“Guide to the Friend,” Friend, June 2009, 49
Guide to the Friend
Family Home Evening Ideas
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Read President Monson’s message in “How Many People Can We Help?” (pp. 2–3). Have everyone write his or her name on a piece of paper, fold it, and put it in a hat, bowl, or bag. Ask each family member to pull out one name, but not tell whose name was drawn. Suggest that family members can do acts of service during the week for the person whose name they drew. You may also want to think together of someone you could serve, or a place you could volunteer.
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Read “From the Life of The Prophet Joseph Smith” (pp. 44–45). Find out when the temple nearest to you was dedicated, then draw a picture of that temple. Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95) or “Families Can Be Together Forever” (Children’s Songbook, 188).
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Read about a family home evening in “Let It Go” (pp. 4–6). Ask each family member to think about someone to forgive and write the name on a helium balloon or on a paper that you can fold into an airplane. Ask family members to say a prayer in their heart for forgiveness and for help to forgive someone who has hurt their feelings, and then let the balloon go or fly the paper airplane.
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Do the activity “I Can Help My Family Be Happy” (p. 37). Sit in a circle and pass around a small object while singing “Love at Home” (Hymns, no. 294). Stop whenever the word love is sung, and ask the family member holding the object what another family member has done to make him or her happy. Start singing again where you left off. When everyone has had at least one turn, sing the hymn again.
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Go for a walk together around your neighborhood or at a nearby park. Look for things not usually noticed, such as wildflowers, interesting tree bark, or a colorful building. Take pictures with a camera, draw pictures, or write down what each family member notices. Look at the drawings and read the poems in Our Creative Friends (pp. 46–47) to see what things those children have noticed.