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Conference


I have to say, I had grand visions of snuggling on the couch with my Conference Journal absorbed in the awesome teachings from our leaders this past weekend. But... I kind of forgot I have a three year-old. And a baby. And reality was far from my vision.

Avery's naps are way off right now, so she wasn't sleeping during the sessions like I had anticipated, and although I printed lots of amazing coloring pages for Harvey... I failed to remember that he doesn't love coloring. He really only lasted about 3 crayons worth, and that wasn't even long enough for two talks.

Despite all that went wrong, here's what worked (at least for a little while) to keep Harvey engaged so I could at least try to focus on the spiritually uplifting talks:

 Speaker Stickers:

This one was easy and actually the most effective. I pulled out the center fold from the last conference edition of the Ensign and taped it to the wall next to the television. Every time a new speaker went to the podium, Harvey jumped up to find him on the sheet. When he found the right one he could put a sticker over their face. Sometimes he would cheer "Hey! There's a new speaker" even when there wasn't...

Conference Wall:

I found this idea from We Talk of Christ, but it didn't keep him engaged as well as I had hoped. I chose pictures from the Gospel Art Kit, and from my Ensign Photo Library that I thought would be mentioned lots during the talks and taped them to our entertainment center. Harvey could point to the pictures as he heard the subject mentioned.

Umm, maybe they were talking about Baptism and Scripture Study at the same time? (Please overlook the uber-dusty entertainment center and the Lightening McQueen underwear.)


Maybe buying one of those pointer sticks from a teacher supply place would make this more enticing??

Conference Game:


I found this idea from Blissful & Domestic. I pulled out a couple of game pieces from my Trivial Pursuit game while we played this. The idea is that you start in the upper left hand corner and slowly work your way to Jesus in the lower right-hand corner. If you hear a topic mentioned in one of the talks, you can move your piece to a picture or word that represents that topic. I just used pictures from the Ensign and the Friend and glued them onto a poster board.

This was actually really fun for me as well! Obviously, Harvey can't read yet, so he just moved his piece to pictures he liked, placed his piece wherever mine was, and tried to find the apostles photos when they spoke. 

I want to do another version on the back for some variety so I haven't laminated it yet. Bonus points for whoever can find the place where Harvey already ripped something off. (Sheesh!)

I love Conference Weekend. I love making and eating my yummy Butterscotch Pull-Aparts. I love staying home snuggled up on the couch in my sweats listening to our leaders. It seems like when I listen to Conference with a problem in mind (and really.. I always have a problem in mind) the talks are just for me. I was glad that the stars aligned and I was able to hear what Jeffrey R. Holland and Deiter F. Uchtdorf had to say about seeing others kindly (including yourself), and not judging.

What were your favorite parts? What do you do to help your children listen during Conference?
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  1. AnnaApril 3, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    I must admit when I saw your conference journal I thought "wow her kids must be chill, we are just chasing a toddler around trying to get SOMETHING out of conference. forget taking notes like the pre-kiddo days". So I admit i was relieved to read that your reality was closer to our reality. :) Way to make a big effort to make it fun for Harvey, I love these ideas.

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