{ General Conference Trick-or-Treating }

Every General Conference we try to think of fun family traditions that will not only keep the kids attention during conference, but also help them to gain a love of listening to our beloved Prophet and Apostles. For the last few years we have used Conference Packets that I found on line and tweaked to my liking. Last Conference, I was so sick that we opted for a quick small notebook with everyone's name printed on the front and their own pack of crayons. Simple, but they still loved it. This year I looked at the packets again and just knew that they weren’t going to work out. I needed something new and different to capture the attention of all, young and old.

That is how General Conference Trick-or-Treating was born. I loved the idea I had seen online of doing a Conference Wall-basically after every talk taping up a picture of who spoke and maybe writing a short little bit about what they talked about. I knew that would be fun, but I wanted my kids to still take some notes or remember some specifics or each talk.

Fast forward to Saturday morning and here is what is waiting for my anxious and excited kids:

Conference folders for everyone. I couldn’t resist printing off some of the pages. The color the tie sheet is still a favorite around our house. Brianna had a more “adult” version of her packet this time around since she has entered into Young Women’s.

  Treat bags/boxes for everyone. Treat bags? “ Why do we need treat bags mom?” Oh, you’ll see!

Trick or treat buckets…

pumpkins galore… and what is this…

Treats…

Treats…

and more treats!!! (Chorus of “Mom, you’re the best” to follow)

Fun little papers to play a little game during conference..

..and a neighborhood? “Hey, that’s our neighborhood! There’s our house! Are we going trick or treating right now?! “ More squeals of delight to follow.

So, here’s how our fun little General Conference game played out. We started with the pumpkin at our house, and after every talk we would tape the picture of the General Authority on that house, write a few words below of what they talked about, and then move our pumpkin to the next house. If there was someone from the Seventy or other General Auxiliary who spoke we had a blank picture they could draw and write the person’s name on. When there was a song sung, the kids would take turns picking a non-house object out of the envelope, writing the song on it, and hanging it somewhere in our neighborhood to fancy it up. There was a fire hydrant, flowers, mailboxes, and trees. At the end of the session we would put a stop sign next to that house so we would know who all spoke at that particular session.

During the talks the kids would take the little papers and write either a TRICK, which would be a question about that talk for others to answer, or a TREAT, which would be something they learned from the talk. They would circle either the word trick or treat on their paper and then fold them up and put them in the correct bucket until that session was over. Our buckets were overflowing!

After the session we read all the questions and the kids got to pick out a treat for each one they wrote or answered. It was so fun! The kids paid attention for all 8 hours of conference and I was so surprised how much they remembered. We had quite a few tricks after the first session of what color tie was so and so wearing, but by the last session their questions were so thoughtful and deep. I just love General Conference! The best part was that Aaron and I got to actually listen too and didn’t have to remind the kids to be quiet or to try and pay attention.

I made the board out of two foam core sheets that can be folded in half and stuck behind the TV cabinet. Every month for our General Conference family home evening we can take it out and review what one of the speakers talked about. Hopefully by next conference we will be able to know, remember, and have incorporated the great counsel from our prophet and other general authorities.