FHE Project

Recently some of the gals that live around here decided to get together and make some family home evening lessons.  The masterminds of it all figured the best way to do it was to get 12 mamas involved and put each of them in charge of one month.  Then we would make 11 copies of the lessons for the month, and then get together and exchange.  By the end we all had a year's worth of FHE nights all planned out and ready to go. 

Genius.

Of course, it ended up being an even more enormous project than it should have been as nearly all of us procrastinated.  The night we exchanged lessons was spent venting and griping and literally applauding each other's efforts.  I myself spent the last couple nights cutting and pasting until 2 a.m. ... felt just like I was in college again.  Or maybe kindergarten, but with a legitimate deadline.

But now that I'm finished, I will say it was most definitely worth it.  Here's the email with our rules in case you are interested in starting up a similar project:

"Ok, it looks like we have our group of 12 people to do the FHE project...so you can now start on it. I've given the month, your topic, and any holidays or events to keep in mind as you make your lessons. Following the assignments I'll go through more specifics of what to do.


January (Book of Mormon Prophets) - Naomi
February (Charity/Service)(Valentines Day) - Katie
March (temples)- Shawna
April (Jesus Christ) (Easter)(General Conference) - Sunni
May (Pres. Monson/Latter Day Prophets)(Mothers Day) - Allie
June (CTR/Honesty and Integrity)(Fathers Day) - Lindy
July (Plan of Happiness/Families/Pioneers) - Shannon
August (Articles of Faith) - Kristin
September (Missionary Work) - Jeanette
October (Prayer) (Halloween)(General Conference) -Luisa
November (Gratitude) (Thanksgiving) - Sarah
December (Jesus Christ) (Christmas) - Karen

Our completion date will be Thursday, June 23rd. That gives all of us about 5 weeks to do it (and Naomi...we can work out a different date for you). On June 23rd we can meet in the day or evening to hand out all our lessons to each other.

Whatever you decide to do with your 4 lessons, here are some guidelines to follow:
1. Keep in mind these lessons will be used for kids from 2 to 6 years old. That is a big age span, but just try to choose things where parents will be able to apply it to their children.
2. You are only coming up with 4 lessons. (You don't have to come up with scripture or dessert). But if your lesson is just simply telling a story, then please come up with an activity that goes with it, like a game or craft. Otherwise, your lesson might be taught through an activity or some kind of presentation. Please type out explanation of your lesson and activity.
3. Using different materials can be fun...like felt, or puppets, popsicle sticks, etc. Make sure you give all supplies needed to do your lessons. The idea is that everyone will be handed an entire year's worth of FHE lessons that are ready to go. For example, I saw an idea at Thanksgiving time to make turkeys with popsicle sticks where you would write what you are grateful for on each stick. So you would need construction paper and popsicle sticks to make it. Make sure you provide those materials for everyone in the group. That way we are each handed a years worth of ready-to-go lessons.
4. Do any necessary assembly and/or coloring. (Of course if part of the activity is for the children to assemble or color, then you don't need to. But if its supposed to be done ahead of time, then please do that for the other 11 people). A tip for coloring: color one picture and make color copies of it...that way you only have to color one.
5. Google FHE lessons to find websites with ideas. A couple I know of are sugardoodle.net and scriptures4kids.com
I hope these guidelines help and don't seem overwhelming. Don't feel like this is some huge project you are taking on. You can keep it very simple and just print off a game handout you see on a website...and that will be great. Or if you feel like being more creative, then go for it. I'll send out some email reminders as time moves on."

Shannon, Luisa ... bless your hearts.