Family Home Evening Ideas With Toddlers

Here are some specific ideas for activities and lessons for family home evenings with pre-school aged children.

1. Bodies

Preschoolers are rapidly gaining understanding of the world around them. They are becoming more interested in their own bodies and the differences between girls and boys, babies, etc.

Help them to learn the names of body parts. The song "head, shoulders, knees and toes" can be a fun one for the whole family to do, and it will help to reinforce the names of body parts. You can draw pictures of people. Another good drawing activity is to draw faces with different expressions, showing happy, sad etc. (The book Happy Dog Sad Dog is good for this). Most public libraries have picture books explaining body parts (and sometimes very basic sex ed. or explanations of bones, organs, etc.) You can look for one suited to the right level for your child.

If you want a short spiritual lesson with it, then you can use the creation story about our bodies being made, or use the Word of Wisdom (Doctrine & Covenants 89) to talk about taking care of our bodies.

2. Alternative Family Portraits

Instead of a traditional family portrait, try something different (and probably more fun). Get a big sheet of paper (you can use canvas or other backgrounds as well), and some finger paints. Each family member uses a different colour paint, and puts down a handprint (or footprint). In the end, you have a collection of different size and colour prints that look great together.

You can combine this with family-based songs (like Families Can Be Together Forever) and a lesson on families.

3. Write Letters

Use family night to write letters to grandparents, missionaries, or anyone else that you want to send mail to. Parents and older kids can write messages, and younger children can draw pictures to go with them. They will also have fun putting stickers and stamps on the envelopes.

4. Work in the Garden

Begin with a children's song like The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden. Then you can work in the yard together. Even very young children can help to plant seeds, water plants, etc. Give them specific jobs to do and make it fun rather than work. Let them have specific plants that are theirs (sunflowers are easy to plant and care for, and children love watching their flowers grow).

You can combine this with any number of lessons, including consider the lilies (Matthew 6:28), the creation (Genesis), and gratitude for the world around us. You can also introduce them to ideas about taking care of the earth.

Even if you don't have a yard, you can go to the park and look at plants, or plant seeds or plants in a pot indoors.