My husband is a Sunday School teacher for the youth, and he’s really been enjoying the new curriculum. More than once, we’ve seen the lesson topics bleed over into our Family Home Evenings. Here’s an example.

Age Range: Sunbeam, Star, CTR

Song: Book of Mormon Stories

Scripture: D&C 25:12

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

Lesson: Since the lesson this week was given by a three-year-old, we just talked briefly about why we sing songs in Primary. The older kids were asked to volunteer a Primary song that we can learn something from, and what we could learn from it. Then we skipped straight to the activity.

Activity: We had printed a picture from the Gospel Art gallery (we chose Samuel the Lamanite on the wall, for no reason other than we like it) onto a piece of cardstock and cut it into a puzzle with six pieces. I chose six because that’s how many people are in our family. Feel free to adjust yours! On the back of each piece I wrote the name of a Primary song that I knew the boys were familiar with that I felt had a Gospel message that was easy to pick out – I am a Child of God, the First Article of Faith Song, Scripture Power, Book of Mormon Stories, Follow the Prophet, and I Lived in Heaven.

Each person in turn went to the front and picked a puzzle piece from the wall (we had taped them up, but all jumbled) and we sang a verse of the song on the back. Then we talked about what we could learn from it while they tried to fit it into the rest of the puzzle. Everyone really enjoyed this activity and got into it, plus it was extremely easy to prepare for, so it was a win in my book.

Treat: Sugar cookies and milk

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Honestly, we kind of grabbed this FHE lesson out of thin air, but it worked so well that my husband said, “You have to post that on your blog.”

Age Range: Sunbeam, Star, CTR

Song: The Shepherd’s Carol (it’s Christmas time!)

Scripture: Luke 15:4

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

Lesson: We read Luke 15:4-7 together and explained what it meant. We talked about it literally (shepherds and sheep, why the shepherd would help the sheep, what kind of trouble the sheep could get into, and so on) and then metaphorically (we are the sheep, Jesus is our Shepherd). We even referenced Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life with the iron rod and the mists of darkness to help the boys understand how we can be ‘lost.’ You might want to watch the video of the parable, below.

Activity: We had bits and pieces of the boys’ sheep costumes lying around still, so we played a game called “The Lost Sheep.” One person would be the Shepherd, and go stand with their face turned away from the rest of us. Then, one person put on a sheep hat and quietly ran and hid. When we told the Shepherd to turn around, he had to figure out who was missing and then go find them. Some of our sheep hid really well, so once our little shepherds were frustrated, we called out for the sheep to ‘baa.’ Sometimes it took several tries for the sheep to be found. Once the sheep was found, they became the next Shepherd and play continued. This was one of the best activities we have ever done, there was so much laughing and the boys wanted to play it again the next day!

Treat: Rice Krispie Treats

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