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Trudy changed the link, and so my link was bad. Just go back to the handouts page and try again!
Sorry!
Jenny -
Trudy changed her naming convention, and so the link for this handout was bad — just go back and re-download it!
Let me know if you have any more problems!
-Jenny
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Ken Jennings (Mormon Jeopardy Champ): “What is ‘to cross the road?’ “
2 Nephi 2:25 : “Adam fell that men might be, Chickens are that men might have joy.”
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No, there isn’t a lesson plan to go with that file folder game. If you write one, please email it to me to share with others!
Thanks,
Jenny -
Not to shoot anyone down, but I don’t think I would do an activity with a “personality” analysis. Even if you eliminate any possibly negative results, if someone gets a description of themselves that doesn’t fit with who they want to be, it could be devastating.
My personal opinion is that the purpose of any mutual activity should be to emphasize good values, not just to stick with a theme. I’d just play off the PURSE-onal progress idea and play some games that relate more strictly to personal progress.
Here’s a fun idea from another website:
Quote:HIGH CHAIRS: – A fun activity we have done is called High Chairs. We did this at Youth Conference. We were focusing on the June’s New Era special edition about Friendship. We had a list of 40 questions from the different articles. To start the game we divided into 5 groups. Then we gave the ANSWERS to all of the questions to each team. Each answer is on a separate strip of paper. The team then divides the answers among themselves. On the opposite side of the room you have five chairs numbered 1-5. (To help avoid confusion, we also had each team put a tag on so that we knew which team they were from) Now the game begins. Someone reads a question, the person from each team that has the answer runs across the room to sit in a chair, the first one there will sit in the chair with the #5 on it, that means they have just won 5 points for their team. HOWEVER, if they have the wrong answer, they LOSE 5 points for their team. The kids love this. We did it with the girls focusing on Personal Progress one night also. We did the scriptures that go with the values, the colors, the Motto’s for each group. Everyone gets to play. I always have one of the youth tell everyone what the answer is so that it reinforces what you’re trying to get across. For Youth Conference I had a group of four youth put this together. They were the ones that came up with the questions, read them and kept score. After one of the boys briefly reviewed what the activity was about and why choosing the right friends really is important. High Chairs Game
I really like that there’s no pressure for those who are less active or non members in this game — especially important in mutual — and that you can work as a team.
A leader once did a personal progress Jeopardy game with the categories being the 7 values. I thought it was a lot of fun. I don’t have her questions, but here is an old CTR Jeopardy game I made when I was in primary. Here are the ]rules.
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I think I performed this skit back when I was in YW. I’m not sure how I feel about it though — we should really, in Sister Tanner’s words, “teach by showing the good example.” In retrospect, the skit did not in fact inspire temple marriage in the main participants in my unit. This may also be an extremely awkward skit for kids to participate in who are in part-member families or who are themselves not temple worthy. It may also be difficult for parents of youth who will never be able to marry in the temple to see. Here’s the skit I found tho:
Christy’s Clipart – Temple Marriage Activity
Gosh I feel like I’m shooting folks down left and right today. Use your best judgement on this one!
-j
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Now that I’ve been a YW leader and a YW, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been the irreverent youth *confession* and the leader trying to teach gospel principles. As a youth, most of the lessons during which we were irreverent had nothing to do with the lesson or material — it often had something to do with what had happened outside of class. I don’t think we leaders can help that, but there are some things that we can do when we discover a class is being unruly.
One of the things I found that worked best with my girls was an explanation at the very beginning of the lesson — kind of a “here’s what to expect”. I’d explain to them that we were going to cover very important material and that I really needed thier attention and comments to help me get through. I might even tell them I felt the Spirit while I was preparing the lesson and that I hoped they would feel it during the lesson as well. Sometimes I even had a brief discussion on what the Spirit feels like, and instruction that when we feel the Holy Ghost prompting us, we should act. Then finish the lesson with a reference to the Holy Ghost again and a challenge for the girls to act on any promptings they had.
I wouldn’t suggest that you do this every week, however, or the youth will tune this message out. I do believe in priming the pump, however. Talk about how excited you are about the lesson, or the things you learned while preparing it during your introduction. I found when the girls knew that there was good material coming, they were more receptive. When I took a public speaking course, they said you “tell’ em what you’re gonna say (introduction), say it (content), and then tell ’em what you said (conclusion).”
Another tactic I’ve used is when we have a writing activity, I’d explain that we were going to have a writing activity, and that I didn’t want anyone to change their answers or not write thier true feelings because they were afraid someone might look over thier shoulder and read their thoughts. Then I’d ask the girls to separate — split up and leave at least one chair between them. (Most of the girls appreciate this–it’s rough to have your neighbor reading your self-analysis.)
If you have an advisor, invite her to ride herd while you’re teaching. She can ask the class to be quiet and sit between girls as necessary. Yes, it’s a little bit Primary, but I _was_ teaching a class of a dozen, sometimes more, Beehives.
There’s a system I used to use in Sunday School, too — called Random Rewards. It’s some sort of child psychology, but I can’t remember where I read about it Basically you explain to the class one Sunday that you will be giving treats when your desired behavior occurs — ie, when they bring thier scriptures or are revererent, but that you won’t bring them every week. Explain that you’ll just bring them occassionally, so the class really needs to perform the desired behavior every week to earn the treats. You may even want to ask what kind of treats the class prefers, so that the treats are even more desirable. For the first 5-6 weeks, I brought treats every week (except fast sunday). After that, I started skipping around, and even started giving them out at different times during the lesson. It worked very well for that class. It got to where the boys were racing to the library to get their scriptures before class every Sunday.
I’ve heard of youth speakers inviting classes to do Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, too.
You could try singing a hymn, or invite a particularly noisy student to help you present the lesson.
Lean on your class presidency to set a good example and brainstorm for ways to encourage reverence during presidency meeting.
It’s always a good idea to call girls at home ahead of time to ask for thier participation. Tell them you need their help during the lesson and would like them to share their testimony or read a certain scripture or quote. Sometimes a little sneak peek of the lesson helps people be more excited and receptive.
Our stake YW presidency came one time and did a little skit where they demonstrated a bad class presidency meeting (people were late, gossipy talk, no plans made, cutting up) and a good one (everyone on time, agendas, planning with a purpose, etc). You may consider doing this same thing with the girls’ parents or your branch presidency or bishopric. Explain to them the situation and ask them if they might come and do a little skit for your class. After the demonstration, ask for feedback on why the second classroom’s participation was more inviting to the Spirit and rude to the _volunteer_ teacher. Invite the class to commit to behaving in a way that is more conducive to the Spirit.
Of course, pray, pray, pray!!! When you were set apart in your calling you received the ability to receive revelation that applies to the needs of those in your class. Use it!
Good luck with your calling! Working with the youth is so challenging, but really it should be, considering the eternal consequences. God be with you!
Jenny
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It’s good to hear from you again, Edilia!
We recently had this question come up in my calling, too.
All non-hymn music sung in sacrament meeting (and in class) has to be approved by that unit’s bishop or branch president, so you did good not to say yes to your young women’s president. Seems to me that the church sent out a letter about this some time ago saying that most popular music was inappropriate for sacrament meetings, but it’s ultimately up to the bishop or branch president to decide.
If the girls are anxious to perform the song for the ward or branch, and the bishop or branch president decides not to allow the girls to perform during sacrament meeting, a special fireside or activity could be organized that would let them sing thier song to thier friends and families.
Hope this helps,
Jenny -
I tried looking on the internet for these felt items and couldn’t find them. Deseret Book doesn’t seem to have anything by Valerie Briggs at all. :( Maybe someone else can be of more help!
Good luck!
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I renamed this activity to the Suzie Homemaker Awards:
Your daughter may also be interested in the full list of Young Women activities:
Young Women Activities Category
Good luck,
Jenny -
Here are some ideas from the Friend:
Quote:The children in “Acting Like Pioneers” (pp. 14-17) put on a play about pioneers sacrificing to build temples. Do you have ancestors whose sacrifices have made a difference in your life? You may wish to act out skits about their lives.
– “Guide to the Friend,” Friend, July 2004Another Friend article has a series of “pioneer facts” that could be used for a short presentation. Have some of the children read the facts, invite some to hold up pictures of pioneers from the library, invite a child or two to tell or read a story of a pioneer ancestor, and throw in a song or two…. Poof!!! Here’s the article Funstuf, July 1994 Friend – scroll down to the bottom for the fact cards.
Here are some other interesting articles that could be broken up for short kid parts, and they also have some pictures that could be used for visual aids:
Pioneer Trek – May 1984 Friend
Exploring: Crossing the Plains – November 1983 FriendAnd I found these — they’re not skits, but would make a cute primary sharing time activity:
Pioneer Covered Wagon – Friend July 2001
Pioneer Children Woven Picture – Friend July 2003Good luck with your activity, and please email me your skit when you get done — that way other leaders can share it!
Jenny
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Did you see the script here:
Mormon Clue – A Mormon Murder Mystery
This script was performed in a large singles ward. 10 is the minimum to do the activity, but works for groups up to size 100.
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I remember when I was first called as an advisor in the Young Women. Our entire presidency and board were brand new! I can remember being nervous about the girls liking us because they seemed so attached to the outgoing president. After a few weeks, our girls got used to us, and to my surprise, some of the Beehives became attached to ME!!! I’ve been released for several months now, and they still say hello or give me a hug when we see each other in the halls. I just love those girls — they know it — and I think that’s why they become attached to us.
I don’t know what the situation is in your unit (ie, how deep the attachment is to the old leaders), and so I’m not truly capable of offering you sound advice — here are some thoughts, but they are just that: *thoughts*, not inspiration….
A bbq may help ease anxieties for some girls. If the old presidency is careful to talk up the new presidency and help with introducing and helping struggling girls feel comfortable with thier new leaders, a successful outcome is pretty likely. On the other hand, a bbq with released leadership may also make it seem that the old presidency is worried about leaving “thier girls” with a new presidency, or that the new presidency is worried they can’t handle the new calling and have to rely on the old presidency. Rely on the spirit to help you make this decision — your new calling gives you insights that will help you ease the transition.
It almost always takes time to get into a new calling. This month, I am conducting Relief Society for the first time since I was in a BYU ward, and I’m WAY MORE than a little rusty! Our sisters have been very kind, though — even on the day when our announcements included the birthday of a deceased sister (no lie), and this month when we had two June 29ths on the calendar!!!
I’m sure that your Young Women will grow to love you as you bear your testimony and tell them of your sincere love for them. I’ve always heard it’s hard to dislike someone that you know, and as your girls come to know you, they’ll come to love and respect you, too.
Good luck in your new calling, and do let me know what’s working for you!
Jenny
PS – Here are some get to know you activies in the database:
Outdoor Cooking Progressive Dinner
Wok and Talk – has a list of Get to Know You Questions that may help you when planning your activity
Hey, and since you’re a new president, don’t forget to share your great activity ideas and handouts (email them to me) to help other leaders!
Jenny
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Gordon B. Hinckley: To follow the 6 Be’s of Chickens: Be Breaded. Be Fried. Be Baked. Be Roasted. Be Dinner.
David O. McKay: Every Chicken a Casserole.
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Thanks, Hope — I appreciate any positive comments I get!!!
I do have a list of some camp activity ideas here:
and I hope that Camp Leaders will post information about their successful camp experiences here in the forum or in the activities database in the Share your ideas section.
Have a nice day!
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