What can I do with my kiddos during General Conference? How can I keep my kids quiet so I can listen to General Conference?
I love General Conference. I always have. Sure, it’s long and takes a little bit of effort to stay awake the entire time, but I really do love hearing all of the talks. They always seem to be just what I need at that moment. It’s always one talk after another that is perfect for my current situation. I love listening and taking notes and carefully dissecting the words from each of the talks. What I do not love is shushing my children an entire session of Conference and only getting a few words here and there. Have you ever been there? Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered to get out my notebook and pen.
I’m always torn because I want to be able to listen, but I also want the other people in the room to be able to listen (we watch General Conference with extended family). But, I also want my kids to be in the room and learn from a young age that they are expected to be a part of General Conference. Do you see my dilemma?
Usually I have to give up something and usually that something is me getting to listen. I try to listen, but I also try to keep my kids in the room and busy so they aren’t bothering the other people in the room. My husband does help, but even with two people, I miss a lot of the talks.
*Get all of our General Conference printables in one easy download here.*
Well, last April I had the most wonderful General Conference yet. I researched a ton of ideas and I came across an idea that I loved. The idea was to have a different activity bag for Little Bear for each talk. I had grocery bags with activities in them (coloring supplies, flashcards, plastic Easter eggs to color match, etc.). Each time a new speaker got up to talk Little Bear and I would open the next grocery bag to see what his activity was. Little Bear loved the surprise. He loved the activities, too. In fact, he kept asking me when it was going to be General Conference again for about 4 months. I’d say that was a success. :) I did have to monitor some of the activities and I still had to work a bit to keep Little Bear quiet, but I was able to listen to more Conference talks than I have in a long time.
For October’s General Conference I wanted to create some activities for Little Bear that were a little bit more religious and Conference related. I also wanted to come up with some activities for Smiley Man because he’s old enough now that he needs something to keep him busy. Sigh, holding him just won’t cut it this time. ;) For the next two weeks, I will post a bunch of General Conference activity ideas and printables for toddlers and preschoolers. I will only be posting 18 activity ideas for the two age groups even though there are usually about 30 talks over the two days. You can use the same activities on both Saturday and Sunday or you can add some of your own activities. I will be adding activities for Little Bear and I will be using each bag twice with Smiley Man. Check back over the next two weeks to see all of the ideas.
