This weekend is the 189th Annual Session of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For those not of the LDS faith this is an opportunity we have twice a year to listen to modern day prophets and apostles. All members of our church spend this weekend differently and enjoy different General Conference traditions. Some travel to the conference center in Salt Lake City to watch in person. Others stay home and watch on television or the Internet. And some travel to their local church buildings in their Sunday best to watch it broadcast.
Our family chooses to watch at home and we have several fun activities that we participate in. These fun General Conference traditions help this weekend be one that my children always look forward to. They can’t wait to eat their favorite conference foods and play their favorite conference games. I think it’s fun to hear about the different general conference traditions that Latter-day Saints enjoy. I’ve polled some of my friends for what general conference traditions they have and here’s what they had to say.
general conference traditions your whole family will love
it’s all about the food for these general conference traditions
“Ever since a talk where Elder Holland mentioned ice cream as a reward after conference we have ice cream sundaes!” -Heidi Ellsworth
“I make homemade pretzels and we play the conference cup game. Fill cups with random snacks and label them with words like Jesus, missionary, temple, Book of Mormon, etc. Every time a speaker says the word the kids get the snack out of that specific cup. The kids love it and it gets them to listen.” -Tiffany Jones
Want some fun printables for the “conference cup” or “keyword” game? Check out this post!
As a kid we would color in Precious Moments coloring books while we listened. As an adult with my own young family, we make crepes for breakfast one day and French toast casserole the next.
Tayler Morrell from The Morrell Tale
“We watch General Conference in our pajamas and eat cinnamon rolls.” -Katelyn Carson
“For the last several years we’ve gotten Panera Bagels and had them for conference.” -Kelsey Lucero
keep your kids involved during general conference traditions
“We make conference crepes and play conference Bingo!” -Desiree Fricke
Our family has had conference crepes for years! Check out a tasty recipe here!
We set up stations. We usually have a trail mix station, a LEGO or Magna Tile station, and a “draw the speaker/take notes” station. Then the kids rotate stations each talk and during each song we have a little snack or treat break. The kids love it. I don’t even set it up anymore–they do it themselves!
Alia Cherry from Party Like a Cherry
“On General Conference weekend we make egg casserole and French toast casserole… then we can eat throughout both conferences. We like to play conference Bingo. There’s a notebook where kids can write down the things that touch them.” -Amy Christensen
I think when you have young kids it’s important to just make the day fun with lots of treats and games. Let them get their favorite snacks so they’ll always have good memories associated with conference and will want to listen and watch as they get older.
Kristen Lawler from Love, Lipstick, and Pearls
Do you have any fun or meaningful General Conference traditions? What did you do growing up? Have you continued that with your own family?
Family photography in this post is from Shelby Mousley Photography.
