Pioneer Day has become one of my favorite holidays as an adult. I love the stories of faith, courage, and grit from the pioneers. We all have pioneer ancestors, whether Latter-day Saint pioneers or those who pioneered new talents, ideas, or events in our family.
Following In Their Footsteps Lesson
Elder L. Tom Perry said, “Pioneer faith is needed as much in the world today as in any period of time.”
We may not be able to walk the journey the pioneers took, but can we still follow in their footsteps as we live like they did. We can show courage to stand up for truth when we see deception and sin around us. We can have faith to move our spiritual mountains. We can help do the work to build the Kingdom of God in this day.
This year my kids and I talked about who the Latter-day Saint Pioneers were. It was fun to help them understand the timeline for the pioneers from our studies of the Doctrine and Covenants last year. We sang, “To Be a Pioneer” and talked about how we can still be pioneers today as we try new things, show faith, courage, and help build God’s kingdom.
We traced everyone’s footprints and hung them up on the wall leading a path to a picture of the pioneers (find image here). Then this week we are going to write on each footprint things that we are doing to be like the pioneers. It can be as simple as reading our scriptures, choosing the right, helping those around us, learning a story of our pioneer ancestors, or even doing a fun game or activity from their time period.
Pioneer Day Printable
There are so many simple ways to connect with the pioneers this Pioneer Day. Grab our free printable below for some ideas to get your started. You could pick one to do each day, let each of your kids pick one to do on their own, or do one as a family.
