There are plenty of ways to prepare for General Conference. We can make the snacks, print the Bingo boards, find everyone's favorite pens, and make sure we actually know where we're watching.

But we also want our kids to know why we're getting ready. General Conference gives us the chance to hear from the prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders. Their messages point us to Jesus Christ and help us know how to follow Him.

So we invited a few friends from Woodland Village to help.

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Meet the Woodland Conference Helpers

Our Woodland Conference Helpers is a free printable finger puppet play created especially for General Conference weekend.

And these little woodland friends take Conference preparation very seriously. Well, as seriously as you can when your preparation includes cinnamon rolls, blanket forts, and badgers with the wiggles.

Alder the Owl narrates as the animals find simple ways to help their friends get ready for Conference. Piper the Pine Martin picks up pens from the Pens & Notebooks cart to share with his friends. Hazel the Hedgehog delivers cinnamon rolls. Nutmeg and Ginger build Juniper and Fern a secret Conference fort. And so it goes, service, prep, one great woodland Conference weekend.

There are lost pocket watches, scavenger hunts and even an invitation for Benny Bear to watch General Conference for the first time. Through all of their little adventures, the woodland friends discover something important:

Helping others makes Conference even better.

Use It Before General Conference

We recommend pulling out the puppet show before Conference weekend (although you can still use it during).

Color the puppets together during the week leading up to Conference. Cut them out, wrap the tabs around little fingers, and enjoy the play. The printable includes the cast, script, finger puppets, props, and a woodland background to use as your stage.

As they play, talk about your own family's preparations.

Who could we invite?
Could we take a treat to someone?
Is there a friend who might like some Conference coloring pages? (We’ve got free coloring pages you can share)
Who could we give a little Conference Pen Pal to?
What could we do to make Conference weekend special for somebody besides ourselves?

Suddenly preparing for Conference becomes more than getting our own house ready. Kids get to think about how they can help someone else get excited to hear the prophet and learn more about Jesus Christ too.

Don't pack the puppets away when the play is over. Let them stick around!

Set the woodland scene near your Conference supplies. Let Alder Owl peek over the notebooks. Put Piper next to the pens. Fern can join the kids in the blanket fort. Rosie can guard the coloring pages with an intensity entirely unnecessary for paper.

Kids can even choose a woodland friend to watch each session with them.

It gives younger children a little piece of imaginative play to weave into the weekend while still keeping General Conference at the center.

We've also included ideas for kids to create their own Woodland Village puppet shows. They can use the blank finger puppets to add their own characters, too. The printable gives them a starting point, then lets their imaginations take over.

And yes, this is where the giant Woodland Village becomes especially fun.

Want the FREE Woodland Conference Helpers?

The complete Woodland Conference Helpers Finger Puppet Play is free for our email subscribers.

Sign up for our weekly emails full of more gospel fun and we'll send the printable your way so your woodland crew can start getting ready for General Conference.

Bring the Whole Woodland Village to Conference Weekend

The finger puppet play was inspired by our Woodland General Conference Village Coloring Poster, where you'll find the places and details from the story tucked throughout the village: the Pens & Notebooks cart, Lost & Found, blanket fort, bakery, woodland homes and plenty more to discover.