January 2011
1st - "Bring in the New" -Explained some of the things we had in store for the new year. They helped us plan upcoming activities-this passes off a goal in the Faith in God booklet. We ended up having fun playing broom hockey in the cultural hall at the church. Lots of fun. They couldn't get enough.2nd- "Picture This" We are doing an ongoing activity for each girl to create their own personal history scrapbook. We are starting with the cover page and their baby picture. I've asked each of the moms or dads to write their feelings and memories of their daughters as they were a baby.We will learn different techniques of scrapbooking using the computer. It will be fun to see how each girl creates. This project will not only benefit them but for generations to come. It will be a special project to complete.
February 2011
1st- "Souper Bowl" Daddy/Daughter night. We started off having soup in bread bowls and then end up playing a SEEK football game. I created a table length football field , we used the SEEK game (scripture questions game) to play and make moves. I created slips of papers if they answered correctly which everyone did (we supplied scriptures to make sure) the slips of paper will tell them how many downs they get or maybe they will choose one that says touchdown on it. It was tons of fun.The room was very festive in super bowl garb and the girls loved spending time with their dads.2nd- "We Love our Missionaries" - This is one of the activities the girls helped us with. I was so excited and impressed with our girls for wanting to be more serviceable this year. We wrote letters and gave Valentines to our missionaries by creating small care packages to send them. We gave each a tie, chapstick and a candy treat along with the letters we wrote. Ended with a Valentine Party, each girl brought something to give the other.
March 2011
1st- "Shopper Savvy" - First 15 min. talked about being smart when shopping, compare, ads, coupons, etc. We planned the menu we wanted to do for the Bishopric Appreciation Dinner. We then took ourselves to our local grocery store checked for prices for our menu. We bought donuts for our treat. Fieldtrips are fun.2nd- "Bishopric Appreciation" - We made and served a homemade Cafe' Rio Pork Salad dinner. We made the Relief Society room look very classy and cozy. We had met earlier to have the girls decorate and slice and dice veggies and cheese for the salad. We had created a special table for our special guest. We sang a melody of songs for them to entertainment. They (the girls) loved the attention they got from the work they did. They felt good telling the Bishopric thank you for all that they do to serve, that they wanted to serve them back. If you want the recipe for the Sweet Pork Salad let me know by responding I will post it separately because of the length.
April 2011
1st- "Follow the Prophet" - We each took a turn sharing our favorite conference address and told why we chose it. We then played General Conference Jeopardy. Lots of fun. We ended with our quarterly Activity Day Store. Since the beginning of the new year the girls earn play dollars for coming, being on time, saying prayers, passing off Articles of Faith, passing off goals in the booklet, etc. Every 3 months we have this store of things we had bought from Dollar Tree that they can buy, this is suppose to help them budget and save and spend.2nd- "The Real Story" - Had an Easter Egg hunt. Each egg was numbered 1-12, inside was a scripture and an item that represented that scripture and told the true Easter story. My partner gave the FHE lesson using the plastic eggs that also taught the importance of the Sacrament. We then had them make their own Family Home Evening kit. we had them fill gallon zip-lock bags with Easter grass along with the numbered and filled plastic eggs and lesson plan. At the end we made a treat- Easter basket cupcake. The girls were thrilled.
May 2011
1st- "My Super Mom" - Scrapbook pics, information and thoughts about our moms. Talk about how to prepare to be a mom 1. Learn to love yourself-good self-esteem 2. Education- a mom needs knowledge 3. hard work- the most important job in the world 4. Learning important life skills -laundry, cooking sewing, how to clean a house, taking care of children, etc. 5. Learn to become selflessness, to sacrifice and to love 6. Become a righteous influence on others, be a good example and 7. Nurturer/Teacher- We can practice with siblings and with babysitting. We also made a list of things they could do around the home pg11 # 7 in the Activity Day booklet. We filled out service to our moms in a coupon book. Example: Mom, You Are Super!, Super Mom, Someday I want to be just like you!, Super Mom You Are My Hero! This coupon is good for: The girls loved to scrapbook and I loved talking about how I have the best and most important job being a mom. In the end we all love our moms.2nd- "Blast to the Past" or In Memory Of"- Talk of the importance of remembering those who have gone on. We had them fill out pedigree charts and a family group record before coming. Faith in God pg. 7 #8. We put them inside our scrapbooks. We learned how to use the new.familysearch.org. We had them bring at least 2 names to look up. They also brought from home one family story to share. Just in time for Memorial Day.
June 2011
1st- "My Dad is Great!" - Scrapbook pics, information and thoughts about our dads. We put together emergency kits for our dads car. This included: small amount of kleenex, first aid kit (band-aids w/neosporin, nail clippers and wet wipes), chapstick, 2 sticks of gum, breath mints and a 2 packages of peanuts. The card that we put with it said, It's time someone takes care of you with a picture of a clock on it too. The girls were excited to give them to their dads. They had lots of fun.July 2011
1st- "Good Citizen Scavenger Hunt" - We found clues to how we can be good citizens in our community. We first went to the library to weed out the front and side gardens, the second place was our local grocery store Bowmans to help straighten canned foods on the shelves (we had gotten permission day before), we figured since this grocery store is always giving to our community we would serve them with pleasure by helping them, next we went to Nicholls Park in Fruit Heights to clean up litter which is in high demand every time. We came away feeling good that we made it a safer and cleaner place for children to play. We only gave ourselves 20 minutes at each place. But at each place we found the next clue to where to go next. At the park we finished with a cold treat.August 2011
1st- "A Hiking We Will Go" - We hiked up 1/2 mile into Baer Canyon near our home to the bridge. This gave us some physical activity to enjoy God's creation but also to teach us to be prepared. We had a beautiful talk on how life is like a hike. At times the trail was hard but not too hard but you had to work at it, sometimes you might have to depend on someone else to help you up like I did my son Cameron. He was our Priesthood guide up the mountain to keep us safe. Their was a part of the trail that skirted close to the edge but you could avoid it by walking closer to the mountain, we need to make sure we are staying far away from those kinds of dangers. The water gave us relief and fun, but remembering Christ as the Living Waters at the same time. It was a very good activity not only for us physically but spiritually. Even I could climb it. Yeah!2nd- "Late Night Summer Fun" - we began for an hour swimming at our sweet and generous neighbors pool. We went to my house to dry and change clothes, we started a fire using a fire pit to cook our hotdogs, we had dinner hotdogs, chips and watermelon. We had a campfire devotional, my partner and I both gave small talks sitting around the fire, we then opened it up for bearing testimonies. Each of the girls bore their sweet testimonies some more than once or four times because they wanted to add more things to their testimonies. This was a very spiritual moment for all of us. The Spirit was strong, some of these girls are going through tough times, one lost her mother to an illness, a couple of them have divorced parents, one of those girls who had divorced parents also had an inactive family but she wanted to be active so very badly. It was heart wrenching and an eye opener. We ended the night by making smores and playing night games. Too much fun for one night, not at all. We had fun but we also had a different kind of fun feeling the Spirit. Awesome night!
September 2011
1st- "Scrappin' Gramps"- We wanted to celebrate Grandparents day by scrapbooking them. We gathered pics, information and thoughts on our grandparents We told why our grandparents are so awesome. We told stories about them.2nd- "Finding the Lost Ten Tribes"- Started out giving them the Book of Mormon challenge cards, we read the introduction together taking turns. We then went in search of the Tribes of Israel which is spoken of in Articles of Faith #10. We had them memorize the Article. My partner had hidden the Tribes on small pieces of paper with their name on it all around her front and backyard. The girls were excited that we were able to find and gather all the tribes of Israel. It was nice to hear my partner explain what the tribes of Israel were and how they will be gathered in the Latter days.
October 2011
1st- "We Believe in Being Virtuous" - Had them memorize the Article of Faith #13 before they came, we focused on one word in the Article, the word Benevolent. We watched a 12 min. clip of the Young Women Conference on Benevolence from my laptop. Every word was so very well said. We made a list of things we could do to be more benevolent in our lives. We also practiced it by playing a board game called Like Minds. Super fun, the girls did not want to stop, but they did to make a spider treat. We handed out bookmarks with words of the Article on it. It's good to be kind and we need to remember "Kindness Begins With Me".2nd- "Fun with Homemaking Skills" - learned laundry tips, stain removing, checking pockets, we had a relay race folding the clothes properly (because moms are so busy we must be able to work fast sometimes), We finished the day out by making homemade donuts. A hit for sure. We used cans of biscuit dough, flattened them out and created a hole in the middle by using a soda pop top, fried them up and rolled them in cinnamon sugar mixture. Very quick, fun and yummy.
November 2011
1st- "Fieldtrip"- We took a trip to Harvest Bread to learn how they make their bread. Talk about how Christ is the Bread of Life. We had fun sampling their product. So very good!2nd- "Another Fieldtrip-All Dressed in White" - Show our gratitude by giving service, temple service. We told them they can prepare now. We took a trip to White Elegance to take a tour but, also to try on beautiful white dresses meant for the temple. To get them excited to do temple service they can see what they will look like. After we took them for a treat on the town.
December 2011
1st- "We Need Culture"- We decided to take them all out to the ever awesome Weber State Institute Christmas Extravaganza. My brother in law Jack is to be in it. This provides a perfect evening of fun and culture but also testimony building entertainment. You can't go wrong with this annual program. We had the girls dress up and really look nice.2nd-"Christmas Party Babysitting Service" - Moms need time to go Christmas shopping sometime, so we created a 2 hour Christmas party to entertain the young ones so that moms could. Faith in God pg. 9 #5. We created 6 different things we would do. 1. Nativity Play (have dress ups available) have them act out the Christmas story. 2. pinata w/small toys and candies 3. Story telling (Grinch or Scrooge) 4. Small craft-candy cane reindeer 5. Snack- food time 6. Short movie or a glimpse into The Polar Express. Each child would leave with a Christmas gift under the small table tree we will have there. The girls are going to have fun planning this out. Christmas parties are fun but this will also be a service so that moms can get some things done like shopping or whatever they need to do at that time. Sweet!
A glimpse into the new year: Our Activity Days are on Fridays, so this next activity will work out very nicely.
January 2012
1st- "Goal Setter Late Night" - Start off with dinner -make our own personal pan pizza, brain storm ideas for the new year and finish with a movie in my theater room. We plan on watching Tangled or How to Train Your Dragon". This will be lots of fun. I'm already looking forward to it.And that's our year of Activity Day activities. Wow, it's been another great year of fun and spiritual highs. I love my job! I love my partner Holly Paulsen who allows me to create fun activities, she's very easy to work with, we seem to be on the same page about everything, you can't ask for anything better. She is so good at perfecting my ideas as well. We make a great team!
