Family Activities

Compiled by: Cherish

One fun little activity our family did years ago. It had been a particularly LONG winter with lots of snow. I cooked up fried chicken, potato salad , all the picnic goodies, and I told the children that when their dad got home from work we were going to go on a winter picnic.
They gathered gloves, coats, hats, and anything else they thought we might need. I packed the lunch in our big picnic basket and they excitedly waited for their dad to get home so we could go. When he got home, I had everyone get ready to go and then I walked them all to the front room where I spread out a picnic cloth on the floor, Built a fire in our fireplace and we had our picnic. The older children are grown now and have families of their own but we sure have a lot of fun remembering the time we had a winter picnic.

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One of my most memorable family activities was a Judkins night movie. My mother found a good movie on TV and we made movie tickets, soda coupons, popcorn coupons, and a candy coupons.  Mother was wise enough to know what type of soda and candy we liked.  When it was almost time for the movie to start: Dad, my brother and I would go outside and ring the doorbell.  Mother would answer the door and we had to give her our movie ticket to get in.  Then we would go to the concession stand (the kitchen) and turn in our other tickets for the various treats.  Following that we returned to the main theater (the living room) and we sat down.  We were so thrilled by the neatness of the night that we didn't even realize that it was on TV (the Disney Nightly Movie) .  We were 5 & 6 years of age.
To this day I hardly believe my mother that it was on TV.  I recall that neatness a whole lot more than I do what the movie was.  If you want memorable family activities and your kids are young enough - make-believe WITH them.

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Well, I would have to say the activities that have really helped our children in learning the gospel are these:

MORNING DEVOTIONAL TIME:

We have a little outline that we follow:
a) opening prayer
b) song
c) scripture memory
d) Article of Faith
e) Family Laws
f) Family Cheer
g) Pledge of Allegiance
h) closing prayer

We memorize the scripture that goes with the Primary theme each month.  We memorize the A of F that we are working on in Primary, too.
Our Family laws are:

1) Obedience
2) Manners
3) Safety
4) Order
5) Peace
6) Joy

This is to keep the rules of the home simple.  When someone wants to know why they can't do something we point out which family law it would break.

Our Family Cheer goes like this: J-A-R  V-I-S the Jarvis Family is the best!

This devotional has helped our children to learn some of the things that are important to us in a fun way.  I believe that rote memorization is a good way to learn things like this.  Even our youngest could memorize these things when he was just 2 years old!

ARTICLE OF FAITH POINT:
I have just started this this year.  I have taken 3-5 key points from the monthly Article of Faith and we take a few minutes in our homeschool opening exercises time to talk about that point.  For example for the 1st A of F we talked about our relationship with our Heavenly Father as a parent/child relationship, Christ as our brother, the attributes of the Godhead, and the Holy Ghost.
For the 2nd A of F we have learned about the Plan of Salvation and Satan's counter plan, including the idea of agency.
For the 3rd A of F we will talk about the crucifixion, the Atonement, obedience and laws, faith and works, and ordinances.
For #4 we will cover the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, etc. We just spend a few minutes or maybe 15 depending upon the topic and my kids' level of understanding (they are 7 and 3 now).  I have found great visual aids in the Friend and sometimes FHE will coordinate with the week's A of F point.  I believe this is really helping the kids to learn the gospel.  I believe that talking about the gospel everyday in a proactive way is much more effective than waiting for life's situations to bring these things up or just counting on their learning it all in Primary.

CHRISTMAS TIME LESSONS
For the month of December we used a book called  "A Christ Centered Christmas" by Sharon Velluto and Suzanne Meredith ISBN number 0-9667633-0-0.
  It has 24 lessons based upon the symbols of Christmas. Each lesson includes an ornament to make. This helped us to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and the reason we celebrate it.  It helped us to learn more about Christ and his life and mission as well as gospel principles such as service.  One of my favorite activities was learning about the shepherds who were the first to hear the news of Christ's birth.  The boys dressed up as shepherds and they had to search for the new born king.  Their clues were the same as the angel gave the original shepherds: lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.  I took several baby dolls and wrapped them in swaddling clothes or put them in pj's.  Only one was lying in a manger.  We searched all over the house for the right baby, each time seeing if it fit the clues.  At last we found the right one!  They then took the baby in the manger and put him under the Christmas tree.
Another fun one was learning about Herald Angels.  We talked about the different angels who have brought messages and then pretended to be each of them "Toot to doo!! I have a message....."  That whole day the boys were pretending to be angels and then one of them said that when they die they were going to be a herald angel.  We then talked how we can be herald angels right now by sharing the gospel with others.

I want to put in a plug for the Animated Living Scripture Tapes here as well.  We have the whole set and my boys often ask to watch a "Scripture Movie"  This has helped them to learn some of the basic scripture stories. Of course, we talk about how some of them have things in them which are not specifically in the scriptures and we also read the scriptures to them and point out the stories which we also have on video as we come across them.  They love watching them and acting them out.  I have dress up clothes available for them to make their little plays even more fun.

Last of all I feel the activity that has helped our family the most in learning the gospel is being a homeschool family.  I don't have to wait until the kids come home to teach the gospel.  It is not just done in FHE or on Sunday.  Everyday we have the opportunity to talk about the gospel and our Heavenly Father and Jesus, throughout all of our daily activities, including math or reading, etc.  We can learn about Godly character traits while we are doing school.  God is not a separate subject which only comes up when something goes wrong in life.

And of course the best activities are reading the scriptures together and saying family prayer, as well as holding Family Home Evening.

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The first one we have done for a few years and our kids love it.  For each of our children's birthday they get to go out on a date with mom and dad to an eating establishment.  This is very special to them since we never take out kids out to eat (that's not fast food) because we can't afford it.  They usually get to pick the place and sometimes we help if they don't quite know where they want to go.  Our younger ones usually pick the fun spots our older the sit-down restaurant type.  They really look forward to it.  It has almost become more important than the presents they are anticipating.

The other I started about 3 weeks ago.  I was getting more than sick of having to think up and cook suppers every evening.  It was getting very, very, old.  One day, that ol' inspiration hit, and I make the kids and my husband cook, instead.  I took a notebook and for the supper to be cooked that night I have written down every little detail on how to not only to cook the main dish, but all the side dishes and even instructions on setting the table.  They know that each of them will have a night a week to cook.  So far no one has grumbled one bit.  The older ones pretty much do it all on their own and the younger ones know mom will help.  They almost seem to enjoy it.  My older ones receive the pleasure of accomplishing on their own and the younger ones because just them and mom are doing something together.  And believe me, mom is a much happier camper!  (It's actually fun to work with those little ones in the kitchen.)  Eventually when I get all the main recipes instructions written up I plan to make a nice typed book that can be used for years. And now when mom thinks she needs to go somewhere dad doesn't panic!

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My sister did this as a rite of passage from age 10,  Both she and her husband were active duty Air Force (now retired).  On their child's 10th birthday she would give them a Better Crocker Cookbook.  They (she and the child) would go through it each week plan out the meal they would make.  She would make them, make up a shopping list, and plan out the time to cook everything.  When the child hit 11 years old they would be responsible for 2 nights cooking for each week,  with just supervision.  They would give her their shopping list and cook supper.  They all wash the dishes.  Mom, Dad and three kids (and who ever is visiting)  She said that is where she finds out the most information of the day. Also if they all wash dishes together it gives them all time to do the fun stuff later.

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  I just thought I would share some of the wholesome family activities that I remember from my childhood. My father was not an active member of the church during my childhood but he was a good man. One thing he always did was once a week he took us all to the library.  He would give my step mother a little break and just he and the kids would go.  He helped us find books that would interest us or that he might enjoy reading to us.  We always looked forward to the library night.

   About once a month we would also go swimming together. Television was seldom turned on in our house so these nights out became great entertainment for us.

I guess the thing that made those times important to us was that we knew that we were important to our parents and that they wanted to spend time with us it wasn't just something they had to do.  We actually enjoyed the time together with them and they us.

   Now that I have my own children I try to carry that on.  I try to show them that being together is what makes us happy, and that they are such and important part of our family (You also need to tell them this often).  The gospel has strengthened this tradition and has enriched it so much more.  Some other things we do are to read scriptures and have family prayer every evening.  This is no small task seeing that we have three small children age 2-6.  However this is where the readers have come in really handy.  IF you don't have them get some!  They are great for teaching small children.  We try to keep the gospel part of our everyday lives.  We always talk of the Savior and Our Father in Heaven (Only in reverent ways)  If you think about it you can link almost every situation in your lives to the scriptures or gospel doctrine.  Every day can provide a learning experience for your family about the gospel.
  As a parent I feel it is so important to make it part of your everyday lives.  There is so much against us that we need everything we can use to help our children choose the right path.

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My kids like to play a game at the dinner table....we call it "what animal is it?"  You start by saying, "I'm thinking of an animal that starts with the letter...."  You pick a letter.   A--armadillo, etc.  We started out easy when we first played with our first child.  He was about 4 at the time. He's 11 now.  It has helped with our other child's letter recognition as he struggles with that some.  Now, they are stumping me sometimes.  My daughter got me on Sloth, and Leech!

Anyway, this can be adapted to include any subject.  If you're studying Book of Mormon you could say, "I'm thinking of something in the Book of Mormon that starts with the letter......"  After each person takes one guess (we usually go clockwise) they can ask yes or no questions.  "Is it a person?" "Is it a place"  (with the animals we usually ask "is it a mammal?", or  "is it an insect?", etc.).  Until someone guesses it or everyone gives up.

Another letter game is the "name game".   "A my name is ALICE and my husbands name is ART.  We come from ALABAMA and we're here to sell APRICOTS."    You could have at least one of these be something gospel related, scripture related, etc.

This has brought out some very funny moments at the table.  None of which any of you would think were funny, cause they are 'inside jokes'.

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A lot of my fond memories of childhood were family hikes, picnics, and camping trips.  My husband and I started the family tradition of an annual camping vacation to a National Park.  We've done Grand Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Lassen Volcanic, and Olympia.  It's wonderful, and we spend our time hiking and driving.  He takes each child on an individual hike for the "alone" time.

We're planning on Death Valley for this year, and we have a lot of fun planning the trip as a family at family night and the dinner table.

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Watching fireworks on 4th of July stands out.

As an adult, I am impressed with the special celebrations of small towns.  I can see that this would also be memorable in a child's life.

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In our family we are trying to create a family tradition for each month of the year that our kids can look forward to.  We are also picking a theme for each month for FHE.  This month for instance is family and personal history.  Our kids are very small...only almost three and 18 months old.
So for the first FHE of the month we talked a little about journals and gave them each one and let them color some of the pages, and we wrote the date on it, and once a week or so we get them out and let them do some more...we are also thinking about writing some for them...one line per year they have been alive.  So for the three year old we would just write three lines about his week or whatever.  Then as they learn to write themselves they can do one line for each year.  Other FHEs with this theme that we have planned is to look at family pics together...starting with my husband and my wedding and showing how our family has grown with each child...they love looking at pictures...and we have asked our parents to write a short personal history or letters to the boys that we can put in their books of remembrance.  We are trying to do themes we can have a variety of lessons with.

As for the traditions...we are keeping them pretty simple...we did a winter campout in our living room for January...we set up our tent inside so it wouldn't be too cold, and we turned all the lights off and used flashlights and just had good quality family time.  We sang primary songs and etc.  and in the morning dad cooked us breakfast with our propane stove on the back patio and we ate outside.  Since our kids are so young we don't do long lessons and etc, but just telling them simple gospel truths does wonders...for instance every time we drive by the Portland Temple on our way up that direction we point it out and sometimes stop to walk around with the kids...and we put pics of temples on their wall in their room, and our oldest one talks about getting married in the temple.  That is already what he wants to do because of those short little talks and walks.  Other traditions are more simple...like having a Korea day (my husband served his mission in Korea ) where we eat Korean food and talk about my husband's mission and look at pictures.  Another is making ice cream in the summer...just fun activities to keep the family close, and we try to put short lessons in where we can.  We are new at this-so we are just starting to develop our system.

I did hear about a cool tradition at a homemaking meeting once...its called a PIE date (Personal Interview Evening) and each child gets to meet individually with their dad (or mom if a single parent home) and they get to eat a piece of pie while the parent interviews them about how their life is going...this provides good one on one time as well as a special treat.
(They did say-the parent only gets one piece of pie-not one for each kid-heehee-but I am sure we could adapt it)

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One of the neatest childhood memories I have, although not a really big thing to most people, is when we went riding our bicycles in the rain in our yellow slickers, hats and boots, while it was still raining!  It was ok to ride and splash through the puddles, to get wet etc.  After a while though, after several times of doing it, it wound up to be just us 3 kids - got kind of old for the parents maybe! (the rain that is) But it was fun.

We also went on lots of picnics and hikes after our lunch, looked at all the flora and fauna.

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I too would like some ideas for wholesome family activities.  I actually am desperate for ideas on keeping children busy during the summer months.  I don't homeschool so It is always overwhelming when I have all six children ages 11 1/2, 8, 6 1/2, 5, 3 and 10 mos. home all day every day for 3 months.  During the school year we seem to keep busy doing school activities and reinforcing what they are being taught at the school  (otherwise known as homework ha ha) and music lessons and gymnastics and etc... but for some reason summer always leaves me in a panic.  We just moved to So. Calif from Utah 4 months ago and we don't have much of a back yard (we moved from a home that had a BIG back yard) . We live on a hill now and so rollerblading and bike riding is pretty much out.

Also let me just share one (it's all I can think of right now) idea we do all together on Saturdays or whenever the dh is around.  We like to find the state parks or national parks and find some easy hiking trails.  Just last month we took the family to Topanga State park. It was this canyon right in the middle of Los Angeles County.  It was so cool to drive from an over populated city to this secluded canyon like setting.  We packed a picnic and took the kids on a trail.  It was a blast!  We did this a lot in Utah as well.  You can look up the parks on the internet.

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My girlfriend just told me of a fun thing they did for family night. She has two teenage girls and an 8 year old boy. They made a giant 9ft David out of paper and hung it from the top of their landing clear down to the floor.
Then they made sling shots with sticks and rubber bands and shot marshmallows at him. They had a blast. I thought it was a wonderful idea and I might try it with my crew. Good luck it finding ideas. One thing I do around Easter is a lesson about  Easter and hide eggs around the house and the kids find them and inside is a piece to the story. When they are all found then we tell the story. They love to try and figure out what how the sentences go together...

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Our family goes to the library together, although once there we are off to different places.  We also do that with the book stores (we each can buy one book).  This is also a great date.  My husband and I love to go to the book store after dinner.  It is better than the movies (even when you can find a good movie to see).  We love to folk dance or just plan dance.  We have a church building real close (I have a key) and we usually can find an empty room and plug in our music and learn a new dance and practice some old ones.  When we as parents are tired, the kids get to make up their own dances.  (The church put out a book on dancing some time ago and that is what we use, but I'm sure the library, church or public, would have a book or two on dancing.)  We have even invited other families to join us.
We have also done game nights.  Each person picks a game and we play it for 15 minutes.  Set the timer and stick with it. Service projects are also good family fun.
Hiking, biking, roller blading, zoos (just for fun, no schooling as my kids would say), etc.
Oh, I was just reminded by one of my kids we do puppet shows for our friends.  Sometimes the kids make the puppets or we use the ones I have collected through the years.  Sometimes our stuffed animals and the video camera are our audience and sometimes we invite a family to dinner and a show.
We love to go to our local schools and watch what play they are putting on.
Since we live in a "metropolitan" area we can usually see 15 plays during the year.  They are reasonable priced and because the schools are putting them on they are clean and the play can be discussed in school before and after we see the play.  Just last weekend we saw the Jr. High production of The Wizard of OZ.  We have a problem in that all the babysitters and friends are in that play and keeping our small ones from yelling out "hi so and so" has been difficult.  This is a great family activity and super school subject.

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The best and most fun FHE activity we have had so far was finger painting with pudding.
What made it fun was that it was good for ALL ages--adults and toddlers alike.  We tried to have a lesson first on the importance of the Sabbath and then the idea was to paint a picture of things we could do to honor the Sabbath.  Of course, the kids are too little and mostly enjoyed licking the pudding off their fingers, but it was a lot of fun and something I will do again as the children get older.  We used instant vanilla pudding and divided it into small bowls and added food coloring.  We painted on regular construction paper and let them dry--the pictures stayed nice for a while and we got some great photos of the event!

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