Sunday, January 25, 2009

Light Of Christ Candle Holders


This activity will pass off "Developing Talents" under "Make an item from wood, metal, fabric, or other material, or draw, paint, or sculpt a piece of art. Display your work for others to see".

We found a great deal on little terra cotta pots at the dollar store. They were 3 for a dollar. But they're also fairly inexpensive at Michael's. They were the right size to fit a votive candle inside.

Before we decorated the pots, we gave the girls a little lesson on the light of Christ, and what it should mean to them in their daily lives. Then we let them paint the pots, and decorate them with sticky foam flowers and ribbon. It was so much fun to see the individuality in each of the girls' creations. Along with their pots, each girl decorated a card with the following quote to display with their decorated clay pot:

Light of Christ

"The Light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. The Light of Christ influences people for good and prepares them to receive the Holy Ghost. One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call a conscience".


Be watching for the "Follow The Prophet" verse for February!!!!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

A fun activity to kick off the new year!!!

We are planning an activity for our girls for this week that will help them learn how to focus on achieving goals in their lives. We will be doing 3 things for this activity:

#1. We are first going to read the 12th article of faith all together, and talk about what it means to be a good citizen and how our actions affect others. This comes right out of the Faith in God book, and will pass of a goal for "serving others".

#2. We have made little cards (design taken out of an achievement days idea book) that have a place for the girls to recognize a bad habit they struggle with on one side, and then a solution to how they can fix this bad habit on the opposite side. we are going to give the girls 12 of these. They are fun with little pictures. They are going to color and fill these in, as well as write each month of the year on the cards. Ideally, they will work on fixing one bad habit a month for each month of the upcoming year. I am planning on letting them decorate a little baggie with fun stickers or pictures to take their cards home in so that they have a place to keep them. I am not going to immediately have this pass off any goal. But, if they come to me at the conclusion of a month, and let me know of their experience with fixing one of their bad habits, I am planning on it counting for a pass off in "Developing Talents"

#3. FINALLY, something I am very excited about. Around 6 years ago, me and my then 4 year old daughter came up with the idea together to write new modern day verses to the song "Follow the Prophet". We worked very hard on this, and were originally planning on trying to make it into a children's book UNTIL.....I wrote to the church headquarters for permission only to find out that you cannot add to anything that is already copyrighted by the church for personal gain moneywise (DARN)!!!! In no way did I want to get rich, or for that matter even make money off of it. But I was so excited to share it with children that I was a little disappointed I couldn't proceed with my plans. At this point, we got the verses to the song copyrighted, and sent them to the church to possibly be looked at to being added to the primary songbook when it is redone. We received a letter stating that it was in a file to be considered for addition and publication. That was 4 years ago, and I've never heard anything, but I do not believe the song book has been changed, so maybe someday???? BUT since I am so excited about this little song....I am going to use it to teach the girls an extended year long lesson that will fall under " Learning and living the gospel". We are going to introduce a verse to the girls each month (some months we will introduce 2 verses to get them all in). We will give them a copy of the verse, so that they can work on it, and ponder it through the month. Then, at the end of the year, they will have studied all of the verses. As a Christmas gift, I am going to give them a folder with page protectors complete with each verse along with a picture of each prophet. At this point, I will pass it off as a goal for "learning and living the gospel". I would LOVE for anyone who feels inspired to use my song in their program. Each month I will be posting the verses. So, for this month, here's the verse:


Joseph Smith first prophet in the latter days
Confused about religion, prayed to know the way
Heavenly Father answered, told him to join none
He helped Joseph restore the Gospel of His Son

"You're a Star" Recognition Breakfast


For our girls we recently held an achievement days breakfast themed around "You're a Star"!

Our invitations and the basic idea came from an achievement days idea book. However, I loved the couple of extra touches that we added to our breakfast:

-We had a pancake bar. We had tons of things the girls could top their pancakes with including: syrup (of course), whipping cream, frozen fruit, jam, etc

-There is a great video put out by the church entitled "Sharing Time with President Hinckley". After our girls ate, we showed this presentation. It's only 8 minutes long. The neat part is that it fit right along with our theme. There is a part in the sharing time when President Hinckley talks about being as constant as the North Star in our decisions to live the gospel. It is a great video that I think all of the girls really enjoyed

-Along with the girls' certificates of recognition, we gave them each a star (we found them at all a dollar) on a ribbon to hang in their bedroom. It was cute because on their own, the girls came up with the idea that they all would hang the stars on the North side of their room (to match the theme of the North Star presented by President Hinckley)
-We had one girl graduating from our program that we recognized at our breakfast. As a going away present, we gave her a little stuffed teddy bear with a bookmark attached to the wrist that stated:
Be
Enthusiastic
About
Reading
Scriptures
The bear was only $5, and I've even seen stuffed bears a lot at the dollar store for only a buck. So this was a very affordable parting gift that the girl leaving really enjoyed!!!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

The True Spirt of Christmas

Result of this activity: We held this activity for our girls on Wednesday. It went well, and the girls enjoyed it. But if any of you would like to do this, I just have one suggestion. A 24 scripture chain took too long! Maybe just have your girls do the 12 days of Christmas. It was very fun, it just took a little longer than I had anticipated.
This activity will help the girls capture the true meaning of Christmas, and will pass of a goal in "Learning and Living the Gospel". First of all, start the activity by watching the church's portrayal of "The Nativity". This is a 5 minute presentation that can be found on the DVD sent out last year for the 25th anniversary of Mr. Kruger's Christmas. After watching this, sit the girls in a circle, and have them pass a light candle (not a real one) around the circle as they take turns reading the scriptures that are listed below. The leaders can talk about the scriptures a little if they would like. By reading the scriputres, you can know the girls actually got something spiritual out of the activity.
After reading the scriptures, the girls will make their own countdown to Christmas calendars. You will need the following for each girl:
-25 pieces of candy with the scripture for each day taped to the candy
-25 small pieces of curling ribbon
-A piece of saran wrap long enough for the 25 pieces of candy to fit into
The girls will lay the candy spaced evenly apart on the saran wrap. After this, they will roll the saran wrap just enough to hold the candy and scripture in place. Then, the girls will tie a ribbon around each space between the pieces of candy. The final outcome: The girls have a countdown calendar to Christmas. Each day, they can cut open the bottom space, and take out the candy and read the scripture for that day.
I will post pic's of the candy chain once I am finished with mine!!!
Also, I'm working on trying to figure out how to allow you to contact me without posting my email right on the blog. BUT.....If you have an outstanding achievement days' idea, please comment on this post, and I will create a post with your idea. Be sure to include your first name (and where you're from, if you want) if you would like credit for the post.
Thanks for reading, and have fun with your girls!!!!


Here's the scriptures for the activity:


Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel

Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace

Micah 5:2: But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting

Matthew 1:21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins

Matthew 1:23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us

Matthew 2:1-2: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him

Matthew 2:11: And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his Mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh

Luke 1:27 & 28: To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women

Luke 1:30 & 31: And the Angel said unto her, Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus


1 Nephi 10:4: Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my Father left Jerusalem, a Prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews-even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the World

1 Nephi 19:8: And behold he cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem

1 Nephi 11:18&20: And he said unto me: Behold the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms

2 Nephi 17:14: Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign-Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel

2 Nephi 19:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace

2 Nephi 25:19: For according to the words of the Prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my Father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God

2 Nephi 26:3:And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

Alma 7:10: And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea even the Son of God

Helaman 14:4: Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.

3 Nephi 1:13: Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets

3 Nephi 1:19: And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given

Luke 2:4 – 5: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David). To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Luke 2:6 – 7: And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn

Luke 2:11 – 12: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Luke 2: 15 – 16: And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us . And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger