Preparing for General Conference

Here are some great ideas for preparing your family for general conference.

1. Make a copy of general conference messages for each family member. Then as you watch conference, write not only what you learned from each speaker, but also what you will do to follow this counsel. Then share these papers in the next Family Home Evening.

2. This next idea can at least help younger children to focus on short topics. You will need some type of small snack in different colors or shapes, like M & M's, different cereals, or jelly beans. Assign each color or shape a topic before the meeting starts. Then you can eat the particular snack each time that topic is mentioned by a speaker. See the example.

3. Another fun activity is to see if family members can name the general authority who is speaking. In a family home evening prior to conference, you can play games that help you learn the names of at least the prophet and 12 apostles. Use the centerfold of a conference issue of the Ensign with general authorities and pictures, or purchase individual pictures of the general authorities at the distribution center. Cover the name and go through them as children try to name each one. Then devise a wheel similar to this and update the pictures. Children can put the pointer to the right general authority as each one goes up to speak.

4. Our family favorite was always "conference bingo" You can make enough copies of this as you have young family members. Here are four different versions of it.

Conference Bingo Card #1
Conference Bingo Card #2
Conference Bingo Card #3
Conference Bingo Card #4

To make more versions, cut out and mix up the squares so that each bingo card is different. As each topic is mentioned during a conference talk, you can put a piece of candy on that square. Once you have bingo, you can eat the candies and then start over again.

Add comments if you have other great ideas for conference weekend.