Wednesday, October 24, 2007

General Conference Bowl

Hi girls! What a GREAT idea this blog is. I am in the YW presidency and am constantly looking for new ideas. Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. I have been really busy but the main culprit is my piece of junk computer! I've been having all kind of problems lately so have not been able to get nearly my fix of internet/blogging time. Maybe Santa will bring me a new one!

Anyway, tonight for our YW/YM joint activity our class is in charge and we decided to do a General Conference Bowl. The set up will be like Family Feud. I'm splitting every one in two teams and there will be a host (one of our YM leaders) that will ask the questions. We have 30 questions based on Oct General Conference. I will have a table at the front with the host and a bell on each end. A team member from each team will come up to the front and the host will ask the question. The first person to ding their bell gets to either 1) answer the question by themselves for 3 points 2) play - return to their team and answer together - correct answer is 1 point 3) pass to the opposing team - correct answer is 2 points. A wrong answer by a team gives the other team a chance to answer correctly for 2 points.

Obviously most of the youth will not have watched all of the sessions or remember everything they watched, so at the beginning of the game I am giving each team an envelope with all of the answers (and some fake ones) so that way everyone will be able to participate. I hope it goes well! I'm hoping the youth will get competitive and strategic with the game. I was thinking it could also be a fun Enrichment. I'll let you know how it goes!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Enrichment Idea

My mom is the Stake Relief Society President and one of her wards had a great Enrichment idea. The topic was on Preparedness and they talked about food storage (*yawn*) but they mainly talked about how to cook and prepare meals with food storage! There are some great food storage cook books out there, and I would at this point, have no idea what to cook with flour and lentils. Ya know? Anyways, they said they had a great turnout and everyone was so excited to cook with their food storage. Just a fun idea that I've totally recommended to our ward!

Enrichment Idea

Okay Girls...here's one to file away for when you're called to be enrichment councelor/leader in your ward. Here's the disclaimer though...I'm not, nor have I ever been enrichment councelor or leader. However, I got this idea from my mother-in-law and thought it was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!
Its called Chicken Soup for the Soul and you have all the R.S. sisters in your ward write a short inspiring story that has happened to them (preferably) or to a close friend or family member. You takethe stories and make them into some sort of book for everyone (how fancy this is of course depends on your budget). Then on enrichment night you serve homemade chicken noodle soup, salad, bread etc. and have a few sisters share what their inspiring experience was.
I'm a huge fan of those books and though this was such a great idea with an LDS spin!

What A Great Idea!

Hi Girls! I'm feeling so out of it these days. I've been SUPER busy with my kids being on fall break as well as having my first Enrichment Night as the New Enrichment Counselor in my ward (with no Enrichment Leader called yet) and the end of my kids sports seasons, with my husband out of town, (BIG BREATH). I haven't been online to check blogs or post anything at all! I am however TOTALLY excited about this inspired ideas site. I was recently released as the Stake Activity Days Leader and before that was the Ward Activity Days Leader. I LOVE activity Days and have TONS of stuff to share! I don't have time right now but next week I'll post a bunch of stuff! Anyone who has had any great enrichments, post post post!!! I'm planning our December Enrichment and all four of next years nights as well during the next few weeks!!

Organization is the Key!

I'm a big believer in the theory that every great idea can only be greater by starting organized. So, here's what I do to keep myself (and my girls) together.



Every few months, I update our schedule and get a copy to each girl to have at home. The leader before me would take out fliers each week as a reminder. While effective, it wasn't such a great use of my time (having two kids of my own). I really felt like the time I was spending making and passing out fliers could have been spent more wisely (be it preparing for activities, playing with my kids, etc.)

I've found that giving the girls the information and keeping them accountable for their own attendance has totally resulted in more girls every week. I make sure to visit their classroom on the Sunday I am passing the new schedules out so that I can personally put one in each of their hands. The girls that aren't at church get a visit at home. I'm a big believer in enabling kids to be responsible and trusting them to make good decisions. By giving them the information they need and letting them know I'm counting on them to remember, our attendance has gone through the roof. They even bring friends because they can plan ahead and know what activity we're doing (not the specifics, but an idea).

I, too, keep one handy (on our fridge) so that at a quick glance I know what we're doing for that week. It totally helps with prep work (if needed) and also is a great record for anyone that might take the calling over after me. I keep each in my binder as a running list of activities we've done as a group.

This document, combined with my attendance roster, totally keeps me organized with goal setting for each girl. And, the girls love coming up with ideas based on upcoming activities. It's totally made for a well-oiled and much participated in activity days group.

Hope it helps!

Here we go!

So here it is. A place, a forum, a sounding board for us busy women who need help with our callings. Post questions...post what you did this week for your activity...post good websites with ideas...post ideas that you've heard of. Whether for Super Saturday, Sharing Time, Night of Excellence, or weekly activities, post them. I think we'll find that we can magnify our callings better as we share with one another!