The 5 S's of Family Home Evening

Some picture Monday night football as the spotlight for that day of the week or as the dreaded beginning to another work week. When I think of Monday, I think of FHE which stands for Family Home Evening- a fixture in the LDS culture as a time set aside each week to spend time together in a variety of activities. Most have at least a spiritual thought then an activity or project, while others are more focused on just a spiritual lesson. I always used to love the stories my mom had for FHE with interactive visuals, such as the turkey with the terrible temper and we got to add feathers to him as the story went on. Another I loved was about honesty and little ghosts who disobeyed their mother by eating things they weren't supposed to. But since they are ghosts, they of course turned that color- purple, orange, and even chocolate chip!

It has been years since my mother shared those with us in our FHE, but I remember those stories fondly. In recent months, I have felt inspired to create a FHE kit of my own incorporating those stories and many others divided by topic accompanied with scriptures and visuals. By doing so, I've developed a little outline for my Family Home Evening lessons that include 5 S's I can prepare. The 5 S's I've identified are as follows: Songs, Scriptures, Stories/Sermons, Something To Do, and Snacks. For each one, I give a variety of options which ideally can target various age groups from toddler to teenagers.

1. Songs- Music is a powerful way to invite the Spirit into the home, to help children focus and associate a song with something they learn. With little children it can serve as the "attention-getter" at the beginning. Even before children can participate, it is a good habit to establish as part of FHE.

2. Scriptures- Whether it's just a a spiritual thought or the basis for the night, by regularly going to the scriptures we can share our love of the scriptures with the family. Then as they become familiar with stories and verses, the scriptures become a friend and a resource at every age.

3. Stories/Sermons- This will vary more widely with different age groups and can tie into the activity. For instance, for younger children a story with interactive pictures with be instructive and still short enough to keep their attention. For older children you can break it up more, add quotes from talks, etc

4. Something To Do- Like I already mentioned this can be part of the story time or an extension of it. In teaching gospel principles (just like teaching other things) you want to try and involve all the senses. Can they see something? Hear? Do something physically with their hands? By reinforcing a principle and letting them explore and discover in their own way, you will greatly increase their retention of the lesson. It can be a craft, coloring, a physical activity or experiment. Sometimes the entire FHE will be a family project like yard work or going to a child's recital, etc, but by tying in a principle (even something as simple as family unity or hard work) you allow them to form correlations in their experiences. There I go geeking out about development...Anyway, find something easy and fun to do.

5. Snacks- All joking aside about always having food at every Mormon function, food can be another way to connect to the theme. Decorating cookies in the shape of "xyz" that goes along with the lesson, making ice cream sundaes to go with a lesson on what to do on Sunday, or even choosing the best snack food after a lesson the Word of Wisdom can be a great complement to FHE. Not only is it a way to connect to another sense, it can offer a very tangible reminder/reinforcement of the lesson just taught.

Obviously, these are very fluid and should be adjusted to individual and family needs. But I love working on this because it allows me to put all my gospel studies into a form that I can share with my future family, including children at any age. I think there is a saying that if you can teach a principle clearly to a child then you truly understand it. I would love feedback on this- on what works for your family or suggestions on how to improve. I think I will try posting a few of my first outlines to see what you think. But no matter who is reading this, I'm mostly doing it for me--for the personal growth and preparation for my family.