Interactive Object Lesson about Priorities for Kids with 5 Quick Tips for a Stronger, Happier Family [Friday’s Fast Five 2nd Edition]

Building a stronger, happier family is at the top of most parents’ list. However, we are busy! These weekly Fast Five ideas and tips are a quick way to brainstorm, check-in, and create the family relationships you really want. Included in today’s ideas is a hands-on object lesson about priorities for kids, plus more. Happy Friday!

* These ideas are NOT meant to be a checklist or guilt trip of things we “should do.” Rather, they are intended to inspire you to find what works for YOUR family to learn, laugh, and love together. Remember to stick to the Simple Side of Parenting.

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What is Friday’s Fast Five?

Each Friday, we will share five simple ideas for families under the following categories:

1. Something Fun

This is an activity, game, entertainment recommendation, or simple outing for family fun.

2. A Little Lesson

Here you will find a simple lesson to help teach kids important ideas. Examples include life skills or personal qualities like kindness and patience.

3. A Service Idea

Volunteering is good for our mental and physical health. Serving together strengthens relationships with those we serve and those we serve with. Service can be fun and eye-opening. Service is an important way to learn, laugh, and love together.

4. Something Random

This is a random thought, idea, quote, or meme, typically to help you smile. 🙂

5. A Quick Tip

Here you will find a quick parenting or family tip for peaceful parenting or building a stronger, happier family. These come from research, personal experience, or those common sense reminders we all need to hear once in a while.

With that, here is the second edition of Friday’s Fast Five. (You can find other editions HERE.)

1. Something Fun: Reverse Charades

Reverse Charades is a simple, fun game that is a hit with all ages. In regular charades, one person acts out a given word or phrase while the team guesses what is being acted. In Reverse Charades, one member of the team guesses while all the other members act. If you’re playing with younger kids, you can decide to allow sounds while acting.

To come up with words to act, you can use the Act It Out category of the free Heads Up! mobile app, a version of the game such as Reverse Charades (Fast-Paced Fun Family Party Game), or make up your own words.

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Sometimes teammates will work together to act without talking. It’s really funny to see everyone acting in various ways to get to the same word.

We laugh every time we play Reverse Charades.

2. A Little Lesson: Rocks and Sand: Object Lesson about Priorities for Kids

Using a jar, rocks, and some sand (or salt, sugar, etc.), teach a visual and interactive object lesson about priorities for kids.

Imagine that your time, your 24 hours per day seven days a week, is represented by a glass jar. Each of your responsibilities or activities is represented by a rock or a grain of sand. The most important things are the rocks, while the less important things are the sand.

Talk with your kids about what things they feel are really important in their day and what things are not as important. Priority means something is more important. Consider things like helping out around the house, homework, family time, time with friends, watching TV, and so on.

Next, have a child pour the sand into the jar, and then try to put the rocks in. If you fill your jar with the sand first, the rocks will not fit in.

This is what happens if we choose to do less important things first. Maybe we sit and watch TV before doing homework.

Next, have your child fit the rocks into the jar first. If you start with the rocks, the sand will flow over the crevices and somehow, what seemed impossible happens…everything fits in your jar.

Have your kids describe what this object lesson about priorities shows about how we can choose to use our time. Share your own experience of doing the most important things first. Help your kids recognize that they have the power to choose how they use their time for good.

Related: Organize Your Life by Organizing Your Time

Wondering how to fit Little Lessons into your busy family schedule?

The two main ways to fit important lessons into your busy family schedule are to find spontaneous teaching moments throughout the day and to schedule family learning time each week. These two posts go into detail about these two ways and tips for making it happen with your family.

How Busy Parents Can Teach Important Life Lessons

6 Tips for Family Time that Teaches Life’s Most Important Lessons

3. A Service Idea: Give Away Paper Flowers

Make paper flowers and give them to someone you love or someone who might feel lonely.

Alternately, you could give away live flowers.

Here is one fun way to make paper flowers that my mom taught us…she learned from a granddaughter!

Materials Needed to Make Paper Flowers

• Coffee Filters
• Markers
• Towel or Rag (okay to get marker on)
• Spray Bottle with Water
• Blow Dryer (optional)
• Scissors
• Pipe Cleaner
• Vase or Bow (optional)

How to Make Paper Flowers

Step 1: Color coffee filter with markers.

Step 2: Place colored coffee filters on the towel or rag. Spray the coffee filters with the water. The water will make the colors bleed and blend. If you spray too much, the color will all bleed off the filter, so spray a little at a time until it looks how you want.

Tip: The towel or rag under the coffee filters will catch the extra water and color that bleeds through, containing your mess. You could also do the spraying outside.

Step 3: Blow dry the coffee filter. (This speeds the process. You could also let the coffee filters air dry.)

Please supervise kids with blow dryers to prevent burns and electric shock.

Step 4: Cut a slit from one edge of the coffee filter to the middle.

Step 5: Begin on one cut edge and roll the coffee filter. The middle of the coffee filter is becoming the bottom of your flower. Experiment with how tight you want to roll it.

Step 6: Wrap a pipe cleaner around the bottom of the flower to keep it together and serve as the stem.

Viola! If you want to, you can gather multiple flowers into a bouquet with a bow or put them in a vase.

This idea is inexpensive, creative, and fun. Additionally, if your family is following strict social distancing, you could simply drop the flowers off on someone’s doorstep.

Service is a great way to build a stronger, happier family. If you want more service ideas, request Raising Compassionate Children in a Conceited World, which includes 101 Service Ideas for Families.

4. Something Random: The Princess Bride Meme

My kids pointed that out! 🙂

We recently watched The Princess Bride (this classic 1987 movie) during one of our favorite family traditions: Friday Night Family Movie Night. Do you do a movie night? Any movie recommendations for us?

5. A Quick Tip: Cultivate the Art of the Soft Answer

We had this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley on our bathroom mirror for a long time. I loved the daily reminder for all of us to practice the soft answer. This really will help us build a stronger, happier family.

Related: How to Stop Yelling at Kids: 10 Reasons We Actually Yell at Our Kids, So You Can Actually Stop

And that is Friday’s Fast Five!

You can also see Friday’s Fast Five on Instagram or other editions HERE.

Building a Stronger, Happier Family

It takes time and intention to build a stronger, happier family. I hope Friday’s Fast Five helps you find the ways that work for YOUR family to learn, laugh, and love together.

We will never regret the time we devote to our families and relationships with our kids.

Have a great weekend with your family, know that you’re loved, and keep on lovin’!

Do you have a great idea for a future Friday’s Fast Five? Have a question or parenting struggle you want help with? Share in the comments or shoot me an Email.

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