Dinner Service Activity

My partner had a baby a few months ago so the girls and I made dinner for her family.  We kept the menu simple in order to be done on time and not have any hiccups.

Each girl, or a team of girls, was assigned a job.  I'll share some of those jobs below.

Main dish-

Six Sisters 20 Minute Skillet Lasagna

 Jobs-
Brown meat
Prepare pasta water
Cook pasta
Measure spices and other ingredients
Stir in pasta sauce
Stir in spices and other ingredients
Add pasta to sauce and meat

Sides-

Garlic bread
Jobs-
Slice bread
Butter bread
Sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese
Wrap in foil
Broil

Italian Salad-
Jobs-
Prepare lettuce
Cut salami, red onion, Roma tomatoes and black olives
Add parmesan cheese
Add croutons
Add prepared ingredients

*I generally dress the salad upon serving so we just put the desired amount into a small container so the family could dress it as they desired.

Dessert-

Rice Krispie Treats

Jobs-
Measure ingredients
Melt butter (I use a 1/2 cup.  It results in ooey-gooey treats!)
Prepare pan
Stir in cereal
Press into pan

Baby Blanket Service Activity

The mom of a little gal in our group is expecting a new baby.  We decided it was the perfect opportunity to pull out the sewing machine and quilting stands to make some burp rags and blankets.  The girls loved it!  They loved it so much that we repeated it again for our next activity.

We have a large group so we split the girls into two groups.  One group learned how to quilt with my partner and I worked on sewing with the other group.  We made some very basic burp rags out of flannel fabric cut into rectangles.  The girls each had an oppurtinuty to sew a few seams, do some ironing, take stitches out to fix mistakes and learn a few sewing basics.


The quilting part of the quilt was completed on the first week so my partner taught them how to bind the edges at the second activity.

It was impressive to see how quickly the girls caught on.  They had a great time!  This activity also provided an opportunity to serve a less-active family.  You could also make blankets and/or rags to donate to local shelters or hospitals.

Here are a few helpful resources to help with the activity-

Simple burp rag tutorial

If you don't have quit stands or are not familiar with quilting, consider a more simple approach.  I love this easy to follow video:

Here's another:

You could also add bibs to the activity!  Does it get any easier than making them out of place mats?

Activity Repeat

This is the first time I have ever repeated an activity but I felt it was well worth it.  One of the first activities I did was clean the nursery toys with the girls.  Since most of them have moved on (and after spending some time in nursery the other day and seeing the toys get put in lots of mouths) I felt like it was okay to do this one again.  We went to town cleaning the toys with Clorox wipes and had a great time laughing and chatting about everyone's plans for summer.

(Horrible picture, I know, but I wanted to crop out the girls' whose faces were showing.)

If your ward has big plastic toys (like a kitchen) you could have the girls use shaving cream (outside of the building of course) to clean them.  It would be messy but lots of fun!

After we finished the toys we cleaned the tables, door knobs and cabinets.

When we were all finished we played the Skittles Game that I found on LDS Splash.  The girls had a ball and we laughed and laughed about how silly everyone looked with their mouths full of Skittles.

Portable Flower Pots

In a few weeks we plan on doing an activity about self-reliance and gardening.  We've instructed the girls to come up with a 2 liter pop bottle and bring it to the activity so we can do something similar to this.  (More to come about this after this activity is complete!)
 
And this morning when I saw Pioneer Woman's Blast from the Past post, I thought this would make a treat to serve at the end!

 (Photo from Pioneer Woman)

You could also do dirt and worms if you don't want to get too fancy.

(Photo from Kraft Foods)

Having a Plan

*Thanks to Patricia for sharing this idea!

For my last activity I had laid out all the ingredients for cookies in my kitchen. I told the girls we were going to make cookies. They were so excited. They said "how much should we put in" and I would just say "What do you think?" So they finally got their cookies mixed (with things like 4 tsp salt, 1/2 C milk, and 3 eggs because there were 3 girls :) ). They decided to bake them on 400 for 20 minutes. As you can imagine they were nasty tasting. 

I then said "Oh, I have a recipe". So we pulled out the recipe and made another batch. While they were cooking we worked on our A of F. When they came out we talked about the difference of having a plan vs. just doing what seems good at the time. We talked about if you want to go to the temple, you can't just decide the day before that you want to go. You have to have a plan and implement it all your life. We talked about the most important plan of all, The Plan of Happiness. I printed off this Plan of Salvation Chart.

And then we talked about planning our days. I printed copies of these calendars.  And we talked about making wise use of our time and planning to get things done.

I then bore my testimony that time is one of Heavenly Father's gifts to us and we should plan to use it wisely.

Patricia also said that she made a cute copy of the right recipe for each of her girls.  Great idea, thanks for sharing!

Babysitting

Today with the 10-11 year old girls I had a babysitting lesson. I adapted some of these ideas and came up with the rest on my own.

A few weeks ago I told the girls that we would be having this lesson and told them that they would need to be on the lookout for an old bag of any kind (purse, backpack, etc...) that they could bring. Here are the invitations that I handed out so that you can see how I worded the reminder. Although most of the girls said that they already had something in mind when I told them to be looking for a bag, I didn't want anyone to feel like they had to have something spectacular. After all, it's what's inside that counts, right?

I made each girl a personalized Babysitting Guide using a simple folder (the cheap paper ones) that included these things:

Add to your Kit
Babysitting Games
Safety First
Bee a great sitter

*Update I do not have access to these forms in Word. This posting is from an old Activity days Leader. Sorry! Please check Wendy's Activities Blog for more babysitting ideas and downloads!

I also added a few sheets of notebook paper (for notes, tic-tac-toe, phone numbers and so on) and a few coloring pages. I was going to buy dollar store coloring books for each girl but decided to print a few for each of them and then give them a few fun links (which can be found on the Add to your Kit list) where they can print more. They loved the idea!

I also glued a small emergency phone list on the inside pocket. The numbers included 911, Poison Control, the non-emergency number for the police and fire department and the closest hospital.

I wanted to include a basic first aid handout that the local fire station give out but they were all out. It's a handy little flyer geared toward kids that tells you what do to in all kind of emergencies. If you can get your hands on some, they would be great to add!

We discussed the Safety First, Add to your Kit and Bee a Great Sitter handouts and quickly reviewed most of the points. As we went along they asked questions about babysitting and believe it or not, we had a great discussion going!

After we had talked I gave them the rest of the items that I had for their kits:
(Keep in mind that it's a great time to stock up on crayons, glue, scissors, etc.)

Band-aids
Craft items like crayons and glue
Cotton Ball Game items

On the Babysitting Games handout it teaches you how to play a game with cotton balls. I gave each girl a few cotton balls and a long piece of yarn. At the end of the activity we played the game so that they would know how it worked.

They all said that they learned something new and were very excited! 2 of the 9 girls (the older ones of the group) currently babysit for me every now and them and at the end of the activity almost every one of them asked if they could babysit my kids tomorrow! One of them even called me when she got home! I hope I didn't start something!

UPDATE: Wendy, over at Wendy's Activities came up with these great PDF's. Most of the information from my original documents are included and them some. I do not have these files in Word. Sorry!

Bee a Great Sitter
Safety First
Important Information
Babysitting Games
Songs to Sing
Add to your Kit

Manners and a Tea Party

* Thanks to Heather for sharing this idea!

The girls LOVED the "Tea Party" for this weeks achievement days. In today's society so many young ladies lack the simple manners necessary to help them become respectful women. So, having an activity centered around manners was only appropriate. Don't worry no real tea drinking took place.Each girl was formally invited with a had delivered invitation. They were instructed to wear their Sunday best and a hat to match. The girls said they loved getting all dolled up for the event.
Along with the theme of a tea party small finger foods were made for the girls. Mini cupcakes, mini croissant sandwiches, mini muffins, mini fruit kabobs and assorted gumdrops and candies. They thought they were in heaven. I think they loved the frappe drink the best.
When the girls arrived each had a setting prepared for them at the table. We talked about manners. What's expected of them and how to properly act in different types of settings. We even talked about holding doors, language and modesty. Once they had their fill of treats we played a few games.The first was a tray with 20 things you may find at a tea party. Each girl had only 2 minutes to study the tray and then try to remember what was shown. The girl with the most correct items listed won. Of course there were party favors for everyone so no one went home empty handed.

This was due to the place settings. Each of the girls were assigned a seat. There name was listed on a card and the card was attached to their tea cup with a hair clip that was holding their name card, a great way to include a party favor into the actual setting.After the game of memory the girls played a game they just had a hoot doing. This was a little silly but gave them a chance to be a little more relaxed since the event was so proper. A small box with a simple gift inside, we used a dress up necklace was wrapped 10 times. You can wrap the box as many times as you like. Under each layer was a sticker with an action the girls must do. The girls sat at the table and we passed the box around to music. When the music stopped the girl left holding the box removed the first layer of wrapping paper. Under the paper was a sticker telling her to do something like "sing your favorite primary song opera style" she must complete the action and once done the game continues. Each time the music is stopped a girl will remove a layer of paper and complete the action until the box can be opened and the prize revealed. The last girl to open was the keeper of the necklace. The girls had a great time doing this and loved playing.

When the activity was over we again talked to the girls about manners to practice thru the week and encouraged them to have a family home evening with their family and focus on the manners that they learned that day. I think it turned out great and the girls were able to complete more than one goal.

Becoming Thrifty

Today was a great activity! I talked to the girls about how much it costs to run and home and a family and talked to them about ways that we can save money. One of the things that we discussed was making things at home that we usually buy at the store. Then we made three different things- all of which the girls got to be a part of.

The first thing was hand cream. So easy and it only took about 3 minutes. Here are the instructions:

15 oz. baby lotion (can use generic)
3.75 oz. Vaseline (can use generic)
18 oz. St. Ives Vitamin E hand lotion (don't use generic!)
4 oz. Fruit of the Earth Vitamin E Skin Care Cream (don't use generic!)

Melt the Vaseline in warm water. Mix everything together and viola!

I bought little containers (either Rubbermaid or Ziplock) and filled one for each girl. They loved it!

*I was only able to find the Vitamin E cream at Wal-Mart. It is in the hand lotion area and comes in a pack of 2 for about $3.88. At my store it was on the very bottom shelf.

Next we made Ice Cream in a bag. The girls said it tasted like a milkshake!

*We used 10lbs. of ice per 5 girls. Also, be prepared to double up on the gallon bag. Some of the bags got holes and we needed to add another. One more thing, I would add more salt than it calls for- it freezes a lot faster that way.

And while they were shaking and eating that I made homemade tortillas. Since the ice cream didn't take very long some of the girls were able to help. They buttered them up and thought they were great!

*If you want to do this activity I would recommend making the tortillas a few times before the activity (if you have never made them). You don't want to be trying to figure out your method on the spot.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last night was had the mother of all activities! A while back when our girls were asked to sing for the mother's day program we challenged them to memorize all the words to "I Often Go Walking" and as a reward they could help plan the next activity. It worked and they chose a pajama party. All we would tell them was that they could wear their pajamas and that they rest was a surprise.

This is a very long post with a lot of detail so I'll break it down:

Invitations
We handed out invitations with a little poem that went like this:We didn't want any of the girls to feel like they couldn't come unless they were in their p.j.'s so I mentioned it on the invitation.

The party had a slumber party feel and a "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" theme, complete with decorations and everything.

When the girls arrived:
All the girls showed up in their pajamas and we got the party rockin! I made a playlist with fun girlie songs including:

S.O.S.- Jonas Brothers
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Miley Cyrus
Don't Walk Away- Miley Cyrus
Get Back-Demi Lavato
Crush- David Archuleta
Fabulous- HSM
Burnin' Up- Jonas Brothers
All For One-HSM
Play My Music- Jonas Brothers
G.N.O.- Miley Cyrus

When they showed up we had the music playing and the girls were all dancing so crazy. I even got in on the action and we jumped around the floor having a good time.

Dinner:
We then stopped the music and settled down to pray and discuss what we were going to do. After that we all headed into the kitchen so everyone could make their own homemade pizza. I have a recipe that doesn't require the dough to rise and that was super fast. I had the dough pre-made and shaped into balls, one for each girl. Each girl got a paper plate (which next time I would spray with cooking spray to prevent them from sticking. Also, the reason for the plate is because I didn't wan to have flour all over the table and counters. We had 13 girls! What a mess that would have been!) and their dough ball. They shaped their pizzas and each got some sauce, cheese and pepperoni.

Since I cook my pizzas at such a high temperature the cooking actually went very fast and the girls didn't mind waiting their turn. We put two pizzas on a big cookie sheet at a time and could put two pan in the oven at a time. When the pizzas on the top rack were done we moved the bottom sheet up and put in the third pan. I hope that doesn't sound confusing and I know you could come up with your own system. After each girl's was out (they did a great job remembering which was their own) I would take it off the sheet, in order to use the sheet for more pizzas, quarter it and put it on a plate for the girls. They were all so patient and it seemed like it took no time at all.

Just F.Y.I-
For 13 girls and two adults we used:
1 large bag of pepperoni's (about 4-5 per person)
3 cans tomato sauce (I just added my own spices to make the sauce)
Almost 24 ozs. of cheese

Games:
After dinner we got the girls together and played a few games. The first was the trash can game. SO FUN! All the credit goes to my partner for this one!

Trash Can Game
We filled a large box (you are supposed to use a trash can but use whatever you have around) with crumpled newspaper as well as dollar store gifts (nail polish, gum, notepads, bath loofas etc.) that were wrapped in newspaper, so you could easily spot them.

Each girl takes a turn passing the dice trying to roll a 7 or 11 (we used a bowl to keep the dice together and to make it easier to pass them). When some one got a 7 or 11 they had to run up to the box, put on a pair of gloves and dig, dig, dig trying to find one of the gifts. We put one gift for each girl in the box but didn't tell them how many their were. We continued to roll the dice and when another girl rolled the right numbers, the girl that was digging had to drop everything (even if she had a partially opened gift) and pass the gloves. It is meant to be a faced paced game.Each girl that had gotten a gift could continue rolling but if they got a 7 or 11 they didn't get to dig but the girl (if there was one) digging had to drop everything and get back in the circle.

It was so fun and the girls did a great job cheering each other on. We noticed that it started to get a little long so to speed it up we took the gloves out and all of the girls who had a gift partnered up with one that didn't. Both girls could roll and dig but if the girl that already found a gift found another, she just gave it to her partner. This sped up the game and worked really well with out girls. I would recommend trying the original version first and only making the changes if necessary.

It was amazing how well the girls did cheering each other on. The noise level was incredibly loud but no one cared because we were all so excited and having such a good time!


What If?
For this game each girl gets a piece of paper and writes a "what if" question on it, i.e. what if cows could talk?, what if Sister So and So had a beard?. After everyone has finished with their question they put them in a bowl. Pass the bowl around and each girl picks a piece of paper. Now they answer the question. Once again, they go back into the bowl and everyone draws a new slip.

The first person to go reads their question and the person next to them reads their answer. Do this until every question has been read and answered. Sometimes the answers match the question really well and it can be so funny!

Dessert
For dessert we had chocolate fondue. We melted chocolate and had strawberries, graham crackers, marshmallows, bananas, pretzels, etc. for the girls to dip. In order to keep it all sanitary we used toothpicks instead of fingers and we gave each girl a dollop of chocolate on a plate to use on their strawberries, pretzels and so forth.

This activity was a huge hit! The girls had a great time and there was so much laughter and happiness. It was well deserved and was the perfect summer activity.

I hope this is all clear! If you have any questions please email me!

A Lesson in Babysitting

If you have older Activity Day girls, you may want to consider having a lesson on babysitting.

Help the girls assemble simple kits with the following:

crayons, washable markers, pencils, paper, safety scissors, craft materials. (include any or all of these)

First Aid kit (and the knowledge to use it)

Words to children's songs--Five Little Speckled Frogs, The Wheels on the Bus, Head Shoulders
Knees and Toes, There's a hole in the bottom of the sea, Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.

Game ideas--hokey pokey, I'm a little teapot, duck duck goose, Ring around the Rosy, Motor Boat Motor Boat, Mr. Fox, Hide and Seek, 20 Questions, Oink, hand clapping games

Antiseptic hand cleaner

Duck's in a Row Baby sitter's List and pen to complete it. (Download it here.)

Flashlight with batteries

Old sheets or old clothes for dress up or making tents (optional)
*List ideas from Mormon Share

Discuss babysitting safety:

Give each of the girls this handout. When you have reviewed it, have them keep it in their kit. (Download it here.)

Making babysitting fun:

Here is a great list of ways to keep kids busy. Take some time to teach the girls a few games or songs. (Download the list here.)

*Thanks to Emma from Emma's Place to Be for sharing her handout with us! Check her site out for lots of ideas and handouts!

Learning a new song

The music person in my ward asked if the AD girls wouldn't mind singing "I often go walking" for the Mother's Day program. We only have one activity day before Mother's Day to learn it so we have to get creative. If your girls need an Activity in the Developing Talents section, consider asking if your girls can be a part of the program.

Family Home Evening

Help the girls create a Family Home Evening Lesson. We made a lesson about Joseph Smith that had pictures, a simple lesson, a game and a dessert idea. I did the lesson for the girls and then helped them put their own together. I also gave each of them a folder to keep the lesson in as well. Here are a few sites with tons of ideas:

Family Home Evening in a Snap

The Family Home Evening Spot

My FHE Lessons

Family Home Evening Planner

Family Home Evening Blog

Kitchen Skills

Teaching chopping, cutting, grating and kitchen safety all under the guise of a pizza party is a lot of fun. Have the crusts pre-made into individual sizes. Have each member of the AD group bring a specific pizza topping, pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, etc. Let each member cut, chop or grate the appropriate ingredient while learning the safe way to do it. Pile on the toppings, bake and enjoy.

*Idea from Mormonchic.com

Father-Daughter Dinner

Let the girls help in preparing a fun meal for their dads. Have a theme, have some games and use these conversation cards.

Ice Cream in a Bag

I know it's not summer yet but this is a great one if you are trying to plan ahead. Here's an easy recipe that doesn't take too long.

For each girl you will need:

1/2 cup milk or half and half )
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup rock salt
ice
2 quart sized Freezer Zip-loc bags (could use smaller bags)
1 gallon Freezer size Zip-loc bags
hand towel or winter gloves to keep little fingers from freezing

Mix the milk, sugar and vanilla together in one of the quart sized bags. Seal, removing as much air from the bag as possible. Place this bag inside the other quart sized bag, remove air and seal (double bagging to prevent leaking and insuring success). Put the two bags inside the gallon sized bag along with the ice (we filled the bag with ice) and then about 1/4 cup rock salt. Remove air and seal tightly. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake, shake, shake.

This takes 15 minutes or so to freeze.

*Recipe courtesy of skiptomylou.org

Hanging Bed Organizer

This may be too difficult for AD age girls, but if planned just right it might work. It might work great for Young Women's as well. It's a great place to store a journal and/or scriptures.

Bread in a Bag

Click here for insturctions on how to make bread in a bag. Super easy!

Paperbag Cookbooks

Oh, how I wish I had a picture from this activity! We helped the girls made paper bag scrapbooks and it was a blast! But, instead of making them into scrapbooks we made them into cookbooks. We gathered a few fun recipes like Chocolate Chip Cookies, Wendy's Frosty's and more then printed them out small enough to fit on one half of the bag. We gathered up our scrapbook stuff and let the girls decorate the front cover. HERE are some directions on how to make the books. We also made cookies together and the girls each got to take a few home.



The great thing about these books is they can be as fancy or plain as you want, as well as they can work for anything! Not just cookbooks! Try making them using the Young Women's values or with girls camp photos. Anything goes!

Learning to Budget

In order to teach the girls how to budget money we made a budget form that gave their monthly allotment (I think we said about $1500 or so) with about 7 or 8 bills as well as their allotment in the form of Monopoly money.

Tithing was listed first and of course we had them figure out 10% of their allotment. Fast offerings was next and we explained that they could give as much as they felt they could afford, but that they should try and be generous. Some girls gave $10, other $50. As for the bills, some of the amounts were set, like rent and electricity and other amounts they filled in after they paid their bills, like grocery and spending. In the end all of their categories should have added up to equal their monthly allotment. It was surprising to hear some of the girls talk about how fast their money was going!

Feeding the Missionaries

We let the girls prepare an entire meal for the missionaries and they loved it! We had the kitchen set up in "stations" and assigned the girls to each station ahead of time. That way we knew they they could handle the task and each girl would have something to do.

We made Chicken Parmesan, Salad, Breadsticks and had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

Here are a few examples of the stations:

*Grate cheese
*Pound chicken
*Cut tomatoes
*Make dough
*Melt butter
*Shred lettuce
*Cook Pasta

We were able to put teams at a few of the stations which worked out great because those were also planned ahead of time to avoid any bickering or contention.

Since we only had 1 hour to get it all done we really had to move quickly, but the girls did great! Unfortunately the girls were not able to eat with the missionaries this time, but they still had a great time and asked lots of questions later about how they like it. It would be great it they could eat with them and ask them questions about missionary life over dinner.