12 General Conference Ideas For Your Family- The Red Headed Hostess

These are fun ideas for General Conference!

Here are some fun Conference Crafts and ideas with you!

I think Conference Weekend is such a wonderful time and I really hope my children will feel the same way about it!

And I am pretty sure that this will take some attentive and creative parenting – because I assume that most kids would hate it if they had to fold their arms and be quiet for four (or six) hours per day – and I definitely don’t want them to have those feelings towards General Conference!

So if you have some little hands that need to stay busy and excited, here are some ideas for you:

Here is a list of some of your… and some of my ideas.  Take a look and see which ones work for you.

1-  Quiet Crafts


Have some fun crafts for your kids to work on.  Like these paper dolls.  Here are the printouts for these!
Plan of Salvation 2
Here are some detailed Plan of Salvation printables that your kids can color and cut out (and be ready for them to ask you LOTS of questions – these are great teaching aids!)
mosaic

And here are some fun Church Magazine Mosaic Plates!

2-  Conference Traditional Meals

Teenage Boys Eating Pizza

A LOT of you mentioned food (and food will appear on some of the other ideas), but I LOVED the ideas of having traditional Conference Meals that your family looks forward to!!!

Some of your great ideas were:

  • Pizzafest (buy pizza on Saturday, and make it on Sunday)
  • All your food has to start with “C” for “Conference”
  • Whatever you eat, you throw out a blanket and have a picnic in front of the TV
  • Gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches
  • Enchilada Night with all of the extended family on Priesthood Night
  • Italian Sandwiches that you just wrap up and keep in the fridge

 

3-  Big Conference Breakfasts

Lots and lots of you mentioned that you have a big breakfast (especially on Sunday morning).

Here are some things you mentioned you make:

  • Every possible breakfast food is on the table.  Yum!
  • Your kids get their favorite sugar cereal for breakfast
  • Crepes
  • Cinnamon Rolls
  • German Pancakes

I also think it would be fun to make Spring or Fall themed Breakfasts.  Like Pumpkin Pancakes in the Fall and Rainbow Pancakes in the Spring.

Check out these rainbow pancakes from Chocolate on My Cranium

4-  Conference Packets

Here is my Conference Packet.

And the church posted several awesome ideas here

5-  Conference Bags

gift bags

Give your kids a gift sack full of Conference goodies.  With things like:

  • One of the packets above
  • Pens/pencils/markers
  • Fruit roll ups, candy necklaces, jolly ranchers…
  • Quiet crafts
  • Conference Bingo cards
  • Etc…

 

6-  Sticky Notes

sticky note

I loved this idea from Liz!

She put up pictures of all of the Apostles on the wall in the Family Room and then everyone gets a stack of sticky notes.  Everyone writes, or draws what that Apostle spoke about and then you put your sticky note on their picture.  As conference proceeds you get more and more sticky notes on the wall AND you can still see who hasn’t spoken yet.  Then after conference you can use the sticky notes as a review or a game.

7-  Conference Bingo Cards

general conference bingo cards, printable general conference bingo cards for kids, lds general conference bingo cards

Here is where you can get a printout for these fun bingo cards.

The picture you see above is not the actual card – those are the pictures your kids can choose to put on their card – so everyone’s cards can be different, or they can change it up as they go.  They could also add some of their own pictures, scriptures, words, etc. to it.

 8-  Tents

A lot of you mentioned that you put up tents or forts in your family rooms and have your kids climb in like King Benjamin’s people and point their doors toward the Prophets.   FUN!!!  I love that idea.  You could put up pictures of King Benjamin’s address inside of their tent (so they understand why they are in such a strange Family Room situation) and then fill it with quiet conference crafts.

9- Family Room Transformation/Quiet Zone

Basic RGB

Liz also gave this idea…

My children range in age from 12 years down to 18 months and they look forward to General Conference almost as much as Christmas. They love waking up Saturday morning to see our family room transformed into a “Conference Room”. We move the couches and the coffee(“hot chocolate”) table to better point to the T.V. The entry to the room has a big sign that says, “Quiet Zone”. The table just beyond the Quiet Zone sign, outside of the “Conference Room” is ready for quiet crafts that I have planned knowing that they will be able to do the crafts quietly and without adult help.

 

10-  Conference Viewing Party

I have overheard a lot of my students talking about how they are going to get together and watch Conference.  I imagine that a lot of you make it a family occasion; however, I know that some of those I saw making plans do not come from homes where it is a priority and so Conference has not been a big deal for them in the past.  After doing this trivia game, and then giving them this packet andthese make your own trivia cards… they started making plans with each other to get together and watch Conference.  Hallelujia!!!

If you have teenagers at home, you may want to ask them if they have any friends that may want to come and experience a Conference Saturday or Sunday session with your family.  Show them some of your traditions and let them feel the Spirit in your home.  It could have huge impact! 

 11- Conference Treasure Hunt

treasure chest

This idea comes from Hailey.  Check out her blog here.

Have an empty treasure chest. Tell your family that your treasure chest is empty. Then tell them that we need to fill it up, but not with just normal treasure. We need to fill it up with ‘Spiritual Treasure’. Explain to your family as you listen to Conference we will be filled with the Spirit, we will hear the things that we need to do, we will hear from our Prophet, Pres. Monson, etc. And that is the treasure we are seeking! We learn many great and important things during Conference, so this year we are going to go on a ‘Conference Treasure Hunt’.

You could then talk about the different topics that might be discussed during Conference or you could talk about the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles. Tell your family that those are the ‘treasures’ that will fill up our treasure chest.

General Conference Treasure Hunt:
The treasure hunt will happen during General Conference.
For the treasure hunt you could have picture of jewels (just find some online and print them off), treats, boxes (with something inside), etc. On each item you could attach a picture of a topic that might be discussed during Conference, you could put a word (prayer, temples, etc.) or you could put a picture of someone (Pres. Monson, Pres. Eyering, etc.).During Conference have your children listen to each talk. At the end of the talk discuss with your family what was being taught. Then have your children find that treasure and place it in the treasure chest.

You could, ahead of time, hide the treasure and make a treasure map for your children telling them where each treasure is: example: ‘Prayer Treasure’-in Mom & Dad’s Bed; ‘Temple Treasure’- in the Laundry Room, etc.At the end of Conference, or each session, go through your treasure chest and discuss what was taught. Then enjoy your ‘Treasure!!’Read more: http://littleldsideas.blogspot.com/#ixzz1IIBvkwA1

 

12-  CTR Dollars

 

I love this idea from Katie:

“We use CTR dollars that they earn during conference. They earn for completing pages, taking notes, being quiet and kind.”

 

And Don’t forget…

that you can go here to get this Famiy Fun Recip Cards so you can write down all of the ideas you want to keep on file.

Have a wonderful Conference weekend everyone!!!

general conference collage

16 comments

  1. Thanks so much for your work on this blog, I only found it yesterday, but I can see that it will be one of my ‘go-to’ blogs. A great list, with loads of great ideas.

  2. You are such a great resource yourself you know! We do a version of Liz’s sticky notes too for the teens in our family. For the younger kids we have mini posters of various topics and they stick the apostles’ pictures (we have at least 3 of each) on the topics they speak about. It is such a great visual reminder of what we heard at General Conference!

    I also like this idea from Simply Fresh Design: http://www.simplyfreshdesigns.com/2011/03/first-presidency-and-twelve-apostles-print/

    It is a print with all of the first presidency and apostles on it with space to write their GC topic underneath. The print is framed to hang on the wall and the topics are written on the glass with dry erase marker so it can be used over and over again. She even provides downloads for 4×6 or 5×7 prints to put in your scriptures.

  3. I love all your conference ideas! I check your blog periodically and I have always enjoyed it and found great things. Thanks!

  4. I still get homesick every Conference… my family always went out to my best friends’ family’s house for the weekend, and each time Conference rolls around, I miss sitting right between the two of them, listening all together. We even made *fast* trips home during college (12 and 7 hour drives) to be there together for Conference. It’s a very comfy, fond memory for me every single time.

  5. One thing that we do during spring conference is change out the food and snacks in our 72-hour kits. We have shoe boxes with menus and food for 3 days. They include things like oatmeal breakfast bars, cup of noodles, gummy snacks, etc. The kids eat their food while listening to conference, and then we refill them and keep them in the front hall closet. (We also have the backpacks in the garage with more nutritious food and extra clothing, but this is just something extra.)

  6. I am so envious of people being able to watch conference on TV… because of the time difference, we go to our stake centre for video conference the following week, and sit through all the sessions there. All the activities above sound like a lot of fun and I will adapt some for Conference FHE.
    Our tradition is a picnic on the lawn between sessions with other people from our ward and the kids get to have a little run around ad wriggle before the next session.
    On a positive note – the kids are getting really good at sitting still, and will now stay quietly in their seats for the entire session.

  7. What great ideas!!! This year we’re trying something new. . . I am fortunate to live close to family in UTAH. I thought it would be fun to do have a progressive conference activity. The whole family gathers at a different house for each session. When it’s your house, you provide the snacks and quiet activity for the kids (and adults too). We’ll see how it goes.

  8. We do what we call “Conference Camping”. We take our portable satellite dish and our TV along with all our camping gear to the forest or desert, (it’s warm enough in AZ we can camp during April and October. We enjoy all the fun stuff you do when you are camping but when it is time for a conference session we gather round the TV in our lawn chairs and enjoy listening to the prophet and other church leaders. We usually have several families that join us for this fun tradition.

  9. I made a treasure chest out of a shoe box. I mod podged it. I put chocolate coins, chocolate jewel eggs, and laminated paper gem shapes with topics from this General Conference. One of my children contributed to the topics. For F.H.E. tonight, we will go on a treasure hunt. Each clue will be about steps back to Heaven. Like; By mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same-the apricot tree has a picture of who said this. (one the back of the picture there will be another clue.)
    When the treasure is located, we will discuss how earthly treasure might be nice but it is the ‘Heavenly Treasure’ that leads us back to God. The treasure candy will be removed from the treasure box to share and then the laminated gems will be left inside for future F.H.E. topics.
    I would enjoy hearing how others implemented a ‘treasure chest’ theme into the General Conference experience and I look forward to seeing the results of this object lesson in my own home!

  10. Thanks these are fun. Just a little feedback- I would love if you posted these ideas earlier, and if you were blogging about April’s Come Follow Me topics at the latter part of March. Thanks!!

  11. Thanks for collecting all these ideas and sharing them. My family always has a get together after the last Sunday session. We call it “Conference Soup”, because we all bring a different soup for dinner, and then after dinner each person shares their favorite thing during Conference. It can be a favorite talk, quote, or whatever they want to share about their feelings on Conference. One of my favorite things all year long!

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