Happy October! It’s Veronica and it’s so fun to be back this month with another fun Family Night idea for you. For anyone new to Family Night, we basically gather our family once a week, have a short lesson, play some sort of game and then have a treat at the end. I love it because it gives us a time that’s set aside each week for us to learn together as a family and to have fun together.
This month, I thought I’d put a fun Halloween spin on it.
Lately, we’ve had different children who have been struggling with different things. So, I wanted to do a Family Night that would help them in some way as they face these challenges. Although their challenges seem very small in some ways, to them they are huge. The best advice I can give them for overcoming challenges in life is to be humble, teachable and always willing to adapt.
Moving on to Family Night…
FAMILY NIGHT: Teaching Kids about Overcoming Challenges
LESSON:
*Discuss different challenges people face individually or as families.
*Ask your kids to think about one of the biggest challenges they are facing. Ask them how they are handling their challenges. (Do they get angry, do they blame others, do they dig their heels in and get stubborn, etc.)
*Talk to your kids about what they can do personally to help themselves. (Have a good attitude, be teachable, be flexible to things they may not have any control over, etc.)
*Share a challenge you’ve faced with any of the above positive ideas. Help them realize the strength they have inside themselves. Sometimes our challenges are great learning experiences. I have found that there is always something to learn from even the hardest challenges. Many times they put us in a position to be humble, which is ALWAYS a good thing!
*Have each person write down some of the challenges they face. Give them some time to then write down one specific thing they can do personally to make each challenge easier.
OBJECT LESSON:
CARAMEL APPLES
Items Needed:
Apples
Caramel (You can use the individually wrapped caramel squares or the caramel discs. Follow the directions on the package. **NOTE: I found that the individually wrapped caramel melted well, but you have to work fast because it cools quickly. Just reheat a bit to soften it back up. It also works MUCH BETTER if you are adding any treats to it. The caramel discs were MUCH SIMPLER to work with, but we had a hard time getting anything to stick to it. It never got really “melted”. )
Popsicle Craft Sticks
Wax Paper
*OPTIONAL: chopped nuts, chopped peanut butter cups, mini chocolate chips, candy sprinkles, drizzled melted chocolate, etc.
*Before making the apples, pull out a piece of caramel and pass it around. Have them feel it. (Mine were rock hard!) We have two options as we face challenges. We can let them harden us and make us angry, OR we can be humble and adapt our lives to those challenges, and try to overcome them. Even when our challenges feel out of our control, we still have things we can do to make something good come out of them. We can soften our hearts, be humble, be teachable and learn the lessons that are there to learn, and try to seek for the positive! EASY?!?! NOPE! But, when we are willing to work hard at overcoming our challenges, I believe there are ALWAYS good things that come. We are strengthened, we learn what we are capable of and we are better for it. Our challenges, when handled the right way, can many times end up being a blessing in our lives. They mold us and shape us into strong, capable and happy people.
Talk about the caramel and how hard it is. When heat is applied, it softens. It’s easy to mold and shape around the apple. And in the end it creates something more delicious than before. We can be the same way!
Give them each an apple with a stick and let them create their own caramel apples.
A favorite quote of mine is from Thomas S. Monson. He talked about how important a good attitude is when we are faced with hard things. He said, “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” Hard things will come to us all. But, how we handle those challenges is up to us. I’ve made a fun printable if you would like to put it up for the week as a reminder. Download printable here.
ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL ACTIVITY:
Assemble “Caramel Apple Kits” using cellophane bags. Place in an apple, some caramels and a few fun toppings in individual little bags. Attach the following tag and give as gifts. Print tag here.
Need more family night ideas?? Check here for lots of great ones: Family Night Ideas
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