Family Home Evening Ideas

This issue contains articles and activities that could be used for family home evening. The following are some examples.

“Celebrating Family Home Evening,” page 42: Whether you never miss a week or this is your first try, consider holding a special family home evening in honor of family home evening! You could read the article to see how families around the world enjoy spending time with each other while learning the gospel. Consider discussing how you will achieve your goal of holding family home evening. How might you need to adapt it to accommodate your family’s needs? You might recommit as a family to make this 100-year tradition a priority in your own home, regardless of your situation.

Photo illustration by David Stoker

“The Worth of Souls and the Problem of Bullying,” page 70: You might begin family home evening by sharing the story of Nephi’s suffering at the hands of Laman and Lemuel as they sailed on the boat to the promised land (see 1 Nephi 18). Your family could then discuss what bullying is and why some people become bullies, highlighting the strategies given in the article on what a child should do if he or she is ever bullied. You may also want to use the material from the Friend suggested on page 71 to talk with your children not only about responding to bullying but also about recognizing the worth of others and being kind.

Using Pictures

One of the most memorable family home evening activities we had when I was growing up was what we called “picture chase.” My father would hold up a picture representing a story from the scriptures. The first child to correctly identify the picture then told what he or she could remember of the story. All of us would then look up the story in our scriptures and read it together. After reading it, we would discuss how the scripture story applied to our family. (Find many scripture-related pictures at lds.org/media-library.)

Sarah Hunter Hyatt, Washington, USA