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Maintaining a Home

Maintaining a Home

young man ironing a shirt

Purpose

Find out how rewarding it can be to “establish … a house of order” (D&C 88:119). Learn to work and be self-reliant by developing skills to maintain a home.

Description

Develop practical home skills by inviting parents or other experienced volunteers to demonstrate how to do common household tasks such as ironing, painting, plumbing, sewing, or outdoor work. After the demonstration, you could practice the various skills by holding a friendly competition or relay race to see who can complete tasks the fastest or best.

More Ideas

  • Chore chart—Have the group create individual or family chore charts that they can customize and decorate. Talk about which chores need to be done regularly at home and list them on the chart. Participants could use crayons, colored pencils, or stickers to mark finished chores.

  • Toolbox—Have an experienced individual teach your group about common household tools, such as stud finders, pliers, hammers, or screwdrivers. You could learn about what they do and how to use them around the house. Divide participants into teams and have them try to match tasks with tools, or race to complete simple jobs using the tools.

  • Rake and run—Serve the elderly or others in your area by helping them rake and bag leaves. The larger the group, the faster you can move from house to house! You could plan similar activities depending on the season or climate of your area, such as shoveling snow or mowing lawns.

  • Big improvement—Have more experienced groups apply their new skills by planning and executing a large-scale home improvement service activity for someone in your area. You could consider staining a deck, painting a home, or landscaping a yard.

Discussion

Encourage participants to talk about what they are learning. Discussions can take place before, during, or after the activity. You could ask questions like the following:

  • Why do you think it is important to learn to maintain a home?

  • When have you benefited from maintaining your home?

  • What thoughts or impressions do you have about maintaining a home?

  • How can you apply what you are learning in your life?

Related Resources

Sabbath Day Lessons

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