Secret Sisters

One of the best activities we did this past year was Secret Sisters.  We asked our Relief Society President for the names of some sisters who could use an adopted granddaughter, and each girl was assigned one as her older "sister".  We started off the relationship by making a simple card and dipping a caramel apple for them.  The apples were super easy!  Just follow the instructions on the back of the Kraft caramel bag!  And then to jazz it up a little, and give it the seasonal touch, we dipped it in white chocolate and added some fall sprinkles.

Add a little cellophane bag and some ribbon, and you have a little party on a stick.  I delivered these the next day, so the girls could be "secret" for the duration of the project.  

For phase two, we had the girls make these little cuties at the same activity:

It's just a dressed up roll of toilet paper!  Take a sheet of orange tissue paper, tuck and wrap it around the roll.  Tuck a little piece of green tissue in the top along with a smidge of raffia.  Cut out a jack-o-lantern face from sticky back black felt and PRESTO!  A cute Halloween decor item, and an emergency roll of toilet paper in one!  We delivered these on a different day.

For phase three, we made wreaths similar to this one:

You can find the tutorial HERE.  This was a separate activity night.  It does take a while, and I would suggest having all the fabric cut ahead of time.  We had the girls bring their fabric and we were really pushed to finish them.  These were also delivered secretly.

For the last phase of the project, we had an after church munch and mingle with our secret sisters.  Each girl met her sister and visited with her.  We just had some simple refreshments and played a little icebreaker game.  It was really rewarding for the girls to develop this relationship over a few weeks and be excited to serve someone.  They love to see each other now!  You can use this activity to incorporate several different requirements, and adapt it for the needs of your own group.  I would highly recommend it because it really opened the girls eyes to the lives of others outside their own age group.