Family Home Evening Ideas
Family Home Evening is one of the most important traditions in Latter-day Saint family life - and one of the hardest to prepare consistently. Between work, school, and everything else, sitting down to plan a meaningful lesson can feel like one more thing on an already full plate. LDS Sunday School helps you build a complete, age-appropriate Family Home Evening lesson around any scripture passage in minutes.
The Pattern Matters More Than the Polish
Family Home Evening has been a counsel of Church leaders since 1915, when the First Presidency asked families to set aside one evening a week for teaching the gospel at home. More than a century later the reasons still hold. Children who grow up with a regular family night remember the pattern long after they forget any single lesson. The consistency itself teaches them that their family takes the gospel seriously.
This is freeing for a tired parent. You do not need a flawless lesson. A simple opening prayer, a Primary song, a short scripture story, and a treat is a complete Family Home Evening. Monday night is the traditional slot the Church protects from other activities, but any evening that fits your family works. The habit is the point, not the production.
Building a Lesson Around a Scripture
The strongest Family Home Evening lessons grow out of a single scripture story rather than an abstract topic. Children connect with people and events. Ammon defending the king's flocks, the brother of Jared and the shining stones, Nephi building a ship, these hold a child's attention in a way that a lesson on obedience in the abstract never will. Pick the story first, then draw the principle out of it.
Tie the lesson to the week's Come Follow Me reading when you can. It reinforces what the family is already studying and connects home night to Sunday School and Primary. If the reading is a hard passage, a chapter of Isaiah or a dense section of the Doctrine and Covenants, find the one story or image inside it that a child can hold, and build the evening around that.
Activities That Make It Stick
A short activity that illustrates the principle will outlast any explanation. To teach unity, have the family try to break one stick, then a bundle of sticks tied together. To teach the value of the scriptures, hide a treat and give clues one verse at a time. The activity does not need to be elaborate. It needs to give the principle a physical memory the child can return to.
Let children and teenagers take turns leading. A child who prepares even a two-minute lesson owns the principle in a way that no amount of listening produces. Rotate the assignments, the prayers, and the music so everyone participates. When you need a story explained or a passage made simple enough to teach, LDS Sunday School can turn any scripture into a plain-language lesson your family can use that night.
Key Principles
- ✓Keep it short for families with young children - 20 minutes is plenty
- ✓Let children and teenagers take turns teaching - ownership builds testimony
- ✓Tie the lesson to Come Follow Me so home and church study connect
- ✓A simple activity that illustrates the principle sticks longer than a lecture
- ✓End with a treat and a testimony - the pattern matters more than the content
LDS Sunday School
Build a Family Home Evening lesson with LDS Sunday School
Free to start. Three studies free every month. No credit card required.
Start FreeFrequently Asked Questions
What should a Family Home Evening include?
A basic Family Home Evening has an opening prayer, a hymn or Primary song, a short gospel lesson, and often an activity and a treat. There is no official format you must follow. The traditional evening is Monday, which the Church keeps free of other meetings and activities. Keeping the pattern simple makes it far easier to hold every week.
How long should Family Home Evening be for young children?
For families with young children, twenty minutes is usually plenty. Small children lose focus quickly, and stretching the lesson past their attention span can make the evening feel like a chore. A short story, one simple question, a song, and a treat is enough. As children grow, the lessons can naturally get longer and go deeper.
What are good Family Home Evening lesson topics?
Scripture stories make the best topics because children connect with people and events. Try Ammon and the king's flocks, Nephi building the ship, Daniel in the lions' den, or the Savior blessing the children. Tying the lesson to your current Come Follow Me reading connects home night to Sunday School and Primary, so the family reinforces the same scripture all week.
How do I keep teenagers interested in Family Home Evening?
Give teenagers real responsibility. Let them teach a lesson, choose the activity, or lead a discussion on a question that matters to them. Teenagers engage when they are trusted rather than talked at. Connecting the lesson to decisions they actually face, such as honesty, dating standards, or handling doubt, keeps the evening relevant instead of feeling like something built only for the younger children.