Family Home Evening - Our Family is Like a Rope

Tonight was a "hands-on" FHE using the April 2011 General Conference Talk from Elder Richard J. Maynes.

Supplies: Yarn, Scissors, Empty toilet paper roll or paper towel roll, Wooden spoon

To begin, we took the time to have each child choose and measure out one piece of yarn. Each measured about 15-20 feet. We took time to have each child measure their piece with the child that went before.

Then, we asked them (okay, pleaded with them and begged them) to hold their piece of yarn and NOT tangle it up while we listened to part of Elder Maynes's talk. While listening to the talk, we asked our children to ask themselves "Why would Mom and Dad give me a piece of yarn to hold while listening to a Conference Talk?"

The part we focused on begins at the 8:00 minute mark.



After Elder Maynes's story, we had a short discussion about a rope and the strength of our family.

Then we went outside. Took everyone's piece of yard and tied on end of it all together and then tied it around the basketball hoop.

Holding the yarn taut, we slipped the yarn through the empty toilet paper roll and tied the other end to the middle of the handle of the wooden spoon.

Pulling the yarns, we each took turns twisting the yarn in the SAME direction while another person held the toilet paper roll (it made the twisting easier).

After twisting the yarns very, very tight, one person found the middle and held it taut while another person took the wooden spoon end to the other end that was tied to the basketball pole.

Still holding the yarn taut, the person in the "middle" is now on the other end. As he slowly let go, the yarn began to twist together, forming a rope.

Here is our end result:

So, if by chance you have less than 11 people in your family (ha ha), you may want to try two or more strings of yarn per person to make a rope with sizeable thickness.

After our closing prayer, we decided to hang our Family Rope in our Family Room as a reminder that each of us matters in our family and that all of us need to do our part.