your Little Ones". Remember keep it simple.

Song: “Baptism” (Children’s Songbook, 100–101)

Lesson: Play the game from lesson 26. (Show the children your copy of the baptism illustration, read the caption, and invite the children to say “baptized.” Turn the page over, and repeat for the confirmation illustration.
Hide the illustrations behind your back. Then show the children one side of the page, and ask, “Is this boy being baptized or confirmed?” Invite the children to say the answer with you. Hide the illustrations behind your back again and repeat the activity as long as the children are interested.)

Then give them a copy of the coloring page of Christ getting baptized. Let the kids color and as you read John 3:5. Explain that we are baptized so we can live with Heavenly Father again. You can find the coloring page HERE.

Easy FHE for Toddlers and Kids - Post 2 Family History

FHE Family History

Remember keep it simple.

The insperation for this lesson came from the FHE lesson ideas found in the Family History page on LDS.org. It is lesson #6... click here to check them out.

Song: We used "I Love to See the Temple" because it is a song that my kids know, but you can also do "Families Can Be Together Forever".

Lesson: This may take a little more preparation if you don't have family photos that are easily HERE. Then we gathered a family photo and photos of Grandparents.
accessed. We printed out this family tree coloring page. It can be found

We showed the kids each picture and asked them who it was. We then gave them the coloring page and explained that families are like trees. We helped them write in everyone's names. As they colored their tree we talked about where each person was born. Then we explained that Heavenly Father want families to be together forever.

Treat: We had strawberries because Grandma likes them. You can do something that one of their Grandparents like.

That's all... remember keep it simple and fallow the spirit.

Easy FHE (Family Home Evening) Ideas for Toddlers and Kids - POST 1 The Creation, Baptism

The Creation

I have finally decided that my new motto for FHE is "keep it simple". This FHE lesson was inspired by Lesson 7: Jesus Christ Created the World for Me from the LDS nursery manual "Behold Your Little Ones". 

We sang "I Am a Child of God" 

Than I gave each child a copy of this coloring page.
From https://www.lds.org/friend/2010/01/coloring-page?lang=eng

We asked what they saw on the page. After they answered we explained that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Made all of these things because they love us. We then had fun coloring our pictures.

For a treat we had Goldfish crackers.
 That was all. Just simple.

Paternt's Choice Award

As parents in today's world it is wonderful to find a company that makes families a priority. Our family has been on the road a lot in the last few months. During our adventures we discovered that McDonald's no longer has play places at most of their restaurants.

To a parent who has been doing their best to keep their kids from going crazy after hours of driving, it can be devastating to realize that the location you have chosen to stop for food does not have a place for little ones to get their wiggles out. So prior to our most recent adventure we got online to find a place to stop at that would have a place for kiddos to get energy out. It was surprising to find that Chick-fil-a was the only one that fit the bill. To be completely honest I am not a big fan of chicken sandwiches so I had only been to Chick-fil-a only 3 times before this trip.

It didn't take long after walking into the Chick-fil-a in Fairview Heights Illinois for me to decide that eating chicken sandwiches is worth it at this restaurant. Here is why.....

1. They have complementary diapers an wipes that find themselves in need. 
2. There is a cleaning wipe and a mat for little ones to put food on in every highchair.
3. Also by the condiments and napkins you can find cup of cheerios for babies. 
4. They have a service they call Mom's Valet. You order and pay at the drive thru and they will have your food waiting for you at a table when you get inside. 
5. Employes walk around and see if you need refills of drinks or anything else.

 That was above and beyond the fact that the everything was really clean, the service was fast and the food was good. Overall we were so impressed that we have decided to make Chick-fil-a  our road trip stop form now on.









I want to say thank you to Chick-fil-a for what you do to make life easier for the parents that come to your restaurants.




 *Due to the fact that Chick-fil-a restaurants are owned by different franchise owners not all of these services maybe available at all stores.

December Family History Challenge

With Christmas on it's way there is lots to do and traditions all around us. How often do we take a moment to ponder where our family traditions came from. This year I wanted my families traditions to be a reflection of both my husband and my family cultural heritage.  I started thinking about the countries that our ancestors came from. My family is from Italy, Ireland, Norway, France and Britain. My husbands family is from Germany, Britain, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland.

This months challenge is to learn more about the Christmas traditions in the countries that your family originated from and implement one of them.

I found some sites that had basic information that can get you started.
1. http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/
2. http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/
3. http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/

          The tradition that we decided to incorporate in to our Christmas is the Advent Calender from Germany.There are lots of different interpretations of the Advent Calender so I am going to pass on some of my favorites.

• Children’s Activity Advent Calendar Printable {Free}

• Paper Chain Advent Calender
• Scripture Paper Chain Advent Calender 
• Christmas Kindness Advent calender
• Scripture Advent Calender
• Advent Calender of Christmas Memories

 I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and are able to spend it with loved ones.

November Family History Challenge

 Growing up I always heard stories of the amazing food Nana would make on her wood-burning stove. My mom said that she would make ravioli for Thanksgiving and that there were photos of her drying noodles on the front porch. When she passed away none of us had any of her recipes so I have been working on recreating them.

    This months challenge is to find or recreate an old family recipe and then to share it with us and make it for Thanksgiving. When you make it on Thanksgiving let your family know the history behind it. It can be a lot of fun to dust off an old family recipe and pass it on to the next generation.

This is a recipe for pizzelle an Italian Christmas cookie and is the

closest I have been able to find to the ones my Nana would make. These are made on a special press. When you take them out of the press you dust them with powdered sugar.

Pizzelles Ingredients
 makes 2 dozen

•  3 eggs 
•  3/4 cup white sugar 
•  1/2 cup butter, melted 
•  1 tablespoon anise extract 
•  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
•  2 teaspoons baking powder

Non-candy Halloween Ideas

  There are growing number of children who have food allergies, in addition not all parents want their children to have candy.  For these reasons I am very excited about  having options for trick-or-treaters. The teal pumpkin project by the Food Allergy Research and Education organization helps parents find homes that have a non-candy option for their children with food allergies.

This year our family has decided to join the teal pumpkin project and provide options to those that visit us on Halloween. It cost only $7 at the dollar store and the picture is of some of the things we got. It should be enough for 50 kids.

For those who would also like to provide options but don't know what to get here are some ideas.


Non-Food Ideas
1. stickers (96 per pack)
2. army men (30 per pack)
3. glow sticks (3-7 per pack)
4. bracelets (3-5 per pack)
5. pencils (12 per pack)
6.bouncy balls
7. toy cars
8. rubber ducky
9. spider rings
10. bubbles 
11. yo-yo
12. kazoos
13. playing cards

 Non-Candy Ideas
1. string cheese
2. granola bars
3. rasins
4. dehydrated fruit
5.fruit cups
6. popcorn
7. pretzels

 You may choose to have candy as well as some of these other options. What ever you do, I invite you to join the teal pumpkin project. Also let me know any other ideas you may have.