Articles of Faith Quiz Bowl

My very first year in Activity Days I was going crazy looking for ideas. Most of the early things I had planned were big and grand and over the top. And I quickly got to the point where I was out of energy and just needed an easy Wednesday.

My friend Tammy, an Activity Day leader in another ward, pointed me to this post:
http://shannonmakesstuff.blogspot.com/2012/06/faith-in-god-jeopardy-articles-of-faith.html

And holy hallelujah, it was JUST WHAT I NEEDED! A huge thank you to this woman who I don't even know who made my life so much easier by sharing her great activity on the internet.

Unfortunately for me, at the time (don't know if this has changed), the links to the image files she had listed were mostly not working. Stuff moves around on the internet. I get that. But I did still want pictures for the Picture Power category, so I started tweaking. And, because I'm me, (kind of fussy about everything being just so), I put everything in a computer document all neat and tidy when I was done. I have that file linked below.

HOWEVER-- I'm still not sure that it's really any better than her simple hand written construction paper and *done* version.

My tweaking is just that-- minor changes to questions, phrasing and pictures. Therefore the only credit I am claiming to this is the organization and printability of the file, as well as the included original artwork. (Which isn't anything special, but at least you won't have to search around for a few of your pictures!) I have to give total credit to Shannon Makes Stuff for the bulk of this activity idea.

She noted that for her group the activity took 90 minutes. For my group of 8 girls, even with:

A) our usual opening exercises (prayer, work on article of faith, announcements, activity introduction) which takes about 10 minutes... and
B) a little history on the Articles of Faith (also included in the file, and simply excerpted from lds.org Primary Manual 5, lesson 36) so that the girls could answer the "General Questions" category... and
C) a fair amount of time spent trying to get the girls on equal teams, explaining the rules, having to buzz in for some questions multiple times, and etc.

WE WERE STILL FINISHED PLAYING AND HAD 20 MINUTES OF ACTIVITY TIME LEFT TO GO.

We ended up playing Never Have I Ever using the thumbtacks from the bulletin board as 'markers' to fill the extra time. :P It worked out, it was fun! But... obviously this takes different amounts of time for different groups. Gentle reader: have an extra activity on standby!

My suggestion (which I would have used if I had thought of it on the fly) is SPARKLE. Everyone lines up or stands in a circle. Usually you are doing this with spelling words or math facts, but for this activity, I would name an Article of Faith, and everyone takes a word. "We" says person 1. "Believe" says person 2. "In" says person 3-- and so on till you get all the way through "the same organization that existed in the Primitive church, etc." When the Article of Faith is finished the next person says SPARKLE and then the person on their right (who hasn't gone yet) is OUT. Play continues with different Articles till only one person is left. Also, if the person says the wrong word, or doesn't know the word, or takes too long... they're out. Sparkle can be brutal. :)

 Also, do your history lesson (included). It was good information. :D

Here is the link to the printable: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ltWADMnsx7V0xiWHcxQVpxU28/view?usp=sharing

Strawberry Picking and Freezer Jam

I have been in Activity Days for just a little over a year now. Which means I should, theoretically, have 24 ideas to share with you. But as I look back through my files I'm realizing I really don't have that!

I mean, I did do 24 activities... but some of them were in the "did that, won't do it again" category. Activities get put in that category for two basic reasons: they were too much work or they didn't turn out that great in real life. (Mostly the first one. :D)

More and more (I have a part time job, a kid in college, a kid on a mission and two high schoolers still at home, plus an additional calling as a Primary teacher) I am going for SIMPLE in my activities.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but really I am the kind of person who loves nothing more than a complex, color coordinated activity. So, I do have SEVERAL activities that are kind of over the top waiting in the wings. But this activity was fairly simple: strawberry picking, followed by making strawberry freezer jam.

Now I say this was a simple activity, and it was... but it did take some thought.

1. Location: First of all you need a place where they have U Pick strawberries. I live in the Midwest, and there are two U Pick places within about 20 minutes of my house. However, there used to be four... seems like these places are kind of going the way of the drive in movie theater. There may be someone in your ward with a strawberry patch in their garden who would be willing to let you come pick, if commercial picking is not available. As a last resort you can nix the picking part, pick up some fresh berries from a Farmer's Market and just make jam.
2. Transportation: If you have a U Pick place you need a way to get all your girls there, and have an appropriate amount of adult supervision. You will also need parent signed permission slips,  and the approval of your bishopric to travel. If you have a lot of girls (again, my group has between 8-12 regularly attending) you need more than one vehicle, and you probably also need at least 1 leader or parent for every 4-5 girls.
3. Costs: the berries themselves; freezer jam pectin; Ball canning jars, rings and lids. I ended up paying about $15 for the berries; I got a dozen small canning jars with lids and rings for $10 and we made two batches of jam, with the freezer jam pectin mix costing about $3 per batch. This is not a low cost activity, although it could be lower cost if you can take advantage of someone's garden, or if you have the canning jars donated or already available . For us, the picking was not the greatest (it was not a super good year for strawberries) but each girl enjoyed picking and picked about a pint of berries. This was more than we needed for jam, and so I sent home some of the berries with each girl.
4. Non-traditional time requirements: This is a summertime (obviously, strawberries grow in the summer) activity, and we did it mid day and it took more than 90 minutes. We met at my home, drove 20 minutes to the patch, only picked for about 20 minutes (although the girls would have loved to stay longer, I couldn't afford for them to pick all the berries they wanted, and we easily got more than we needed for jam in that time.), and then drove back 20 minutes. That was an hour right there, then we needed to wash, de-stem, and mash the berries, mix in the pectin, and place the jam in jars.

Once we got the berries picked and got back to my house I split the girls up into different tasks.

• A few girls dumped the berries in a sink filled with cold water and swirled them around, then picked them out, leaving any bugs, dirt, grass or icky berries in the trash can as they went. Despite asking the girls to pick carefully, they were young and inexperienced and we got plenty of pink berries, bug eaten berries, and etc. Plus, it just really was NOT a good year for strawberries. So in addition to "cleaning" the sink girls were in charge of quality control.
• A few girls were in charge of de-steming the berries. The cut off the leaves and stems with stem pincers or butter knives, according to their preference.
• Another few girls were in charge of mashing berries-- by hand, with a potato masher. This was tougher than it sounds, and those girls needed aprons as this job was juicy and messy.
• Finally the last few girls were in charge of taking the mashed berries (they had to wait till everyone else had done their job) and mixing in the freezer jam pectin and ladling the jam into jars.
• Everyone was asked to help clean up. HAVE THE GIRLS HELP CLEAN UP. If they are old enough to make the mess, they are old enough to clean it. The fact that they don't want to, they want to go play (who doesn't, really?) just makes it that much more important to teach this responsibility. 

Each girl wrote their name on the lid of their jar and took the jam home with them. It needs to set in the freezer about 24 hours before it is jam, and when you unfreeze it, you need to eat it within a couple weeks. This was not a problem-- that jam was DELICIOUS and the girls were so proud of it!

As always, we had a few girls gone for extended summer vacations in another state and we kindly made jam for them and presented it to them when they got back. Which was really nice of us! :)

Not every parent can drop their daughter off mid day. I tried to be sensitive to this and offered to pick up girls whose parents could not drop them off. We left around 10 a.m. and were finished around 12:30 with everything, so it did take longer than 90 minutes.

While the patch was open in the evening at our regular activity time, we would have been finished VERY late, and the mosquitos are terrible in the evening, so daytime was our choice.

It would have been difficult to pick the berries one week (which would have been very close to a full activity) and make the jam the next week, simply because strawberries don't store that well. You have to commit to the longer activity to make it really work.

BONUS: I always recommend trying anything you're going to do with the girls on your own first. I picked some berries and made freezer jam the week before-- just to time the process and get a good eyeball on how many berries we needed and how many jars of jam each batch would make. (Each batch using 4 cups fruit made about 4 of the small jars of jam.) SO-- I had jam already made and fresh bread baked and when we were done we had fresh bread and strawberry jam and WOW, was it good! :)

A Perfect Christmas Craft

For 8-11 year old girls, activities need to have an "active" element. Usually (not always) that means some kind of craft or take home that is tied to the main lesson element.

Surprisingly, for someone who does so many of them, I actually consider myself NOT a craft person.

To start with, I'm one of those people that really dislikes clutter. While adorable for the first week or so, crafts (especially MULTIPLE crafts) quickly become overwhelming. I felt guilty for throwing away my child's artistic expressions. Yet I also felt annoyed having my home overtaken by misshapen clay dragons and finger paintings and dream catchers. Sigh.

To sum up, my main reasons for avoiding "over crafting" are:

1. Crafts can get very expensive. Making ONE may cost less than a dollar, but you usually are making 8-12.

2. You don't always get a lot of bang for your buck: that $1-$2 (per girl) craft may have been fun to make, but at some point (sometimes shortly after arriving home that very same night) that green bean can decorated with scrapbooking paper and repurposed as a pencil holder is likely going to be pitched in the trash. Crafts should not be too sizable a chunk of your budget or you are literally throwing your budget money away.

3. Crafts are not usually useful. They are decorative. So those paper plate flowers in a hand painted vase you made for Mother's Day? Kept as a token of love, but not actually GOOD for anything.

4. Crafts are meant to be displayed. The girls are PROUD of the things they make. Yet, like me, not every parent is ready to decorate their home in tissue paper flowers or yarn dream catchers. You put those parents in a tough position if the girls come home with pipe cleaner creations on a monthly basis.

5. Crafts accumulate. Even for the parents that don't mind them, and the girls who love them, they pile up. We make something almost each time we meet. Even without school projects, and Primary lesson handouts, and so forth, that is 24 "little reminders", "tokens", "wall hangings", etc. per YEAR. If the girls kept everything they made (and it just gets worse in YW when they meet every week) they would soon not be able to walk in their rooms, or see an inch of wall space, or have any room on top of their bedside tables or dressers. Craft overload is a real thing!

Therefore, while I love a fun little craft to give the girls that "something extra" to remind them of the lesson at home, I have my own set of craft guidelines:

1. Crafts need to be inexpensive.
2. Projects for others (Mother's Day/Father's Day) are most appreciated if they are MEANT to be disposable (like, say, have an edible element).
3. The crafts the girls make will NOT look like the picture on Pinterest. Have realistic expectations.
4. Most crafts will be thrown away, so the lesson, not the craft, is what needs to be excellent.

With all that in mind I found a craft I loved for Christmas. The felt nativity!

What I loved about it:

1. Felt is cheap.
2. Hand stitching made the craft take a good amount of time-- and was a good skill for the girls to practice.
3. There are several ways to display this: you can add a cord and use it as a Christmas tree decoration. It can stand on a table. It can be placed inside a picture frame.

We have about 12 girls in our group and it's a very young group. We needed all 3 leaders helping to thread needles, tie knots, and so forth. We played Christmas music while we sewed and chatted and it was a lovely, very relaxed couple of evenings. It took us two 90 minute activities to assemble, stitch and wrap this project, which was a gift from the girls to their parents.

THE LESSON: 
Prior to making this craft, we talked about how the girls enjoy RECEIVING gifts, but that at some point we also need to realize the joy of giving. We talked about some of the things parents do for children on a daily basis, and things that the girls could do to be helpers at home, and make their homes more loving and peaceful. (FIG, Developing Talents, bullet point #7) We also talked about how Christ was the first gift of Christmas, and that the season would not exist without the gift of His love. We then watched a couple different videos from LDS.org and read the Christmas story from Luke to get us in a Christmas-y mood! At the end of the videos and stories we talked about how it is more blessed to give than to receive, and talked about how nice it will be to give a really loving gift to our parents. Then we started this craft. The girls were VERY excited to make something for their parents!

The videos we watched were:
~ What Shall We Give, featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?" (approx. 5 minutes)

~ The Reason Behind Christmas (approx. 4 minutes)

~ He is the Gift (approx. 3 minutes)

Craft notes:

~ I pre-cut all the elements of the craft (printable template is linked here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ltWADMnsx7T0tXV3hLcmFLS28/view?usp=sharing).
The girls took each pre-cut element and glued/taped it in place, then stitched it down.

~ Little pieces of scotch tape worked great to keep the different things in place while we were sewing. We tried glue, but that was not very successful.

~ The finished size was about 6x8 inches-- A large ornament, but a nice sized wall hanging or shelf display.

~ Make sure to stitch all the way around the star, even though part of it is not on the stable. It looks much nicer that way.

~ Make sure each girl puts her name on the back of the craft as, obviously, they all looked very similar.

You will need:

• dark brown felt (1 piece per girl; outer stable, manger)
• light brown felt (1 piece per girl, inner stable)
• flesh colored felt (3 small circles per girl, 1 piece was enough for our whole group)
• yellow felt (1 star per girl; 1 piece covered everyone)
• red felt (1 heart per girl, 1 piece covered everyone)
• green felt (1 Joseph per girl, 2 pieces covered everyone)
• blue felt (1 Mary per girl, 2 pieces covered everyone)
• orange felt (1 baby Jesus per girl, 1 piece covered everyone)
• MATCHING/COORDINATING THREAD (or embroidery floss) for all colors except flesh and the light brown inner stable; the blue or green thread can be used for the eyes. You don't stitch around the faces, they are too small. The eye stitches hold on the faces.
• wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and boxes or padded envelopes to wrap the completed project in.
• IF YOU HAVE EXTRA TIME: you can also bring markers and plain paper and have the girls write a note of love and appreciation to their parents to include with the gift. We did have time for this and the girls liked making very decorated, fancy notes. :)

The wrapping paper, ribbon and bows were a perfect and festive finish to our project! The girls were very excited to wrap their gift, so don't skip that part!

Russian Boxes: Getting to Know You/Getting to Know Faith in God

This is our first activity in January. Our group has changed a lot over the last year-- as with any year we've had new girls turn 8 and our oldest girls turn 12. But we've also had lots of girls bring friends to the activities (the same friends, and new random friends too), a few new move ins, and even some new leaders. So while we know each other, we can always get to know each other better.

While I was thinking of some fun "get to know you" games, I thought about how some of our new girls are not that familiar with Faith in God (or may not know what it is at all). So I decided to also include, in game format, some "get to know you" stuff for Faith in God as well.

My goals for this activity are:

1. Get acquainted with the Faith in God book. Some of the girls, depending on their family make up (non-member or less active parents) have not really even opened their books.
2. Get input on some upcoming activity ideas. While I think the girls are a little young to help plan activities, they are NOT too young to express preferences: would you rather make bread, or make ice cream? Would you rather swim in a pool, or in a lake? Would you rather visit a nursing home for service, or clean the ward nursery?
3. Have the girls get to know each other better. I hope they'll end up talking to some of the girls they normally don't talk to. Because we have several different elementary schools that all are part of our ward, some girls go to school together, some don't. Some have known each other since nursery, and some are new move ins.
4. Get everyone involved in the activity! Some of our girls are so shy it seems I never hear a peep out of them, while others are so social it seems I can never get them quiet! Hoping to find a balance where all can participate.

The "Russian Box" format is because I like the idea of having more than one game or get to know you activity. Different things will appeal to different girls. AND I like having a good way to transition between different activities. Drum roll for the Russian stacking boxes! Each box holds a new activity, and when that activity is complete we move on to the next box.

The following is a link to the complete printable for the activity. You will still need to procure your own boxes, candy, and other supplies for the activity. That should not be too difficult. I have even included a supply list in the printable! The only hard one will probably be making the listening objects for the Two Peas game (it will require film canisters or empty m&m tubes or Easter eggs, or some similar enclosed hard container, plus the objects to put inside them). But as close as possibly can be done, this is ALL DONE for you, you just have to read through it, get your supplies, and go!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ltWADMnsx7WVdwRU1XdDRZRWM/view?usp=sharing

Below are some pictures of what is in each of the boxes, with the inner most box first. The handout explains all the games and contents.

One thing I didn't put in the printable though is what I ended up using for my sound objects for Two Peas in a Pod. I found the mini m&m tubes made great "sound shakers." I filled them with small amounts of the following: salt, popcorn kernels, mini round sprinkles, a roll of smarties (in the wrapper), a marble, 5 pennies, a hard tipped nerf dart, a slim skein of embroidery floss.

Fitness Fun

Downloadable files included at end of post

Things you will need for this activity:

• water bottles, enough for each girl
• marker, to write names on water bottles
• healthy snack for the end (apple slices, goldfish crackers, string cheese, grapes, granola bars, these are just some possibilities)
• a printed and assembled Fitness Fun Wheel for each girl (link at bottom)
• a printed 30 day exercise chart for each girl (link at bottom)
• an instructor for your fitness activity, or an appropriate exercise video, or equipment for an active game, such as soccer, indoor hockey, kickball, etc.
• A note, email or text sent to parents prior to the activity reminding them that the girls will need active wear and athletic shoes, plus anything else (a towel or yoga mat, for example) that you will need for the activity
• A Faith in God book for you, as the leader; encourage the girls to bring their own books
• Any equipment needed for your fitness fun (speakers for music, a TV/DVD player for your fitness video, balls, bases, etc.)

Since this is my first activity post I'm going to spend a little time explaining my organizational structure. About 85% of my activities have this framework. I don't just jump right into the activity because Activity Days is NOT just about teaching a craft, or learning a skill, or having fun. It's about tying all those things back to our relationship with Heavenly Father, and helping the girls recognize spiritual connections in all things. It's about encouraging them to build their personal relationships with the other girls, their families, and God. The structure is also about keeping the girls engaged and active, because they are young and need a lot of hands on stuff to do!

Fitness Fun

Welcome/Opening Prayer/Article of Faith memorization and discussion: 10 minutes
Introduction of the activity: 5 minutes
Zumba: taught by a sister in our ward, 25 minutes
Water break: 5 minutes
Yoga: taught by a sister in our ward, 20 minutes
Faith in God tie in: 15 minutes
Closing prayer/snack pass out: 5 minutes

Welcome/Opening Prayer/Article of Faith
First of all, I always strive to start right on time. Don't always make it, but you can see that schedule is 85 minutes... and you know in real life those minutes won't break down so perfectly. If you start late, everything is off, and it doesn't take too many times of parents waiting on kids before they get cranky.

The welcome is simply that: welcome to activity days, glad you're all here!

I choose a volunteer for opening prayer. If the same few girls always volunteer, I pick alternates. I have name sticks in a can and I'll choose one. :)

Articles of Faith-- there are 13 articles and only 12 months in the year. I purposely started my time as a leader with AofF #8... because everyone knows all the early short ones pretty well anyway.

Girls with their Faith in God books may look at the Articles of Faith but I also write a mnemonic up on the board (either some pictures or the first letter of each word, or some of the key words in order) and we all say it together.

Then we spend a few minutes talking about what that means. Who translated the Bible? How does translating work? Why might there be errors in the Bible, but not in the Book of Mormon? What does "word of God" mean?

Then we say it one more time, and we're done!

Introduction: I tell the girls what we're going to do, and how it ties into Faith in God, and sometimes I have a related scripture verse that I share during this time. I try to keep in short because I know they are dying to get to "the good stuff."

For this evening our tie in was under Developing Talents, "Plan a physical fitness program for yourself that may include learning to play a sport or game. Participate in the program for one month." Obviously we're not going to complete that tonight but I have extras for take home and the girls will be encouraged to complete it on their own!

Zumba: If you don't have a talented sister in your ward you can use a video. The live instruction was nice though. I would pre-watch and try any video to make sure it is do-able. The 20-25 minute time slot was just about right, especially as some girls were Zumba pros and quite confident, and some were newbies and a little shy about doing the dance movements. Obviously other forms of exercise, including aerobics,Taebo or calisthenics or whatever would work here as well.

Water break: I provided water bottles and had the girls write their names on them. NAMES GOOD. All the water bottles look the same and they get set down all over and no one will touch them again for fear of not getting the right one and accidentally ingesting germs of some other girl. Lol!

Yoga: A nice cool down activity, and a very different type of exercise. It was challenging for the girls,  but they tried most of the poses. When we were done they were definitely ready to be done, so it was good that this was a shorter segment.

The two different exercise segments were fun (and part of "learning to play") but if I did this activity again I would probably make it easy on myself and do a single 30 minute exercise segment (or play a physical game like soccer, kickball, or floor hockey). The extra minutes would be used to either make a healthy snack/talk about nutrition, or talk about exercise, sweat and hygiene! Lol!

After a day of school, homework and play, the girls did NOT want to exercise for 50 minutes straight through!

Faith in God tie in: Our discussion time was spent talking about how our bodies are a gift from God, each one unique, and special. I emphasized a few different points:
1. Exercise will make you healthier, but it will not necessarily (or usually) drastically change your body shape. It won't make you taller, or your thighs lean instead of round, or your chest full (or flat!), but it will strengthen your heart, your muscles, and your self discipline.
2. A healthy body is a huge gift. To be able to walk, breathe easily, run, sit, and stand are things we usually take for granted, but not everyone can do them. When we thank God for our blessings, a healthy body is a HUGE blessing.
3. God expects us to treat our bodies as temples. We talked about good things to put in our bodies, things NOT to put in our bodies (alcohol, drugs, smoking, etc.), and eating sweet and fattening foods in moderation, while accepting and eating healthy foods (vegetables, fruits, grains) daily.

I ask the girls lots of questions rather than just telling them things. It's more fun and they learn more too!

I gave all the girls a 30 day exercise chart and an exercise wheel spinner. To fulfill their Faith in God objective they were to take the spinner home and spin it once daily, and complete the suggested exercise. Then they were to mark their chart, and keep it up for 30 days.

Closing Prayer/Snack: We usually pray first (to bless the food) and then pass out the snack. The girls can take it with them if parents are picking them up. Or they can eat it in the room. Our building has strict rules about food areas, so we encourage the girls to take it with or keep it and eat it right there.

My snack choice: Goldfish crackers and string cheese sticks

Link to my simple PDF exercise chart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ltWADMnsx7Wi1SMHNKQURjbGs/view?usp=sharing

Link to my printable exercise wheel spinner:'
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ltWADMnsx7MjdrQVIyLTZiVzA/view?usp=sharing

Link to a fancier center spinner (which I did splurge on because I thought they were cool):
http://www.amazon.com/Koplow-Games-KOP04258-Board-Spinner/dp/B002GJFAKS/ref=pd_bxgy_t_img_y

Why are Wednesdays wonderful?

Our ward holds Activity Days twice a month, on Wednesdays, and it's my job to make that happen. Which, I love to do! It's a fun calling, and I enjoy working with the girls.

This blog is for sharing some of my favorite activities-- both for my future reference, and to help others out there plan THEIR future activities. :)

What I plan to post is the OPPOSITE of a long bullet point list of activity ideas. I am all about well organized activity plans, and that's what I want to share.

I also am mainly posting the "normal" Wednesday night activities, not the blow out bashes or recognition nights with coordinating theme and decor. (Although I find those very cool!)

So... if you can already look at a photo on Pinterest of a washer necklace made with nail polish, and instantly start planning your supply list, realize you'll need the girls to start with the polish application right away, and then have a filler activity to do while the polish dries, plus know what your spiritual tie in is going to be, and can't wait to start typing all that up-- props to you my internet sister! You can scan my blog for ideas you may not have tried yet, but we're pretty much on the same page. 

If you look at that same washer necklace and think, "that would be fun to do with the girls" and just buy washers and nail polish and cord, and then get to your activity and sort of make it up as you go along and it works-- it was chaotic, but you all had fun-- you will probably either hate this blog (because it's just not you) or love it (because wow, that went so much more smoothly), and you'll just have to try it to find out. 

If you're right in the middle-- you think that washer necklace is a great idea, but you need a little guidance for turning "great idea" into 90 minutes of activity time--  I think you just found the perfect site for planning your next several activities! :)

In any case, welcome to all. If nothing else I hope you find an idea tweak that you hadn't thought up (or found on Pinterest!) yet.