get organized

In honor of the new year, we had a get organized night. We invited a woman from the ward to come speak on time management. Our YW president talked a minute about goal setting and handed out these daily goal trackers from Sugardoodle. I then talked about organizing your rooms. The girls gave tips they used to keep their rooms clean. We then made magazine holders out of cereal boxes and covered them with wrapping paper. (Here is a tutorial on how to make one). They turned out great!

talent show

Our combined activity this month was a talent show. It was a lot of fun! We had the kids sign up in the weeks before, and turn in any lyrics to the music they wanted to dance to, or lip sync to.

That night we set up the stage in the cultural hall (ours doesn't have one built in). We served candy and popcorn and cans of soda.

We started off the night by dividing the kids into two groups. (We had 11-12 kids per group, our ward is small) Each group went to a different room in the building to put together a performance. (this way anyone who didn't sign up got to participate) We gave each group a song, props and costumes and let them come up with an act. One group had Little Mermaids "Under the Sea", and had a bunch of Hawaiian clothes, blow up fish, bubbles and even a mermaid costume. I can't remember the other group's song, but they had all sorts of funky clothes. We gave them 15 minutes and then we came back to the gym to start the show.

We had a couple of piano numbers, a saxophone, a joke teller, two brothers showed their juggling stick talents, a lip sync and a dance number, along with the two group numbers in-between. Everyone had a great time and I was impressed with the talent and the goofiness that abounds in our youth!

This activity can be used to complete Individual Worth value experience #4)

Fireman Appreciation

We had a bit of a service project last week for Mutual. We had all the girls bring a treat of some sort, cookies, brownies, crispie treats, candy, anything that was sweet and finger food. We filled cellophane goody bags with the treats and tied them up with ribbons. We had a couple of baskets that we filled up with the goody bags, and we had a cute card for each basket. (one of the leaders made a card with a little fire truck and ambulance on the front) All the girls and leaders wrote a thank you note in the cards.

We loaded up in our cars and went to deliver to the two local fire stations. We knocked on their door and had one of the girls be our spokes person. She told them that we wanted to show our appreciation for them and gave them the treats.

At the second station we got a tour. We were shown all around the station inside, then were shown the trucks and ambulances. It was really interesting, and I loved it. (I have never done a firestation tour before). We asked a lot of questions and learned a lot. All of the girls really enjoyed it.

I looked in the personal progress book to see if this activity could be used to pass off an experience, and it does! It is knowledge number 5.

Modest is Hottest

This was a two part project that one of our Laurels did for her Choice and Accountability value project. It was FANTASTIC!!

Part One: photo shoot

Invitations were given to all the young women to come and bring any great fancy dresses, or vintage clothes or anything fun to wear that was modest. We also brought lots of accessories: jewelry, shoes, bags, scarves, gloves, and props like fans, umbrellas etc...

We had some photographers from the ward come in and shoot the pictures, (we had three photographers there, and two were professionals.) We set up in the Cultural Hall. The photographers had the big white fabric background set up along with their professional lighting equipment. We also had a fan, for that windblown look. It looked so great.

The girls also had a "dressing room" set up in the other part of the hall. We grabbed the coat rack to hang all the clothes on. We had a big table set up with mirrors for hair and makeup. There was a full length mirror and tables with the accessories. And they made a little changing room with the rolling chalkboards draped with fabric.

The clothes were awesome. She wanted more of a fancy to fantasy type of show, so we had some great old prom dresses and oriental costmes, a wedding dress, and some great 80's sequined stuff. Some of the dresses were kind of victorian, some looked like they were from the music man. And there were lots of really pretty fancy dresses too. We even had a hippy outfit.

Each girl got to get their picture taken with about 3 outfits. During the whole thing we had some fun pop music playing in the background that she had selected. (I'm Walking on Sunshine, and other fun songs) Many of the girls said that this was the funnest thing they had ever done, it was truly a blast.


Part two: the slide show

Last night was part two. Again we had invitations for this night, and the young womens Moms were invited along with the 8-11 year old girls and their Moms. Everyone was asked to bring a treat to share for refreshments.

She had the projector and screen set up and connected to the computer. The night started with the presentation of the photo shoot. The pictures were compiled into a slide show and she played the same music along with it. The pictures were fabulous.

After the show, the Stake Young Womens president give a talk on modesty. She compared the look of the temple to the look of a Casino, and talked about how outward appearance depicts what is going on inside.

Then a Mom give an object lesson on modesty. She had the same idea and took a picture of the temple and said what if we wanted to get more people there, would we put all these flashing lights and signs all around it? (she added a bunch of crazy signs to the picture) She showed that we don't need to draw crazy attention to ourselves by dressing immodestly, and our inner beauty will always be all we need.

Next up was dressing for your body type tips. Myself and the YW president went through some printouts that our Laurel had compiled about what types of bodies we might have and the best clothes to wear for each type. We also went over some basic fashion tips.

Then one of the Laurels bore her testimony on dressing modestly and then our Laurel in charge talked about what boys think. She had previously asked the older young men in our ward to write down what they thought about girls modesty. She read their answers and they all were pro-modesty. She then bore her testimony on how Modest is Hottest!

We closed the meeting and ate all the yummy goodies.

Each girl got a handout of the YM responses and the fashion tips. And each YW got a cd of all the pictures. (I loved this, because there are some AWESOME shots, and my daughter was in it too!)

This activity is one of my all-time favorites too, and one the girls will always remember!

Etiquette Dinner

This week we had our Etiquette Dinner. While it was a bit of work, and a lot of clean up, it turned out fantastic, and I think the kids really enjoyed it and hopefully learned something.

I made up some simple invitations and we asked the kids to come dressed nice, in Sunday clothes.

We asked the RS sisters if they would help out by signing up to set a fancy dinner table for us. We asked for:

dinner plates
salad plates
bread plates
soup bowls
glasses
silverware
butter dish
bread bowl
pitcher for water
centerpiece
napkins

I know it is a lot, we had the sisters just bring what they could and we substituted in dishes from the kitchen where needed.

We had four tables set for 6-7 people. We also wanted better lighting than cultural hall florescents, so we brought a bunch of floor and table lamps and set those up all around the room, and it was so pretty! I also had some classical music playing softly in the background.

The menu was simple, since we were cooking it all there. We served it in courses:

1. french onion soup
   
2. salad (made with spring mix lettuce, Craisins, sliced almonds with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing)
3. main course: pasta with broccoli and Alfredo sauce, with Parmesan cheese on top
4. dessert was this awesome chocolate cake from Costco with shaved chocolate on it, YUM.

on each table we had rolls, butter and a pitcher of lemon water.

Here is how the night went:

The kids looked fantastic, some boys had suits on and a few girls even wore some fancy formal dresses. Everyone was dressed nice. After opening exercises in the RS room we went into a section of the cultural hall (separate from the dining area) and we had a learning demonstration on dining etiquette. I had set up another table there with one place setting. I taught how to set the table properly, napkin use, silverware use, how to eat each course and other general knowledge as well as seating etiquette. (I used a couple of etiquette books and looked online for info, or you could have a guest speaker come in and teach. The book I found most useful was "the Complete Idiots Guide to Etiquette")

After about 20 minutes we went into the RS room again and had a 10 minute lesson on social etiquette. (cell phones, opening doors, introductions, etc...)

Next we had an etiquette quiz. I printed up a quiz to pass out and have the kids take. We then were to go over answers and I had a bowl of fancy chocolates to hand out for correct answers. (We actually ran short on time for this so I just asked the questions and had them raise their hands to answer.)

Click here for the quiz
(to download it, look in the yellow box to the left of the text where it says download and click on one of the icons next to the word)

Next it was time to eat. (while we were having the classes the food was being prepared in the kitchen by the leaders so it was ready to go.)
The youth were seated and a couple of the leaders were the servers. The meal went great and everyone had a good time. (ok, except for the 15 minutes in the middle of dinner when one of the scouts pulled the fire alarm and we had to endure the insanely loud noise!, so we stood in the parts of the hall were the sound wasn't so deafening until it was turned off by the fire chief- who happens to be the bishop of the other ward in the building!)

I can't wait till Sunday to get some feedback from the kids, and I hope some of the things we talked about stick.

Armor Of God

This was a fun activity for choice and accountability.

I first started with an object lesson:
Get an orange and a clear bowl or pitcher and fill it with water - make sure that it is not so full that when the orange is submerged that it overflows, and the bowl has to be deep enough to see the orange floating/ sinking.

Explain that the orange represents each girl. It is sweet and has great things to offer. It is also protected by its thick skin. The skin represents the Armor of God. The water represents the world and all things worldly.
Place the orange in the water and point out how it floats, just like our own personal testimony and obedience keeps us afloat in a wicked world. It is important to keep your Armor of God intact.

Take the orange out of the water.
Explain that you can get chinks in your armor if you don't make good choices.
As you list the bad decisions that they might make peel pieces of the orange peel off.

Examples of bad choices are;
got home late
wore that skirt that is just a little too short
talked back to your mom
copied someones homework instead of doing it on your own
didn't read your scriptures
slept in instead of going to seminary
told a bit of a lie to avoid getting into trouble
didn't keep a promise you made
watched an inappropriate movie
that bad word just slipped out of your mouth!

etc. until the orange has no peel left.

Now drop the orange back into the water and watch it sink. The point is made that without our protective Armor in place we are sunk, and it happens with small choices that we make each day!

I then read this exerpt from an Ensign article by President N. Eldon Tanner (May 1979)

"Are we studying the scriptures so that we can increase our knowledge and faith and testimony regarding the gospel? Do we keep the commandments? Are we honest and truthful in our dealings? Do we keep the Sabbath day holy? Do we observe the Word of Wisdom? Do we pay an honest tithing? Do we attend our meetings and respond to the calls made of us by our authorities? Are we virtuous and clean and pure in heart and mind and deed?

Do we fight against the evils around us—pornography, abortion, tobacco, alcohol, drugs? Do we have the courage to stand up for our convictions? Can we truly say we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Do we live peaceably with our neighbors and avoid gossip and backbiting and spreading unfounded rumors? Do we truly love our neighbors as ourselves?

If we can answer yes to these questions, then we will have on the whole armor of God, which will protect us from harm and preserve us from our enemies. If we must answer no to these questions, then our armor is weak, there is an unshielded place which can be found, a vulnerable area for attack, and we will be subject to injury or destruction by Satan, who will search until he finds our weaknesses, if we have them.

Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. No matter how antiquated or lacking in parts your armor may be, always remember that it is within your power to make the necessary adjustments to complete your armor.

Through the great principle of repentance you can turn your life about and begin now clothing yourself with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments."

Next we had the Armor of God activity:

We read the scripture that describes the armor of god :Ephesians 6:11-17
And made a list of all the pieces:

• Helmet of Salvation
• Breastplate of Righteousness
• Belt of Truth
• Shield of Faith
• Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God
• Shod with the Gospel of Peace

I brought a bunch of supplies and had the girls construct and armor of God. They made and decorated each piece.
We used paper bags, a pizza round (for the shield) pipe cleaners, paper plates, yarn, markers, a hole punch, a long balloon (for the sword) and craft paper. Of course you can use anything you want, or have on hand. It is all about letting the girls get creative.
When it was all made we had one of the girls put it on and we took a picture of the group. It was really cute.

**I did this activity with about 4 girls, just our Beehive class, but you could do it for a bigger group and maybe make a few "outfits" and model them all at the end.

Beach Party

This one is great for when going to the actual beach isn't going to happen. We had this as a joint activity with the guys.

• We started outside with a beach towel water balloon tossing contest and some frisbee throwing. It then got dark so we moved inside.
• We spread out beach towels and blankets on the gym floor and had a picnic. We ate hot dogs and chips and that kind of stuff. In the background we had the Beach Boys playing.
  
• We then had a limbo contest. (I even had the limbo song playing!)
• Next was the hula hoop contest, that was entertaining when some of the leaders gave it a try.
• Then was the sandcastle building contest. For this I made a bunch of batches of sand play dough (see recipe below) We divided into 3 groups for this - beehives & deacons, teachers & mia maids, and laurels & priests) We had the bishopric judge the castle creations.
• We then played some indoor volleyball with a monster volleyball, or you could use a blow up beach ball.
• Last but not least we announced the winners of the sandcastle contest - and everyone won in some "category" or another that the bishopric made up. We handed out candy leis to all the contest winners from whole night and we made sure everyone won at something so everyone got one. (Look below for instructions for making the leis.)
  

You could do this activity in the winter when everyone needs some summer fun, and just omit the water balloon part.

Sand Dough

• 2 cups sand
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup water

Boil the water then add in the sand and cornstarch and mix mix mix, use those muscles!

Easy Candy Leis

You will need:

• saran wrap
• candy
• curling ribbon
• scissors

On a large table, or counter, or on the floor (the clean floor) unroll a bunch of the saran wrap to the length you want the lei. Place a piece of candy every few inches. Fold over the saran wrap to wrap up the candy. Tie a 6 inch (approx) piece of curling ribbon in between each candy. Tie the two ends together to make the necklace. Et Voila! an awesome candy lei!

note:You can trim the ribbon short or curl it up, what ever you like. I used three different colors of ribbon too.

forcing bulbs

Here is a Tuesday night activity we had on Faith. I gave a spiritual thought on the "seeds of faith" and what is a flower bulb but a big seed?, so I taught how to force bulbs. I bought a bunch of Paper White narcissus bulbs, because they can be forced without a cooling period. Here are directions on forcing the bulbs:

Fill a shallow bowl or pot with two to three inches of pebbles, pea gravel, coarse sand, or pearl chips to within one inch of the rim. Add water until it barely reaches the top of the gravel. Set the bulbs on top of the gravel and hold in by filling with enough gravel to cover the bottom quarter of each bulb. The water level should be constantly maintained. Keep the bulbs in a cool (55º to 60 ºF), low-light area until they are well rooted and shoots start to appear. Then bring the bulbs into a sunny, warm location. Discard these bulbs after flowering, since all of their stored food is used.

Help the girls plant their bulbs and then have them set a faith goal of praying every day, reading scripts or something they want to develop a habit of. And everyday when they check the water for their bulbs and see the growth it is a reminder to work on their goal that day. After a few weeks the plants will bloom and by then the girls will have developed a new habit and be reaping the fruits of their faith as well as enjoying their beautiful flowers.

the 6 Be's

Wierdly enough I started thinking about doing this theme the Sunday morning on the day President Hinkley passed. I know that this theme has been around for a while, but I haven't been inspired to do it yet. The original talk is called "A Prophet's Counsel and Prayer for Youth" (New Era, Jan 2001, pg 4)

My plan is to have a weeknight activity, one a month, based on one of the 6 Be's.
I will read the section of the talk on the "Be" for that night, discuss it with the girls and have an activity relating to it. So here is my plan of activities:

• Be grateful: make some thank-you cards
• Be smart: exercise those brains with some fun word games, ie: Boggle, Scattergories, etc...
• Be clean: learn how to make soap ( I am thinking of using one of these Martha Stewart tutorials)
• Be true: play "truth or dare", there is a really great, clean & fun version HERE!
  
• Be humble: make a "Humble Pie" and while it is baking read and discuss Steven Covey's "Humble Pie recipe" (having the girls help read the "ingredients") then have a slice of Humble Pie!
  
• Be prayerful: decorate a pillowcase with a prayer reminder on it. I am thinking of either embroidering "did you think to pray"on the edge, or I like this pillowcase painting tutorial - and I would just substitute in a prayer type poem or song lyric.
  

Heart Attack!

This is one of my favorites. Have the girls cut out hearts and write nice notes on them. Then go "attack" your victim! Decorate the front door of someone's house (inactive girls, someone sick or injured, or the bishops car...) by taping the hearts all over. This doesn't have to be only for Valentines day, it can be anytime of the year someone needs some love.

I have also read that for Easter someone "egged" a house. Cut out and decorate paper eggs and tape those up. Leave an Easter basket of goodies to go along with it!

value project ideas

Here is an awesome list of ideas for value projects. It is really inspiring, and helps get the girls thinking of creative projects to do that are fun and different.

• Youth Camp Leader : training and devotionals
• Make finger puppets for a children's hospital (they get their fingers poked a lot)
• Crosstitch a sampler
• Needlepoint a pillow case or tablecloth
• Learn and become certified in First Aid and CPR and teach it to others
• Start and maintain an exercise program
• Write the YW Sacrament Program
• Learn sign language for some songs and sing and sign them in Sacrament Mtg
• Write a personal history for your Mother, Father, and Grandparents to present as a gift
• Organize a family reunion
• Make temple scrunchies and baptismal clothing to donate
• Train a dog to be obedient and do tricks
• Babysit for Relief Society Enrichment night for 5 months, plan activities for the children
• Compile and distribute a monthly YW Newsletter for 6 months
• Make and bring Sacrament bread for 6 weeks, must let Priesthood leaders know
• Temple work!! Find names and go to the temple to be baptized for them
• Organize a Ward Toy Drive for the Nursery, and wash existing toys
• Make monthly Personal Progress reminders to hand out to every YW for 6 months
• Humanitarian Aid-check lds.org for official list
• Make FHE kits to give to families in the ward, 3 months' worth-including recipes, games, lessons
• Do service, keep a Service Journal to log in your hours
• Plan and cook 10 meals for your family
• Make value-colored rag flip-flops for each YW
• Compile a collection of your writings, poetry, and/or art, photography
• Organize and de-clutter your attic or garage (with a parent's permission)
• Sew 5 quillows to give as gifts
• Offer to do free babysitting for 10 hours to a family in the ward
• Train for and participate in a 5K walk or run
• Read any book of scripture in 60 days (Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Old or New Testament)
• Make a personal history scrapbook
• Tutor
• Plan our Young Women in Excellence Program including decorations and refreshments
• Practice and present a musical number for YWIE with your voice or an instrument, can be a duet
• Write weekly letters of support and encouragement to a Missionary for 3 months
• Watch general conference, all 4 sessions, and the Young Women general session. Then write in your journal how it applies to the value that you are working on and how it affects their life. (Idea by Jill Hansen)
• Be in charge of New Beginnings or Young Women in Excellence
• "My daughters invited girls ages 4-11 to be taught dance (Ballet) in our home. We had weekly classes, broken up by age, from September through December and then had a recital at the stake center. This was such an awesome event. The classes were free and we had costumes and a stage. It ended up being a 52 hour project but they had a blast." (Michelle Eyring / 05-18-2007)
• Adopt-a-family for Christmas - "First my daughter sold frozen, homemade, cookie dough. She took orders with the option of 2 different flavors and then made up the rolls of cookie dough and froze them and delivered them. The families knew what the funds were going towards and were more than happy to pay $4.00 each (about a $2.00 profit). She made $300! The we asked our bishop if there was a family in the ward or stake that could use a Christmas. We ended up adopting a sweet elderly widow who was in the hospital over the Christmas holiday. My daughter did some investigating to find out the needs and wants of this sister and we filled a GIANT stocking with little treasures including gift cards to places she enjoyed shopping at but couldn’t do so very often because of her fixed income. We had our bishop deliver it to her on Christmas Eve anonymously. It ended up being a fun project for the whole family."
  
• Learn how to make different kinds of bread by hand (wheat bread, white bread & French bread). Donate some to your ward to be used for the Sacrament.
• Memorize the Living Christ.
• Re-decorate your bedroom. Stick with a budget. Learn how to properly prepare to paint, wallpaper, or whatever you desire. Research topics, ideas and carry out.
• Find quotes from church leaders about each value. Then they type them on the computer using different fonts for each quote and print them out on the appropriate color paper. Put this in a binder and use it on Sundays for a thought to go with the value. It also can be used it in activity night opening exercises for a thought.
• "One thing I am planning on doing is to learn how to do name extractions for the Family History Center. These end up being the "Temple File" names at the temple.... obviously at the temple! You learn how to do it from someone at the FHC and then you do packets once a month, or how ever often you have time for. I am not exactly sure what you have to do, but you have to have a computer, and that's it! So, that might be something to look in to, and also you will be helping those people to be getting their Temple work done."
• Using handouts and church resources, put together a Family Home Evening Book for your family to use. You could adapt this and make a devotional book for seminary instead.
• Help at a soup kitchen.
• Learn to play a song on any instrument of choice and then perform it in sacrament meeting, Young Women or school.
• Babysit for free on a regular basis to help a struggling family, single parent, etc. while they attend the temple.
• One of our Young Women did something so great. She has a little brother who is four years old and loves books. She sat down with him and they made up a story with him as the hero of the story. She wrote it down and then secretly made him his own storybook... complete with pictures of him, colored illustrations, etc. She then had it laminated and bound and gave it to him. Her Mom reports he just LOVES "his" book. (Idea by Stephanie Thomas)
• Organize a card drive in your ward for the Ronald McDonald House - They want cards (new handmade or store bought) or card fronts (used). All houses have a need for cards to give to the families for the sick children. The families use them to cheer up the sick ones or to thanks others who help their family during their time of need. You can donate directly to your local Ronald McDonald Houses as well. It would save you the cost of postage. Over 700 cards were donated this year. For more information write or contact or Sherrill Graff, 605 Kendrick Place, Boulder City, Nevada 89005. You can also e-mail her at istmpnv@aol.com
• Plan and carry out a modesty fashion show.
• Design a service project to honor the wives of those serving in the bishopric. Give them a heart attack, wash their car, offer to do one hour of chores for ten weeks, etc.
• Learn canning. Have someone teach you how. There are so many possibilities. It is such a practical skill that very few are capable of.
• Train for a half marathon. Keep a log of your daily preparations and progress, particularly how you feel.
• "My niece went to a Homeless Shelter each month for a year and through a birthday party for the children who had a birthday that month. She got a clown to come and do some tricks, and she gave presents to the children who did have a birthday that month. Everyone got cupcakes and balloons. It was a great experience for her."
• Sew your own temple dress for when you go to the temple.
  
• "One girl helped a large LDS family by teaching the newly adopted children as well as the biological children learn the Articles of Faith. She taught them songs and the principles behind each article of faith. It was great for her. She went to there home each week for 13 weeks and spent a couple of hours with them."
• Mentor one of the younger girls through her personal progress--especially one who doesn't have the support of her parents.
• Be the Young Womens "historian" with a digital camera. Then print out and make a display of all the activities for YWIE. Or you can make a dvd or slide show presentation and have an "awards show" night.
• Plant garden to grow vegetables
• Play in band or orchestra or maybe be also a flag twirler for the marching band
  
• Paint flower pots and plant inexpensive flowers and take to a rest home
• Cross stitching the YW theme in the value colors
• Sew a dress for a fancy occasion (ie: bridesmaid, formal dance etc...)
  
• "One girl did a power point presentation of her brother to show during his baptism. It turned out really good." (Idea by Daphne Brimhall)
• Make a recipe box and then fill it with recipes. Cooked meals for your family every Sunday for a month. (Idea by Daphne Brimhall)
• "My daughter did a Sub-for-Santa by going to the County Social Services, and requesting a family to give Christmas to. She asked for a small family as she might do it entirely by herself. She got the kids at seminary to help a little by asking them to donate time, presents and/or money. She got some help from them and did the rest herself. It was great for her she learned so much and had the joy that comes from serving". (Idea by Dixie)
• read “using New Media to Support the Work of the Church” by Elder M. Russell Ballard Then start a blog!
• Or come up with your own idea and talk it over with your Young Women’s Leader. It’s all about being creative, and having fun while doing your Personal Progress!

Value Colored Popcorn

This is so good, I use it all the time, and since Jello comes in all sorts of colors you can make popcorn the color of the value you are working with!

Jello Popcorn:
15 cups popped corn
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cube butter
1 large box jello (any flavor)
1 tsp baking soda

Put the popped corn in a brown paper grocery sack.
In a saucepan combine the butter, corn syrup and jello powder and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as the jello is dissolved remove from heat and add the baking soda and mix well. Pour the mixture over the popcorn in the bag and stir it around a bit. Fold over the bag and stuff into the microwave for 1 minute. Remove, shake it up a bunch and turn the bag upside down and stuff it back in the micro. Cook it for 30 seconds, remove and shake some more. Put it in the micro one more time for 1 minute, shake, and pour it out onto a cookie sheet to cool. Once it is cool break it up and enjoy!