General Conference Weekend

When I first told the kid this was General Conference weekend, I got lot's of moans and groans--having to sit through 2 days of a total of 8 hours of listening to church speakers!  I didn't like how the kids felt towards General Conference.  This should be something they look forward to.  I understand they are just kids and listening to each speaker can be overwhelming.  Let's face it, the kids have a hard time sitting through sacrament meeting.  I just didn't like hearing they didn't "like" General Conference.  So I decided to create some fun traditions that would help them have some good feelings and memories about General Conference weekend.....

First, I brought out the kid tents and told the kids that every General Conference weekend they could sleep out in their tents--a big sleepover!  We set up the tents the night before and then I read Mosiah 2:1-10, where King Benjamin is going to address his people and all the families come and pitch their tents around the temple to hear him.  We talked about how excited the families must of felt to be able to listen to their leader and a prophet of God.  Then we talked about how we get to listen to our prophet and apostles today during this General Conference weekend.  We even set up our tents so the doors faced the t.v.  "having his tent with the door there-of towards" (our television where we would watch Conference), "that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words..."  

They were finally starting to be excited about Conference....

The next morning, I made German apple pancakes.  I've heard of families making something special only on General Conference weekend so I told the kids we will have this be our special breakfast tradition!

Right before Conference began I handed out some "Conference packets" with coloring pages, crosswords, puzzles, etc. they could work on during conference.  The kids got in their tents and starting working away.  At times they would pop their heads out and listen but overall is nice and quiet so Jesse and I could sit back and listen.  I know there will be time when they get a bit older when they will be able to take in more.  I just wanted to create an atmosphere where the spirit would dwell, which wasn't the case when I felt like I was having to pull teeth just to get them to come into the room.

By the last session, the puzzles and coloring pages had lost their thrill.  So I popped some popcorn and we played "Conference Bingo."  Every time someone got a bingo they could choose a treat--starburst or hershey kiss, etc.  Wow, did they really get into this!  Everyone was listening intently and afterwards they knew what the theme of the talk was...."Mom, he talked a lot about missionaries!"

Here are some more pictures from the day!

When conference was over, the kids were actually disappointed....they wanted more!  I told them we could do this all again in 6 months--to which I got lot's of cheering!  Overall, General Conference weekend was a success....yay!