4th of July Tie Dye Shirts

In our little town, the Fourth of July is a big deal, so when we told the girls we would be making red, white and blue tie dye shirts, they were very excited!

Very little preparation was involved other than purchasing: red and blue dye, white t-shirts and rubberbands.  We did the activity outside on the lawn on a dollar store table cloth.

The girls simply created their design with the use of rubberbands then used the dye to create colors.  We put each shirt in a plastic grocery bag so they could take them home and let them sit.  We also gave them strict instructions to let them rest overnight, then to wash them alone.

The idea for this activity originally came from I Love to Create Blog, so this photo is from that site.  We used a different technique, but I wanted to give proper photo credit.

Since this activity didn't take too long, we also played some water balloon volleyball.

We used sheets folded into squares then volleyed waterballoons back and forth.  So simple!  No net necessary.  Plus, it provided lots of laughter! And teamwork ;)

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?

Quick Christmas Activities

I LOVE Christmas.  Maybe because my birthday is really close to Christmas day.  Maybe it's all the sugar!  I think it's probably all the extra love we feel because of the great gift we have been given by our Heavenly Father.  We want to share that love with each other.  One thing I love to do with my family, and with whomever I am working with in my current calling is to refocus on "Christ in Christmas".  Here are a couple of simple ideas that might help with that.

This one is from no time for flashcards.  If you go to her site, she had her children fill out little clue cards for each member of the nativity.  They read a story about the nativity.  Then the kids went and hid the pieces of the nativity.  They sent the mom on the scavenger hunt to find each piece.  They got to teach her about each member of the nativity set.  So sweet.  You could adapt this for AD very easily.  

This one is from myeyeq.

I LOVE this ornament.  She has a free printable on her site.  This is just a clear ball with a little bit of sand and some shells, but it reminds us that Christmas is a joyous time because of everything the Savior did for us, the Sermon on the Mount, Gethsemane, Calvary, and the Resurrection.  I tried to help our YW see this when I taught them this Sunday.  Christmas is Christmas because of Palm Sunday, and Good Friday, and Easter.  

                                                 
                                                      This one is fromlivelaughrowe.
So what does a snowman have to do with this Christ centered Christmas?  I thought this would be a cute and quick gift.  The girls could fill it up with a treat, there are so many pretty varieties of candy this time of year.  Then they can watch this:

                                                                      He is the Gift

Have you seen it yet?  It's very touching.  Have them take a minute and talk about what gift they can give back to the Savior this year.  Then go and give those cute snowmen to someone as a secret santa gift.  Or adapt any of these ideas as you would like.  Or use them to inspire you to go and create and teach your girls!  Merry Christmas!

True Symbols of Christmas

Here is an idea sent in from one of our readers.  Thanks so much for sharing!  

"I wanted to teach the girls the true symbols of Christmas in the context of an advent calendar. Having twelve girls (and they all come, yeah!) I need to be economical with supplies, so using my geometry compass I cut 7 1/2in circles out of cardboard cereal boxes. Then cut a 4in hole in the center of each to make a wreath.


These I painted green, giving a second coat to the colorful cereal box side.









Once dry I glued on 2" x 2" coin envelopes that I purchased on-line ($6.75 per 100).




I let the girls cut and paste the symbols onto the envelopes (just some clip art I found, I was able to fit three sets on one page) then they cut and inserted a quick blurb on each symbol along with one or two scriptures to read that day. I could only fit nine envelopes per wreath even though I had ten symbols to work with. I left out the wreath symbol but kept the info about it on the paper so they could still have it, perhaps they can glue it to the back since the whole thing is a wreath? Last of all they used my hole punch so they could attach a ribbon and hang up their project. Those who wanted wrote the nine days leading up to Christmas so they could remember which envelop to open each day.

Thanks for sharing, Laura!  I realize this is after the fact, but hopefully it will help out some of you for next year!  Or, you could adapt it for other holidays/projects.  

Halloween Ideas 2013

There are some great Halloween posts on here already, but I thought I would offer a couple of more ideas.  I love this healthy and so cute snack!  This one was found HERE, although you can find similar versions all over the web.


This is an adorable craft/activity that I found on somewhat simple...It could even serve as the treat!  You could make and give them away, so they could be a service project, too.  Lots of options with this one.  You can find it HERE.

I absolutely adore this 13 days of Halloween service project from the crafting chicks.  It is like the 12 days of Christmas, and of course it would be ridiculously ambitious to do this for activity days!  But I like the concept of the countdown, and maybe you could adapt it to be the 3 days of Halloween and just pick one family in your ward to serve?  Or the bishopric?  Anyway, just trying to get the inspiration wheels turning!  You can find this HERE.

And since time is of the essence when it comes to activity days, how about a pumpkin that doesn't have to be carved?  This adorable one is decorated with washi tape!  This would be a perfect, super fast craft to make and give away to someone who wouldn't have a pumpkin-elderly people in the ward, maybe?  This little beauty is from i heart naptime and can be found    HERE.