BUDGET ACTIVITY

 

I arranged a budget activity for the MiaMaid class that went off well and was enjoyed by the girls.

 

SETUP:

 

We used the kitchen at the church which was equipped with 2 microwaves and a refrigerator.  I brought in two electric frying pans.  Limited number of spatulas, mixing spoons, can opener (important), couple of mixing bowls and a couple of knives. 

 

I wanted to set up the kitchen, like a dorm kitchen would be.  I put ketchup in the fridge along with a milk jug with only a tiny bit of milk in it and half of an onion.  I did bring many of my spices from my kitchen and laid them out to be used (with the understanding that when they went to college, they would clean out mom’s spice rack and take it with them, good idea). 

 

Then, I set up a grocery store.  I selected canned tomatoes, beans, noodles of various shapes, corn, spice packets, tomato sauce, broth, taco shells, hamburger buns, sour cream, shredded cheese, tuna, ground beef etc.  I put correct prices on all of the items and had grocery bags.

 

ACTIVITY:

 

  The girls were divided into teams, I had 2 teams of three girls each.  I explained to them that they were freshman at BYU and each team were roommates.  I explained a bit about how family home evening groups are set up at college and that they were just told that their new FHE brothers had invited themselves over for dinner.  They checked their pockets and each team was able to scrounge up $7.00.  They had to go to the tiny, grocery store around the corner to get their supplies because the boys would be there in 45 minutes.  I also advised that they would have opportunities to earn additional money as the game progressed.

 

The girls met with their roommates in the grocery store and had to try to develop a menu and buy their groceries.  Then off to the kitchen.  The items in the refrigerator (although limited) were available for them to use for free.  As were the spices since they were smart enough to take those from home prior to leaving for school. 

 

As the activity progressed, each team would be asked questions and if they answered correctly, they would have the opportunity to earn extra money and go back to the grocery store for additional supplies.  My questions focused on sanitation etc. 

 

  1. True or False:  Chicken is thoroughly cooked when it is pink in the center?
  2. True or False:  Is it ok to put a cooked hamburger on the same plate that raw hamburger meat was?

Etc.

If the girls got the answer correct, they got to pick an envelope that would reveal their prize.  Example:  You found 75 cents under the couch cushions.  You found a dime in the parking lot.  You found a dollar bill in your winter coat.  You found 20 cents in the bottom of your backpack.  Etc. 

 

The girls had 45 minutes to make the meal and both teams would partake of it when done. 

 

The girls did a great job.  One team made burritos and the other made a tortilla soup.  Both were great and we sure had a feast.  Beehives enjoyed the end results with us.  One team earned and spent $9.10 and the other $8.65. 

 

TEACHING OPPORTUNITY:

 

I made the prices the same as what the items cost at the grocery store, so the girls really needed to determine what were the most important ingredients to make the meal and hope that they could earn money later for the finishing touches.  I was no help and there were no recipes.  They had to taste spices to see which one worked with their meal.  The girls had to work as a team.  Work together and both meals came out great. 

We started with singing the song – “For our Day” from the Book of Mormon seminary video soundtrack.

 Father Lehi ( he was a wonderful elderly brother of Maori descent) –  had the Liahona and the brass plates. Lehi talked to the girls (this was outdoors on a clear starry night, with a huge bonfire as a backdrop).  All the girls and leaders were seated in front.  He resourced  the scriptures as his guide and spoke to the girls of his history and of his people. His main theme was – Righteousness brings guidance of the Lord. He counselled them for their day.

  He then passed on the plates to his son Nephi, who spoke of how by being obedient  and having faith with Heavenly Father he was able to obtain the plates of brass.(quite strongly he showed how!) He was quite a tall man and strong, in stature. Again he counselled the YW and shared his testimony of the sacredness of the plates. Spoke of his great faith and how the records were preserved.

  They were then transferred to Alma the younger who spoke of Repentance and being truly converted. The brethren were well chosen in their roles and dressed to their character (gratitude to their wives for their creativity!)  Each time the plates were transferred, it was noted that they were a  sacred record and needed to be preserved. He had his little  3-4 year old son dress exactly as his Daddy and was able to help Daddy present  the YW with their charms later in the evening.

 Next Samuel the Lamanite talked about being taught from the plates as a child and as a  Young Man  and of  how he was able to do great missionary work among his people.  “and be ye not afraid” All the brethren used the BOM as their study  of their character and as the evening progressed, at times quoted directly from their record.

 Mormon was our next “great Prophet”. He too was large in stature and wore a red robe. He loved his sword!  The words spoken were powerful and he shared with the girls “How to stay righteous in times of great wickedness” The YW were so quiet thru the whole fireside, not a whisper. They were absolutely “there”.

 Mormon then handed the Plates to his son Moroni, who spoke of the rapid decline of his people, the loneliness he endured and the sacredness of the plates he preserved and  added – “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things”

He then buried the plates with the Liahona, sword of Laban in the “Hill Cumorah” and joined the other Prophets to the right of the stage. Where they mingled with each other, quietly but a strength was felt of their presence.

 Joseph Smith then entered the central stage and spoke of how he was enquiring to find the truth.  The first vision was shared by testimony and how he came to know the truth, how it was revealed. How the  Angel Moroni came to him and in time, handed the plates to him, as a sacred responsibility for “our day”.  Joseph spoke of how he was persecuted and hunted for the plates but “He knew and God knew”. Then Joseph turned to the YW and held out the plates and asked them – “What will you do with these sacred records”

There were tears and the spirit was so strong.  It was then that we closed with the song –“A great and a Marvelous Work” by Jenny Phillips

 Each Prophet then handed a little gossamer bag of “Golden Plates” charms on a necklace for each YW in his “tribe” 7 tribes, 7 values. I see the YW still wearing their charms around their necks.

After the fireside, we held a testimony meeting.  Just for the girls to share their feelings.  This fireside idea was “received “ in April, the Prophet , President Gordon. B .Hinckley  challenged  us to read the BOM by years end in July. Our YW Camp was in September!  We are following thru with an activity night where we will add our testimonies in Book of Mormons to be handed to a friend. Then we will have a slide presentation of the Camp, finishing with the visuals of the  BOM Prophets.

 I hope that you will have the same experience that we did, it was unforgettable, a memory I will treasure.

 Ellen Ender -  Warwick Stake, Perth, Western Australia

Our Beehive class had a very successful and fun activity in June for Father's Day.  Each of the Beehive girls gave their Dad a special invitation inviting them to a "Father's Day Car Wash".  We held it at a home, and told the Dad's to arrive with their car sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 pm (so everyone wouldn't come at the exact same time.)  As they arrived they pulled their car into the driveway and the girls began washing the car, while the daughter gave her Dad a "Dad's Rootbeer" Float to eat while he waited for his car to be washed.  We took each girls picture with their Dad holding up his float, in front of his car!  The Dad's enjoyed visiting with each other, as the girls had a blast washing the cars together.

~Shelley Brown, Antioch, CA

We just recently had a great activity called Pamper NIGHT where we got kits from www.kariskreations.com under enrichment night activities and made bath salt tubes, soap petals, bath tea bags and bath confetti.  They turned out so cute that we gave them away as gifts and the RS is going to do some for the Super Saturday.

We also used www.kariskreations.com to do a fund raiser so we could raise money to go to camp.  It was so successful and we made way more than we needed.
Just some ideas to pass your way.

    Jana

When I was a Mia Maid or Laurel, many years ago, the leaders in my ward planned a mock wedding in the Relief Society room, where we normally met for opening exercises.  (Of course, we didn't know it was a mock wedding.  The couple were young adults in the ward.)  Upon arrival, each young man and young woman was seated by an usher.  There was the usual wedding music and then the bridal march.  The bride and groom marched down the isle and the wedding ceremony was begun by the bishop.  When he came to the part "If anyone objects..." one of his counselors (or maybe it was someone in the stake presidency, or a temple sealer — I can't remember) stood up in the back of the room and said "I object."  Then he came to the front of the room and gave a talk on the importance of temple marriage and being sealed for eternity.  It was a wonderful evening, and something I have always remembered.

   Diane Durrant - Layton, Utah


Last March we had a combined activity that was fun and a good learning experience. It was missionary olympics. To start the night we paired
the kids together. (We didn't let them pick, we assigned them, since you don't get to pick your missionary companion.) We tied them to their companion at the
wrist and told them they would lose points if they were found without their companion. They received points through the night and we gave small prizes to
the winning companionships. Activities included missionary trivia, eating food they might not eat at home, sewing buttons, baptismal toss (bean bag toss). We separated them for "splits" and put their feet under a blanket to see who could find their companion. We ended with an obstacle course (putting on large shoes and belts, folding clothes, pumping a bike tire, then finding a missionary scripture). They were of course tied again for the obstacle course. Everyone had a good time. To end we awarded the prizes and gave the kids all pass-along cards.
   Serena L. , Adelanto CA

For a fun activity on preparing for temple marriage, we played toilet paper brides and had all the girls create modest wedding dresses out of toilet paper.  When all the girls had a dress we put a wedding veil on them and gave them a bouquet to hold ( both borrowed from my sisters wedding) and took their pictures.  After I developed the pictures we placed them in the corner of a 5X7 paper with a pastel rose print, covered the top with vellum paper that we had printed a wedding invitation on (invitation printed below) and tied a ribbon at the top then we framed each one in a silver frame for the girls to hang in their rooms.  It is a great reminder for them to prepare for temple marriage!     The invitation read: "Mr. & Mrs. (girls last name) are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter, (girls full name) to the man of her dreams, son of  Mr. and Mrs. To be Determined. Marriage to be solemnized in the temple.You are cordially invited to attend a reception to be held in their honor.  Date and time will be announced after a worthy and deserving Mr. Right has been found.

Recently our youth had an eye opening activity.  We took our girls to a local store that sells temple clothing.  We are fortunate in that our local store manager recognizes the wisdom in teaching the youth early about the temple, so she does presentations in the evenings geared toward the youth.  During the presentation she talked about the blessings of the temple and went on to talk about preparing for that great day when we go for the first time to take out our own endowments...She pointed out that many of us go to the temple right before a mission or getting married.  It is easy in the excitement of getting a mission call, or preparing for a wedding to allow those events to overshadow going to the temple...We make preparations like, getting our missionary supplies, or wedding dresses, rings and bridesmaids
gowns...and then as if it is an after thought, we say..."oh yeah, and we have to get to  the temple"...when in reality that event is the most important one of our
lives....  As she spoke to us, many of us leaders realized that we all had wedding gowns that we had worn 1 time hanging in our closets, but none of us had ever purchased our own temple dress...we were all pretty amazed at how we had prioritized things...  After the presentation, the manager allowed each girl to choose a dress and try it on, and we took pictures of them in their "temple dresses".   It was a wonderful evening and we all went away feeling like we should do a better job of preparing our youth in making the event of  "going to the temple" the most special event in their life...

We just had a really fun activity - different but fun.  It was actually a class activity with the Laurels because they are the only ones who drive.  We had about a half hour of driving safety, we have a drivers ed. instructor how lives in our ward and he spoke to them (refresher course!) and then we make stop light cookies.  I brought sugar cookie dough and we cut 1" x 4" rectangles out then made three round imprints with a thimble into the dough and baked them. I used a mixture of egg yolks and water and food coloring and made the 3 "stoplight" colors.  After the cookies came out they painted them with small paint brushes.  The girls got a real kick out of it!

We "painted with dots" the other night and the girls had a great time and got quite creative!  We provided white drawing paper, cotton swabs, liquid tempera paints, paper towels, glue stencils,  and construction paper.  If they are good a drawing they can draw a picture or what most the girls did was trace around a stencil picture. Fill in the picture with dots using the swabs, just dip it in the paint and blot on the paper towels.  They should put the dots as close together as they can and still leave a little white paper showing.  Some of the girls did pictures and then cut the out and glue them to the construction paper, some of them made them into cards.  It was a fun activity.

We had a really fun mother daughter Laurel class activity last month that I wanted to share.  We took the Laurels and their moms to the mall and tried on Wedding dresses, we followed it up with an activity night on things the girls would like to do for their weddings.  We included looking at recipes, bride's maid dresses, decorations - but didn't leave out preparations for the temple and the differences of a wedding inside and outside the temple.  We gave them temple slippers and related it to "going to the temple".  It was really neat.

We just finished a great activity and the girls learned something they never thought they would.  Weaving is an old skill not used much anymore!  We made shoulder bags by weaving. The supplies you will need are
4 1/2 oz of thick yarn in main color, 5 yards each of yarn in three contrasting colors, a book (for the pattern of the bag), large tapestry needle, thread, & scissors.Wind the main color around the book, tie the ends at the beginning and the end to the strand next to them.  Then weave the other colors using a large tapestry needle (you don't have to use the needles but it's easier) go up one side of the book over the spine and down the other side.  Leave tails at the end (all on the same end of the book).  When you are done join the bag at the bottom by knotting each pair of threads (tails) twice with a matching pair from the opposite side of the book.  To make the shoulder strap, cut 18 strands of yarn, each 5 feet long.  Braid nine strands to make one side, then braid the other nine for the second side.  Knot each braid twice at the bottom, then knot them together at the top.  Use the needle and thread to sew the braid to the sides of the bag. It makes a really neat little bag with fringe at the bottom.
   T. Smith

We made some really neat collages with fabric.  I had pre-cut some shapes but had material for the girls to use for ideas of their own too.  They were very creative and found colors to match their rooms etc.  You could use felt and get fancy and stitch them on too if you wanted to learn some quilting skills with the girls.  Anyway, it was fun.
   M. Allen

We had fun this month "toothbrush painting" Mother's Day cards.  If you want the boarder of the card to be white (or whatever color the paper is) then use a stencil.  If you want the boarder to be speckled then cut the shape out and paint over it - then the pattern or image will be white.  Just dip a toothbrush in paint - hold it over the card (protect the table with newspaper or something) and run your pointer finger over the brush.


We were just put into Young Womens a week ago and nothing had been planned for the month of December.  The first two lessons were excellent topics for getting to know the girls (wise use of leisure time & talents), but they did not know us, so we planned a  get to know us night.  We met at the church and had a progressive activity.  We visited each presidency member's home and learned a little about them.  The homes were all decorated for Christmas and we made a small favorite treat to share while we told something about ourselves.  The girls were given a blackout bingo sheet and pen at the first house and asked to keep their ears and eyes open for the items on the list.   It was great fun!

J. Arrington; Mount Vernon, WA


Starting today the Young women in my branch go to about 3 different peoples homes and leave a thing for everyday for twelve days before Christmas. We knock on their door then run but leave the present or goodies on their porch. We do this for twelve days before Christmas. We do not do it in Christmas, but we get done Christmas eve. This year we are using a story of the twelve days and we made ornaments for each day and on the first night we give them a wreath and each night after we give them a ornament and some goodies. Do not give your identities away cause you can do them year after year if you want. It is really fun.The girls have a lot of fun at it. We also include the Young Men.
   G. White

We had an activity on Integrity. The girls all came prepared with 3-4 MODEST outfits. A lady in the ward spoke on modesty. The girls changed in and out of their outfits and had black-and-white photos of taken of them. They loved wearing others props, accessories and outfits.  The next mutual night the girls highlighted them with pastels. They gave one finished picture to their dads for Father's day and kept the other 3 for themselves. It was a success and the girls always ask to do it each year.

Aspen Hills Ward, Granite South Stake, Sandy -UT


We are making clay pot Christmas trees for one of our December activities this year.  We bought the small clay pots that are only about 33 cents each.  You can stack 3 or 4 of them depending on how many sizes you can find and how big you want the tree.  Use the bottom plate that sits under a clay pot for the base of the three.  You can paint it brown or read.  Paint the pots green and sponge a little white paint around the top (which will be the bottom when you stack them)  then we decorated them by hot glueing different colors and sizes of bottons, and small red bows on. Stack them biggest to smallest.  The top has a star made of foam, but you could use poster board or something else for that.  It's glued on with a botton in the middle.  The girls decided they wanted make one for themselves and one for each member of our bishopric.  11/26/99

We are making "soda pop can carolers" to deliver to several families in our ward this year for Christmas.  We are almost done with them and I wanted to share the idea.  Just use regular pop cans, remove the tab  and bend them in the middle so the top is facing up (it almost looks like you have punched the middle in)  seal the can and paint it. We made a few faces that the girls could easily trace or copy onto the face, some with the eyes open and some with just a line and eyelashes to make it the eyes look closed.  Rosy cheeks and some moss for hair.  Then we made big bows for the back and glued them on.  You can add other things if you are creative and have the budget!!  We stood them on small plaques that were painted to match.  We're making cookies to go along with the gift and will deliver them for an activity night in December.  11/26/99

We are making lace stocking ornaments for a Christmas activity.  We are using felt and they are about 6" long.  Stitch around the stocking (or you can hot glue them, but we thought the stitching looked nicer).  Then you need a hankerchief with lace around the edge.  Mark a diagonal line measuring 6 1/2" long across a corner of the hankerchief and cut on the marked line.  Turn the stocking wrong side out and glue the hankerchief to the top then turn.  You can add ribbon roses or bows and a ribbon hanger, glue on and it's finished.   11/3/99

Because of the Y2K that everyone is talking about.  Our young women took orders to dry pack food at the church cannery from the members of the ward.  We had a great response.  The girls did all of the dry packing and then delivered it to the members home.  They not only learn about canning but they had a lot of fun doing it.
We had such a great response we had to go to the cannery five different days in order to get all of the orders filled. expdesk@aol.com

We are making some really cute Halloween flower pots for our activity tomorrow night.  I made one ahead so I could show the girls how they look.  We asked each girl to bring her own terra-cotta flower pot, that way they can do the size they want.  You can buy mosaic tiles or break ceramic dishes into small pieces, either one works.  Then you need white tile grout, and a tile adhesive, and sponges or rags.  Trace or draw the eyes, nose, and mouth of a pumpkin face onto the pot, then glue on yellow tiles for those areas.  Fill in the rest with orange ones.  Apply the grout and let it set for about 15 to 20 minutes then wipe off the excess.  They are really cute.  10/4/99

We just made some really cute lanterns.  You need a large juice can and a 6" metal funnel.  Saw off the spout of the funnel with a hack saw ahead of time for the girls and hammer the edges to the inside so it won't be sharp. (it needs to be made of aluminum in order to punch it with a nail, otherwise you have to use a drill)  If you fill the funnel and can with water and freeze it, they can be tin punched, they were painted and turned out so cute.  You can write the name of a fruit or vegetable on the funnel - tin punch around it and then paint the picture on the can (apple, tomato etc.) on the can.  They were not hard and the girls thought they were really neat!

Hi! We just finished putting together a good super-saturday. Some of the ideas came from the links on the internet but the whole takes on a different proportion.  Click here for instructions
   R. Brindle - Peru Ward, FortWayne, IN Stake

Cleaver titles for Youth Firesides

(1)  I must be in a bad cell phone area, I'm breaking up (receiving answers to prayers).  (2)  Choose the Sprite when the Coke is placed before you (Word of Wisdom).  (3)  Uhhh, I'll need to get back to you on that (difficult questions youth ask about Church doctrine).  (4)  I've fallen and I can't get up! (repentance).  (5)  Raiders of the lost ART! (how to treat members of opposite site, chastity).  (5)  Let's all do the Mormon Rap! (music and the Holy Ghost).


We are going to have a book review of "As I Have Loved You"  It has been out for about one year and talks of the experiences a Young girl had while in the concentration camps.  She has only one treasure and that is a special doll.  At the end of the war, she has lost her family and everything.  She finds her nanny who had taken care of her before the war only to find that the family jewels had been sewn into the doll stuffing and were there for her to begin a new life.  We are going to have the mothers join us and help the girls make their own rag dolls and for the personal progress goals they accomplish this year, they will receive their own jewels (in the colors of the values) to place in the pocket of their dolls.

I'm a Mia Maid in Fairbanks Ak. My ward just had an activity that was a blast! We had a fashion show and invited all the Achievment Days girls to come watch (I guess it goes with their goals-about personal care). We found old MODEST formals for each of the 7 value colors. And let each girl have a turn on the runway. While our Mistress of Ceremonies gave
comentary about the dresses, the value it went with and the model. We also had some other fun categories. The activity was a success, the girls and Young Women loved it!
Krystal
E-mail questions to  sdmoose@mail.ptialaska.com

IThis was a little less clever idea but was very much enjoyed by the girls. The girls were assigned to bake some cookies or brownies and bring them already baked to Young Womens.  The leaders had gathered a few of those plastic fireman hats and the girls arranged the cookies and brownies inside. They were wrapped up nicely and with a thank you note attached, delivered the goodies to our local fire departments.  We have 4 within a 10 mile radius. It was a thank you gesture to our firemen for taking care of our community. The girls got tours and pictures with the firemen.  Some were brave enough to try on their fire suits.  The fire departments were very surprised and greatful and the girls had a wonderful time.
     Lisa - Panther Lake Ward,  Kent, Wa.

This is a really fun activity that we've done for a few years in a row.  It's called a dinner auction.  Either the girls or boys do service activities to earn points which tye use to purchase a box dinner provided by the opposite gender.  The points are earned  at home.  Here's the dinner auction Job Chart
5 points            10 Points         15 Points                                    20 Points
1. Walk Dog                         1.  Bath Pet                    1. Baby-sit 1 hour (no pay)          1. Make Dinner (for family)
2. Take Out Garbage             2.  Vacuum House          2. Wash Windows                      2. Make Lunch (for family)
3. Feed Pet                          3.  Clean Room               3. Wash Car                              3. Make Breakfast (for family)
4. Set Table                         4.  Wash Dishes              4.  Clean up After Pet                 4. Baby-sit 1 /12 hour (no pay)
5. Make Siblings Bed            5.  Clear Table                 5. Sweep Floor                           5. Mow Lawn

They come that night with paper that lists the jobs (by number) and a signature of parent that they did the job.  Then they auction by points earned.  Our kids really have a good time.


We did a service project last night for the Primary Music leader.  With the help of ideas from a primary internet site for music we took the ideas and had the Beehives make a bubble gum machine and the Mia Maids made an ark to choose the song to sing the children will pick bubble gum or animals respectively attached with velcro. The music leader was thrilled!

WE WERE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS IN OUR WARD.WE WERE NEW AS A PRES.SO AS A PRES. WE HAD A FASHION SHOW (JUST A SHORT ONE IN OPENING  EXERCISES.  EXAMPLE, I WORE BOXER SHORTS AND A TANK TOP... WHICH WAS A PICTURE OF A TANK PINNED TO MY FRONT,MY BOXER SHORTS WERE BOXING GLOVES  HANGING ALL AROUND MY WAIST. SOME OF THE OTHER ONES WERE PLUNGING  NECK LINE(A PLUNGER) SPIGETTI STRAPS MINI SKIRT(MINNIE MOUSE ) WHEN THE GIRLS WERE THROUGH LAUGHING WE ALL TOOK OUR TURNS TELLING THEM HOW SERIOUS DRESSING
MODESTLY IS AND READ TO THEM WHAT ESPECIALLY  FOR YOUTH HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT.HOPE
IT WORKS FOR YOU..
   S. Hendry

Here is a fun activity that we just did tonight for our young women.  We sent Valentine Care Packages to our five missionaries in the field from our ward.  The Young Women wrote letters with Valentine stickers and we sent them stationary, cocoa, razers (his & hers), candy hearts, mini boxes of cereal, Jiffy muffin mixes, and kool aid.  We asked the missionaries to write us back.
   P. Hammond

For a "preparing for a temple marriage" the young women are going to go to the temple to take pictures.  People lend their wedding dresses so that pictures can be taken outside of the temple with the dresses on (over their clothes), holding the scriptures open.  Then have the pictures framed with a poem about preparing for a temple marriage.
   K. Vaught

Some ideas for fundraising activities:

1. The youth often kidnap the bishop and or his counselors and hold him/them for ransom. The members of the ward pay to have him/them released. The longer it takes for payment to arrive the more torture the kidnapped have to tolerate.

2. Youth warn the membership of there ward that they will be having a "Plastering exercise"(usually on a Mutual night) which means that there car, house etc., could be toilet papered with wet paper if they don't pay an 'exclusion fee'. This works really well.

3. Movie night. Hire a projector and a movie. Members pay to come and watch the movie and popcorn, soft drinks etc.. are sold.
   N.James - Bedfordview Stake - Johannesburg, South Africa


 The Beehives put together a combined activity for all the YW in our ward by planning a Hijacking Activity.  We decorated one section of our Primary Room to resemble an airport, with travel posters and warning signs, etc.  The other sections were the "aircraft" with chairs lined up in two sections with an aisle down the middle.  Seats were numbered.    As YW arrived, they "checked in" and were given a boarding pass, seat assignment and passport.  They waited in this room until the Flight Attendants called for boarding.  As YW took their assigned seats and were prepared for takeoff, they were given a very
entertaining orientation by all of our Beehive Stewardesses.  Stewardesses served soda and popcorn in flight.   A man in our ward loaned us his air force uniform and pilot's hat and we had a pilot and co-pilot and we were off!  At intervals during the flight, several of our ward members would sneak into the plane and hijack it to different countries.  One member brought food from Germany.  He was arrested by airplane security and then we were hijacked to Mexico where we broke a Pinata.  Another Sister told us she was a spy from New Zealand and brought interesting artifacts and told stories.  When we finallyarrived in Paradise, we ate fruit kabobs!  It was a wonderful night that the Young Women still talk about!

 We held an Etiquette Dinner for the Priests and Laurels for an activity.  We set the room up like a restaurant and had a few Young Adults be the waiters.  We played classical music softly in the background.  We served them a nice dinner with several courses so they could practice using the utensils properly.  We gave them an etiquette quiz just before serving the meal, which served as a topic of conversation all evening around the tables.  During dessert we had a speaker talk to the youth about Choosing your dating habits.  We then answered the quiz questions and gave them a booklet that we had prepared on dating standards and dating ideas. It  was an eye opening experience for the youth and the adult advisors.  The youth learned some great lessons about what they didn't know about dating, and the adults about what we have failed to teach them. We need to be more plain spoken and specific to our youth about church dating standards.
   D. Applegate - Salem, Utah

 FHE Kits!
This activity involves everyone and is lots of fun.  The girls get a brown paper lunch sack with the top edge pinked and in it put a copy of a Family Home Evening Lesson out of the Church Manual, A typed up agenda for the evening that they fill out, 2 pkg.s of Kool-Aid and a pkg. of microwave popcorn.  Then they have the entire contents for one FHE.  The leaders then give short mini-talks on how to plan and present a succesful FHE.  This could also be used as a joint activity.
   Cheryl - Kentucky

Every year, the YM and YW have a nice Christmas dinner.  One year, the YM are in charge with the dinner, entertainment (we had school singing groups sing for us) decorating, serving, etc. And then the next year, it would be the YW's turn.  It is a formal affair!  The guys wear a white shirt and tie while the girls usually wear their Christmas formal.
   A. Gleisberg - Bellevue, Neb

 Last  night we had a wonderful YW activity.  We did a "Dinner with the Patriarch"  The Beehives were in charge of the activity and we had them come early and each decorate a round table with their mothers nice dishes. They had a lot of fun decorating and spending time with their moms.  We served a delicious dinner of turkey breast sliced, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, roll, green salad and cheesecake.  While the girls enjoyed their cheesecake the patriarch and his wife spoke about patriarchal blessings.  The girls found this to be very helpful as they did not know the patriarch and were scared to call to get their patriarchal blessings.  They now know him and his wife.  It was a fun and enjoyable evening for all!

 The beehives in our ward had a great activity recently.  We got a ward list and we voted on people in our ward who represented each value.  The girls made medals and certificates for the people in our ward and we delivered them that night.
   Kim -  Hurricane, Utah

 We played "Family Feud". A week or so ahead of time we sent out surveys to both the Young Men and Young Womens classes. We asked questions like: What is your favorite temple? and Who is your favorite Latter-day prophet? But, we also asked fun things like: Who uses the phone the most in your family? Then we tallied the answers and prepared a "survey board". On the Activity night we spilt all the people into 6 families and played the game. It was really fun and made us work as a family. WE also found out some interesting things about people.
   D. Turner -  Camano Island, Washington

Our Beehives had a class activity this year that was really neat.  Each one of them were asked to bring their clothes that they were not wearing anymore and wanted to get rid of.  At the activity all the girls were able to look through the clothes, pick
out their favorites, and try them on.  They were happy to swap the clothes.  After the exchanging was done they had a speaker come and talk with them about thrift shopping, finding good deals, and mending and restoring old clothes.
   J. Gillam - Aurora,  Co

We had a great night with the girls.  We invited them all to a PJ"S party.  They all arrived in thier night clothes or pajamas, stuffed animals, pillows, favorite blankets etc.  We played games, ate and had a pajama parade with prizes, this all took only about a half hour.  Then we told them the other meaning of PJ'S was Prayer, Journal, Scriptures.  These are essential each night before you go to sleep. A different leader took each subject and bore short testimony of how this principle is from the Lord.  I wrote a poem to give to each of the girls about the meaning of PJ's. This activity has come up in girls testimonies several times in the few years since we did  it last.  It made a lasting impression on these three principles.
     R. Edwards -  Price, Utah

We recently had a de-stresser night.  Each of the Young Women leaders prepared a 15 min. class on various topics dealling with ways to destress.  Some of the areas were, massage, aroma therapy, yoga and relaxation techniques, healthy snacks and bath salts! Each class was in a different room in the building and was decorated very festive and fun.  The girls loved moving from room to room to see what awaited them next.  The highlight of the night was making there own bath salt wrapped in cute material and a gol!
d ribbon.  This was a great way to start out the school year!  For refreshments we had a tasting table of things taught in the healthy eating class.

Recipe for bath salts.  Each girl needs 1 cup sea salt.  Place salt in paper bowl.  Add 7 drops food coloring and about 10 drops of aromatic oils found at local health food stores.  Stir well.  This is enough for one bath.
        J. Farnsworth - Orem, Utah


As a Stake YW Presidency we were able to create a play concerning the consequences of non-temple marriage and temple marriage.  The play portrayed to close friendship couples that chose opposite ways, and the joy of eternal choices, and the pain of non.  It takes about 45 min to perform, but alot of pre- preparation as it involves making slides.  The impact was more than we even prayed for.

One of the best YM-YW Activities that we have ever done was a Missionary Week. Each of the youth in the ward, including the less active, were called on a mission for a week. The mission call was for a week and worded like a real call might be. It was signed by the Bishop and Stake President. On Sunday, the youth reported to the MTC where they met the Mission President and his wife, and the Group Leaders. They came with their parents and after a talk on Missionary Work and receiving an agenda for the week, good-byes were said and the parents left - just like the real thing. Each youth had a name tag given them and met in their groups to come up with a service project to be done on Wednesday. On Monday, each youth had to give the Family Evening Lesson for their own families. On Tuesday, they gave the first discussion to families in the ward posing as investigators. On Wednesday, they carried out the service projects they had planned. On Thursday, we all met at the Mission President's home for both a physical and spiritual feast. On Friday, we'd arranged the various conpanionships to stay overnight at members homes. Then on Saturday they arrived for a P-Day, complete with making their own breakfast, sewing on buttons, fixing flat tires, etc. On Sunday, they reported their mission in Sacrament Meeting. Afterwards, the bishop gave the youth all an honorable release. This whole activity was operated on a point system and that is what made it work. It was a very spiritual experience and one to be repeated every two or three years.
    June Guymon - Logan, Utah 
IAlaskan saints are so EXCITED to have a temple built right here in '98! Artistic members of our Eagle River Ward (I heard one was an architect) drove to the future tempe site on a Saturday in February and carved a snow sculpture of the temple to 1/5 scale from preliminary temple drawings available. The snow was plentiful from our huge existing stake parking lot! A week later, on Sunday, our Anchorage 9th ward YW met quickly for opening prayer, packed up in cars and surprised the girls to meet a prearranged professional photographer member at the "snow temple". We lined up for our photo shoot en masse and returned to our chapel for closing. The girls had a "cool" experience! We await our beloved new temple.
    Elaine Ivey - Anchorage, Alaska
Stake Volleyball This year instead of competing against other wards. The stake had a values tournament. As the girls arrived. They signed into their Beehive, MiaMaid and Laurel Groups. Then the stake leaders split each group evenly into the seven Value Teams Then a round robin tournament was played between the value teams. We had a blast as each ward provided coaches, scorekeepers,etc. Everyone was given suckers for awards in the color of their team. We all had a great time!
    Becky Sorensen - Downey, Idaho 
We had a lesson on Temple Marriage and then girls were given crocheted white hangers to "Hang onto their Standards and Make it to the Temple." Then we had an activity where we decorated the cultural hall as a wedding reception, complete with back drop, china displays, and hope chest displays. The tables the girls sat at were decorated with nice centerpieces. They all made temple recommend holders out of plastic grid. We had three guest speakers. Topics discussed were "Getting your hope chest ready," "Wedding Etiquette," and "Costs of Weddings." The girls were served cream puffs, nut cups, temple mints, and Sprite. To end our focus on the Temple we visited the Logan Temple grounds. The leaders each bore their testimonies and shared their temple experiences. Each girl was given a booklet we had put together. A couple from our Ward that just came out from being sealed talked to them. They also watched a few new brides come out of the temple. We gave them some time to walk around the grounds and then write their feelings in their booklets. Afterwards, we visited the mall. We played a game in which they had to find a store that sold clothing, pick out an outfit they could wear with garments, and list the price; list a store that sold china, the price of the china, their favorite paattern, etc. It was a competition to see which group could finish first (Laurels, Mia Maids or Beehives).
    Becky Sorensen - Downey, Idaho 
Daddy-Daughter Date We decked our Cultural Hall with hearts, paper records, a big paper juke box and small tables for the Dads and Daughters to sit at. We decorated our serving area as the D & D (Daddy and Daughter) Malt Shoppe. It was complete with menu, malt shoppe items and a malt making machine. The girls were talked to about their divine nature and how they are princesses and their dads are kings. But that night we were there to find out which dad was the "King of Rock and Roll". We taught the Dads and Daughters how to jitterbug. They all danced until they were too tired and then they ordered and had malts and heart shaped sugar cookies. We had a blast with a theme from the past!
    Becky Sorensen - Downey, Idaho 
My MiaMaid class sent HUGE paper valentines to all the missionaries from our ward. They enjoyed decorating them with markers, stickers and paints. Then we took Polaroid pictures of the class to put on each valentine. The girls enjoyed sending something special to those who are serving our Lord.
    Darlene Agren - Gunnison, Utah 
If you live near a temple go wash people's windshields. Leave a note thanking them for what they are doing, then explain what you did. It is sure to be a hit with all of the temple workers. My dad liked it a lot!
    Kim Chapman - Issaquah, Washington 
Get any age group together and make "You Are Special" plates. Some areas have stores where you can buy the ceramic plates plain and just put the glaze on them yourself. They fire them for you. If you don't have anything like that buy any solid color plastic plate and have the girls decorate them with permanent markers. These plates can then be used at birthdays or whenever they want someone to feel special.
    Kim Chapman - Issaquah, Washington 
For a combined activity, we had a YM/YW Pinewood Derby. We used the cub scout track and each Young Women class and each Aaronic Priesthood quorum made a car to enter. We had very strict rules so the boys couldn't use any of the fancy tricks they had picked up over the years-- this way it was more fair to the girls. Awards were given to the "fastest" the "classiest" and the "most creative" cars. The event took a lot of advance preparation, but it was lots of fun!
    Robyn Porter - Oakland, New Jersey 
We had a testimony blast off. Write testimonies on stationary. Roll up & stuff into balloons, then fill balloons with helium and write on the balloon "important Message inside" or "please open" . Then take the balloons outside and have everyone let them go at the same time. We also had the girls write their testimonies in Book of Mormons for the local missionaries that same night.
    Kim Hardy - Sahuarita, Arizona One of the funnest activities we have done as a combined activity was "BASKET, BALLS & BOXES" We assigned the YM to bring a drink and dessert for 2, and the YW dinner for 2 in a decorated box. We told them they could do what ever they wanted, fast food, picnic style or something they made themselves. They were VERY creative. When they all got there we lined up all the "boxes" on the stage and numbered them. We put the numbers in a "basket" and all the YM lined up at the "basket" ball hoops. When they made a "basket" they got to pick a number out of the "basket". They would take the corresponding numbered "box" and they would eat with that YW. We had blankets all over the gym floor. Some of the more creative girls brougt table and centerpiece and candles. They had to find out 5 new things about each other. Some new friendships were formed and some of the deacons who ate with Laurels actually used their manners. They have asked to do this over and over.
    Toni - Vancouver, Washington 
We organized an "Adopt-a-Grandparent" service project for the summer while the girls were out of school. The girls were paired up and drew the name of an elderly person or couple in our ward who were recommended by the bishop and Relief Society. Once a week the girls made cookies, wrote poems, presented their favorite thought or scripture and left them secretly on the doorstep of their unsuspecting "grandparent". They made a coupon book as a class activity for simple services to be redeemed after they revealed themselves. After three months of service, invitations were taken to our "grandparents" and the girls personally asked them to attend a dinner and talent program prepared by the Young Women in their honor. The hearts of the Young Women and the "grandparents" were touched. This was a very successful activity that we will repeat every summer from now on.
    Sharissa Haws - West Valley City, Utah 
Water Balloon Volleyball is a fantastic summer activity! Divide players into two teams on a volleyball court, then partner up within teams. Each pair shares a towel, holding a corner in each hand, so the towel is lengthwise between them. The servers place a water-balloon in their towel, then pull the towel tight quickly to "launch" the balloon to the other side, where another pair catches and launches the balloon. You will go through several balloons, so bring two or three coolers full! This game has never failed to be a hit in any ward I've been in! 
Have a Video Scanvenger Hunt! Give each team a video camera and a list of things to videotape (ie. team forming a pyramid in front of McDonald's; team sliding down the slide in the park; caroling a ward member; etc.) Regroup after one hour and watch the tapes together to select a winner. 
Do a Service Scavenger Hunt! Give each team a list of service items to perform in the allowed time (ie. read a bedtime story to a child, wash 3 windows, mop a floor, etc.) Meet when time is up to see who accomlished the most! 
Ice-blocking is great fun!! Get a large ice-block (between 25 and 50 pounds). Cover the iceblock with a towel and find a big grassy hill. Then sit on your iceblock and slide down the hill!
  Sara Louise Woodruff - St. Charles, Missouri 
Have the girls make a babysitting box. Put books to read, toys, flannel board stories, treat box, emergency numbers, different things like this and then also have a night where the girls watch the kids in the ward whose parents want to go out for a date free of charge and plan activities for the different age groups.
  Lori Brown - Tooele, Utah
Have different women in the ward who might know about cosmetology come and teach and help make up the girls for a kind of glamour shot picture and take pictures of the girls with a camera of your own. This teaches them about taking care of themselves and about self confidence.
  Lori Brown - Tooele, Utah 
For one of our Beehive activities we went and washed a 92-year-old lady's windows. Some of my friends and I found out she loved to read but now has too bad of eye sight to read. My friends and I came up with the idea of going to her house and reading to her once a week. Now we have become good friends.
  Amy Brockman - Heber City, Utah 
We took our Laurel girls to try on wedding dresses at a bridal shop. This was all cleared first with our Bishop and the shop before we talked to the girls about it.

 We live 30 miles away from the nearest store. The lady was LDS and had wonderful dresses for them to try on and had made a number of alterations for the temple. She spent about 15 minutes talking to them about a temple marriage and then let them each try on a dress and then we took pictures of them.

 We developed the pictures and the next week made frames with a transparency temple in the background. The frame was made with white satin fabric and lace.

We then had our lessons on the temple. It was an inspiring month for these girls and the leaders.
  Sherlauna Griffeth - Preston, Idaho 

We had a wonderful experience. We did Elderly Night Out. We made personal invitations for all the elderly people in our ward. We personally delivered them to their houses. For those who could not drive, the priests and their leaders went and picked them up. A spaghetti dinner was prepared for them, and a small program consisting of musical numbers was performed for them. It was a fantastic activity. This helped to strengthen the relationship between the older and the younger.
  Kamber Meibos - Layton, Utah 
We had an "Articles Of Faith Bar". You have every one memorize each Article of Faith, then tell it to someone to receive part of the "bar". Each Article of Faith represents a spoon, ice cream, toppings, a bowl, a napkin, or whatever else you want it to be. This is a good activity for everyone. 
We went crawdad fishing. It was a blast! You find a long stick, then get part of a pair of nylons. Put a rock or a weight of some sort and a pice of hot dog or bolongna in it. You attach the stick to the bait with fishing wire. You can cook them or just fish for fun! 
We wanted to teach standards of modesty and wanted to do a fashion show but we came up against many obstacles. Instead, after clearing it with local merchants, we took the girls (in age groups) to the local mall with video cameras and had them try on modest clothing of all sorts. They posed and paraded and had so much fun. Better yet, we had the opportunity to teach them standards of modesty reinforced by peer influence. This was an excellent activity. We followed it up with a wonderful program on standards where we invited the girls and their mothers. We showed the video (put to fast up-beat music), had a key-note speaker and served refreshments. This experience turned out to be much more than a fashion show could have ever given us! We have also done this with 35mm pictures and put together a slide show...it works great and the girls love it because they all participate and they are the STARS!!!!
    Becky Dodd - Red Bluff, California 
These ideas are being passed along by me, but are not mine. They are ideas shared with me by RoseAnn Gunther, my cousin from American Fork, UT, who served as Stake YW President for five years. In her Stake, they determined the girls needed more opportunities to serve. They instigated a program using the Three-Fold Mission of the Church in order to provide lessons in service:

 PERFECT THE SAINTS: Stake YW funds, instead of being used for refreshments and decorations, were approved to be used to purchase materials needed to make items to be distributed through humanitarian services of the Church's Welfare Services Department. The girls made such things as full-size quilts, baby quilts, afghans, wooden, hand-painted toys, first aid kits, and hygiene kits.

PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL: YW attended workshops where they were taught the 1st missionary discussion. They were then challenged to return home and teach the discussion to their families. Then their went out in groups of two or three to teach the discussion to an assigned family in their respective wards.

REDEEM THE DEAD: The girls worked with the Church's Family History Dept. They were given a complete microfilm of English parish registers the department copied from microfilm onto paper. The young women copied the names and identifying information of the individuals onto forms that were sent to Salt Lake City for clearance in preparation for temple fordinances. Once the names were cleared, the YM and YW performed proxy baptisms for approximately 6,400 individuals.
    Ginny Cox - Benicia, California
    RoseAnn Gunther - American Fork, Utah 

We had a Laurel Temple Night called, "Hopes and Dreams." The invitations had "temple recommends" in them. The girls came with their parents. The bishop stood at the door and accepted the recommends. We played the Newly-Wed Game with some of the girls parents, and a candy bar game that we got over the net. We had two speakers who played the roles of some who was married in the temple and someone who wasn't. At the end we gave out temple books (books with temple pictures in them, etc.) and white hangers decorated beautifully to use for their wedding dresses. Someone made a wedding cake for dessert.
    Kristi Jolley - Las Vegas, Nevada 
We had a "Value Dinner" where we each came dressed in the color of our favorite value, and had a dinner which consisted of foods that were the colors of all seven values.  After eating, we shared with each other how we felt about the value that our clothing color represented, and finished the evening by looking over our personal progress manuals, and setting new goals.
    Tandy Floyd - Eureka, California 
Senior Night!  Every year about in April we put on a combined activity to honor our seniors.  This takes plenty of pre-planning.  We gather pictures from the parents and put them into slides and to music.  That presentation is the highlight of the evening.  We also may have parents tell a funny story, or to control time, we get the story from them and tell it.  This is a hoot.  Then the seniors "will" something off to any one.  One senior willed a pair of pants of to a friend.  He had borrowed them from him and never returned them.  Another willed some garlic oil to a younger boy.  He had once made brownies with this oil and brought them to seminary and this boy ate them.  We also pick themes for the evening.  One year was based on one of the Cat in the Hat books,  "Oh the Places You'll Go"  We decorated with balloons.  Desert is always furnished by the parents.  It is the seniors favorite desert.  The evening is enjoyed by all.  It is a fun way to say good-bye and thank-you.
      Donna McMurry - Allen, Texas 
For one combined YW activity, we notified each of the girls to find something old-fashioned to model such as their mother's or grandmother's wedding dress, an old cheerleader uniform, etc. then had a fashion show and invited all the older ladies in the ward to it.  Everyone loved it!  One girl had some lace-up boots over 100 years old, and one even wore her mother's wedding night negligee (very modest--5 layers from neck to toe!) Then we served refreshments.
    Sharon Wilson - LaVerkin, Utah 
The Young Women had a "Trading Places" night where mothers and daughters came dressed in each other's clothing.  We had a fashion show complete with a host, and awards for the most ridiculous looking, tightest squeeze, look-alikes, sweetest looking, most elegant, and so on.   The evening ended with a mother/daughter musical number.  Invitations for this night were made out of wallpaper that had been cut into dresses, with stitching added.
    Eureka, California