General Conference Tips

Doesn't it just burst your General Conference bubble when you print off a super cute General Conference packet for your kids (that takes tons of paper), and they rip right through it by the end of the second talk????  Been there.  Done that.

Never fear...I have a solution that might work for you...It certainly worked for us last time.  

I printed off THE ULTIMATE GENERAL CONFERENCE PACKET, which by the way has a whole coloring/cutting/quizzing/bingo-ing activity to go with every single letter of the alphabet.  And my kids (ages 4-7) were able to do them all by themselves without my help.  

(It'll take some paper but not a lot of ink!)

But what REALLY helped make it last all of Conference was that I divided the worksheets into four sections and put them in a three-ring binder for each child with divider tabs for each session.

So my children knew that when they came to the next tab, they needed to stop and save the rest for the next session.

Now I realize most people probably don't make their kids listen to all of General Conference like we do, so if you're watching just the Sunday session with your children you could divide your packet by other things such as the choir or congregational hymn or by half hour time slots.  Good times.

Another bonus, we are now using our binders again this Conference.  I just cleared them out (kept the cutest drawings) and filled it back up again with fun things to color.

Also, do you find note-taking for yourself difficult as you juggle babies and children and snacks and needs?  Yeah, me too.

During the last General Conference, it hit me that I could just merge my personal notes with our question notes by placing a large piece of paper on the wall.  

With my most important question in the center, I was able to add the answers given by the Brethren branching out from my question: "How can our family weather the storms of life and be happy?"

I am really only able to record the most important phrases anyway, so this worked really well for me.  Plus the kids could see that Mommy was paying close attention to their words and it was visually appealing.   

I've had it hanging at various spots in my house for six months now!  It even helped spark questions from a friend of mine who wanted me to explain what "disconnect to reconnect" meant.  She said she thought the teachings were really nice, especially Sister Wixom's advice that children need to hear "I love everything about you."

I am so thankful for General Conference and that the teachings of the prophets can become a living breathing part of our lives.

One more thing, as part of my tip on the Friend website this week, the editors of the Friend want us to know that the Friend has an online game that might help your children to recognize the Brethren this weekend.

To access this online matching game click here.

You can find more simple General Conference tips at the links below:

General Conference Reverence Stations

General Conference Question Wall

Fantasy General Conference