General Conference

One of the (many) abrupt changes when my first child was born was the end of listening, fully engaged, to each General Conference session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was not acceptable for me long-term, so I turned to The Church's website for help and developed the following family traditions. They don't allow me to listen like I used to, but they do make Conference an intentional, significant event, and they keep my children engaged enough so that I can still receive at least some personal direction each session.

These traditions also ended up being a soul-saver. During a rough couple of years, when Chris walked away from God and church and I couldn't feel the spirit, I was tempted to let Conference slide. But my children weren't! According to them, General Conference is the best holiday of the year (!), and they made sure these traditions happened. When I didn't have the will, the traditions kept us going and we all benefitted. I'm so very grateful!

Here's what we do:

Build a Conference Tent

• The week, day, or morning before Conference starts we prepare by reading Mosiah 2:1-8. Then we construct a "Conference tent." The door of the tent faces our computer screen and my kids will often watch conference from inside the tent. Some years ago we also built a tower under the screen to mimic King Benjamin's tower.

Morning surprises

• On Saturday the kids wake up to a hidden Conference basket. The basket contains little activities to entertain them during the sessions. Things like play-do, jigsaw puzzles, coloring sheets (like this or this), or church-themed memory cards. I help the littlest ones by leaving a trail of tiny treats from their bedroom door to the basket.
• On Sunday the kids wake up to a plastic egg hunt. Each egg has a coin inside. When they gather all their coins they count the total and pay tithing on it. Both of my children went through a season when they didn't want to pay tithing. I allowed them to make that choice on all of their money except for this egg hunt. Consequently, this tradition became a nice reminder and baby step into obeying the principle of tithing.

Special Breakfast

• On Saturday morning Chris prepares his favorite, hashbrowns and eggs. On Sunday I prepare mine, dessert sourdough crepes. We may begin fasting for General Conference though... so I'm not sure how this tradition will hold up.

During the sessions

• Before Conference I print out the pictures of the general authorities of the church. My kids mark off each speaker with a sticker, and receive a treat when an entire row is covered (the first presidency or half of the twelve apostles).
• Play Conference Squares. My kids listen to conference talks attentively trying to the words on the sheets and then mark them off with stickers. Everyone in the family gets a small treat for each child's "bingo." As the kids get older, they graduate to marking off squares for topics discussed, rather than just the words said. 
• Around 8 years old, they begin listening for and recording personal revelation during each session instead of playing the game (like on these worksheets). After the session we all enjoy a larger treat together while we share what we learned.
• When the excitement of the squares wanes (usually by the second hour of each session), kids pull out activities from the Conference Basket to help.

Between sessions:

• Play or work outside. This is very important! Got to get the wiggles out.

Treats:

• Our healthy favorites are peanut butter squares, dried figs, or date rolls cut into small pieces.

Return to the previous page, "Holidays"