What Makes You Beautiful Activity

So I found this super cute video on youtube, a lipsync version of "What Makes You Beautiful" by the Young Men in the stake that they made for the girls to watch at camp.  I loved the message and the idea that what makes our girls beautiful is their desire to do right.  So I based this whole activity on this concept and also the 13th Article of Faith.  We have a couple of girls turning 12 this year and this fulfills one of the requirements for Preparing for Young Women.  

This video is on youtube.  There are several other versions-all of them are great!  This one didn't have as many buffering issues!

First of all, we talked about what beauty is.  What did the girls think was beautiful?  What does the world think is beautiful?  How are they different?  I read them this quote:

You can find the beautifulquote  here.  It is a jpg of two sized for 81/2x11.

Then we split into two groups.  One group worked on this questionnaire:

    You can find this mirror printable here.

The second group made this tiara.  It is printable!  We just cut them out and then added some adhesive rhinestones where ever they wanted.  

         
You can find the tiara printable here.



Then we took a picture in the "beauty booth".  I just took a trifold display board, like for science fairs, but it was PINK!  (Hobby Lobby, if you want to know where I got it.)  I simply added the caption  Be-"You"-Tiful and then the attributes listed in the 13th article of faith.  Here are a couple of shots of my own girls.

We finished the evening off by watching the video and choosing some treats from our candy bar-I labeled several different treats with "praiseworthy", "of good report", "virtuous", etc. 

They took their treats home in these little takeout boxes I ordered a million years ago and hadn't used yet.  They are small, so it wasn't like they took home a ton of candy.  I just taped on a little label found here with some cute washi tape.  Easy peasy.  BTW, there are some other super cute printables of the 13th article of faith at that site.

My awesome partner brought some cupcakes as well, but you could just do the candy bar.  I like the idea of choosing/seeking after--you could do a much bigger display than we did.  It was a simple activity that got the girls thinking about something important with a little bit of fun.  Enjoy!

Who is Your Scripture Superhero?

A couple of weeks ago, we did a scripture superhero activity.  I asked the girls to think about who was their scripture superhero and be prepared to talk about their superpower. ( I made these little invitations with clip art from the ldsblogtrain.  They did a month of scripture hero digital art.  Supercute!  And free, although some of the links no longer work. )

For a snack, we kept it "super"simple and just bagged up some cookies-to-go with a cute bag topper.  I also sent the girls home with mini notebooks and printed some of these covers and adhered them to each one.  They were little scripture journals for them to write their thoughts in as they read the scriptures.

So, on to the activity:  

After opening song, Scripture Power, of course, and prayer, I shared a quick message.  I used a talk by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, called In His Steps, as my basis.  He talks about how there is a great battle going on and how we need to fight.  "Great battles can make great heroes, but heroes will make great battle.  You will never have a better opportunity to be a greater hero in a more crucial battle than in the battle you will face today and in the immediate future."  You can find the talk here.  

I then asked each girl to tell us who her scripture hero was and what his/her superpower was.  I was amazed at the insight of these little girls as they shared.  Here are a few examples:

Ammon showed up several times.  He had superpowers of service, obedience, and work.  One of those girls said his superpower was doing what he was asked to do!  That is truly an amazing character trait nowadays!

Nephi was a hero because he was humble after he broke his bow and went to the prophet to ask where he should go to find food.  The girl who shared this said his superpower was not murmuring.  I wish I had that one!

Ruth was a hero because she followed her mother-in-law to a different place.  Her superpower was courage.

Esther was brave.

Joseph Smith was a superhero because he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  His superpower was that he knew he could talk to God.

Moroni, the son of Mormon, was a superhero because he stayed faithful and righteous all his life, and all on his own.

When everyone had a turn, we used these little "capes" to write some goals and ways that we could be like our superhero. 

I have to say, this is probably my favorite activity we have had so far.  It was super simple, but the spirit was so strong as the girls talked about the people they loved in the scriptures and shared the qualities they admired.  I know it is really fun to do crafty things with fun games and super snacks, but sometimes all you need is the gospel.  These sweet girls are truly amazing in their capacity to learn and understand the gospel!  Depending on how many girls you have, you may want to add a couple of different activities.  We had about 14, so it took our entire time to just do a couple of things.  I thought maybe a superhero obstacle course would be fun-maybe make a lego tower with a sign that says "temptation" on it for them to leap over.  Maybe some giant "barbells"  made of styrofoam balls and a dowel with labels of  "trials" and "adversity" on it.  I am sure there is a lot you could do!  Enjoy!

P.S.  You should be able to click on the images above and then right click and save.  They are made to print on 81/2x 11, but they are jpegs, so hopefully you can resize them for whatever you need.  If not, email me!  

here is the invite in word so you can put a text box with your details on it.  Email me if it doesn't work!

FHE lesson

This activity is super quick and easy...seriously.  We are having a lesson tonight on a recent talk by the prophet.  I chose the Race of Life from the April session of conference this year.  I am going to share with them the main points of Pres. Monson's talk-the plan of salvation, enduring to the end.  Then we will put together our own file folder for family night.  I printed off a lesson plan which can be found here.  I will have the girls draw their own diagram of the PofS and also jot down any other ideas they have that would specifically work for their family.   The rest of the time we will spend making this super simple ornament
found here

image from http://pinterest.com/pin/143481938099107665/

I am making it even easier for the girls by pre-cutting the red paper, cutting a black belt out of sticky-back felt, and using a tiny piece of gold pipe cleaner for the buckle on the belt.  We have 14-16 girls, so it has to be super simple and self-explanatory or we don't get finished in time.  I will post a pic of a finished one later. Have fun!

Tami

What is a testimony?

I received this activity idea from a reader and thought it would be fun to share.  Thank you for sharingJenna!

We had a lesson on testimonies, what testimonies are and what they aren't, and I shared with them a summary of the General Conference talk from April 2012 from Elder Donald L. Hallstrom:  "Converted to His Gospel through His Church".  

We played the Left-Right game, and then the girls finished up by writing their testimonies in their journals (which we asked them to bring that evening), or in their Faith in God booklets, or on a separate sheet of paper.  

Here is the Left-Right game that we used (I wrote it myself, based on a Christmas Left-Right game that I found online).  Everyone is free to copy, of course : ).



"Testimony Left-Right Game"

To play the Left-Right game, everyone sits in a circle, and passes the item or items to the person on their left whenever they hear the word LEFT in the story, or to the right when they hear the word RIGHT. When you're doing it at Christmastime it's a fun game for a White Elephant gift exchange, but since we weren't dealing with gifts, I just brought 15 stuffed animals to have fun passing around.  We were in our pajamas that night just for fun (I got that idea off of your blog, as a fun back to school idea), so  thought the stuffed animals would be a fitting addition .  The girls didn't "win" anything, but they had fun passing the different animals around and seeing which one they ended up with.  

One more thing--if the girls ended up by accident with two stuffed animals in their hands because of someone passing wrong, we had them toss one over their shoulder to eliminate it.  It added a few extra laughs.

The leader reads this story for the "passing instructions":

Testimony meeting was almost starting, and Sister RIGHT was late getting into her seat.
Brother RIGHT, Susie RIGHT, and Billy RIGHT were already sitting reverently with their arms folded.
"I can't find my scriptures," Sister RIGHT whispered--I thought we had LEFT them in the car."
"I LEFT them RIGHT by the front door like you asked me to," Brother RIGHT whispered back.
"Oh well, it should be all RIGHT, I can see if there are any LEFT to borrow from the library for my class today."

Just then, the first counselor in the bishopric got up to begin the meeting.
"Our bishop LEFT town for a family emergency so he LEFT me in charge of conducting today.
We will sing our opening hymn, Choose the RIGHT, followed by an opening prayer. 
We will then enjoy sharing testimonies with each other until there are just ten minutes LEFT of the meeting."

Billy RIGHT, Susie RIGHT, and the friend sitting on Susie's LEFT went up to the stand RIGHT after the prayer and bore their testimonies.
Everyone felt the Spirit. As they LEFT for home RIGHT after the meetings, they all agreed they had started their week off just RIGHT.


Jenna Lovell
-Myerstown PA

PJ Party AD kickoff!

So tonight we had our first Activity Days activity of the school year!  It was super easy and fun!  I thought it would be great to have a pajama party, mostly because I love being in my pajamas!  The girls came all dressed up in cute pjs and some of them even brought their american girl dolls with matching pjs!  Crazy!  We had a short lesson on what the word "breakfast" means.  We talked about how important it is to nourish our bodies every day.  Then we discussed 2 Ne. 31:20 and Moroni 6:4.  We discussed the difference between feasting, snacking, nibbling, and just looking at the menu.  We all committed to read our scriptures every day for a month.  I made a little chart for them to keep track(-it is actually just a four-week one, but I figure that way they can still complete it if they just read 28 days total).

Scripture chart can be found HERE

We played two games:  5 Little Monkeys and the PJ Relay.  Five little monkeys is a version of musical chairs.  Everyone stood in a circle with a paper plate on the ground to mark their spot.  You don't have to use a plate, I just thought it would be easier than making something.  We then chanted the 5 little monkeys rhyme while the girls walked around in a circle.  At the point where it says "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" I removed one plate.  Then the girls had to race for a spot.  The girl who was out went to the monkey "hospital" and we started again, this time with "4 little monkeys...."  I tried to keep it unpredictable by changing the number of plates I took away.  Sometimes I just removed one; sometimes I removed 3 or 4 at a time.

this super cute cake was found at andeverythingsweet.blogspot.com

The second game we played was the PJ Relay.  I just took two pj shirts and two pj bottoms out of my husband's drawer and two outdoor chairs.  I placed eacj set of  pjs on a chair.  We divided into two teams.  The first girl in line had to race to the chair, put on the pajamas, run back to the starting line, take them off, and then hand them to the next girl in line.  She raced to the chair, put on the pjs, ran back, took them off... you get the idea.  It was mucho fun!

For refreshments we had a yogurt parfait bar.  I just scooped some yogurt into a cup and they choose a topping or two-granola, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  Super easy and not too sugary!

The girls took home a cereal box favor with a reminder to study their scriptures.

Here is the jpeg.  I put these on those mini boxes of cereal you can buy in packs of 8, and tied a spoon on with a ribbon.

Find the pdf HERE

Hope this gets some creative juices flowing!  

Tami

Mother Daughter "Part of a Wonderful Bunch" Activity

This Mother daughter Activity was one of my favorites! The Theme was centered around the Family Proclamation, titled "Part of a Wonderful Bunch!" We first had a prep activity the week before the actual activity where the girls made invitations, made letters, and were filmed for their part of a movie we made, "A-Z in the Family Proclamation." You can find a copy of the ABC quotes for the family proclamation at www.beinglds.blogspot.com Both Mothers and daughters read a part of the proclamation with their letter and then I pieced it together to one movie and we showed the film on the evening of our activity. It was fun but took some work!
We also asked each girl to tell us a famous "quote" or "saying" their mother uses often. Some of the answers included "this place is a pig sty!", and "believe in possibilities". I wish I could remember more. We had the girls guess who said what the night of the activity.

Here's a look at the invitation. I do not have this to share with you as it was a cut out used by another leader not on the computer. The girls cut it out and put it together. the stem opened up and read...

A family doesn't "leaf" you hanging on a vine
with a Mothers love you'll always be fine

Families "cling" together and help each other.
making you feel close to one another.

If you come to our party, I have a hunch
you'll "proclaim" you are part of a wonderful bunch!

and of course then we had the date, time, and place

This stand of grapes greeted our Mothers and daughters as they entered the cultural hall where our party was at.
When they first arrived we had a few tables set up in the back where we had a craft project for the girls to make with their Moms. They started it by painting a 4x6"wood block black and letting it dry while we waited for everyone to get there.
directions...
At the end of the activity, the girls finished their craft by adding this saying we printed on cardstock, distressed with some stamp ink, and made into a sticker. All they had to do was peel and stick.
A little ribbon was added to the top to finish it off. You can download the quote HERE
The Mothers/daughters were asked to bring a food dish special to their family to share. This table was set up to hold all the yummy food items.
We gave them these cards to label their special food. Unfortunately I don't have a copy to share but it would be easy to make your own!
here are a few things the girls brought to share...
Favorite treats, Christmas eve dishes, braided bread their grandmother made, homemade salsas from their gardens, and foods that are a tradition were things that showed up at our table.
It was a great mix of food we enjoyed. Notice the letters behind the table...They are the letters the girls made for the movie we made and the part of the proclamation they read. We used them to decorate too!

We used this decorated wall to take a picture of each mother and daughter together.

These balloons were our table centerpiece.
These were the place settings. All going along with our Grape theme.
I loved the little touch of candy grapes tied to the forks. All the party supplies came from Party Land.

A glance at the decorated room. To my right in the back was the craft table and to the left was the food table. We had the projector set up in the center for our special movie presentation.
So a run down of the activity went like this...
Girls arrived, put their food on the table and painted a wood block
Then they got their picture taken with their mom and had a seat
Next we had our opening prayer, shared the family proclamation movie we made(lots of giggles watching ourselves speak!)
Then we ate dinner
After eating for a bit and visiting we played our game of famous quotes and tried to guess which mother said what?!?
Next we talked about families and motherhood and shared a special Mormon message from Stephanie Nielsen about Motherhood which you can find here. I was able to download it for free from ITunes to my computer and then project it on the screen for everyone to see.
Lastly we had a prayer and then the girls finished their craft project to take home.

We also had a packet for each family to take home that included the family Proclamation and a FHE Lesson about the Family Proclamation which you can find on www.beinglds.blogspot.com
Both the ABC quotes we used for the movie and the packet can be found and downloaded for free through this site. Be sure to leave her a comment of appreciation!

It really is wonderful to be part of a bunch!

I hope you enjoy these ideas for your next Mother/Daughter Activity!

Kristen :)

Jump Rope & Hopscotch

Tonight we did an end of the summer celebration with Jump Rope and Hopscotch games. Then finished off with simple popsicles. The girls loved it!

Jump Ropes from oriental Trading (or have them bring from home)
Sidewalk chalk and rocks to draw hopscotch
Cheap Popsicles (or not)

I did a quick search on jump rope rhymes. While looking I found a whole world of jump rope competition I wasn't aware of - so I told them about that. Also the history of hopscotch is interesting. The rhymes, hopscotch history, and a few jump rope moves are all included in this document. It's not pretty, I didn't use it as a handout.

Booklet about Dad

In honor of Father's Day, we made up little booklets for the girls to fill out with their Dads. The idea was for them to spend a bit of time together as well as get to know him a bit better, talking about things they might not usually talk about. They wrote a question on each page that they were to talk to their dad about and then write it in.

Prep:
*Get a picture of the girl and her Dad. This is the hardest part ;) I then got prints of them all.
*Made booklets by cutting cardstock in half & folding. I used the schools extra long stapler to staple the binding. I used color for the cover and white for the pages.
*Printed off question list ideas, Dad 'stickers' (thanks to this super cute kit), bag tag.
*Brought white paper lunch sacks, wrapping ribbon and microwave popcorn.
*Glue sticks, scissors from supply box.

The popcorn was the most expensive part - so you could leave that out or use a different treat.

Missionary night!

Tonight we will be focusing on missionary work-we don't live in Utah with 20 missionaries out in the field, so missionaries are a big deal around here!
We will have a quick lesson about missionary preparation. I packed a duffel bag because it is already 90 degrees and I don't want to go up in my attic! Anyway, we will unpack the suitcase/duffel bag and talk about the following items:

Scriptures- studying the gospel
Pot- cooking skills
Sewing kit-basic sewing skills
Shoes-missionaries walk a lot
Missionary tag-I used my old one
Preach my gospel- studying each day with companion
Piggy bank-financial prep
Clock-early rising/time management
Tithing slip-paying a full tithe before/support from ward members
Temple picture-receiving endowment
Picture of Christ-developing a testimony of the Savior


Also, we will be writing letters, drawing pictures, and making packages for the elder and the couple in our ward serving.

I made some cupcakes that I tried to make look like a tag! :)

The girls are bringing stuff to put in packages for the missionaries.

Sorry, if you came by earlier and saw the HUGE pictures!  I actually blogged from my iphone and couldn't figure out how to edit the photos!  :)

Tami

Gym Girls

We felt like we have been having too many sit down and color/draw/cut sort of activites. So we used our gym time this past week and let loose. The girls LOVED it. We asked them to come in gym shoes and be ready to play.

I stopped by the $ store for three ribbons to give as prizes.

I dug through the garage for a basket ball, bat & plastic ball, beach ball.
We played three simple games-

Basketball Blackout
Baseball Target (hit the ball at a wall panel)
Volleyball (with the beach ball). This was between two girls at a time, each match eliminating until the final winner.

You would think the ribbons were made of gold with how badly they wanted to win. We did have two girls who won twice each but they were kind enough to let a third girl (second place) take home the third ribbon. So be ready for the "if one of you wins two ribbons" sort of decision.

Simple, cheap, and active!

Conference Goodness

Okay, I know this is after the fact, but we did a Conference Activity Day the week before General Conference.  I thought I would go ahead and share what we did, because six months from now, we will have conference again!  Let me start by saying that none of these ideas are original, and I hope that I give credit to the right people.  Thanks for sharing all of your amazing ideas with the rest of us!

We started off with a review of the song, Latter Day Prophets.  You can just grab the pix off of lds.org and use the prophets' pictures for your visual aids.  Next, we divided into two groups and played two different games.  The first group played a version of Don't Eat Pete, which we cleverly renamed Don't Eat the Apostle!  Or, you could also say Prophet, since they are all prophets, seers, and revelators.  We used this great picture of the First Presidency and the Twelve as our game board, found on Pinterest. I think you can just click on this and save it, since it is a jpeg.  If not, click here for the googledoc.

For those of you who have never played this game, here are the rules:

1.  Place a piece of candy on every picture.
2.  One person, who is "it", leaves the room.
3.  Everyone else decides who shouldn't be "eaten"
4.  The person who is "it" comes back and as they pick up candy, they name the apostle underneath.  If they pick the apostle who shouldn't be eaten, everyone yells, "Don't Eat the Apostle"!
5.  Repeat until you are all deaf.

The second group played memory with these cards
from a year of FHE

These cards are great, because they not only have a picture of all the apostles, but there is an interesting fact on each one.

We also learned all the apostles names, in order of seniority, while pointing at their picture and singing their names to the tune of the  "Books of the Book of Mormon" song.  You can find a picture of the Apostles in order, like this one, also here at A Year of FHE. 

To finish off the night, we played 1st Presidency Fruit Basket!  I gave each of the girls a picture of one of the members of the First Presidency.  Luckily, it was warm enough to play outside, because this got a little rowdy!

I sent each girl home with this great Conference Activity Packet that I got from sugardoodle.

.  It was a great way to prepare for General Conference and become more familiar with the prophet and the leaders of our church.  Enjoy in six months!  :)

Tami

Knitting Nancy's

We did a simple, cheap activity the girls really enjoyed.

All you need are toilet paper rolls, Popsicle sticks, tape, scissors, and yarn.

We had the girls bring yarn and we provided the rest.

Check out all the neat pictures and instructions from this cool website!

We challenged them to continue working on them at home. The longest rope at the next activity would get a prize. We had two girls bring back 10 feet + ropes! Be prepared with two treats.

Easter

Our Easter lesson was prepped in a day. SO, it was simple.

I found this cute Jelly Bean poem here, printed, and made little bags of beans. They loved them.

Then I had printed on cardstock a booklet from this months Friend,

The Story of Easter, for them to color. We sewed the binding by hand with embroidery floss. Just to make it more difficult, I mean cute.