25+ of Your Amazing General Conference Traditions!

LDS-General-Conference 2

I have gone through your comments of your General Conference Traditions

and I have summarized them so you can easily look through them and see which ones will fit for your family and will help your children count down the days until General Conference!

I can’t wait to try some of these myself!

  1.  Transform your TV room into a “Conference Viewing Room” with a sign that says “Quiet Zone”.  Rearrange your furniture to be faced toward the TV, have quiet crafts and puzzles, note packets, etc.
  2. Put up a conference reverence tent
  3. On your wall have a picture of each of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.  When each of them speak have each family member write (or draw) what they learned on a sticky note and put them up on the picture of who was speaking.  (You can also use those sticky notes for a review game in Family Home Evening)
  4. Make a “Conference Basket of Love” for those in your neighborhood who may be watching conference alone.  Include notepad, pens, chocolate, cookies, fuzzy socks,etc.
  5. Have a family picnic between sessions
  6. Puzzles for those who need to keep their hands busy while listening.
  7. Conference Note Packets.
  8. Have “pizza-fest”.  Every conference order pizza on Saturday and make it on Sunday.
  9. Clean the house on Friday so everyone can enjoy an orderly atmosphere during Conference
  10. Big Breakfasts!  Have big breakfasts Saturday and/or Sunday.  (Waffles, Breakfast burritos, crepes, … you guys had a lot of yummy ideas)
  11. Put up forts in the TV room pointing the TV like in the beginning of Mosiah.  Have quiet crafts or note packets inside for the kids to do.
  12. Hot and yummy cinnamon rolls every conference!
  13. Girl’s Night Out while the guys go to Priesthood Session (chick flicks, games, yummy food, Deseret Book ladies night, etc.).
  14. After conference review the Prophet’s talks and choose a family motto to work on (and have FHE centered on) for the next 6 months.
  15. Conference Treasure Hunt
  16. Buy yummy foods you normally say “no” to.
  17. Children can earn CTR dollars by listening, taking notes, etc.  They can buy prizes and treats with those dollars
  18. Have a “conference meal”, everything has to start with the letter “C” .
  19. Have a Sunday brunch in between Sunday sessions.
  20. Have jars of candy by the TV labeled with words like “Temple”, “Testimony”, and “Prophet”, or with phrases like “I learned something”, “I felt the Spirit”, etc.  Your family can take a piece of candy each time they hear that word or experience what the jar says.
  21. Play “Guess the Title” for each talk and then when it shows online the titles, each person gets points.  One point for each word they got write (excluding filler words like “the”, “and”, etc.) or 10 points if they get the entire title correct.  Prizes are awarded for most points.
  22. Have a traditional seasonal meal – like chili and cornbread in the Fall.
  23. As a family fast and pray some time the week prior that your hearts and minds may be open during Conference.
  24. In between sessions play some fun games like “Pin the Tie on the Prophet”
  25. Have 15 paper bags, each with the picture or name of each of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  When they speak, the kids get to open them and find either a treat or a quiet activity inside.
  26. Make home-made doughnuts!

 

54 comments

  1. 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. The wall behind the T.V. has a picture of each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Each child has a binder with their name on it. Inside they have a place to draw, take notes, color and a sticky notepad where they can write or draw a picture of what each of member of the First Presidency or Apostle talked about. After their talk, they go and post their sticky note on their respective picture. It’s fun to see the wall covered in colorful sticky notes by the end of conference.

    Before conference begins we remind them of the conference “rules” and say a family prayer. The conference rules are easy…1. No talking in the quiet zone 2. If you need to take a break, go out for a little while(run around outside for a minute if you have to) and then come right back in. 3. Work on the craft or puzzle that is at the craft table for that session. I love to work on the puzzles sometimes too. It helps me if I ever feel like nodding off to stay awake and pay attention while keeping my hands quietly busy.

    General Conference weekend is the only two weekends of the year that they have “sugar cereals”….a kids dream when they don’t ever get it. Between the two sessions on Saturday, we have a family picnic(pick up pizza at Little Caesars-easy, cut up fruits and veggies before hand to take) at a near by park.

    When conference is over, we talk about what each child wrote on their sticky notes. Great review! It helps us all remember all the major points.

  2. Every general conference we have what we call Pizza Fest. Between Saturday sessions we order pizza from our favorite local pizza place and munch on pizza all day. When we were poor BYU students we got $5 pizza and invited other friends to watch. Then on Sunday we make our own homemade pizza while watching at home… thus the pizza fest!

    The boys/men go to priesthood and stop to get custard afterwards while the women are at home watching a chick flick.

    Often I will try to have something for my 5 kids to do to help them listen to the prophets. The bingo and coloring games help alot with the younger ones and I’m going to try the notes packet you put up with my teenagers.
    We don’t do much, but our kids know it’s important to us and love the pizza!

  3. General Conference is a HUGE deal at our house! My husband and I both married in our late 20’s and we just know the strength that can come from General Conference!

    We start off by reading all the talks from the previous Conference before the next one! We study and ponder and use our Ensign’s to death. I buy the two pack Ensign subscription. I’m not a good sharer!

    We talk about things we learned and things that stood out to us at dinner, FHE and in talks. It’s great!

    We have a fun week-end planned for the family! We use to live in downtwon SLC so this is what we did then and then what we do now that we live 800 miles away!

    In SLC we would drive over to Temple Square after the closing prayer on Sunday afternoon to just be able to walk around and feel the great spirit of everyone there. So fun! During Priesthood, my husband would go to Priesthood at the Tabernacle and I would get a babysitter and I would go to Deseret Book for Ladies Night! Also so fun! I loved it.

    Now that we live in the Mid-west, we make the week-end special by making sure the hosue is clean, and then I come up with some kind of Conference Packet for each one, depending on their ages. We have a bowl of treats that we call Conference Bingo Treats. We play Conference Bingo for the SUnday sessions and Saturday if they want! It’s fun to see the little ones pay attention and focus on what is being said. I try and buy “deli-sandwich” stuff so that we eat deli sandwich kinds of things over Saturday and Sunday. I don’t have to work on food and cooking and I can enjoy conference too! We have always deemed one room the “Conference viewing” room. If you are in that room you are quiet and listening to Conference. It makes it nice! We allow the younger kids to play on Satruday if they want and if they want to join us that is great too! It seems like they have made a natural transistion into watching more and more sessions as they have gotten older. I take notes. I always have questions I want answered and pray for that to happen. It usually does. It’s amazing! For priesthood, my husband takes the boys out for ice cream and I spend the evening with the little kids at home enjoying some special activity with them. I have tried on Saturday to have a project like ironiing or something like that to do but I didn’t seem to get as much out of Conference as I wanted. I have tried to organize my own little craft nights on Satruday evenings with other sisters in the ward and that has been fun!

    I think its all about the attitude. I know for some it’s a “week-end” off from church and they do anything but church. General Conference are two of my most favorite week-ends in the year!

    After General Conference I can hardly wait for Thursday to come around. I print off five of my favorite talks from conference and make that my study for the next month until the hard copy from the Ensign comes.

  4. With 4 boys, we have made Saturday evening Priesthood session a big deal. They attend with dad, grandpa, uncles and cousins, and sometimes even a friend or two who need a group to attend with. In fact, they are always welcome to include friends in the evening. Afterwards, they all gather at grandma’s house for pizzas and treats and talk about the messages shared in that evening’s session. It’s fun for them to talk about upcoming missions, seminary, and see the examples of living righteously in the family. For Sunday, I really work hard to make sure that our home is in order with laundry finished and all meal preparation as close to done as possible. I can relax and listen better if there is order in our home! Knowing that growing boys love good food, we make a big breakfast early in the morning to get everyone up and going. When the boys were younger, we always did Conference Bingo, art projects and even legos that they could quietly use while listening to the speakers. Now we encourage them to take notes if they want, but mostly they just sit and listen. Lunch is usually Italian Sandwiches, which I prepare on Saturday and have wrapped up in the fridge. While it can be a challenge for them to listen to every session, I just remind myself that “every second is a seed” and planting those now will hopefully reap a good harvest later in life!

  5. We always make a special breakfast on Saturday and Sunday for General Conference. This is something my parents started and lets the kids know it is a special day. They grab a quilt and lay it out on the floor to have their own little space. We usually print out conference worksheets so kindly and creatively made by others and posted on sites such as Sugardoodle. The kids love these and I think it really makes a difference in them listening and learning.

    We live in the next Stake over from my Dad and my brother-in-law and his kids, but my son and hubby go to their priesthood session of conference. While they are away, my mom, sister and all the girls get together at my mom’s house. We make our traditional meal of enchiladas and some extra trimmings since the guys are pretty hungry by the time they get home. It’s a great weekend of family time and having our lamps filled.

  6. My kids love General Conference weekend!! What we do actually came from a story in the “Friend” a couple of years ago. For FHE this week we have a lesson on King Benjamin and how all the people came to listen to him and pitched their tents. We then talk about how we have a prophet today that we can listen to. Then of course on Friday night we pitch our tent in the family room to watch conference from 🙂

    Like the other sisters I try to have a clean house to start conference weekend and all the errands run so we can stay at home and enjoy the spirit of conference. We have a special breakfast both mornings and simple food the rest of the weekend. This week I start my searching for activities for the kids for their Conference notebooks. The blogs always give me wonderful, new ideas for the kids to do so I can change it up year to year. That also leaves me free to take my notes! Inbetween sessions we try to go for a walk or play a family game.

    During Priesthood – the men in our ward have pie and ice cream. Each brother brings a different pie and afterwards they sample the different pies and visit. At home the kids (3yrs, 7yrs, and 9yrs) and I have a special treat and do something together. Last year we watched “The Testaments” and talked about the Savior appearing to the Nephites in the Promised Land. The movie was a good jumping point for questions. We were then able to go to the scriptures and read about what happened and what was in the movie. Example “Did a big statue really fall on the bad guy?” Well – that might have happened to a bad guy – in the scriptures it says this….. It turned out to be a really spiritual evening for me and the kids and I was able to once again bear my testimony to them of the Book of Mormon and Savior. Oh!! I just LOVE General Conference!!!

  7. I love General Conference so much! About a month before it starts, we start including in our prayers about answers we are seeking to our questions and to bless those that will be speaking in their preparation of talks. We always print off conference packets from Sugardoodle for the kids so they can take their own notes. We have snack food, kids play bingo, legos, color. Our living room floor is covered with pillows, toys, etc. I always like to buy new crayons or art stuff for the kids to use for their own conference notes. I have them tuck their conference packets in their journals to keep. I think of it as their scripture journal training.

    We do a fun breakfast both mornings, sandwiches and dips for lunch and something easy for dinner. On Sunday, I like to do a roast in the crockpot. After the priesthood sessions, we have friends come over for rootbeer floats and talking. The girls and I stay home and have fun doing whatever strikes our fancy. I like the idea of watching a church movie or going to a deseret book night.

    I use my own notes from conference and put them with my conference Ensign when it arrives. It helps me remember promptings and thoughts I had during conference. This is such a wonderful blessing in my life, to hear the words of our prophet and others inspired messages. I am so excited and happy for this weekend. My daughter and I listened to the YW General Meeting and the talks were so wonderful! It just increased my enthusiasm for this weekend. I can’t wait to hear where new temples will be built, how many missionaries are serving and the total number of church members.

    I have loved putting my own scripture journals together. I use a binder and bought the loose leaf journal pages that our local LDS distribution center sells. I’ve put in my old conference Ensigns with all my notes, favorite talks, quotes, etc. Thanks for your website! I love it!!!!!

  8. Can I just say, that I just found your website this morning and can’t stop reading!!! Holy toledo! AMAZING information in this! I have printed off the family fun recipe cards and can’t wait to fill them out. I am in the middle of printing the Basic Doctrine information and can’t wait to start a scripture journal-GENIOUS! where do you live? I need to be your new BFF 😉

    Seriously though, I am so glad that you posted this question. I have always had a special place in my heart for General Conference and just can’t get enough. As soon as it’s available to download onto my IPOD I do it! My children are still very little-the oldest is 8, just baptized on New Years…so we are still pretty basic. I have a bingo card I print for them and then have some papers they can color depending on topics and such as well as blank pages for them to draw whatever they feel like drawing while we are watching. We keep some treats available-it always keeps the noise down, if nothing else 😉 We usually have cinnamon rolls and fruit and bacon and scrambled eggs on Sunday morning-cause it’s just fun that way and that’s how I grew up and no one has complained 😉
    My husband will take my son-the 8 year old to Priesthood session while the girls and I either stay home and enjoy a movie and treat or hit the Girls’ Night at Deseret Book; either is a blast and we love having a “date” together!
    I love to have that special spirit in our home for an entire weekend-it always comes at just the right time! I am getting all excited now, I just may have to think of more traditions to start!
    Thank you for your website, I can’t wait to keep reading more!

  9. We have a FHE lesson the Monday before to prepare for conference. We talk about prophets, and read the Book of Mormon story of King Benjamin. We talk about how the people gathered together as families, and pitched their tents with the door facing the temple so they could hear the words of the prophet. On conference weekend, we make our own “conference tents.” The kids sit in their tents (facing the TV) with their notebooks, conference packets, or quiet activities and we listen to conference together. We usually have a bingo type game, a list of words to listen for, or other attention games to help us listen to the speakers. In between sessions, we have a big breakfast/brunch (we’re in AZ, so conference is an hour earlier) with Dannish Pancakes or another favorite treat.

    After conference, we review one of the talks from President Monson, and choose a family motto to work on for the next 6 months. (Such as “An Attitude of Gratitude” or “Do Something Good Everyday.”) We use this motto as our theme for family nights, service projects and other family activities. It helps us to liken the words of the prophet to our family.

    While the dads are at Priesthood session, we get together with the moms and kids for a picnic and play-date at the park or at someone’s home. Later, the dads join us for dessert.

  10. We have several family traditions for conference. I have six kids…age 8-15. My two girls help me put together conference packets for the kids to do during conference. I don’t print a whole packet from one person. I mostly find several packets available online and print the individual pages that I think my kids would most like. I don’t buy candy very often or processed stuff but for conference I will buy them something we don’t usually have. Like candy necklaces. They love them. Or fruit roll-ups. Our weekend will include a fun breakfast and a dessert.
    We pile into our family room to watch and simply enjoy each others company. We allow them to work on making friendship bracelets or other quiet crafts, puzzles or legos. It seems like they do better when they have something to keep them busy but allow them to listen. We love conference weekend! After reading the other comments I think we will come up with a family goal after conference this year. Love your site. Thnaks

  11. What great ideas! I wish I had done more of these when my children were young. Our ward youth have made a tradition of having a Conference Jeopardy game after each conference. Serving in YW- I have often had to write the questions and because of that I started taking very careful notes. It made such a difference in my attention and retention of conference talks. So as our children have become old enough- we all take careful notes, and discuss what impressed us Sunday evening. I am planning on using your wonderful note taking pages this weekend.

    Our ward also has hosted a between session BBQ at our ward building on Saturday for quite a while now. We keep it very simple ( hotdogs- potluck salads & desserts) so we can be back for the afternoon session. Now that most of us can watch conference at home (we have never lived in Utah- so for a long time we had to go to the church to view conference)- it is great to be able to get together and share our insights of the morning session over some yummy food.

    Absolutely love your blog- it is my favorite! I was telling my teenager about an idea she could use for FHE and she said, ” is the idea from that blog you are SO obsessed with?” Yep it is! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome talents and insights with all of us. Your ideas have truly made a difference in my personal scripture study and quality of our FHE’s ! Keep the great ideas coming! Thanks!!!

  12. My children are still young (3 & almost 5) and quite don’t have the attention span to sit through all of conference. 🙂 This year I am planning on having a F.H.E. about General Conference to kind of prepare them.
    For General Conference I came up with the idea of a ‘General Conference Treasure Hunt’. My kids are always into treasure hunts, so I thought they would enjoy that. And hopefully they’ll be excited to where they’ll actually sit and listen for a little while. (For more details visit my blog: Little LDS Ideas.)
    We don’t have any set traditions, but hopefully with all these great ideas, our family will soon have our own General Conference Traditions.
    I love your blog and all your ideas! Thanks for sharing!

    Sheena

  13. Well, I always make some cute note paper to take notes on! This year I think i’ll do little notebooks… We’ll see how ambitious I am feeling tomorrow at the craft store :] I do it throughout the week before the conference, it’s one of the ways I prepare. I always include fun facts, quotes, scriptures, pictures, and a little sheet that I can write down the name of the person giving the talk so I can be sure to look it up later!
    We always have this FEAST on Sunday morning. Any breakfast food you can think of is on the table, Yum! Grandpa, dad, uncle, priests, teachers, deacons all go to the priesthood meeting and then go somewhere too expensive and eat probably more than they should! The girls always go shopping, spending too much money:] And we binge on ice cream sundaes and brownies.
    I now have just realized how many of the traditions in my family revolve around food… No wonder I gain 5 pounds after every conference weekend!
    Oh well, it’s too fun to change:]

  14. So – I’m not entering! I have a 3 year old (and one on the way) and we really don’t have any conference traditions yet. But I wanted to say thanks to you and all the people that have commented for the great ideas! I’m sure it will help us create some of our own traditions.

  15. I want General Conference to be something they look forward to. Later when they understand the greatness of it all, for now they need some pick me up. I make it a party weekend. I buy the foods I normally say no too, they have become our General conference only. Each child has their own binder with pictures of the 12 and first presidency with paper behind them for when they speak they take notes, or draw for the younger ones. I make a packet that also is in the binder. We use CTR dollars that they earn during conference. They earn for completing pages, taking notes, being quite and kind. For my youngest I allow him to bring in some quite toys he can play. At the end of each session they can turn their dollars in for a prize out of my bag. We watch both days. I make a menu for the event and last year I based it off of C food for Conference, I think I will do that again this year. On Sunday we make a huge tent they get to sit in, we again have some fun foods. Last year I took an idea and put up laminated sheets around the room with different topics. At the end of Conference we talked about who talked, what they talked about and wrote it down. this year I am going to add candy under each subject they get a treat from during the conference. This way when we study them they will be already written. My friend gave me a huge magnet board last year with all the brethren faces on it. I will put a piece of paper under it for us to write down what they talked about and leave up for the next six months. My kids love conference, they get so excited as it draws near. I can’t wait to use the things I got from here for this year as they grow older. It is a reminder that the gospel is about joy, and if we bring joy into the teaching it won’t feel like a chore.

    For Priesthood we have a fun dinner, this year we are starting a new tradition of having a fun dessert ready for when dad comes home so he can tell us what he learned. He always takes notes and as a couple we talk about them.

    I have yet to go back and use the notes we have taken in the past to use for FHE. My kids are finally to an age where it seems it will be easier 11 10 7 4. One thing I think is important is to read the friend with them and the New Era. Every morning I sit down and read with my kids from these magazines, we talk about the articles and the things that are there. I hope that they stick with them through the day. I feel that a parent’s attitude is key to a child’s. I have always loved conference, always taken notes. I make sure to leading up to it, to talk about it, pray with them about it. I tell them how excited I am to hear the Prophet talk. I don’t discuss with them our fun tradition of food until that Friday, so all they hear before that is about hearing the speakers, what do you think they will talk on etc.

  16. Wow, so many great ideas! I also have lots of goodies for conference weekend. Sunday we have a brunch between sessions with all kinds of yummy food. I also have my kids do the packets and take notes. For the FHE following conference we have a conference review and discuss what we felt was the main “theme”, our favorite talks and look up on a map where the new temples are located. During conference, we usually have a puzzle out and quiet crafts. I put conference on everywhere in the house so they can hear it where ever they are. Tonight we did the General Conference trivia game (thank you!). I love General Conference weekend!

  17. We tell the kids that we are going to “pitch our tents toward the prophet” like the people did for King Benjamin, and so they make forts and hang out in them while conference it on. They get super elaborate with them, and it makes a HUGE mess. But it’s fun. We also break open our 72-hour kits and eat the dried fruit, granola bars and jerkey; and I replace the kits with new food, batteries, medicine and bigger clothes. We always have a special conference breakfast before the Sunday morning session. The kids get a little stir-crazy by the end of the Sunday morning session when the prophet gives his address; so if you are at our house at that time, you’ll hear my husband and I hollering, “Everyone QUIET! Shhhhhh!! Settle down NOW! The prophet is about to speak!!!” It’s actually pretty cool to see the kids pull it together and value the opportunity to hear from the Lord’s prophet.

    And ofcourse, they all love the packets you give them. 🙂

  18. I just found your website too – and LOVE it! I’m so excited to get started and the many ideas I have come across in just the last few days!

    For Conference Weekend, it’s become a fun weekend for the family. I have special treats that I never get normally and each session of conference, we ‘break open’ the new treat about half-way through the session. It gives the kids something special to look forward to each session. All of the kids have their own “General Conference” notebook that they keep notes, color, etc. They love to go back and look at past Conference notes they have taken. My two youngest we keep busy with quiet activities – water coloring, play dough, etc.

    We always have a special breakfast Saturday & Sunday morning. Saturday is all kinds of muffins while Sunday we usually have yummy crepes. Our middle of the day is usually sub sandwiches. At WalMart you can get a 6 foot sandwich for $25 and it feeds our family of seven for about 3-4 meals. They love the opportunity of a picnic outdoors (if it’s nice) and indoors (if it’s not).

    The Monday after Conference all of my older kids tell us about their favorite talk. The two in YW/YM tell us about two of their favorite talks. My hubby will share the Priesthood session with us and if there was something inbetween Conference (like when they had Pres. Monson’s life) we watch it together for the rest of FHE. It is a WONDERFUL weekend and I always love to get new ideas!

  19. Thanks for all of the great ideas! I am going to be busy these next few days preparing. Our conference traditions are similar to many of those already shared – candy, special treats, notes and coloring pages. Often we have birthdays to celebrate (my mom’s and daughters are in the beginning of April, and my sisters is at the beginning of October) so that gives us even more family time and good food.

  20. We have 7 children and 4 are grown, married with children or in college. So our 3 younger ones 7-9-11 get all the fuss and fun of conference weekend. Saturday morning are breakfast burritos(usually reserved for camping)- I print off several pages of activities for them to fill in..Sat afternoon I make a sweet treat to keep everyone (hubby) awake and alert. 🙂 Hubby goes to priesthood with friends and family and I usually do a girlie thing with my daughters (if they are home that weekend) this year I started working at Deseret Book Store and I have to work Ladies Night…I’m excited and sad at the same time-so all you ladies our there be nive to the Deseret gals. Sunday morning brings friends and family to our house-I have cinnamon rolls cooking when they walk in with apple juice or orange juice (again to keep awake)–After the morning session we have a brunch, 2 years ago we were in Salt Lake for conference our tickets were for Sun morning afterwards we went to my brothers mission companions home (of 25 years ago) and they introduced us to a Hawaiian tradition for conference weekend..we had Spam, scrambles eggs, rice and teriyaki sauce sounds strange but it is sooooo goood.. We love it. While we eat we talk about our favorite talks and the spirit is so rich and full I never want people to leave. Is it Saturday yet??? Thanks so much for this wonderful site, I have referred several people to you when we don’t have something at the bookstore–thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful weekend and may your heart be touched and your life be blessed. We are so lucky aren’t we.

  21. We try to make Conference weekend a fun experience for our family as well. We usually have out of town guests visiting, which the kids are always excited about. We also do packets and notebooks for our kids, and lots of candy and treats to keep everyone in the room and awake. 🙂

  22. I am a YW leader and we have started a fun tradition. Few of the youth were really watching conference at all, let alone all 4-5 sessions. So we decided to always watch the 1st session together. We go to the leader’s house with the most seating around her big tv, and we do breakfast 20 minutes prior. We have them bring their notebooks and be quiet. It is great! There is a great spirit in that room and they all get to see each other taking notes, etc. Last Conference I put Easter candy in jars at the front of the room (under the TV) which were labeled “I felt the Spirit” “I learned something from that talk” “That talk was meant for me” “I loved that talk.” And one more I can’t remember. “I can relate to that talk” or something. Anyway, this helped the youth think about what they were learning. We eventually decided they should wait til each talk was over before they grabbed the candy. It was also better than looking for specific words which would be more a distraction than a help. Fun! I wanted to help them identify the Spirit too.

  23. I have two little boys (5 & 3) so we build a fort that faces the TV and we play conference bingo. Once they get bingo, they can eat their treats. We also color and use conference packets.

  24. My husband started a tradition when our oldest turned 12 (and we lived a short-ish trip from SLC) that they would attend their first Priesthood session in the Conference Center. This made a HUGE impact on our young deacon and he understood first hand what it means to be in the presence of the Prophet of the Lord. How you can FEEL it. Since then he is much more interested in G.C and I know he reflects on that experience often. Son #2 is excited for his turn.

  25. My kids always look forward to General Conference, because it means crepes for breakfast and conference bingo.

    I have started taking notes (I use a laptop because I type faster than I write, and I can always add to it as I reread the talks, or if there’s a complete quote I want to make sure I got right). Then I keep my printed notes in my scriptures for the next six months. It is amazing how many connections I make as I’m studying or in a class.

    We love general conference! Thanks for the post, I’m enjoying reading the other comments and can’t wait to see your ideas!

  26. First of all, you are so super!!! I would love to meet you!!! I am from Guatemala and was just called to be a Seminary teacher here in the North shore in Chicago and I am glad I found you! thank you thank you!!! Seminary in my country is so different, really!!!
    I have two little daughters, I have been trying to do better when it comes to conference, but they are so little sometimes they listened for 10 minutes and they are done. Last conference we did an m&m Bingo, where every time they heard a word from the bingo paper they could put an m&m, we did it together so it worked a little ok cause then we were more into telling them what the bingo cards said than in listening, we ate all the m&m’s!!!! je je je!! anyway, I don’t more ideas, but we do have a tradition, we meet with my husband’s family at his mom’s house to listen to the Sunday sessions and we have lunch and dinner together it is lots of fun! and the girls tend to listened better. I want to start this next FHE preparing the girls for it, I will show them the pictures of the 12 and the Presidency and try to say their names. during conference we will see how many we recognize. I love the other comments, I need more ideas for little kids (6-3)
    thanks for posting!

  27. Our favorite conference tradition is we spend the weekend with our friends. We have less active or out of town families so we have another couple our age that are newlyweds so they are kinda our “family” – we do FHE with them 2x a month!
    For conference:
    9am sat morning we do breakfast at our house, watch session 1. Then everyone goes home for session 2. Then we meet up again for the boys to go to Priesthood. The girls hang out at our friends house or the mall or something, and right before 8 the girls go to The Old Spaghetti Factory in taylorsville to get a table, and after Priesthood the boys meet us there and they each take turns telling us all abut their favorite talks, stories, and lessons. Then on Sunday, everyone is at their own homes for the Am session for a relaxing sunday morning! Then we get back together again at our friends house at 2 to watch the pm session and then we all have sunday dinner together!

  28. We play guess the title. So you write a title for each talk. You get points for correct words ( no points for small words like and, is,the, etc). You do get points for things like parent vs parents, but not parent vs. mother. You get 10 points if you guess it correctly. Then we do prizes for points. My kids like it when we do the more points you get the more candy you get.

  29. I feel a little like a slacker reading the comments above, but I still wanna play: We make food. We plan for a weekend of watching all the conference sessions together (only one teenager left at home at this point, so it’s an easy, fun time together), and in the fall I usually make a nice pot of chili and a pan of jalapeno cornbread to go with it. We serve it up both days, and sometimes more than once! (It’s good chili!) I also make a nice dessert, so it’s a treat to have the time together. We usually play games (if there are no Saturday chores) together during the break. On Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) we don’t even get dressed. It’s fun to hang out together in our sweats with our chili and have the beautiful messages of conference before us.

    For the Priesthood session, my husband and son attend a pizza party held at one of the Elder’s Quorum Presidency’s houses, and I get together with some of the other sisters in the ward for some girl time.

    After conference, we use the General Conference Jeopardy game that is submitted to a Seminary Teacher’s list I subscribe to online (by a fantastic former seminary teacher who has provided the questions to the list for the past 10 years +!), and we invite one or two competitive families over and have a little family feud action with them. Also way fun, and just a great way to cement some of the details in our hearts and minds. (Food is involved there too; I’m starting to see a real theme here…!)

    We all look forward to it, and enjoy every minute of it!

  30. General Conference is almost as huge as Christmas for me, so I make it a big deal in our home. We don’t have TV, so we make comfy spots all around the computer and get ready for some Prophetic awesomeness.

    My kids look forward to it because they know they will score tons of yummy treats, some arts and crafts supplies, an awesome General Conference Packet, and an in-between-sessions walk. One year, i also made a General Conference board, with pictures of the 12 and the First presidency on it. They would put a sticker next to whoever spoke, so we knew who we had heard already. It would be fun to do it with key words, like prayer, or Joseph Smith, or testimony, too, and write the name of the speaker on the sticker.

    We always start the Sunday session with delicious, nutritious Crepes. Our favorite way to eat them is with melted butter, cinnamon, powdered sugar and nutmeg. We usually make eggs and bacon and a whole bunch of fruit. Then for lunch I often get convenience food, which is a luxury in our world. And I sometimes make brown paper bag packages for them for each session, filled with goodies and fun things for hands to do, so what they get is a surprise until the first hymn gets going.

    One other thing I love to do is to put together conference treats for my Visiting Teaching families, to encourage excitement for their “weekend off”. I will add things like a new notebook and pen, tissues, and goodies.

    After conference, we do fun FHE’s with what we’ve learned. It’s the most fun if it is a major event. We all look forward to it, and most importantly, my kids know how much I love listening to a prophet’s voice. Hopefully, this will help them on their journey, and they will learn to feel the same way.

  31. The boys all go to priesthood together and then go get ice cream after.
    For general conference we do the buckets with a word on them, about six buckets with words like temple, love,etc. and then when the kids hear that word they can partake of what is inside…different candy treats.

  32. I live in Northern Brazil, so Sessions here are at noon, 4 pm and 8pm (for Priesthood). We try to clean the whole house and do homeworks/chores on Friday so we don’t have to worry about those things during Saturday sessions. I usually print conferences packets for my kids, age 10 and 8. They need to pay attention to special words and everytime the Prophets speak I make sure they are giving 100% attention.
    We usually have lunch right before 1st session on Saturday and it’s usually a simple thing so I don’t have to spend the whole morning cooking. I double up the recipe so we have leftovers for Sunday lunch. I’m thinking of starting to have a specific meal for conference season, to make it even more special.
    We have BYUTV international channel at home, so we watch the Conference in the confort of our bedroom, but I enjoy going to the meeting house at least for one session. That’s where 99% of the church members will be since they can’t watch it at home . I’m a convert and there aren’t many members in my town. Being among the saints gives me a sense of belonging.

  33. Such amazing ideas!!

    Pretty much everything we do is borrowed from someone else!

    A few weeks before conference we read a talk daily from the previous general conference. Two weeks before we put together conference notebooks (for our family and for the Primary children I teach). The Thursday before we fast as a family asking for our hearts and minds to be humbled and open to learning. We also each write down at least one question or problem we’re looking for the answer to… this helps us be focused on what we are supposed to personally learn. (I love counseling with my kids after conference to see what answers they found… it’s so neat to see them seeking!)

    We prepare foods for the weekend on Friday afternoon/evening. We don’t want to focus on the work, but on the word. So we typically make a big pot of soup, bread, biscuits, chop veggies and fruit, dip and slice cheeses. We’ll also make some type of a baked treat that we share with our non-member friends. We’ll include a note with the treat inviting them to tune their tvs for even a bit to one of the conference sessions.

    Last spring we started the tradition of setting up our tent in the family room facing the tv. My kids loved and it made it feel so much cozier listening to the word of God! It’s neat just sitting in the tent taking notes.

    During priesthood session we run out to the store and stock up on underclothes and socks. It seems that we need to replace them twice a year, so it’s a nice trip as a family to the store. We also use that time to replace batteries in the smoke detectors and review our 72-hour kit contents (check food quality, update clothes, etc.). This past spring we went to the Deseret Book event. It was neat, but too many crazy people! So that won’t be a tradition. 🙂

    Thanks again to everyone for posting… I’ve picked up some ideas to work into our traditions (like Visiting Teaching packages and going for a walk between sessions)!

  34. I could write a novel. The short version:
    Prep: Family breakfast! Eiblaskievers and homeade butterscoth syrup.
    Sprawl in the living room with snacks and quiet toys for the kids.
    Conference bingo for the kids (we prep them the FHE before).
    Notes for the adults
    Write recaps/summaries to post on our bathroom mirrors to refresh our memories till next conference.
    The men go to Priesthood, the women play games with icecream and a recap afterwards!

  35. I believe very strongly in creating righteous traditions. General Conference is one of our favorites! We have a wide range of ages: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and newborn.

    Two Sundays before conference we begin reviewing the members of the first presidency and quorum of the 12 apostles. (That gives you 13 days to review the 15 men. We cover the first presidency that first Sunday. Then the twelve apostles each have a day over the next twelve days. The kids are usually the most familiar with the first presidency already).

    We have a conference binder that holds each of their pictures (with a bio on the back), as well as all of the activities we do during the weekend. We use these pictures and bios to show the children what they look like and learn a little about them. Then through out the week we play “Don’t Eat the Prophet” which is just Don’t Eat Pete but with pictures of the 15 prophets and apostles. The younger kids play like normal and repeat the names we say as they take a piece of candy or cereal. The older children have to tell *us the name before they get to take the candy though! (My husband and I feel that the children need to know these men and who they are. Are you more likely to listen to a complete stranger or someone you know well? Obviously someone you know!). The kids LOVE this game. We also review little trivia items like what profession did they do, what’s they’re favorite hobby, etc. It makes them real and personal.

    For October conference everyone’s favorite tradition is that Saturday morning for breakfast we have the first pumpkin pie of the year! 🙂 We set up tents (having reviewed the story of King Benjamin’s people the FHE before conference). The younger children have packets and coloring pages while the older ones have note taking journals.

    A puzzle is on the table along with some snacks. In between sessions we have special activities that we play. (A favorite being “Pin the tie on the Prophet.” Each person gets a blank paper tie to decorate and color, and then we tape up a picture of the current prophet and start the game). The kids love this!

    I also have a “Temple Construction Site” which is a table with Legos. My rule for this table is that they remain quiet/ whisper and only build items relating to the gospel, like a temple. (They really surprise us with their creativity. Our daughter made an awesome pioneer wagon last conference).

    The younger ones are allowed to wander and often take naps during the second Saturday session. But whenever the prophet speaks – Everyone comes in and sits down to listen – no matter what.

    For the priesthood session, we usually invite several other families to come over while the guys go to the church. While they are gone we make brownies and play games. When the guys come back we all have brownies and ice cream while they tell us all about what was said. (This is so fun and the kids have a blast).

    Everyone gets a personal photo copy of the first presidency and 12 apostles. (Along with their packet, coloring pages, bingo, journal, etc). When they recognize one of them speaking, they can come to us and get a treat. (Each of the main 15 speakers have a treat/activity already set aside ahead of time).

    We focus on knowing the speakers and what their main topic/message was. We have also started having our oldest look for answers to her problems or questions she may have. (She is ten now). Our children now feel like they are getting to listen to dear friends, whom they love and trust. They get so excited to see their faces and hear their voices, because they know who they are. 🙂

  36. We always have a girls’ night while the guys are away at Priesthood session! We usually rent a movie and have some yummy treats. But during conference, we print those Conference Packets from lds.org that are for kids for everyone. I always take notes in mine (and play those fun games like topic bingo) and refer back to it later. Love them!

  37. i feel like i should be doing more to prepare spiritually, but i always keep a pen and paper handy to take notes and write down things that jump out at me. and of course we always have cinnamon rolls!

  38. My kids are 5 and 2 with another one due the weekend before Conference. I have a feeling I’ll either be in labor Conference weekend or recovering from being in labor, either way I’m not going to get a lot out of it this time around.

    But, as part of getting ready for the baby, I already have all of our conference stuff together for my kids. Up here in Washington we have to watch Conference on cable or on the computer. We don’t have cable at our house and the kids won’t sit at the computer and watch (they’d rather play videogames). So we spend Conference weekend with my parents or my in-laws. We’re still fine tuning and adjusting our Conference activities, but here’s the gist.

    I put together a set of Conference bags. There are 15, one for each of the 12 and the 1st Presidency. Each bag has a different activity or treat in it with a picture of the General Authority paper-clipped to the top and is stapled shut. No peeking! The activities aren’t necessarily church-related, but they are all quiet activities that the kids have to sit down to do.

    As we watch conference, my son watches for speakers with a bag. If the current speaker has a bag we open it and do the activity inside. As each bag is opened the speaker on the outside has their picture clipped to our “Who Has Spoken To Us?” poster. This is just a piece of posterboard that I drew 15 squares on with each General Authorities name written underneath. At the top of the square there is a little slit (Yay for X-acto knives) with a paperclip in it. No tape, I’m trying to get these pictures to last as long as possible. Then as we go through the sessions, everyone can see who has spoken and who’s left.

    For the speakers who don’t have a bag, my son has a conference journal. It’s just a composition notebook with his name on it. For each speaker, I write their name at the top of the page and he’s supposed to draw their picture and/or a picture of something they talk about. As much as he loves to color he does get bored with this pretty quick, so sometimes I have him continue with a bag activity that he was enjoying.

    With my kids the most important thing, right now, is to get them to sit quietly and pay some attention. If my son is aware that the speaker has changed, I’m thrilled. As he gets older we’ll probably incorporate activities that ask questions about the speakers topic, but for now the kids just need to know that Conference is something to look forward to.

    I have to mention that a couple weeks ago my son told me that he was excited for Conference because he gets do the bags. I couldn’t ask for more!

  39. I am a Young Single Adult and for the Priesthood session of conference we get the Relief Society together for a girls Movie night, and then afterwards the boys join us for swimming and BBQ. We always ask them what their favorite talk was and chat about it, it’s neat to talk to the boys who actually paid attention and to hear what they personally got out of it. Then a group of us go back and listen/watch the priesthood session. Always a fun time 🙂

  40. My husband teaches seminary (you can probably relate) so conference time is extremely exciting and important for him to take good notes and find key principles to teach his classes…so he likes to be at home in his “zone”.( not visiting other family if possible because it is so distracting) . We expect all of our children (7-18)to listen to all 4 sessions, although we are more lax on Saturdays. Our teenage daughters and really our whole family have taken upon them the importance of listening to our prophets and leaders. It always surprises me how well our children listen, take notes, and get out quite a bit out of conference even at their ages. We have our traditional conference foods, candy bingo for the youngest ones (ok all of us) and journals to take notes with.
    Like others have mentioned, it is another Christmas at our home in excitement. Then when the conference issue of the Ensign comes out, we spend the next six months re-listening to or reading the talks. It becomes a contest to see if we can get it done before the next conference.

  41. I try to listen to or read the previous conference’s talks including the Young Women’s general meeting or Relief Society’s general meeting.
    My sister and I usually go to Deseret Book during the Priesthood session and that is really fun.

  42. We had several activities associated w Gen Conf:
    PRE-CONFERENCE:
    Remember the “Friend to Friend” section in the old “Friend” magazine? Short bios about different GAs. Prior to FHE, we copied several about the 1st Pres & Apostles. Then we allowed our children to chose one. None of us knew who they had chosen. They were to portray that person, and we had to guess who it was. At FHE we had several “guests”- in costume– Dad’s shirts and ties were in high demand! Everyone dressed as one of the apostles or First Pres, and then told us about “themself” & we guessed- When they spoke at Conference, we smiled as we remembered tidbits about their lives. It’s been 25 years, but I can still remember that Elder Neal A Maxwell raised blue-ribbon pigs, and that Elder Howard W. Hunter had a dog named Daisy!

    DURING CONF-
    I made booklets for each of our children. The first page had some general things to look for, and they could check them off as they watched. Things like: Told a funny story___, Spoke w a foreign accent___ , wore a red tie___, wore glasses____, had grey hair____, etc. The rest of the booklet was 1page/per per speaker— name at top, most of the page left for a drawing of the speaker, and then at the bottom a place for a couple of notes. One of our artistic children used the empty space to draw about what he heard– those drawings were his “notes”

    LUNCH between sessions:
    We learned that a big lunch, then returning to 2 hrs of Conference doesn’t
    work. So we plan to have a chef salad in between sessions– Fun to see how many things we can put into it that are healthy, and not too rich or heavy.

    SAT PM after 2nd Session:
    Family tradition to go to the park, play baseball and eat ice cream sandwiches. Can’t take too long, because guys need to get home to change and go to Priesthood.Even our adult kids, now in their thirties, still continue this! We girls used to put on a movie or do something girly while they attended Priesthood.

    POST CONFERENCE:
    Our extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) got together one Sunday each month for dinner and FHE. The Sunday after Gen Conf, for FHE we had a “Gen Conf Trivia and Not so Trivial Pursuit” game. Just make up Qs as you listen to the talks. Some for adults and some for kids. The stories are great for the kids to re-tell–

    Fun memories! Thanks for the chance to share!!

  43. ps. I just have to add something for all young families:

    When our kids were babies, we always took them to watch Gen Conf at church. As they grew older, we still went to all the sessions at church. Sometimes I remember they were so fussy that I spent all of my time out of the chapel– At those times I remember wondering “WHY did I EVEN COME?? I could have gotten more out of reading something quietly at home!” But we continued bringing our kids. We always went to all sessions.
    Guess what? Today, we are empty nestors– But on conference weekends, we get multiple calls from our kids– What did you think about what _____said?? ______’s talk was my favorite, I especially liked what he said about_______.

    So young moms and dads— don’t give up. We’re on the other end of all those struggles now, and the rewards are well worth it!!

  44. I always try to prep my kids (7 and under) beforehand. For several weeks before conference our FHE centers around getting to know the apostles so that they will recognize them when they see them during conference. We always have fun activities for them to do while watching too… I’ve posted them on a few blogs both here: http://cranecorner.blogspot.com/2012/03/conference-and-video-to-make-you-smile.html, http://cranecorner.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-conference-prep.html (this one has some additional links that I’ve done as well), and here: http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/search/label/General%20Conference

  45. My love for conference started when I was a teenager. We would have to travel an hour each way. The only way I could go with my mom was to commit to going for the entire day. During the break on Saturday, my mom would go to the fabric store and out to lunch. Eating out was a rarity in my family. So, I was basically attending conference, just so that I could eat out.
    When I moved out, I carried on the tradition of eating out during conference sessions on Saturday.
    Then I got married. My husband did not share the same excitement that I did. Other things would prevail… aka sports. Wanting my husband to join me, I started “Feast Weekend.” I would spend several days preparing for the weekend. (Just like Thanksgiving) I cooked once on Saturday morning, then everything else was just reheated or put in the crock pot. I usually fixed special food that they normally don’t get. My husband gets his favorites too.
    In our house, our 5 kids ranging from 1yr to 8yrs, refer to it Feast Weekend. My husband even looks forward to it. He asks what is on the menu.
    For the kids, we have done several different conference packets and ideas. None of which have stuck.
    Oh, one other thing. Mom is unavailable during conference. I sit down and take notes and ignore everything going on around me. If the kids want something, they either ask dad or wait until a break.

  46. I am trying to find more ways to help our family prepare/enjoy/learn from conference. There were no traditions growing up, except for bringing the second TV into the kitchen. I have used various printables online for my kids to help them at least try to listen to conference, the older two are now going to switch from coloring ties, bingo, and puzzles to basic note taking. I’d like to implement some FHE lessons to prepare/review. We’re learning about the first presidency in FHE now. I made cinnamon rolls for the Sunday session in April and my son said the other day that he hopes we can do that again. I had forgotten, but how fun! We do usually have dinner with my parents/siblings between Sunday sessions.

    As a teen I worked at Pizza Hut restaurant and one of my favorite nights to work was Priesthood session! So many fun memories, and it was great to see the “regulars” come each time.

    I’m excited to read through all the comments, I’m sure there’s some excellent ideas 🙂

  47. First off, may I say how I am so super excited to hear what you have to offer for ideas for General Conf. It is so hard to get our 2 young boys (7 & 5) to even just sit still for a few minutes to look at the TV, let alone actually listen!! =)

    — One thing that I do every year is of course print off a packet to work on, but my boys aren’t totally into coloring as many other children are, so I gotta find more mazes, dot-to-dot, type games, etc.

    –Another thing I do on top of the packets is BINGO, I use m&m’s, jelly beans, or some small candy to mark the spots with, and the kids actually listen for a small short minute to get a few spots marked off and then they get to eat the candy!!

    A tradition of mine growing up during priesthood session was to go out to dinner with my mom and my sister while the guys were gone, but then we started having children and it got too crazy so we switched to pizza and movie night!!! It was still fun and still got us together, but with crying babies and no one to bother, except each other!!

    I can’t wait to read everyones ideas cause I need all the help I can get!!

  48. During General Conference, we all record each speaker, what they talked about, and anything that stood out to us or promptings we received. We also enjoy Conference Bingo with M&M’s or another activity with snacks that helps us concentrate on what the speakers are talking about.

    After Priesthood when the boys come back, we enjoy ice cream.

  49. Being in the UK, our conference experience is slightly different. The Sat morning session, is around 5pm for us on Saturday evening for us, we often just put the audio through one of our phones, while we are cooking our family dinner. I usually listen to the afternoon session in bed, as it starts at 9pm for us.
    The priesthood is broadcast at 9am for us, so Hubby goes off to that, and my son and I get a lie in, we have breakfast in bed and read stories. Then we all go off to ward to watch the Sat afternoon session again as repeated for us Sunday afternoon at a reasonable time. It’s the only one we get our Son to sit and watch “live” as such, and so do most families with children, plus as we have already listened, it’s not such a big deal when my son interrupts our concentration. We bring some printables with us for him to do and pictures of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve for him to find the one speaking. He is seven and its the only time he’s allowed to have “snacks” in the chapel and we always have a bag of sweets and we all get one if we hear a word on the word list. (That is my husband’s favourite game anyway.)
    Our ward building broadcast conference, and it is often nearer to some people’s home then the surrounding stake centres, so we often have a huge mixture of people we don’t often see, even from different stakes. We also have lots of ward member’s extending families attending, so Conference to me is also about catching up with old friends. We tend stay at home and watch the Sunday sessions since our son was born. The live timings really don’t suit children here so it is the easiest option, we just huddle round the laptop together or watch on our phones. It’s very rare for someone to have BYU round here.
    I can’t take notes while writing live… I start writing, then hear something else I like and want to write but I haven’t finished what I wanted to write before and I get into a right stressed state. So what I do is, once conference is over, I watch each talk again, one a week, and write notes on it while I am listening and I can pause as many times as I like. No stress note taking.

  50. For older children Post -conference:
    There are generally around 30 talks given each Gen Conf. That means that if you just watch/listen to/read 1 talk per day, you could theoretically cover each speaker 6X before the next conference!! You could challenge older family members to see if they could review each talk 1 or 2X ( or whatever number) before the next conference– then have a special reward– nice meal, day at theme park, snow trip, etc. when your everyone has completed it-

  51. My kids love setting up a tent like those who gathered to hear King Benjamin. It makes it fun and special. I am amazed how well they will play quietly in the tents while conference is on. They may not hear everything but I know they feel the spirit that comes from conference.

  52. I found your site in search of some fun ideas for my VT sisters and Single widow sisters that my husband and I visit.
    We have sevral in our ward.
    We all love to stay at home and watch from the comfort of our home. I want to put together a Conference Basket of Love. Chocolate, notepad, pen, cookies, maybe a few Conference puzzle things. I think I will also put in a pair of nice fuzzy warm socks. I just want those who watch alone to really have a Spiritual experience that is full of love and comfort.

    I would like some kind of ideas to help them prepare themselves, in the same time preparing me.

    Thank you for all your sweet ideas and for sharing them, sometimes we feel like it’s mine and you cant have it. but you sisters are amazing.
    love sister sally in zion.

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