Family Home Extravaganza

To add variety to our family home evenings, we schedule two annual family events—“Family Home Evening Conference” and “Family Home Evening Theater.”

In planning the family home evening conference we select an evening when family schedules allow a four-hour family night. We choose a theme and select topics for talks and seminars. The evening’s first activity is a special dinner, followed by a keynote address. We try to include variety on the program, using both physical and mental activities. Sometimes we have a reader’s theater, a special reading or an appropriate musical number. We make assignments for displays or demonstrations. Our first conference was titled “Your Royal Heritage,” with a cardboard castle as our primary decoration. The agenda included an update of our family history and genealogical information, a discussion on celestial marriage, and a talk reminding us that we are children of God. Some years we invite other families, using their talents and insights as well as our own.

Our theater night is undoubtedly the children’s favorite family night of the year. Traditionally it is a rather rowdy event, not very polished but full of good-natured fun. Each year, when the winter holiday season is over, we choose three or four other families we want to invite and set a tentative date. About six weeks before the prospective date, we contact the other families to see if they can come, then send invitations with details. Skits are usually about ten minutes long. In between we have short entertainment, often provided by a guest invited for that purpose. We end the evening with refreshments.

We have had other family home evening activities over the years, such as talent or sport nights. The basic idea of such programs is to have a memorable activity which the children help plan. We have made a special effort to share these evenings with many ward members and not just our closest friends. This helps us learn to appreciate and work with many different kinds of people. These activities help make family home evening a fun home evening. Eileen Giberson, Amarillo, Texas