General conference: Games, activities to enhance children's interest
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General conference is, or should be, a high point in the year for young and old, but as most any Latter-day Saint parent can attest, it can be a challenge at times to keep the very young engaged, especially while they are listening to or viewing the conference broadcasts at home.
Now, a new Church Internet service available on the Church's Web site aims to help meet that challenge with several games and activities designed to keep young folks' attention focused on the words being delivered by the prophets, apostles and other Church leaders at these twice-yearly events.
The activities can be accessed at www.ConferenceGames.lds.org. Going there, parents and their children can expect to find such items as these:
A "General Conference Notebook" that can be printed out and bound or stapled together. It includes a cover page that can be colored, a page of ideas to help a young user listen to and learn from general conference, a page of things to do after conference to help remember and apply the things learned therefrom, a page or half-page for writing down thoughts or drawing a picture based on the things said by each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, and additional pages for recording thoughts and drawing pictures from the talks given by other conference speakers.
A "Conference Squares" game similar to bingo. Elements of this game may also be printed out. Players listen carefully to the conference, and when a speaker talks about a topic represented by a word or phrase and drawing in a square on a page, they cover that square with a marker, such as a bean, button or piece of candy. The object of the game, of course is to cover five squares in a row, then, possibly, all of the squares. There are seven different pages available, so several family members or other players can have a friendly competition.
"Conference Color-by-Number" pages that can be printed out. While hearing conference, young listeners can note when a speaker talks about a particular topic and then color in a numbered square on the page corresponding to the topic.
On-line matching games pertaining to temples, scripture stories, apostles and prophets, and latter-day prophets. This is ideal for helping children prepare for conference by learning the names of the prophets and apostles. Players uncover a picture by removing matching tiles having the images of Church leaders.
The Web pages may be shared or e-mailed, and the General Conference Notebook is available in other languages in addition to English.
Sister Cheryl Lant, Primary general president, said the new Web site "is just a great addition for parents and families to use."
"Our goal is to teach children the gospel and to engage them in that process so that they really are interested and involved in learning and doing things," she said of the Web site.
"One of the emphases in our teaching children with the Spirit is to ask ourselves the question, 'What can the children do to learn?' I think we see that really nicely reflected in this new Web site, because there are a lot of activities that keep the children's attention and focus."
Sister Lant expressed confidence that the Web site activities "can be very helpful in creating a reverent atmosphere and having the children engaged in things that are meaningful during that time and be together as a family while they're doing it. They're doing those things, they're watching conference, and they're feeling the Spirit together."
The new Conference Games Web site is part of an initiative to refresh and improve all the sites associated with the main Church Web site, www.lds.org. A new Web site directed to youth in the Church was introduced late last year, and there is more to come.
