Family Home Evening

We are having a Joseph Smith Quarterly Activity Day in a couple of weeks. I thought I might share what we are planning so that it may help someone else. Many of the ideas have come from all of you – thanks so much. I'm excited for the big day.

As the children arrive they will receive a colored sticker to place them in 3 different groups. Each family will receive an FHE packet on he prophet Joseph Smith's life that will be pre-made for them. The children will then be able to color the "flannel board" pictures from the Friend (January 1997) which will be printed on cardstock as they wait for everyone to arrive. (We have trouble getting everyone there on time and it seems the children always head for the gym to run around wild and it makes it hard to calm them down. This way they have something to do until we get started.—We plan on blocking off the gym until the very end.) We have a box full of popsicle sticks that we will adhere to the backs of the pictures they color instead of flannel.

We will rotate the children through 3 stations based on the life of the prophet Joseph Smith. Each station will last 15-18 minutes and start every 20 minutes to give them a couple minutes to rotate.

Station 1 – an edited down (to about 10 minutes) video clip on the prophet's life- - President's of the Church DVD that you can get from the Distribution Center. We may do popcorn for a snack while watching the video. Then we will have a role playing activity while
a narrator reads a script on Joseph's leg operation as a young boy. A girl can be chosen to be the doctor with a black bag, stethoscope,
and offer Joseph wine to drink during the operation. A boy to play Joseph with a leg wound. And a boy to play Joseph's father to hold
his leg down.

Station 2 – The first vision will be depicted here with a dim room with some trees for decoration and a picture of the first vision projected on the wall with an overhead projector. A narrator will tell a portion of the story about Joseph searching for answers then arriving in the sacred grove to pray. We will then use an audio/video clip of the prophet's Joseph's words from Joseph Smith History (also on the President's of the Church DVD). We will then talk to the children about how they can have answers to their prayers also. Then they will make a prayer rock that will be pre-stenciled. They can decorate it with glow in the dark stickers.

Station 3 – This station will be using an idea from PrimaryST group about the vision the prophet had of the angel Moroni appearing to him and telling him where the gold plates were hidden. We will use a flip chart of pictures telling about getting the gold plates and translating them into the Book of Mormon. Then we will have them decode/translate a message on the board telling them where they can find a gold plates replica outside hidden in a "rock box". We may give them a bookmark (from Liz's site) to put in their own "gold plates" - the Book of Mormon.

Then we will end by all meeting together to have Johnny Cake (the prophet's favorite) and making ice cream in a bag (outside as suggested). This is when we will have a special visitor (a member of the bishopric dressed as the prophet Joseph) come in and meet with the children and talk about loving to play "stick pull" games as a child. Then those children who want to can do that off to the side until their parents pick them up.

The activity day is set to last 2 hours – which is what they have always done in the past. But I am thinking we may shorten that up in the future. The kids should have a good experience learning about the prophet and having fun in the mean time