Dodge Ball

13th Article of Faith Dodge Ball

This activity was a BALL. To start out our activity we always start with a prayer, song, and recited our theme for this year. This year's theme is the 13th Article of Faith. In the beginning I have to admit we all sounded a little rusty, but at the end of the night we all harmonized this magnificent scripture with perfection.

To learn and memorize the new scripture, the young men and young women had a friendly game of dodge ball. The rules were if you got out, the only way to get back into the game was to recite the 13th article of faith to one of the members of the bishopric or leader. At first the youth struggled with it but by the end of the night and 5 games later they all had it memorized. Some of the leaders jumped in and learned it as well. At the end of the activity everyone recited the scripture again and it sounded so good. (I got chills) I am so impressed with the willingness and drive our youth had to learn this wonderful scripture.

Bottle cap Necklace by Kathy

Thank you Terri for showing me this very cute necklace. I was really excieted to try and make it. I found the charms and the metal bottle cap pendant at Hobby Lobby 50% off. I found the clear epoxy sticker pendants on http://www.ebay.com/. The 1" bottle cap epoxy sticker pendants were $8.00 for 50.(sellers store @ eBay: Those-Sweet-Sensations)
Have fun!!

Opening Exercises

Here's a question directed towards opening exercises:  What have you done to create an atmosphere where the Young Women feel the spirit, feel appreciated and know they are loved?


The following was found here.
Opening exercises are held with all young women and leaders.  They normally include the following:
  • Prelude music. This invites the Spirit.
  • Welcome and announcements by a young woman who is a class officer.
  • Opening hymn directed by a young woman.
  • Opening prayer by a young woman.
  • Reciting of the Young Women theme. “The theme needs no embellishment. It is not preceded by statements or charges. We don’t hold hands. We just stand and say it. It is powerful in and of itself in the hearts of the girls”   - Susan W. Tanner, Young Women General President
  • Additional music, if desired.
  • Song or hymn practice. Occasionally, it is appropriate to spend a few minutes learning a song or hymn for a Young Women event.

Photo Necklaces

I saw this from Little Birdie Secrets and had to share.  Aren't these adorable?
"Kathy, I know you have the skills and probably all the supplies to make these!  Time for a playdate?"

2011 Monthly Focus

Do you have a monthly value focus?  I love it when there is a value to focus on each month.  Why?  I believe it helps support the values and instills a stronger foundation for the Young Women.
*
Just a few Ideas:
  • Each Fast Sunday:  give your Personal Progress Leader or member of the YW Presidency a few minutes after Opening Exercises to introduce the focus for the month.
  • Give the YW a simple handout to help them remember what the monthly focus is.  It could be as simple as a piece of paper (value color) with the Value, Scripture and Value Tag line found here:   FAITH, DIVINE NATURE, INDIVIDUAL WORTH, KNOWLEDGE, CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY, GOOD WORKS, INTEGRITY, VIRTUE
  • Challenge the YW to complete a specific Personal Progress activity during the month.
  • Try to have your weeknight activities tie into the monthly focus.
This is what the year looks like for our YW:
January:  Faith
February:  Individual Worth
March:  Knowledge
April:  Our Savior/Easter - "The Living Christ"
May:  Virtue
June:  Good Works
July:  Divine Nature
August:  Integrity
September:  Choice and Accountability
October:  Stake Youth Musical
November:  Gratitude/Thanksgiving
December:  Our Savior/Christmas

Just Bee It

Our YW 2008 camp theme was "Just Bee It".  We took Pres. Kimball's "Just Do It" and made it our own.  Our camp director was awesome and we had a lot of fun!!
*
These were our cute camp T shirts!
*
This was our flag.
*
This was a craft project they made to hold their beads they earned.
I never got a straight answer as to why it was angry...
*
This was another craft we made.
Do you know what book it is?  The Book Of Mormon!!!
*
These are the prayer bears the girls made.
*
We also made camp song books
and journals with flower pens!

Faith is like a Seed.

For Family Home Evening (FHE), a lesson was taught on Faith.  We each planted a paper white bulb (absolutely fool proof).  These were placed in multiple locations throughout our home (kitchen, bathroom counter, on the piano, bedroom dressers, bookshelves...).  They have served as a reminder of our own personal faith in our Savior growing each day.

"Faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow."
Children's Song Book #96

This would also be a wonderful activity to support the Young Women Value:  Faith.
*
SUPPLIES:
bag of bulbs (approximately $15.00 for 25 bulbs - Sam's Club or Home Depot)
pebbles or soil  (I only used pebbles- no soil)
container for each Young Women (they could even bring their own containers to decorate
*
This is all we did:  Filled containers with soil/pebbles no more than one inch from the top.  Placed bulbs, pointed end up, on top of soil/pebbles.  Made sure bulbs were secure.  Filled containers with water so that the base of bulb touched water.  Then we waited.  Watched.  Added sunshine and more water when needed.
*
I found that paper whites do not smell all that great, but they sure are pretty.  They also grow quite tall and tip over easily when planted alone (great analogy here!).  We found that the bulbs grow better in clusters. 
____________________
*
I found this tutorial for forcing paper whites, using empty quart sized paint cans from Home Depot.

What about planting a few to give away as neighbor gifts, visiting teaching, mother's day, the possibilities are endless!
*

Believe

I am in love with metal stamping right now.  My friend has a stamp kit and was good enough to let me borrow it for a bit.  She hadn't used it yet and I was nervous about being the first one to start pounding them with a hammer.

I stamped a couple dozen round metal washers
with the word BELIEVE for the Young Women to start the year.
  • My initial thought was to have the Young Women switch out the bead each month (on Fast Sunday) to represent the monthly value focus.
  • Then, I thought they could simply make the necklaces with jewels or beads representing all the values at once.
  • But, then I decided the Young Women could design the necklaces the way they wanted to.  Hoping they might be more inclined to wear them more often.
*
The BELIEVE is still there as their reminder of this year's Mutual Theme,
Article of Faith 13:
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men;
indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul -
We believe all things, we hope all things,
we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.
If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy,
we seek after these things."
____________________

A few things I learned with this project:
  • metal washers are inexpensive and fun to stamp (.10 a piece at Lowe's)
  • missionary experiences are all around us if we open our mouths (Lowe's - awesome experience!)
  • concrete (my garage) was the best place to do the stamping
  • do not let your children use the hammer while you hold the stamp, injury will occur
  • permanent markers can be used to fill in the stamped area (rub off excess with damp cloth)
  • take apart unused/broken jewelry to use instead of purchasing new beads/jewels
  • girls love jewelry (already knew this - but it was reconfirmed)

"I Love to See the Temple"

There is something about being at the temple...  whether inside or outside.
*
A few of our Young Women spent an evening walking around the temple grounds  (Fresno, CA).  Photographs were taken of the group, along with individual photographs of those who wanted them.  These photographs were actually taken last year, but I thought they went wonderfully with this year's Mutual Theme.


Taffy Pull

printable recipe here
*
I don't know if you remember making homemade taffy while we were growing up. I thought it was one of the coolest things! Buttering our hands up and pulling it together to make a wonderful treat.
*
This activity might be a stretch (pun definitely intended)... in supporting the Young Women Value:  FAITH...  but, there are so many good analogies that could be taught during this activity!
*
Tonight I am using the Taffy Pull to help the girls understand that "...faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."  James 2:17
*

Salt Water Taffy
Visit here or for a great tutorial
*
INGREDIENTS
2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter (plus lots extra to butter hands)
1 teaspoon salt
You choose:
1 Tablespoon extract of choice (vanilla, mint, cherry, etc.)
food coloring
-or-
1 - .21oz (6g) package unsweetened, fruit-flavored drink mix

DIRECTIONS
1.  Butter a cookie sheet, including sides, really well.  Prepare more than one if you are planning on making more than one flavor.  Also prepare a buttered spatula for each flavor.  Have flavors and coloring ready.
2.  In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar and cornstarch.  Next add corn syrup, water, butter and salt.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and stop stirring.  Cover pan boil for 2 or 3 minutes. Uncover, place thermometer in pan and cook to 256 - 266 degrees F. The lower temperature will result in a chewier taffy, the higher a more brittle texture. Be patient and watch it closely.
3.  Remove from heat and carefully stir in your desired flavorings, food coloring or drink mix.  Pour into prepared dish/pan.  Allow to cool enough to handle, just about 15 minutes.
4.  Once the taffy has cooled enough to handle, butter hands and begin "the pull!"  It will start out a bit translucent.  Pull the warm candy with fingertips, pulling out to about 12 inches at first. Quickly turn candy back from fingertips of one hand to the other hand, then catch center and pull again. This will incorporate air into the candy. Continue pulling until taffy is light in color and has a satiny gloss.  It could take about 10-15 minutes.
5.  Pull into long ropes, and cut with buttered scissors.  Wrap pieces of taffy squares of waxed paper and give it a good twist on each end.

Iron Chef: Finding Value in Cooking

Use “Iron Chef: Finding Value in Cooking” as a way to introduce the Young Women Values, emphazise the monthly focus Value, or support the Mutual Theme.  Three different ways to play!
*
THE GOAL
1) Create a Dish using the Secret Value Ingredient(s)
2) Create a Recipe Card
3) Come up with a Value Tag Line and/or Thought

THE RULES
Must complete goals within the set time frame.
May use a total of 2 kitchen helps from the Head Chef (leader).

LET'S COOK!
1) Quickly divide into teams.
2) The Head Chef (leader) will reveal the Secret Value Ingredient(s).
3) The team will be given 5 minutes to come up with a plan and assignments.
....Once the timer goes off teams should be at their stations ready to create their dishes.
4) The Head Chef begins the competition by saying:
....“So now Young Women (Young Men), with an open heart and an empty stomach,
......I say to you in the words of my mother: Start Cooking!”
5) Teams will have 45 minutes to create their dishes, recipe cards, and taglines.
.....Once the timer goes off all dishes should be brought immediately to the judging table.

JUDGING
A total of 30 points can be rewarded:
Taste 10 pts
Presentation 05 pts
Originality 05 pts
Recipe Card 05 pts
Value Tagline 05 pts
NEW BEGINNINGS
Divide into 8 teams (Young Women, Parents, and Leaders). Give each team a different Secret Value Ingredient - making sure all values/colors are covered.
For example:
Team 1 Faith Marshmallows
Team 2 Divine Nature Blueberries
Team 3 Individual Worth Tomatoes
Team 4 Knowledge Cucumbers
Team 5 Choice & Accountability Mandarin Oranges
Team 6 Good Works Mustard
Team 7 Integrity Eggplant
Team 8 Virtue Honey
*
CLASS ACTIVITY
Use “Iron Chef: Finding Value in Cooking” as a way to introduce or emphasize the monthly focus value. Divide young women into teams of two or three. Give each team the same Secret Value Ingredient, using the value/color you are focusing on that particular month.
*
MUTUAL ACTIVITY
Use “Iron Chef: Finding Value in Cooking” as a way to reinforce the Mutual Theme. Divide into 6 teams. Give each team the same Secret Ingredient, but give teach team a different Tagline Theme.
Tagline Theme Example: 2009 Mutual Theme “Be thou an example of the believers…”
Team 1 In Word
Team 2 In Conversation
Team 3 In Charity
Team 4 In Spirit
Team 5 In Faith
Team 6 In Purity

80's Workout

We just had a totally awesome 80's workout night with our Young Women.  Leg warmers, bright blue eye shadow, big hair, and a cheesy workout video.  I felt like I was back in my high school gym/dance class.  I am not sure if I should cry or laugh out loud. 

*
They were instructed to come dressed in 80's workout attire.  For those of you less fortunate ones, who didn't get to the experience the 80's first hand, here is a look at what you might have worn:


Leotard and Tights
Leotards and tights were staples for '80s women's workout clothes; leotards covered the torso and sometimes the arms, while women sometimes wore leggings or tights underneath to cover the legs.  Find a leotard with outrageous colors like neon purples and fuchsias, and highlight these colors or patterns with a pair of tights, leggings or bike shorts. If you can't find a leotard, wear a colorful one-piece bathing suit over the tights or leggings for a similar effect.

Over Sized Shirts
Over sized crew-neck sweatshirts or sweaters were often worn over the leotard and tights and fell off one shoulder. Achieve this look by cutting the elastic neck off a vintage sweatshirt or sweater; put the resulting garment on, and pull it down to expose one of your shoulders. If you think you will become overheated, cut the sleeves to a desirable length. You can also wear an over sized T-shirt over the leotard if you can't find a sweater or sweatshirt.


Leg Warmers
Leg warmers are another key component for pulling an '80s workout outfit together. These are sleeve-like garments have an opening to expose the feet; wear them bunched around the ankles. Purchase leg warmers in many dance clothing supply stores, or you can cut the feet off a pair of large socks for convenience and affordability.
Accessories
Sweatbands were another '80s workout staple, so wear a colorful one around your forehead; place one or two sweatbands around your wrists as well. Pull your hair back into a side ponytail if you have long hair, and tie it up with a colorful scrunchy. Wear a thin belt around your waist, and carry a pair of small hand weights if you have them.
Footwear
If you have the resources, search for a pair of colorful  '80s athletic shoes; look for high-tops as these were popular workout shoes of the time period. Another authentic option is a pair of plain canvas tennis shoes. If you are unable to find these kinds of items, simply wear a pair of athletic sneakers to complete your look.

Value Banners

You may already know about Mormon Modern, but I am going to share anyways.  I love these fabric Value Banners she designed.  You will find all the information you need to have these classy banners for your own right here.