Here are several sites that might be of value to you if you want to do a lesson with your family or just find some fun and educational patriotic things for your kids to do this month.
1. Free quiz on the constitution, Free pocketbook constitution, Puzzles and more. 2. "Uncle Sam" takes you on a tour, quizzes available, need to be able to read to do it. 3. Info on the Declaration of Independence, the signers, other links 4. Scroll down to the history lessons and choose "American History before 1865 Unit Review". This lesson give a history overview, online flashcards for fun and a history timeline. 5. Family lesson plan with various ideas to present a lesson to your family on the constitution. 6. Lesson plans for elementary, middle school and high school age groups on different patriotic themes.
7. Here's a list of more awesome ways you can be patriotic with your family.
Be sure to have a yummy American dessert too! How about the ever famous apple pie? Sugar cookie fruit pizza decorated like a flag with blueberries & strawberries? Share what you had or made by posting a comment.
Sometimes it is nice to just use a Family Home Evening night to do something fun. Here is a way to do something fun that doesn't cost anythin for the little ones. This site offers two free games everyday for the summer to kids 15 and under at many bowling centers across the country! What a great deal! You can also purchase a family pass for $23.95 that allows up to 4 adults to participate in the two games every day deal.
Just thought I would share, hope some of you enjoy a FHE bowling night! ;) ~~Marika
Preheat oven to 375. Line quarter sheet pan or jelly roll pan (about 15.5 x10.5 x 1 inch) with waxed paper; grease well.
Beat eggs 5 minutes, or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add water, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
Add flour, a little at a time, beating just until batter is smooth. Pour into pan and spread batter to corners.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Loosen cake from edges of pan; invert on towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully remove waxed paper.
While hot, roll cake and towel from narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
Fill with 1/2 cup cream, whipped, with 1/4 cup of jam or powdered sugar added, or with jam.
Here is the recipe to go along with the Masterpiece Maker post which I highly recommend reading {and watching} if you haven't already. :)
Make a Masterpiece Dough 1 (18 oz.) jar of peanut butter 6 tbsp.of honey 1/2 c. of dried milk ¼ cup corn starch
Mix the peanut butter and honey. Add the dried milk. Add the corn starch. Put this in the fridge until ready to use. As everyone uses the clay, you may want to have them brush their hands with cornstarch first. {FYI, you could use this clay recipe for a lesson on Noah's Ark, the Creation, building the Jaredite barges, etc.}
Assorted dried fruit—kiwis, apples, cherries, mangoes, etc. (I got a cool assortment from Costco.) Nuts Raisins Baking chips—butterscotch, white chocolate, etc. Coconut Other random goodies
Put the above items in small bowls.
When it is time for the activity, put all the bowls on the table and give each person a portion of the dough. Little people get little portions.Everyone can create a fantastic treat from the materials provided. Have them think of a plan or design for a moment before beginning. Some people will form the dough into the shape of something recognizable like a tree, or an animal or building. Others may make a rather abstract design that looks quite nice. Still others may simply have the plan to cram as many of their favorite items into the dough as possible to create the most delicious flavor they can. There is no wrong way to create your masterpiece. Here are our creations...
Nanner clothed her creation in fruit and garnished it with nuts and seeds.
Bub created a chubby penguin. (It looked much cuter in real life. Pardon the lame photography.) The penguin is about to feast on a lovely dried fruit on a toothpick kebab. Here is the back side of the penguin--you can see his kiwi "feathers".
Peanut's masterpiece required heavy concentration to get it just right. (He used to hold his tongue the same way when he was first learning how to use scissors. Glad I caught this one on film. :)Here is the result of his creative thinking. (Those of you who know us well may be wondering why there are chocolate chips on there--rest assured, it isn't chocolate. The "chocolate story" can be read here.)My efforts resulted in a fruit basket.Princess took her project seriously.She drew ideas from her own imagination, as well as borrowing a few thoughts from others. After several foiled attempts, Sticky decided that these flat faces were just right.
Kevin's contribution to the masterpiece fest was this inventive spaceship.
Our "newly acquired" member of the family, Carol, made this very cool new Star Wars creature! We highly recommend every family having a Carol. Carol's are very intelligent, super funny and lovable to boot. Carol graces us with her presence every Monday night for our Family Home Evening. Thanks Carol!
Every one of us is a unique individual with different gifts, likes, and skill sets. Have joy in the creating and making it the way you want it to be. We had fun. Hope you do too.
If you click the second button on the right above (on the video), you can make it full screen so everyone can see.
Share your thoughts with your family about the video. Personally, I love the message shared in those two minutes. ..."one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."..."You might say, 'I am not the creative type,...think again."..."something that did not exist before"..."You are a masterpiece."..."You will make the world a better place."
Next, share this concept. With God as our Father, we can do remarkable things. Here is what Joseph B. Wirthlin has to say in a talk entitled “The Abundant Life”. "The third quality of those who live abundant lives is that they, with the help of their Heavenly Father, create a masterpiece of their lives.
No matter our age, circumstances, or abilities, each one of us can create something remarkable of his life.
David saw himself as a shepherd, but the Lord saw him as a king of Israel. Joseph of Egypt served as a slave, but the Lord saw him as a seer. Mormon wore the armor of a soldier, but the Lord saw him as a prophet.
We are sons and daughters of an immortal, loving, and all-powerful Father in Heaven. We are created as much from the dust of eternity as we are from the dust of the earth. Every one of us has potential we can scarcely imagine.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
Question to ask: What does it mean to create a masterpiece?
What is a masterpiece by definition?
1. a person's greatest piece of work, as in an art. 2. anything done with masterly skill: a masterpiece of improvisation. 3. a consummate example of skill or excellence of any kind: The chef's cake was a masterpiece. 4. a piece made by a person aspiring to the rank of master in a guild or other craft organization as a proof of competence.
Talk to your family about the greatest Masterpiece Maker of all. God has given us wonderful blueprints to follow by looking at His masterpieces. Note the attention to detail, the vibrancy, the uniqueness, the design, the functionality, and the depth of every creation. Obviously our Maker poured heart and soul into every creative effort.
Show some of the Lord's masterpieces through photographs you have around the house, from books, etc. Or, here are some web links you can use instead.{I suggest right clicking on the links and opening in a new tab.} Here are some beautiful pictures of things in nature. Read about the creation from the scriptures. Explore the world with Google Earth.
After you have established the fact that Heavenly Father is a maker of masterpieces, have the family think of famous people that have made masterpieces of their lives. For instance, Handel, Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vinci, C.S. Lewis, etc.
Take a look at some of the following websites about masterpiece maker Michelangelo before starting FHE. Decide what points from the websites you want to share with your family. This article shows how he picks marble specimens directly from quarry to match the project. Here you can view his statue Pieta and then click on links on the page to view others of his great works. Look at the hand of the statue of David--you can see the veins, fingernails and lines of the knuckles! In this article, it shows how Michelangelo just took away what didn't belong to reveal the masterpiece within. Read about using Michelangelo's methods steps to make your own great design.
Show your excitement about Michelangelo's amazing accomplishments. As I was reading about Michelangelo, I kept wanting to read more and more and more. It was absolutely fascinating. Michelangelo was definitely a masterpiece maker.
We have talked about God and very famous people that are masterpiece makers, but, what about people that are not quite so famous? What about people that are masterpiece makers and yet their names may not be remembered 50 or 100 years from now? Here is one example.
Questions for the family: Did that father and son make masterpieces of their lives? Was the masterpiece something we could touch? No. Could we admire it in a museum? No. Could it be performed on a stage? No. Could it still be considered a masterpiece? Yes.
More questions: What about you and I? Perhaps you can think of some people who are just regular everyday people you know who are creating masterpieces of their lives? People that are pouring heart and soul into their efforts. People who are using their gifts. Someone rearing a household of foster children? Someone anonymously serving others continually? Someone knitting sweaters by the thousands to give to those who have none? Someone who endures great suffering yet shows us all how to be cheerful? Someone who painstakingly and lovingly attends to a beautiful garden?
Teach: There are good examples all around us of people using different gifts to create masterpieces in their lives. Each of us is blessed with at least one wonderful gift that we can expand to the fullest extent possible.
How do we know what God wants us to do?
The answer is simple. Listen.
Refer back to the video. President Uchtdorf in the movie clip at the beginning counseled, “The more you trust and rely upon the spirit, the greater your capacity to create.”
The closing song could be I Am a Child of God to re-emphasize that because we are children of God, we are capable of being masterpiece makers.
For the treat, everyone gets to make their own masterpiece. I am posting the recipe for masterpiece dough separately since it would make this post very long. Click here for recipe and pictures.
To include toddlers, make a special emphasis on the pictures of God's creations. Help them learn new words to add to their vocabulary to describe some of those creations. Very young children will love to make their own masterpiece treat as is evidenced in the pictures on the masterpiece dough post!
Planting a garden or working in your family garden is a great family night activity, and there are many lessons that can go along with it. I'll just list some ideas: you pick which are most applicable for your family.
Ever since we involved our two-year-old in gardening, he has taken a personal interest in it. He gives his pea plants water from his cup, and loves to go out to check on the plants each day. It's a great way to learn about life, where our food comes from, and God's creations. Older children will probably be able to understand deeper lessons about faith, hard work, and self-reliance.
Things that are repeated to us over and over again tend to stick with us. For instance, have family members see if they can complete several ad slogans, like these:
Melts in your mouth, not in your hands............................M&M's Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce........................McDonalds Big Mac Yo Quiero...............................................................................Taco Bell Mmm, mmm, good...............................................................Campbell's Soup Just do it................................................................................Nike With a name like _____....it has to be good.....................Smuckers Be all that you can be...........................................................U.S. Army Breakfast of champions.......................................................Wheaties It keeps going, and going, and going...................................Energizer
Teach that you must be careful about what goes in to your mind. You should always be prepared to have something good to put in to your mind in case something bad pops in. Music is a good way to do this.
Here is a talk by Boyd K. Packer (April 2008) that mentions how the mind is like a stage and how to get rid of bad thoughts. He also suggests music as a means to help. Great article to draw from for this lesson.
Demonstrate the idea of the mind being like a stage by using a small, simply constructed stage and finger puppets. Visually show the family Boyd K. Packer's words by acting it out as you share the idea. Have some puppets designated as bad thoughts, others as pure thoughts. Show how the pure thoughts can oust the bad ones.
Using this recipe, you can have your lesson and treat all in one! Look up the scriptures to fill in the ingredient blanks.
Feast Upon the Word Cookies
3/4 cup _________“The words of his mouth were smoother than ____” (Ps. 55:21) 1/3 cup _________“Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy ____ and honey” (2 Ne. 26:25) 1 1/2 cups _________“To what purpose cometh there to me … the ____ ____ from a far country?” (Jer. 6:20) 2 _________“As one gathereth ____ that are left, have I gathered all the earth” (Isa. 10:14) 2 cups _________“And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine ____” (1 Kgs. 4:22) 1 teaspoon _________“Take thou also unto thee principal spices … and of sweet ____ half so much” (Ex. 30:23) 1 teaspoon _________“Ye are the ____ of the earth” (Matt. 5:13) 1/2 teaspoon _________“The kingdom of heaven is like unto ____ (Matt. 13:33) 3 cups _________“Nevertheless … ____ for the horse” (D&C 89:17) 1 cup _________“And they gave him … two clusters of ____” (1 Sam. 30:12)
To start, beat the first four ingredients together. Next, mix in the remaining ingredients. Then, drop the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Finally, bake at 350° F for about 10 to 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Here is a picture of ours. We added a little fig spread to the tops of ours. We also added dates along with our raisins. (These ingredients keep with the scriptural theme.) :)
Object Lesson Games You need a spice container (I used a jar of poppy seeds.) and a smooth table for this game. Give each person as many turns as you desire. The object is to slide the jar accross the table and get it as close to the edge as possible without it falling off. Next, you need a magnet (I used some from our magnetix toy.) and a small metal object, such as a metal ball, or another magnetix piece. Place the magnet on the table. Give the person the metal object. The goal is to roll or slide the metal object as close as possible to the magnet without getting caught in the magnetic pull and sucked in to the magnet. The Lesson Learned In the first game, teach that it is easiest to keep from falling off the table by staying towards the center of the table, just like it is easiest to keep from sin if we keep the Savior as the center of our lives.
The second game demonstrates the way in which Satan works. He will entice you to come a little closer, come a little closer, until you are caught in his magnetic pull and he ensares you. Again the best choice is to draw near to Jesus and stay there. The closer you get to the sin that Satan wants you to do, the easier it is for him to entice you further away from the Lord.
Story Here's an outline of a little story that demonstrates this principle well. You can add a few embellishments using your own words to make the story a little more realistic and fun. This summary was taken from here. "A stagecoach company owner who was looking for a new driver. He asked how they would approach a dangerous curve. The first two applicants said they would get as close to the edge as possible without toppling over. The final driver said, "I'm going to stay as far from the edge as I can." This man was hired, because the owner trusted him to carry the precious cargo of his wife and children around the curve safely."
Draw near unto Christ How do we do this? One way is through making the scriptures a strong part of our lives. Here's a scripture trivia game to play. Use masking tape to mark off 3 sections on the floor or table. The first section is worth 2 points, the second 4 points, and the third 6 points. Divide the family into two teams. Team members can choose easy questions or hard questions. Young family members earn 3 points for easy questions. Other family members earn 1 point for easy, 5 points for hard. Once the team member has answered the question, they can earn additional points for their team by tossing a pom pom into one of the marked off sections. (You get to do this even if you miss the question answer.) Play to a certain point amount, certain number of questions, or until you are tired of the game. Here is a site to get some harder questions. Type Book of Mormon trivia questions in to a google or yahoo search and you will get a lot of sites to find more questions. Here are a few easier questions.
The Gadianton ________? Nephi’s Mother? The tree of _________? What were Nephi & Bros supposed to do the first time they went back to Jerusalem? The B.o.M. contains writings of prophets T/F What’s the Liahona Who translated B.o.M. Jesus visited the Americas T/F Who cut off arms of Lamanites while tending sheep? Name one person who got his head cut off? What is the title of liberty? What is something that happened in America when Jesus was born? Name a wicked king Name a righteous king Who really took the Lamanites daughters that were dancing? Tell the story of the brother of Jared Name the second book in the book of mormon Name the last book in the book of mormon Lehi’s youngest son? 4 sons of Mosiah?
I havae not posted anything over here in ages!! Sorry. I just wanted to share this great link I foundover at LDS Resources.net It kind of sums up Christ's last week here on earth. I love that it has scripture references to go along with it. For our FHE tonight, I went over Christs activities for the last week of His mortal ministry, and then we read the scripture references for both Palm Sunday and what He would have done on this day two thousand years ago. I explained that we will continue to read the references for the rest of the week as well. I just thougth it might be a cool way of helping us this week before Easter, to keep in mind what He was going through during this most important time in His life, and to help us be more mindful of why we are celebrating Easter.
When it is time for the activity, put all the bowls on the table and give each person a portion of the dough. Little people get little portions.
Everyone can create a fantastic treat from the materials provided. Have them think of a plan or design for a moment before beginning. Some people will form the dough into the shape of something recognizable like a tree, or an animal or building. Others may make a rather abstract design that looks quite nice. Still others may simply have the plan to cram as many of their favorite items into the dough as possible to create the most delicious flavor they can. There is no wrong way to create your masterpiece. Here are our creations...
Here is the back side of the penguin--you can see his kiwi "feathers".
Here is the result of his creative thinking. (Those of you who know us well may be wondering why there are chocolate chips on there--rest assured, it isn't chocolate. The "
My efforts resulted in a fruit basket.
Princess took her project seriously.
She drew ideas from her own imagination, as well as borrowing a few thoughts from others.
Next, you need a magnet (I used some from our magnetix toy.) and a small metal object, such as a metal ball, or another magnetix piece. Place the magnet on the table. Give the person the metal object. The goal is to roll or slide the metal object as close as possible to the magnet without getting caught in the magnetic pull and sucked in to the magnet. 
The Lesson Learned
