Spinning Plates

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I feel terrible I didn't get this published till today. My Husband wrote out this lesson on Sunday after I begged him to. (being called to primary I missed the combined meeting with the Stake Presidency.) Then life got crazy on Monday and I didn't sit down and finish it up.

BUT in the true spirit of this lesson, I am not going to spend time feeling guilty about it, I am simply going to do it now. I have a FEW less plates going on at the moment than I did on Monday.

Lesson:


(Show the video...by clicking on the above picture)


In church today (4/26/09) the stake presidency spoke about simplifying our lives. The analogy was given about plate spinners. Our lives are like the plate spinners and the activities that take up our time are the plates.


Go through the family and discuss what each individual's plates are. Talk about which ones are "urgent" and which ones are "the most important." Examples: (Urgent) the test coming up tomorrow, or the book report that was due yesterday that they gave you an extra day on, (The Most Important) reading your scriptures, attending the temple.


The Urgent things have to get done. But sometimes they crowd out the things that are the most important.


Now discuss the things that can be cut out with the proper planning. We also discussed how we can share our plates with others lightening our load. My daughter came up with the idea that if we all pick up a little bit around the house Mommy has one less plate that she has to keep spinning. (I thought that was pretty cool that she came up with that with only a little bit of "direction" from Daddy)

Testify that Heavenly Father wants us to find joy in our lives, and as we take steps to simplify our lives we will be able to find that joy.

Family Talent Show

This was a fun and simple FHE.

(We actually did it just as the activity portion of FHE.)

After the lesson (on emergencies and safety...more on that one later) everyone had the opportunity to present a talent to the family. The fun part of this was getting to help the kids prepare their talents. When I told my daughter we were going to do a talent show she said "But I don't have a talent!" We then brainstormed MANY talents that she had and could present to us. As the list grew she started to get excited and said "Hey! I can draw! Could I draw a picture for Talent Night?"

It was fun, we had singing, dancing, and artwork displayed. The best part was watching the kids feel good about themselves, and their many talents.

General Conference

I can't believe General Conference is only a week away! I love attempting to prepare my kids for this by doing a FHE lesson the week before conference. This year I used several resources. Sugardoodle, Deseret Book, and lds.org)

Opening Song: Follow the Prophet (pg. 110 Children's Songbook) We like to take a picture of President Monson and have the kids follow his picture around the room while they are singing.

Lesson: To begin the lesson I wrote the letters P-R-O-P-H-E-T on 7 different 3x5 cards. We laid them face down on the table and the kids were able to guess what letters were on the other sides of the papers. (My son only knows the letters T and G so he was excited to be able to guess one of the letters.)

As the letters were guessed I turned them over. When all the letters were over we discussed 1. What a prophet is, 2. Who the prophet is 3. What conference is.

Activity: We played "Prophet and Apostle Match" I printed the cards from this link. In previous years I have printed them twice, and just used the pictures.

Closing Song: Latter Day Prophets Pg. 134

Additional Ideas:

Conference Packets

2009 Sugardoodle

2009 Ultimate Conference Packet (also from sugardoodle)

Another Conference Packet

Conference Baskets

Baskets (check out the link on this blog for even more ideas)

Another Basket Idea

Conference Bingo

Make your own Bingo Cards with this clipart

Premade Bingo Cards

A Great Lesson on Manners!

When my daughter answered the phone with "What?" the red flag went up...we need to work on our manners in this household. So I have been looking for a good lesson on manners for my kids.

Yesterday I found one!

Here is a link to the lesson: The Family Home Evening Spot

I really love this blog, and hope that "FHE in the Valle" will someday be full of topics like this one. Hope you enjoy!

I have been getting together some lessons on The Articles of Faith. Since I have posted other lessons since I started putting these lessons together, they are not coming up as the most current post. Feel free to use the labels or scroll through the lessons to find and use them.

I will be putting them all up over the next few weeks.

Thanks! Jana

Book of Mormon Stories

Preparation: Gather pictures of favorite scripture stories. (Gospel Art Kit (GAK), or you could even use the GAK on lds.org)

Song: Book of Mormon Stories

Allow each family member to choose a picture. Then each person gets to tell the story in their own words. We even had my little 3 year old tell a story with the help of his Dad.

After each story is told, ask the question "What can we learn from this story?" We had a great time telling stories, and discussing how they apply to our lives today.

Song: Tell me the Stories of Jesus

Article of Faith #1

The Godhead.

Opening Song: I Know My Father Lives

Scripture: We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. Article of Faith 1:1



Discussion: You are special! You know many things. Do you know someone who knows everything? Three glorious persons do know everything: God, the Eternal Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. They are the three members of the Godhead. When the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the Articles of Faith, he knew that it was important for us to know about the Godhead and to understand how the members are alike and how they are different. “The Father has a body of flesh and bones . . . ; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost . . . is a personage of Spirit (D&C 130:22) God the Eternal Father is the father of everyone. He is kind, and he loves you and all his children. Because he loves you, he sent his Son Jesus Christ to be your Savior and to be an example for you to follow. Heavenly Father also wanted someone to always be near you to help you and to teach you, so he sent the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost helps you make right choices.



Scripture Activity: The scriptures help us learn about each member of the Godhead. After you read each characteristic and have read the scripture reference, color the spaces in the picture as listed. (Younger children may color while you read the scriptures to them; older children may take turns reading the scriptures.) You may color the title “The Godhead” any color you choose. When you finish you may outline the letters you see in black, and hang your beautiful mosaic in your room.



Activities: Have the children sit in a circle and pass a beanbag to each other while music is being played. When the music stops, the child holding the beanbag shares a characteristic of a member of the Godhead. Sing the following songs from the Children’s Songbook. After singing each song, have the children talk about the characteristics of the Godhead they discovered from the song. Songs & page numbers: I Know My Father Lives pp. 5, He Sent His Son pp. 34, The Holy Ghost pp. 105.



Closing Song: The First Article of Faith


This Lesson was created by Nicole Crawley ~ Thank you Nicole!