Random Sampler

My Preparedness Reminder

Lisa Covino, "My Preparedness Reminder," Ensign, Apr. 2007, 74
Every six months at conference time, I remember to check our family's emergency preparedness kits. Between conference sessions, I pull out the kits and make sure items inside haven't expired. I also update any stored clothing that our growing family might need in an emergency evacuation. This semi-annual conference reminder could also be a signal to rotate your food storage and make a list of items needed.
Lisa Covino, Idaho

Gospel topic: preparation

[illustration] Illustration by Joe Flores

Conference Fun

Kristin W. Belcher, "Conference Fun," Ensign, Apr. 2007, 74
Want a fun children's activity to do between conference sessions? Try one of our favorite games: "Prophets." You'll need at least a small group of people and a circle of chairs to play. Arrange the chairs with one fewer than the number of people playing. Then invite each person to choose the name of a prophet and tell the group. One person, "the caller," stands in the center of the chair circle, while everyone else takes a seat. The caller then calls out three or four prophets' names. The individuals who chose those names then try to switch seats, competing with the caller, who also scrambles for a seat. The one left standing is the new caller. For variety, instead of calling out a few names, the caller can also say, "general conference." In this case, everyone changes seats, and the caller again scrambles for a chair. We've also played this game using names of ancestors, calling out "family file" for everyone to move.
Kristin W. Belcher, Utah

Gospel topics: children, general conference

Children of Two Households

Tricia Aagard, "Children of Two Households," Ensign, Apr. 2007, 75
Do you teach a class or plan activities involving children who divide their time between two households? As a stepmother of two such children, I'd like to share some positive things our Church leaders have done to include us.

* Be sensitive to the children's schedules. When possible, try to plan important activities when the child can be in attendance. For instance, their involvement in Primary opening exercises or sharing time might be planned in advance. Though it can be difficult to accommodate everyone, we appreciate it when Church leaders make an effort to do so. Our experience has been that the children have little or no control of their visitation schedules, and it's better for our relationship with the other parent to suggest as few changes as possible.

* Prepare lessons with them in mind. Quickly review last week's lesson to help the child catch up. One kind Primary teacher even informed us of the Sunday lessons we had missed so we could teach them at family home evening when everyone was together. Also, consider avoiding attendance sticker charts that are meant to show everyone's progress but instead visually single out the children who can't regularly participate.

Today's children live in a variety of circumstances. We appreciate teachers who make every effort to involve our children at church and help them gain testimonies of the Savior and His gospel.
Tricia Aagard, Wyoming

Gospel topic: Primary

[illustration] Illustration by Joe Flores

Family Home Evening Helps: Relatively Speaking

Emily Cushing, "Family Home Evening Helps: Relatively Speaking," Ensign, Apr. 2007, 75
We might think to tell our children remarkable stories about their ancestors who lived long ago. But what about sharing stories of their living relatives? To help our young children visualize things, for a family home evening lesson we made a simple family tree out of construction paper and decorated it with photos of four relatives they know. With the placement of each photo, I told a memorable story about that person. Three days after this lesson, I asked my then four-year-old if he remembered any of the stories. I was surprised when he recounted them in great detail. My husband and I then decided to take turns presenting this special lesson whenever we or one of our relatives has a story that goes along with a home evening lesson. We also write the stories down and put them with the pictures in a binder. By doing this, we are creating a memorable collection of family stories, which we hope our children will someday share with their children.
Emily Cushing, Utah

Gospel topics: family, family home evening

[illustration] Illustration by Beth Whittaker



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