Monday, October 6, 2008

FHE: The USofA

For FHE (Family Home Evening) tonight I thought it would be a good idea to give the kids an idea of where Fred is, although I realize it's a pretty abstract concept for little children.

Every month we get an animated video in the mail from LDS Living Scriptures. We've accumulated a good collection of stories about Book of Mormon, Bible, and latter-day Heroes. We have one about Christopher Columbus, so I put that on for the kids while I printed out stuff for the lesson.

I got my hands on a globe at Goodwill this morning for $0.99. It doesn't have a stand, but you can still read everything fine. I printed out a map of the US with labeled states and then individual copies of the US with just the outlined states for the kids to color. I also opened up the Book of Mormon to 1 Nephi where it talks about Christopher Columbus being inspired to search West, finding the Americas.

By a sheer miracle I was able to get my restless crew to the table. They survived a song and prayer. Then, to my surprise, they actually enjoyed learning (briefly) about how Christopher Columbus found America despite the current popular belief. A special touch I hadn't anticipated was showing them where Spain was on the Globe and telling them about how their Opa was stationed there, so I lived there when I was little. They loved that part. The globe was an awesome visual, and ironically, I hadn't even considered what we were going to do for FHE when I bought it. Another one of those tender mercies :)

I let them help arrange the pieces of the map in the right order. Gregory had a blast finding Ohio and Arizona and Mississippi. Even when it was all over, he was still able to find those states.

(his unfinished masterpiece)

All 3 enjoyed coloring their maps of the US. Gregory's is now proudly displayed on our fridge. We wrapped it all up with Gregory's favorite, chocolate pudding. Despite the mayhem that has ruled my house most of the day, FHE was actually really nice.

4 comments:

The Baker Family said...

That is such a cute idea. Way to go supper mom! It sounds like you had a hit with the lesson and I'm sure they learned a lot.

Ashley and Spencer Bunn said...

that was so cute. I hope i can get good ideas for FHE when Kaylee get's bigger

John and Becky Bowler said...

I have a couple of comments for you...1) Your Goodwill post cracked me up-there is an amazing Goodwill up in Scottsdale and it's really funny to see people get into tiffs about the different items there 2)Your post about Fred made me think about our country-tell Fred thank you for defending it amd 3)What a good mom you are for doing FHE's!!! I bet it's hard with little kids. Keep up the good work Debbie!!!

Frozen Cacti said...

That was a great idea. You also inspire me. Mike is gone until December as well, although he gets to come home to visit periodically. Life as a single mom can be lonely sometimes. Hang in there!