Happy October my friends! It’s Veronica and I’m back with a fun and super easy Halloween Family Night! What is Family Night you ask? 🙂 We choose one day a week to spend time with our family. There is typically a lesson, activity or game and ALWAYS a treat. It’s the best way I know to reconnect as a family and to teach my kids valuable lessons in a fun and creative way. If you’ve never tried it, you should give it a go! You’ll love it!
Onto our Halloween Family Night…did I mention it was easy? (There are lots of options, so just choose what works the best for your family.)
Having Courage! A fun Family Night on having courage to stand up for what you think is right! Fun printables and treat idea!
FAMILY NIGHT: Having Courage
PREPARATION: Have a treat ready to deliver for the activity at the end of the lesson, including treat tag.
LESSON:
I was scrolling through Hulu the other day and noticed “Casper the Friendly Ghost”, and my wheels started turning. I love Casper! (You may have to explain who Casper is to your kids.) Casper was a ghost, who was usually with his three uncles. His uncles LOVED scaring people, however Casper preferred being kind. He loved helping people. This would frustrate his uncles and sometimes they weren’t kind to Casper. Even though he was surrounded by those who weren’t making good choices, Casper showed courage as he stood alone and did what was right.
Many times choosing the right requires courage. At times it will require us to stand alone. That will be easy to do sometimes, but not always. Sometimes when we have to stand up for what we know is right, is takes great courage. Sometimes those around us may make fun of us, bully us, tease us, call us names or shun us.
What is courage? The dictionary states, “The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear.” It also states that to have courage is to “act in accordance with one’s beliefs, especially in spite of criticism”.
When we are tempted to do something wrong, but we choose to do what’s right, we are showing courage.
SCRIPTURES:
Deuteronomy 31:6: What does it mean when it says “he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee”?
Joshua 1:9: What does it mean when it says “for the Lord thy God is with thee”?
DISCUSSION: (choose what applies to your family)
*There are many examples of others who have shown courage. Can you name some? Talk about what they did to show courage. (Examples: Esther, Moses, Joseph Smith, Daniel, Captain Moroni, Nephi, Samuel, Abinidi, Ammon, etc.)
*List different ways that it’s hard to stand alone. (not swearing, not gossiping, being honest, not laughing at inappropriate jokes, listening to good music, not hanging around others who are bad examples, interactions on social media, not being ashamed of your beliefs, etc.)
*What makes it easier? (supporting each other, choosing good friends, staying close to the Spirit, etc.)
*Can you think of an example when you have shown courage and made a good choice? How did it make you feel?
*Look at each other and discuss what you’ve seen each other do to show courage in making good choices.
Having Courage! A fun Family Night on teaching your kids to be courageous and to stand up for what they know is right!
OBJECT LESSON: I’m including two different ones, depending on the age of your children.
Object Lesson #1:
Have one person stand on one leg for as long as they can without stumbling. When you see them start struggling, ask a member of your family to go stand next to them and help support them as they continue.
After a minute or so, ask how much easier it was to do after they had help. Explain that we need to be willing and courageous enough to stand alone, but that there will be people who will help. Encourage them to wait for the right people. Don’t just join any crowd, join the RIGHT crowd. Good people will help us stand for the things that are important to us.
Object Lesson #2: (good for older kids)
*Have one person come stand on one leg. Once they are in position, ask someone to go and gently nudge them until they have to put down their other leg.
*Next, have someone stand on their tiptoes. Again, ask someone to go and gently nudge them until they can no longer stand on their tiptoes.
*Now have someone take the “football stance”…feet spread out shoulder width, knees bent, slightly bending at the waist as if waiting for the ball. Have someone nudge them. Did they move? Were they able to hold their position?
*Lastly, have someone stand normal. Ask everyone in the family, except for one person, surround the person standing. Tell everyone their responsibility is to protect the person standing. Have that one remaining person try to get to the one standing to gently push them over. How hard was it to get to the person standing?
Discussion: When we are prepared spiritually, we can stand alone. (football stance) When we aren’t, it’s easy to fall. (one leg and tiptoes). When we surround ourselves with strong and good people, we have added strength and protection as we stand for the things that are right.
QUOTE:
End the lesson with one of these quotes:
“Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he things is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well…. May we muster courage for the conflicts, courage to say no, courage to say yes, for courage counts.” Thomas S. Monson
“As we go about living from day to day, it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. … “May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven.” Thomas S. Monson,
You can find other wonderful quotes on courage from Thomas S. Monson here.
ACTIVITY:
You Are a Treat!
As a family, discuss one or more people you know who are examples of being courageous. Who do you know who is willing to stand alone in making good decisions? As a family decide who you will do this activity for. Have a treat ready to go. You can download and print this tag out for the treat. You can choose to just print the tag out and attach it, or you can write a note on the back of why they are a great example. Get in the car, place the treat on the front porch, ring the doorbell and RUN! 🙂
A fun Family Night where you share a treat with someone who shows courage!
Download and print here.
TREAT:
These darling cookies aren’t just easy, but SO CUTE!! And I love that they are bite sized! Wouldn’t they be the perfect little treat to deliver?
A quick and easy treat for a Halloween Family Night!
HANDOUT
Feel free to print one or more of these out and hang them to remind your family what the lesson was about!
Having Courage! A fun Family Night on having courage to stand up for what you think is right!
Download and print here.
Having Courage! A fun Family Night on having courage to stand up for what you think is right!
Download and print here.
Having Courage! A fun Family Night on having courage to stand up for what you think is right!
Download and print here.
A fun Family Night on having courage to stand up for what you think is right!
Happy Halloween my friends!
For more Family Night ideas, try these:
Family Team – Family Night Lesson
52 Family Night Lessons for Every Week of the Year!
And here’s a spooky dinner idea to make with the kids:
Awesome ideas, as always! Love you (and your ideas)!
Super cute, Veronica!!!
I absolutely love all these ideas! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity. I’ll definitely be using them!