Budget and some NO COST Activities!

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!

Next please!

Being an Activity Day leader has been my favorite calling of all time.  I have loved getting to know the girls, seeing them grow, planning activities and everything else that has come with this.  But, the time has come and today I received a new calling.   When the Bishopric asked me how long I have served in AD I replied about two and half years.  They said "oh, then you are probably ready for a change."  Not at all!  I told them how much I have loved it and wish I could continue doing it, but someone else needs the chance to serve the sweet girls of my ward.

When I first started this blog, it was out of desperation.  I spent countless hours searching the Internet for ideas but decided that if I wanted to find that site, I was going to have to create it myself.  I have loved sharing ideas with my readers and enjoy all of the emails I receive.  I'm not the master of AD but I was able to create a system that worked for me, so I felt I needed to share it.  I hope some of you were able to find activities that were useful and that I was able to answer your questions as you asked them.

And so, since it is time to move on I am offering this blog to one of my readers.  There is one stipulation, you must be committed!  Committed to sharing your activities as often as possible and taking the time to respond to any questions you may be asked.  Other than that, the blog and email address will be yours!  You will be free to change it any way you wish.  If you are interested in taking over please email me.  Let me know why you are interested and if you are committed to sharing your ideas.

New Spotlight Idea

Since we have spotlighted all of our girls with these questions, we have decided to try a different approach this time.  Before, we would call the mom of the girl that was being spotlighted ahead of time and ask her the questions.  Now, we are going to use this form.  We had the girls fill them out today and although they will know they it's them being spotlighted, it helps to know we are changing things up a little.  They will still receive a special treat on their day, but this time we will choose what it is.  Hope we get it right!

FHE in a Can....DONE!

Today we did the FHE in a can activity.  It was a huge hit with the girls and a total success.  Here's the run-down:


We purchased enough cans and lids for all of our girls (80 cents per can and 21 cents per lid).
We also rented a canner
Using this great site, I found a lesson that was perfect for my girls, Being an Example.

We gave the FHE lesson to the girls and played a few rounds of Draw or Drama.  After that we helped them assemble the cans.  Here was was included:

FHE Plan
Copy of FHE Game

Copy of FHE Story

Treat Recipe

Cake Mix
M&M's


Each girl folded up their papers and placed them in the can.  For the treat, we chose to do cake cookies.  We included the mix and 1 cup of M&M's.  It's really just what we had on hand, but the possibilities are endless!  You could do plain cake mixes, s'mores, many different varieties of cookies, candy bars, etc.  Depending on the time of year, you can get smoking deals on cake mixes, brownie mixes, s'mores stuff and lots more.  

If you choose to do this FHE lesson, be sure to tell your girls that after they cut the strips up, to use the can to play out of.

 
The girls loved watching their cans being sealed as well.  If you aren't able to get your hands on a canner you could try using paint cans that can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes or even using the cans and just buying the white plastic lids.

Get creative with your invites!

Yesterday was Stake Conference so we weren't able to give the girls their invitations at church. So instead today we taped the invitations to a toothpick and stuck them in a cupcake. (Make sure you make the invitations small enough!) Then we took each girl their invitation personally. They were so excited! I know this seems like a lot of work for simple invitations but every once in a while it's nice to do something like this to make them feel special!

Spotlight Questionnaire

At each activity we try to spotlight one girl. We will call their mom ahead of time and ask her a series of questions about her daughter. We do the spotlight in the beginning, but after the prayer and everything. We read the clues about the girl and after they have been read, anyone who thinks that they know who it is can take a guess. That girl also get a special treat, like her favorite candy bar or treat. We have even does flower clips. Anything small (that won't cause jealousy!) works great!

Here's the questionnaire. If you would like it in Word form, just email me!

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!

Question #2

How do you keep the girls from talking about other things too much and getting off topic?

*The best thing that we have found to do is to go around the room and give each girl a few seconds to tell us anything new or exciting, about their week, something fun they did recently, etc.

A Week of Questions

This week I am trying something new! I am going to ask a new question each day this week in hope that we will be able to help each other improve or find new ideas that will improve our activities. I would love your input! And remember, the more answers the better!

Today's Question:

How do you make each girl feel important individually?

Here are a few things that I try:

*Spotlighting a different girl each time

*Writing them notes on Sunday telling them that I think they look cute that day, that their hair looks extra nice, that I think they are special, etc.

*Now, I know this sounds crazy, but I really try to relate to the girls on their level. I try to ask them questions as if I were their best friend in order to get to know them better. You would be amazed how much they appreciate this!

Scripture Study

*This great tip was submitted by Jessica

I have found it very difficult to know which activities will take up the entire time, and which will not. Sometimes I would show up with an activity thinking that there would be nowhere near enough time to finish... and the girls end up done a half hour early! To fill that extra time, we started doing scripture studies.

I asked the missionaries in our ward, if they could provide each of the girls in my group (I only have 5) with a Book of Mormon. The girls wrote their names in the cover, but I keep them with me and bring them each week. That way, no one will ever forget to bring theirs and be without. Although, a couple of the girls bring their own scriptures from home each week to study and mark.

I dedicated one class to teaching them how to mark their scriptures using the "color code" system found at this site. I printed out a key (Red = words of God, or Christ... etc.) that was small enough for them to glue into the front cover of their Book of Mormon.

Each week, I print and hand out the study guide found on this site. I printed off all of the charts found on the site on the smaller scale so that they could glue those in the back cover of their Book of Mormon. We fill them out as we read. We use whatever extra time we have at the end of our activity to start on the Scripture Study activities on the study guide that I have handed out. I encourage them to finish the rest of it at home during the week.

The girls have loved our Scripture study time a lot more than I thought they would. They feel so "grown up" marking their own set of scriptures. The study guide breaks it down to a child's level so that it isn't so overwhelming to them.

Movie Night

Submitted by Kari

This was our first Quarterly Activity. Somehow I got put in charge of these. For this one we did a Movie Night. I made invitations that looked like movie tickets. This year we have a new bishop with a big focus on missionary work. All of the kids were told they could invite their friends to the activity and they were really excited about it! We had a really big turnout. We showed one of the "Liken the Scriptures" movies and made it go up on the wall in the gym using the projector, so it was just like they were at the movie theater. They could wear their pj's and bring a blanket and pillow. We had a concession stand with popcorn, fruit snacks, licorice and punch (in cups with lids and straws). They got snacks before the movie and then we had a short intermission in the middle. Since this is the first time we've had something with this many non-members, it would've been good to talk to the kids the Sunday before and ask them to set a better example for their friends about how to act. Usually they are really good, but when a bunch went out to go to the restroom, things started getting a little wild and it didn't really settle down from there. All in all it was a great event though.

I fit 6 of these to a page. For the half circles on the side, I used a 1 1/4" circle punch.

I could punch about 5 tickets at a time.

Getting to Know You Activity

Submitted by Kari

I had each child fill out the following "Getting to Know You" Questionnaire.

Getting to Know YOU!
What is your favorite color? ______________________________________
What is your favorite Primary song? ________________________________
What is your favorite thing about coming to church on Sunday?________________
Write down three other things you want us to know about you:
1) ________________________________________________________
2) _______________________________________________________
3) ________________________________________________________

I read them aloud and then the girls guessed who it was. They had a ball doing it! Afterwards, we frosted heart shaped cookies for each member of the bishopric and made them a Thank You card. One person wrote in each one and then every one signed them. We had them come in to present them to them.

Activity Day Folders

Each of our girls has their own AD folder where they keep their Faith in God book and important papers or handouts they get from us. They are simple 2 in. 3-ring binders with page protectors and dividers. The front page is their testimony in a page protector:

(I know that there is a place in their books to write it but I will explain why we did it this way in a minute.)

Then using 4 dividers we made a section for each of sections in the Faith in God booklet. (Learning and Living the Gospel, Serving Others, Developing Talents, Preparing for Young Women). Within those sections are page protectors and notebook paper. They store handouts and important papers in the page protectors. They also keep their Articles of Faith track sheet in here.

We encourage them to bring them to each activity so that we can always be on the same page with them as to how they are coming along in the booklet.

Articles of Faith

In order to encourage our girls to memorize all 13 Articles of Faith this year we have come up with a system that seems to be working great!

Each girl has one of these papers that they keep in their folder: Each month we focus on one A of F and we try our hardest to get them to memorize the one for that month. When we hand out the reminder/flyer for the the first activity of the month we make sure to mention something about memorizing that particular Article of Faith. If they come to the FIRST activity of the month with it memorized we reward them with something small. (i.e., one fun size candy, one Red Vine, etc. Nothing extravagant.) We encourage them to work on it for next time but there is no reward for the second activity. There is also the rule that they have to have it fully memorized! No forgetting, looking in the book and starting all over again! It's amazing how well they are doing and how many of them are passing them off.

UPDATE: As requested, I have made this available for download here.
Just a tip- click on Print Preview before printing and be sure to change the print setting to LANDSCAPE!