Ridiculously Simple FHE Ideas for Young Toddlers

Ainsley turned two in January. 

Her energy matches an Olympic athlete on speed. 

When looking through ideas for Family Home Evening lessons online, I always came up short. Even the most simple of lessons were too complicated for my barely two-year-old, not to mention there was a lot of work going into a five minute lesson! 

Here are a few ridiculously simple (we are talking 5 minutes max here) ideas for teaching your toddler during FHE. 

1) TEMPLES

We started by going through the pictures in our house looking for temples. Each time you find one, have them repeat, "temple." We have quite a few photos. We also showed a wedding photo and told her that because Mom and Dad got married in the temple, we can be together forever. 

Finally, we sang, I Love to See the Temple. 

2) THE PROPHET

Show your child a picture of The Prophet and have them repeat a few words at a time, "President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet." Show them several photos and have them repeat "The Prophet" or "President Monson" several times. We ended with Follow the Prophet which is now one of Ainsley's favorite songs. She's goes around singing, "Adam was a prophet, first one that we know!" They really do learn!

3) JESUS CHRIST

Show several pictures of Jesus. Have your child point out and say "Jesus" with every picture. While doing this, tell your child how Jesus was kind and loved everyone and we can try to be like him. Also express that Jesus loves them very much. Have them repeat a few words at a time, "I'm trying to be like Jesus," and end with that song as well. 

4) I AM A CHILD OF GOD

Show this video from YouTube. Have them repeat several times, "I am a child of God." Tell them that Heavenly Father loves them and the rest of the family (mom, dad, sister, etc.,). Sing I Am a Child of God.

5) I HAVE A BODY LIKE HEAVENLY FATHERS 

Ask them to repeat, "I have a body like Heavenly Father's" several times (this one is so cute to hear). Point out that mom and dad also have a body and they let us jump, run, play, etc,. You can act these out as well.

Sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. We also used this coloring page and rhyme found here. 

6) I CAN BE HAPPY

Tell your child that we can work to be happy! Have them repeat, "I can be happy." Tell them that when we see someone who is sad, we can smile at them to help them feel happy. Practice making happy and sad faces together. We sang, If You're Happy and You Know It  and If You Chance to Meet a Frown.

7) PRAYER

Have the child repeat, "I can pray to Heavenly Father." Use the handout from this nursery lesson to show your child the order of praying. Sing,A Child's Prayer.

I also used this activity verse:  I begin by saying “Dear Heavenly Father”; (raise one finger—keep fingers raised throughout the activity verse)

I thank him for blessings he sends; (raise second finger)

Then humbly I ask him for things that I need, (raise third finger)

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. (raise fourth finger)

She really has learned from it! She will randomly repeat things we have told her in lessons and identify thing/people from lessons in photos. She's young, but I think it's important to start young. It also brings a warm spirit into our home. 

Here is a link to the Children's Songbook: https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook?lang=eng

My Famine

After Clint read my blog about my miscarriage story, he said he hadn't realized how mad at God I was. I was mad at Him. Really, really mad. I really think it's okay to be angry with God. I feel very strongly that emotions aren't bad and we are emotional beings for a reason! What's important is how we use our emotions. 

For example, it's okay to be upset with your spouse. Actually, you'd be an alien if you never had some degree of conflict in your marriage. But, when you turn to your spouse and work through the issue together, it brings you closer together.

In my opinion, the same is true with our relationship to Heavenly Father.

In both cases, anger can cause separation or greater closeness. What makes the difference is where (who) we turn to. I fully believe that you can be angry with God while keeping your trust and faith in Him. Through my frustrations and anger, I've turned toward my Heavenly Father and it has strengthened our relationship.

A few days ago, I was reading in Helaman 11 in my scriptures. Nephi, a righteous prophet, pleads with the Lord to replace their gory war with a famine. Heavenly Father shows mercy and agrees to Nephi's request. The people suffer through the famine, remember God, repent, and are eventually blessed with rain.

My bitterness has subsided in the last two weeks, but in the thick of it, I couldn't understand how Heavenly Father could have done this to me despite the fact that I was doing the right things! In my previous post, I wrote how I felt like I was being tricked. That Heavenly Father told me what to do, I obeyed, and He watched me fall. I couldn't understand why that would happen.

After reading of this story in the Book of Mormon, I have a different perspective. I feel that Heavenly Father replaced my war with a famine. This was my famine. Had I not been faithful, my trial would have been much worse. Having a miscarriage was my famine. There's no way of knowing but my war would have been, but I'm glad I don't have to know.

I feel like my words are falling flat, but this is a huge lesson for me to learn.

My prayers and fasting were not in vain. I was shown mercy.

I wonder how many other times in my life that I had been upset with God when He was really showing compassion on me. Doing the right things is never in vain.

Just like the people in Helaman 11 needed the famine to set them back on the right course, I think we  all need constant reminders. That's why life is so hard. Trials teach us humility. We come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when we can't do it on our own. In this situation, I couldn't do it on my own. Even through I wouldn't chose to go through this again, my testimony has been strengthened. Even though I don't know the alternatives, I'm grateful for the mercy that was shown to me.