Every six months (the first weekend in April and October) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a world-wide conference. This conference is broadcast the world over and can be seen from church buildings or on TV. Eight hours of instruction and encouragement are given by numerous speakers along with musical numbers. In addition, the men have a two hour meeting on Saturday evening. I love and eagerly wait for these conferences. However, ten hours of church can test the stoutest of children's attentions, so when our kids were little the legos were finally allowed in the living room on Conference weekend. It kept them busy and they quietly built castles and forts while we watched and listened. It's a fond memory for all of us, but I wish I'd have known about the following idea:
Last year a blogger posted an idea about keeping children engaged (not just occupied) during General Conference. She had a packet of papers with various coloring activities to help her children listen to the speakers and stay focused on the subjects being discussed. I thought the idea was wonderful and asked for a copy of the activities. Then, another blogger posted the idea of a basket filled with breakfast or snack items as well as note-taking supplies for adults. I thought her idea equally as wonderful. This afternoon Cali and I made copies of the activities and then went to the $tore to buy things for the baskets. Cali made a basket for a family that she has been staying with when she commutes to work. I made a basket for another family I thought might enjoy it. We filled our baskets with the following items:
conference packets with quiet activity pages
markers
crayons
drink
cheese and breadsticks
small candy bars
suckers
pipe cleaners (as well as the directions for a few simple things to form with them)
note pad (for the adults)
pen
and then wrapped them in cellophane with a tule bow because cellophane and tule can make a gift out of anything!
These packets have several inter-faith pictures from the New Testament (Christ with the children, raising the daughter of Jairus, feeding the five thousand, healing the leper, the wise man and the foolish man, a little booklet of Christ's life, etc.) and would make a great gift for any family.
If you'd like a copy of the packet just leave me a comment requesting it.
9 comments:
It is so hard to keep children focused in church let alone for 10 hours. I would love the packet please. Enjoy your weekend as I know things like that can be enriching to the body and the soul!!
Oh oh! I would like the packet. Sometimes, I must admit, it is hard for me to stay focused for that long! (Is that bad to say?)
Dane wants to know why Conference isn't on RIGHT NOW, he wants to watch it. I'm sure it's to soak up all the knowledge and not eat the candy. You're the best, again and again.
What a fantastic idea! I received a couple emails with different conference packets. But I LOVE your basket idea! Too late for this conference, but definitely noted for the next one.
I am wondering if its the same packet that I already have. I would love to add to ours if it is different. Each of the kids has liked different things about theirs, and I am finding by day 2 I need something else to add to their packets!
This year because of the time difference in Norway I printed out a packet similar to this one for Andrew and Claire (although they are a little old) and Becka and Jake had another form (from sugardoodle.net my new favorite website for all things church) that had the pictures of the 12 and the first presidency and a place to comment on each talk. They actually did it! We had the computer on the kitchen table and I put up a picture of the speaker in front of the screen (we only had audio) to put a face with the voice. We learned "the apostle song". It's AWESOME. Find it on Sugardoodle. I taught seminary on Monday and taught it to them too so it was sung by all...ALL WEEK!
Great idea for a gift! We like to bring pipe cleaners too. They're awesome! We've been talking about doind a service project similiar to this.
Wonderful! I assemble things in my kids' Easter baskets and they get so excited about it! They're not even new things -- just coloring supplies and snacks!
I would also like the packet, please. General Conference comes to our home by way of the internet. The screen is small and it is very hard for everyone to stay focused. I would love to try new ideas to keep my kids in the same room. Thanks for sharing.
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