Teaching Children To Pray

If I had to choose one thing in my life that brings me the most peace, direction and comfort, I'd choose prayer. It's what defines my relationship with God, helps me know what to do and fuels my faith. I believe in prayer and I believe that prayers are answered!

With that said, it's no surprise that I want my children to learn to love prayer as well. (When I say "I" I should really say "we" as this is equally important to my husband!)

When my son was an infant he became a part of our family prayers, even when he was sleeping in his bouncer and we knelt near by. As he grew older he learned how to fold his arms and bow his head (although we're still working on the keeping eyes closed part!)

Then as his speaking abilities improved, we had him repeat words after us to say his own prayers.

The more he grew, the more we encouraged and taught him how to pray. We made posters to act as prompt, helping him generate his own words for prayers. We taught him to thank God and to pray for other people. Isaac was praying on his own and we were feeling pretty good about his progress...

And then things got tricky. Right around last September, out of the blue, Isaac began to refuse to say prayers. He no longer wanted to say them himself or repeat after us. He didn't even want to fold his arms or act reverently during prayers.

I wish I could say I was calm and understanding, but in truth I was exasperated and bewildered. Why didn't my son want to communicate with God?  Well honestly, he probably wasn't quite grasping the fact that prayer is communicating with God.
But even though his faith and understanding may be small, I still desire for him to pray so that he can begin to develop a personal relationship with Heavenly Father.  Over the past several months Issac has begun praying on his own.  Sometimes his prayers go on and on as he lists one by one his toys, books, and family members that he is thankful for!

We still haven't come to the end of this story. I suppose we never will! Aren't all of our relationships with God constantly growing and changing? 

Now Amy is the one learning to fold her arms and bow her head for prayers.  As her language skills improve she'll be able to repeat after us and then pray on her own.  Watching my own children learn how to pray has deepened my desire to pray with all my heart and claim the promise from the scriptures: "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul."  Deuteronomy 4:29

General Conference Ideas for Kids

So this weekend is not only Easter, but General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love this time of year! Thanks to the Internet we'll be enjoying most sessions at home. But...having two little ones at home often means it is harder for mommy and daddy to really listen and learn from the conference sessions. If you are looking for activities to help your children (and yourself) get the most out of conference, head on over to this website. She has complied a great list of ideas for kids and adults of all ages. Pick and choose what will work best for your family. Enjoy!

A Year of FHE Lessons for 2009

One of my old mission companions emailed me a collection of FHE lessons and activities for 2009. They follow along with the Primary theme for the year, which is My Eternal Family. The lessons are great for kids and come from the Friend and other Church resources. The Lessons are easy to use and include an agenda for each lesson as well as activities and often coloring pages, mazes, etc. to support the lesson. I don't know how to create a link from this web site to the book, but if you're interested, I'd love to email it to you. Just send me an email at jltreasure@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.
It is a 131 page word document, so kind of a large file! :) But it would be a great resource to print and bind, or just print off lessons as your family uses them.

It's Finished!

Okay, I probably shouldn't say that the quiet book is finished because I know I am going to continue thinking of things to add or improve, but for now, it is finished in the sense that I can wrap it up and put it under the tree. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

(I made the title My Busy Book partly because it was less letters to cut out and sew)

The handles are ribbon. I "quilted" the book with receiving blankets sewn between the pages that add a little stability to the pages, and also make the book soft and thick.

I added two felt pockets in the inside cover, one for a pencil or crayons, and the other for a small notebook perhaps?
The back cover has a pocket also, one that closes with a snap.

Quiet Book update

I've finally finished the pages of Isaac's scrapbook, and although they are not put together and I still have the cover to do, I thought I'd put up some pictures of how things are turning out so far. (I will sew the pages together down the middle when I put the cover on.)

The flowers are felt and button on and off. The animals go into the ark, which is a pouch.

The notes move on the staff. This is a dress I got for free and cut up. Once it's unbuttoned, there is a sheet protector inside (which was actually really easy to sew). The picture can be changed, and when Isaac is older, I can put a maze, etc. inside).


The hands on the clock move around, and baby Jesus comes out of the manger.

The wise men don't do anything, just lots of textures. The next page is about tithing. The pink pouch has a pig on it and there are ten coins connected to the book with string. I'm not sure if I like this page, I might make the coins Velcro on.

This is an old pair of overalls I got for free and cut up; they zip up and down. Jonah hooks into the whales mouth with a key chain from an old diaper bag (Jonah has kind of wild hair!)



For Peter fishing, the fish are felt and a few of them have snaps (but I didn't have very many snaps, so the rest don't.) The next is also off of an old diaper bag. The fruit on the Tree of Life Velcro on and off.

The petals on this flower move (it was a toy that I got for free.) Joseph's coat are different colors that Velcro on (you match the color on the coat and of the ribbon/felt.)

This is a back pocket off of the overalls, in the future I think I'll put finger puppets in it, but for now Isaac likes clothes pins, so that's what's in it. The lions are furry and fun to touch.

And there you have it! I really didn't spend much money on this project, mostly I used clothes I got for free, I bought a fabric grab bag from DI for 3 dollars, I bought a few pieces of felt at Roberts with their weekly 40 or 50% off coupons (yes, I did go different days and only buy one piece of felt to get the discount.) And then I got felt and ribbon scraps from people. Making this book has been a learning experience, especially with different stitches on the sewing machine! And it has taken LOTS of time, but it's been fun and worthwhile to me. I can't wait until Isaac opens it up on Christmas morning!

I Spy Bags

I ran across these quiet time bags, that would be great for Church! Of course you can buy them, but they're not that hard to make.

The basic idea is a bag with a window that is full of small items to find amidst a filler (like rice or polly pellets) The child must move things around to find all of the hidden items.

This web site is wonderful, with pictures (including the one on the right) and clear instructions.

I also like the idea of having a list of things to look for. Using pictures or a duplicate of each item would work well for children that can't read yet.

And if you want a no-sew project you can always fill a zip lock bag with rice and small objects. But I would make sure to seal the opening with duct tape before giving it to a child!

Quiet Book Update

I'm still working on Isaac's Quiet Book, and I've come across some more helpful sites. What I like best about them are the pictures. (That always helps me get ideas.) Here they are:

The Burke Family Quiet Book

Natalie Clayton's Quiet Book

How to Make a Quiet Book (this lady made a whole blog on how to make a quiet book!)
(And she has a few links on the right side to other quiet book pages)


Some day (hopefully soon) I'll post pictures of the quiet book I'm working on.

Behold Your Little Ones

The Church recently published a Nursery Manual called Behold Your Little Ones. It is a really neat compilation of 30 lessons and activities tailored to young children (18 months to 3 years). And that part I like best is that everything is together in the manual, meaning pictures and coloring pages are all there, so you don't need to look them up in another source. You can buy the manual online for $5.50 (there are no shipping costs), or you can access it online and print off the pages/pictures for free at this website. What a great resource for teaching children about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the gospel!

File Folder Games

My sister-in-law emailed me about file folder games: activities that kids can do (mostly independently, depending on their age) that are contained in a file folder. How neat! There are lots of resources on the Internet, and many cost money, but I tried to find a few that are free. If you're really into them you can find ones to purchase and print online or books also (I'd check the local library first- Provo City has a few "Vanilla Manila Folder Games for Young Children" is one). And once you look at a few you just might come up with some great ideas for your own file folder games.

File Folder Games from MormonChic: Noah's Ark, Dress the Bear, Family History, Flower Garden, and a few matching games.

FileFolderHeaven: They have free games and ones to purchase.

Positively Autism: Scroll down for a few printable games

These are just a few of the many resources out there. If you find a site you love, please let us know!

General Conference

General Conference is coming up, and as you know, once you have children watching General Conference is never the same!

Although my son is too young for these packets, I thought others could use them. They are full of pictures to color and other gospel centered activities to help children stay reverent during conference. They were made for April's conference, but you can change the dates if you'd like. This is the web site, and then you can download the packets from there and print off the pages that you'd like. (There is a packet for older and younger children.)

Here's a link for General Conference Bingo. (You can download it as a PDF or doc file.)

And one last web site with lots of links for printable activities (like note taking workbooks, bingo, word searches and prophet/apostle cards) Most of these activities would be for kids who can read or almost read.

Any other ideas you have to help your kids (and yourself) get the most out of General Conference?

FHE Ideas

This blog has some great short lesson ideas (for short attention spans) as well as activities and links to pictures to use for Family Home Evening Lessons.

The Church's FHE website is also a great resource for lesson ideas. I like how they even have activities linked to the Faith in God, Duty to God and Personal Progress programs (for when our kids are a little older.)

Quiet Books

I've been looking online for ideas to make quiet books, especially for church, and I found some web sites that I found helpful. This first one has pictures and instructions for things like with zippers and snaps, all related to church themes. This one has a sewn quiet book but also ideas for a gospel ABC book that wouldn't require sewing. This page has some different ideas and not as much instructions, just to get you thinking of all the possibilities.