General Conference Activities for Children

Here is a compilation some great ideas to keep your children occupied and reverent during the sessions of General Conference. Keep in mind that these are ideas and activities contributed by many different families; don’t try to do them all. Pick one or two things that will fit with your family and establish your own traditions, ones that will enhance the weekend without adding stress. Enjoy!

Conference Notebooks and Packets
These are pages you can print out for your children so they can write notes or draw pictures for each of the different speakers. The packets from Sugardoodle are age-specific.

• http://lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/content/english/pdf/notebook.pdf
• http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7399

Coloring pages
Keep little hands busy with these pages.

• http://lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/conference-coloring-three.pdf
• http://downloads.sugardoodle.net/Conference%20Packet%20Color%20Young%20New.pdf
• http://downloads.sugardoodle.net/General%20Conference%20Coloring%20packet.pdf

Conference Squares / BINGO

Encourage listening by playing this familiar game. When a speaker says the word or talks about one of the topics, cover that square with a marker or piece of candy. First to cover 5 in a row (or the entire card) wins. Or, try the reverse. Cover every square with a treat. If the speaker says the word, eat the treat.

• http://lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/content/english/pdf/conference_squares.pdf
• http://lds.about.com/library/bl/games/bingo_boards.pdf
• http://ldshandouts.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-conference-bingo.html

Treats
Yummy treats are always great.

• Have bowls filled with all kinds of different snacks...slices of oranges or apples, graham crackers, goldfish, etc. Label each bowl with a topic on each bowl (prophets, service, families, etc.). When the children hear the word, they get to take a treat from the bowl.
• Have baggies with different treats or activities labeled with apostles' names. When that person speaks, you get to have that treat/activity. 
• See pictures: http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6724
• Fill a bowl with candy (or healthy treat) and for each session pick a word. When the children hear the word spoken during the talks, they can help themselves to the treat.
• Fill sacks with fun treats for the children that they can eat only if they sit and listen to the speakers. Give special things that you wouldn't normally get for them.

Tents
The family home evening before conference weekend, talk about King Benjamin and how the people gathered their families and pitched their tents facing the temple so that they could hear the prophet. Set up a tent in your living room in front of the TV for conference. Sleep in it the night before. See how these families made it work:

• http://jolleychaos.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-familys-tradition.html
• Conference Reverence Tent - Oct 2008 Friend

Apostles
Help children learn the names and faces of the First Presidency and 12 Apostles.

• Print the pictures of all the general authorities. When someone speaks, have the kids look for the speaker and then circle his or her picture.
• http://www.ldschurchnews.com/media/attachments/49.pdf
• Give each child a stack of cards with a picture of the apostle on one side and information about them on the other. On a wall, post pictures about different topics that might be talked about during conference (examples: sacrament, temples, word of wisdom, gratitude, prayer, etc). Have the child put a picture of the apostle who was speaking up next to the topic they were speaking on.
• Flash cards: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/games/apostlecards_new.pdf
• http://lovehugsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2008/10/conference-weekend.html

Make it a holiday
Treat conference weekend like a holiday with special foods and traditions. Cook something special that you'll only serve during conference weekends.

Rotate your 72 hour kits
Use conference as a semi-annual reminder to get your lives in order. Have a family fire drill, change the batteries in your smoke alarms, empty and refill your water storage containers, rotate your 72-hour kits (and eat the food from them over the weekend), and inventory/replenish your food storage and supplies.


Sources:

• LDS.org: http://lds.org/general-conference/children
• Sugardoodle: http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3101
• Mormon Momma: http://www.mormonmomma.com/index.php/2006/making-general-conference-memorable/