Tones Of The Heart

Tonight was part two of our Kindness Family Home Evenings. We started with a basic review of what we talked about last week and what we did over the week (the caught-ya poster). The kids have responded very well to the visual and are constantly trying to do nice things. Since it was a Caught-Ya poster someone else had to catch the person doing something nice and kind. It only took a little bit into the week for the kids to stop telling us every time they did something nice and asking if they could put something on the poster. I like this because I wanted the kids to do nice and kind things without "flaunting" what they were doing.

So, tonight we moved on to Tones of the Heart. We started the lesson with the first verse of "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words To Each Other" (Hymns 232) and then pointed out the last line of the chorus which is "Kind words are sweet tones of the heart."

Next we said there were two types of tones - sweet and sour. We brought out a slice of lemon and a spoon of sugar. We let each kid taste the lemon (rubbed a finger across and then licked their finger). We talked about what it made our faces do. (Puckering, furrowed brows, grumpy-like face) and then had Daddy taste the lemon so they could see what it did. After doing this with the lemon, we did the same with the sugar (letting each kid get just a little sugar). We talked about what our faces did then (smile, eyes light up, excited-faces) and then had Daddy taste the sugar so they could see the reaction.

We asked which one they wanted more. Of course, it was the sugar. Then we talked about how the sour lemon, which made our faces grumpy, was the sour tones of our heart which makes us say mean words (hurtful, loud, rude, nasty, sarcastic, etc). And how the sweet sugar, which made our faces happy, was the sweet tones of our heart which makes us say nice and kind words (gentle, kind, friendly, soft, peaceful).

Gabi also pointed out that the sugar was "pure and white". We likened that to when we use kind words and voices, how we are working on being better people and are more willing to keep the commandments and follow Christ. This is what we need to return to be with Heavenly Father, Jesus and our family forever.

This week, to add to our Caught-Ya poster (which will continue through the "kindness unit") we will add a poster to record our "Sugar Words". The kids are very excited!

I love being able to teach my children things which are important both for here and in the eternities. I love how the Spirit guides these lessons. And I love the inspiration which comes to teach through visuals and hands on. My children really understand these lessons so much more than they would otherwise.