Our look below for several different ideas:
- Make an "About Me" collage out of pictures from old magazines.
- Read excerpts from the journal or history of a member of your family.
- Start a family journal.
- Go to your local genealogical center or library and research your family history.
- Prepare a family group sheet/four generation pedigree chart.
- Interview an older family member.
- Get out the family photo album and tell stories about family members.
- Install LDS Church's PAF program and begin entering your family history in your computer.
- Make up a play. Perform it at a nursing home, or grandma's house (so she can enjoy FHE, too!).
- Write letters to grandparents or a missionary.
- Clean up trash at a local park.
- Ask an elderly neighbor how your family can help him or her.
- Make or assemble humanitarian projects.
- Invite a non-member family over for a barbecue.
- Have a service car wash.
- Visit an inactive family member, elderly person, or a shut in.
- Adopt a grandma or grandpa from your church or neighborhood.
- Make simple puppets to take to a children's ward of a local hospital. Put on a puppet show of a favorite children's story. Then let the children keep the puppets. (LDS Family Home Evening Resource Guide, p. 266)
- Prepare a musical program to take to a foster home, hospital, or nursing home. You could invite another family to join you. Your program could include vocal or instrumental solos, duets, trios, or quartets; and be sure to include some familiar sing-along tunes that your audience could join you in singing. (LDS Family Home Evening Resource Guide, p. 266) Print copies of any church music you need from the LDS Church's Music site
- Listen to classical music, lights off, lying on the floor, and take turns saying what it sounds like.
- Learn to conduct music from LDS.org.
- Make your own musical instruments and start a family band.
- Learn Music symbols and terms from LDS.org.
- Memorize a family hymn.
- Have a family dance. Learn about appropriate dance moves and positions.
- Attend community concerts or listen to a local orchestra. Talk about the effects of good music on your thoughts from Elder Packer.
- Appreciating Music from the LDS FHE manual
- Games that help children learn Hymns and Children's Songs from the LDS FHE Manual
- Learn simple home repairs like using a drill, hammer, screwdriver, or following directions to put together furniture or electronics.
- Learn to sew on a button, wash clothes, iron, cook a pancake, or wash mirrors. See the The Suzie Homemaker Awards
- Learn about 72 hour kits and assemble them.
- Make and take treats to neighbors, sick friends, a nursing home, or the emergency room at the hospital.
- Make a family calendar.
- Make a grocery list, set a budget, divide items, go get pizza with the money you save.
- Make a family cookbook.
- Make a family goal chart.
- Plant a tree or some flowers. Discuss faith in Alma 32:28-43.
- Have a budgeting class.
- Have an etiquette night. Practice your skills over a formal dinner.
- Study indoor gardening! Learn to Garden in containers from the FHE manual or from Helpfulgardener.com.
Church History
- Study a Prophet by printing his picture and biography from LDS.org.
- Study Church History Sites by printing out pictures and information, including scriptures, from LDS.org.
- Study the Church in your area from LDS.org. Get headlines, stories, a brief history of your area, and statistics (click "Quick Facts"). Information on the Church world-wide.
- Study present day Church Leaders' Biographies from LDS.org
- Learn about this history of your local temple by printing its picture and story from LDS.org.
- Got a GPS? Go Geocaching and have a lesson on carefully following directions found in the scriptures.
- Learn how to use a compass. Have a lesson on carefully following directions from our Church leaders.
- Learn how to build a fire and the cook hot dogs and enjoy.
- Make and fly inexpensive newspaper kites. Use the kite object lesson for an easy FHE lesson. Here's a Kite lesson from the FHE Resource guide.
- Make miniature boats and float them in some water. Sing Master the Tempest is Raging Read the story of Jesus calming the storm for children or for adults
- Go on a family trip/historical excursion
- Go fishing. Talk about missionary work and being fishers of men (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17).
- Go for a hike. Learn about outdoor safety from the US Forest Service. Here are tips on Hiking with small children from the FHE manual.
- Go swimming. Learn about water safety.
- Go for a bike ride together. Study bicycle safety and helmet safety
- Go bird watching near your home. Talk about the Creation or use The Creation Lesson.
- Learn physical coordination while playing Yard Games - from the LDS FHE manual
- Read a scripture story and paint a picture of it.
- Attend a local orchestra production. Discuss the effects of good music on your thoughts from Elder Packer.
- Have a patriotic night with a flag ceremony.
- Go to a museum.
- Make the inexpensive Christmas Ornament: Gift of Myself
- Make an ethnic meal and learn about that country. Here are a few recipes from various countries at InternationalFreeway.com
- Learn about the Christmas customs in a different country. Christmas.com has a big list of different countries' Christmas customs, or there's another, shorter list at NorthPole.net.
- Find out about your area's community center and/or park activities.
- Attend the dress rehearsals of your local ballet, opera, or theater. Many times tickets are extremely low priced, or even free. Call to find out.
- Read excerpts from the history of a prominent member of your community.
- Read the testimony and lesson from Military Service by Iraq Veteran, Chris Jones.
- Write a letter of support to a military serviceperson. Email our Military is a service that helps civilians correspond with United States servicepeople ($2.00 registration fee).
- Find out how to support your troops. Army.mil's Support our Troops section has several resources.
- Fun with Stories and Poems from the LDS FHE manual
- Enjoying Dance and Drama from the LDS FHE manual
- Creating Pictures and Things from the LDS FHE manual
- Arranging Flowers from the LDS FHE manual
- Arts and Crafts from the LDS FHE manual
- Christmas Crafts from the LDS FHE manual
- Walk around the temple grounds. If you don't live near a temple, download a picture of your local temple, and have a pretend picnic there!
- Memorize the Articles of Faith.
- Have a family testimony meeting.
- Work on Duty to God, Faith in God, or Personal Progress
- Have a missionary night
- Have a family fast for an ill friend or family problem. Break your fast for FHE and talk about how you felt while fasting.
- Study the Plan of Salvation from mormon.org. Video available online.
- Why do Good people suffer? Watch and discuss a video from mormon.org, and study adversity.
- Study Families online at mormons.org. Watch the videos and discuss with your family.
- Learn about gratitude and the 10 lepers while you fill out the Happy Heart Crossword Puzzle.
- Print the Child's Scripture and Prayer Chart for a lesson on the importance of daily scripture study and prayer.
- Memorize and discuss one of the Articles of Faith each 4 weeks (52weeks/4weeks =13).
- Bear your testimony, and invite others to do the same. A seminary, YW/YM, Sunday School, or Primary lesson topic makes a great starter. Learning to bear testimony is especially important for future elder and sister missionaries.
Developing new skills
- Learn how to build a fire, cook hot dogs, and enjoy!
- Learn the metric system.
- Learn sign language alphabet or Sign language from quicktime movies.
- Learn the Morse code.
- Learn to play golf together.
- Learn about photography.
- Take the Presidential Fitness Challenge and learn to exercise as a family. (Your efforts will earn an official award from the President of the United States!)
- Have a culture night.
- Have an etiquette night. Practice your skills over a formal dinner.
- Write a story together.
- Learn some new dance steps.
- Study the history of dance from the 1878 book How to Dance.
- Study and apply principles from the new Preach My Gospel book.
- Go to the library and learn to use the computers or Dewey decimal system
- Try different musical instruments.
- Magic Tricks - from the LDS FHE manual
- Magic Trcks - from kids.Mysterynet.com
- Learn good study habits for teenagers from eHow.com or from the Institute for Responsive Education: Helping your Child Develop good Study Habits
- Learn How Stuff Works - from HowStuffWorks.com, has articles on everything from appliances to politics, particle accelerators to fireworks
- Learn CPR
- Have a first-aid night and assemble a first-aid kit for your car or home from the American Red Cross.
- Tour your local fire department.
- Learn what to do if you are lost. Here's information from Absaroka Search Dogs (with instructions to make a small emergency fanny pack) and from Extreme Mountain Biking
- Talk about saying no drugs, alcohol, and other harmful substances.
- Learn about internet safety from LDS.org. Here's an internet safety brochure from the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
- Have a friend come and discuss good nutrition and health practices.
- Learn about 72 hour kits and assemble them.
- Post Emergency Phone Numbers - from LDS.org
- Preparing for a blackout - from LDS.org
- Make a survival kit - from LDS.org
- Prepating for an earthquake - from LDS.org
- Protecting your home against theives - from LDS.org
- When someone goes into shock - from LDS.org
- When someone chokes... - from LDS.org
- Treating Bleeding - from LDS.org
