Just saying the word budget kind of makes ya cringe huh?! Working with a budget in Activity days is tricky sometimes. I have received some emails asking about our budget. I will share with you my wards budget and I hope this doesn't create any hurt feelings. In my ward we have 2 groups totaling 16 girls. We get 45 cents per girl per activity for our budget. We also have been told not to use our own money! That is the hardest part for me. But the reason for this is to make it so that the person after us doesn't feel like they have to spend their own money to do fun activities. We also get a $75 budget for the mother/Daughter and Daddy/Daughter activity.
To work with these guidelines I try to do several FREE activities and then do one that costs money. Also, if I have supplies for an activity at my home I use them and I don't turn in a receipt for it. I consider it a donation. There are lots of fun things you can do with your girls that don't cost money like...
-Going for a bike ride
-visiting a church history site
-Taking a tour of different work places and seeing what they do
-Cleaning the sacrament trays
-Doing yard work for a neighbor
-Learning how to garden at your house! Let the girls help with your yard work!
-Having an Article-of-faith-a-thon (more details on that soon)
-Learning how to sew with leftover fabric scraps from ward members(we printed dot to dot papers for practice)
-Learning to play a new sport
-Visiting the temple visitors center and watching a movie there
-Doing a recipe exchange
-Writing letters to missionaries
-Writing to pen pal's (more on this soon to come)
-Learning to bake bread (I'm already making this each week so why not let them help and learn. You could even use some of the bread for the sacrament on Sunday)
-Swim party or splash pad-cosider inviting a life guard from your local pool to teach the girls safety tips. we did this and it was a hit!)
-Visit a bank and learn about budgeting and how the bank is ran. They might even have free giveaways for your girls
-Visit someone with animals like horses and have them share how to care for them Make sure to get permission slips if any riding takes place.
Think about your ward and the skills people have and consider having someone come to talk about what they do.
I do lots of these simple activities and the girls actually love them just as much as making a craft or doing something that costs money. SIMPLIFY your Activity DAYS and spend more time getting to know your girls. You will find a lot of enjoyment even on a small budget!
What is your budget? I would like to know. Please share in the comments your ideas for NO COST Activities so we can all benefit!
Thanks these are great ideas. Love them! We have asked about our budget and haven't gotten any answers?? So we don't spend hardly anything other than we did a daddy/daughter Halloween party last year.
ReplyDeleteWe just did a fun no-cost activity. We found older board games and divided the group into 4 groups of 3-4 (we did this randomly so they were forced to be outside their comfort zone). The girls had a lot of fun. Each game had the rules printed out so the group had to figure out how to play. We let them play each game for about 20 minutes then switched. The games we played were Pig Mania, Water Works, Dominoes, and Jenga. I was surprised how many girls had never played Dominoes!! The girls have asked to do it again.
ReplyDeleteThis is my third year in activity days. If I remember, our budget was $100 for the whole year. I think they gave us an additional $50 for a daddy daughter date. We average about 30 girls for each activity!!! Yikes I know! Unfortunately, our primary president had said to use our own money. I think I threw such a big stink, 1. that's just not enough money 2. I don't think our callings should cost us money. They eventually split us into 2 groups and gave us 80 bucks each. We have a new president now, and I don't dare ask the budget! lol, I just figure, be frugal, and she'll approach me if we over spend.
ReplyDeleteWe get 100 dollars for the whole year too.
ReplyDeleteThey cut our budget completely for our group of about 30 girls. They gave it all to the scouts! I used my own money because I felt like the girls deserved it. Recently moved and in a new ward with 3 girls and we have a budget of 100 for the year!
ReplyDeleteI am new at this but we have about 12 girls and we have a budget of $200 for the year.
ReplyDeleteYour wards are being cheap. They have WAY MORE MONEY than that! You just tell the pres. and tell the bishop that you need more. It's not okay to act like they don't have anything and for the church to be cheap when the church is rich. I turn in all recipes and get reimbursed regardless of budget, although I don't go overboard. They are just guys being cheap with you because that's how we, as a culture, are.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I'm going to start turning in more! Thanks:)
DeleteHave a problem with some of those free ideas. I'm a new activity leader and tried to take my girls to ring the salvation army bell at christmas time. I had to cancel this activity because I was told we can't take primary aged children any where but the church building and members homes. Does anyone know anything about this? I was going to have preisthood member there with us so I thought I was covered. If you can't take primary kids anywhere then how does primary do an activity in the park each year?
ReplyDeleteDear confused Leader,
ReplyDeleteEach ward is different. If your primary president does not allow you to take the girls anywhere besides home or church, there must be a reason. Maybe they've had problems in the past or a parent doesn't approve. It doesn't say anywhere in the church handbook that that is a rule. If we leave our city we need to get approval by written permission slip from parents. Sorry if these ideas don't work for you. For me all of them are right close to my home and have been approved by my presidency. Sometimes we just have to trust that are leaders know what's best and respect their opinions. Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for your reply and suggestions. The word came from higher up then the primary president because she had approved the activity. They have also stopped the cub scouts from an activity quoting the same rule. We were supposed to get a copy of the rules but I haven't yet. I just let it go but wonder since there were suggestions here for going other places. I can keep us where they want us and the girls still have fun, so its all good
ReplyDeletePlease also know that this blog is not "approved" by the church. We merely offer suggestions and ideas that we use in our wards.
DeleteThank you!
We had someone from the ward teach the girls about taking care of their hair, then she taught us some easy hairdos. We practiced on each other and took turns using different curling/flat irons. She also had a little bag of free samples for each girl. It was fun, easy and free.
ReplyDeletetotally drives me NUTS how activity days gets significantly less money than cub scouts does. i think each program should get equal so we don't have to do stupid activities on a budget of 45 cents/girl. teaching them early that boys are more important or what? makes me want to pull my hair out.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a Cub Scout leader I had $0 of budget and always had to use my own supplies/money. While Activity Day Girls always had money for their activities. When I got into the Primary Presidency, I fought for a budget for the Cub Scouts and found out that they had a budget, but only for awards and pins which is an established part of the Scouting program, but costs lots of money, which is why we had no budget for our weekly activities because they felt like Cub Scouts already had enough money! I explained that the Den Leaders deserve as much budget as Activity Day Leaders because we are the ones doing the weekly activities. Problem solved and now each Activity Day Group (we have 2) plus each Cub Scout Den (we have 3) each gets $50 a quarter or $200 a year. Which was SO much more than a $0 budget, the Cub Scouts hardly used it... :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your great ideas! I am a new activity day leader and we have about 6 girls, only half of that are regular. As far as budget I was just told to be frugal and turn in receipts. I think we should do everything in prayer. If you pray about your budget and even fast if needed. Heavenly Father always opens a way up!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think the budget is important but I feel like many wards are using it incorrectly and that causes problems all around. Money is set aside for each organization on an annual basis. If the money from one section is not used it is often reduced the following year. Many leaders who have them means choose not to turn in their receipts and just pay out of pocket. This breaks down the whole system even if the intent is fabulous. If you pay for things out of pocket and do not turn in your receipts then the budget gets reduced. Then the next leaders get called (and may not have the means to spend any of their personal money)and there is no budget. Moral of the story, turn in ALL of your receipts. Talk to your bishop about your budget if you feel you dont have enough money.
ReplyDeleteOur ward has a budget of $100 a year. We did an activity in January about S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevent, & Time bound) we took paint color sample things (which are free) and made bookmarks with our goals on them. We used stamps to decorate them (which we already had) and tied ribbons on the end (which hadbeen saved from christmas gifts we had received, so i didnt spend money)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI have 10 dollars PER year total. With 18 girls. I don't have the means to spend my own money. I am very frustrated about this because you can't do something free every week. It's just not possible on top of doing a daddy/daughter.
ReplyDeleteI hope you meant $100, because $10 for 18 girls would do about 2 activities if you were very, very frugal! Ridiculous. But there are lots of crafty things, games, homemaking skills and other things to do that might work without a real budget if everyone pitched in part of the supplies.
Deletehi im a new leader and i would like to know if i can ask parents to bring a snack for the girls after the activity in my ward they do it for the cub scouts parents take turns taking snacks for them
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to ask parents to help out! You shouldn't feel burdened by doing everything yourself. Plus, if the girls have an assignment, they are more likely to come!
DeleteYou would need to ask your bishop about that. Our ward doesn't allow us to require the girls to bring or pay for anything. But you can ask them to bring something if they'd like. I don't think the church wants people to not come because they can't afford snack for everyone, or pay for the activities. So because this isn't a church run website, ask your primary pres. Or bishop!
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