Activity Day Ideas

January 5, 2011
"Daughter of a King" Activity

There is a sweet childrens book titled "The Daughter of a King".
It talks about how we are all Prince and Princesses because we come from Our Heavenly Father.  It talks about remembering to act like a Princess.   Today I read this story at the beginning of our Activity.    I then spoke to the girls about how they are like the girl int he story...they are each Princesses.   I shared with them some thoughts on topics like:
Keeping our bodies clean in and out.  -Hygiene, modesty, staying away from harmful substances.
Being polite and kind to others.  - Showing respect to parents, teachers and friends.  Using the golden rule "Do Unto Others As you Would Have Others Do Unto You".   And using terms like please and thank you.
Table Manners - not talking with our mouths full of food,  not "floating" our food down with a drink, not reaching over someones plate.
We discussed how we would act if we were at a dinner table with our Heavenly Father.
That seemed to get the point across pretty well.  :)

After our discussion we used this template from MarthStewart.com to teach them how to properly set a table.

I used this huge book as a resource in preparing for this activity.

Photo from Amazon
This was great for Activity Days but it would also make a great Family Home Evening Lesson or you could go further with it and use it for a Princess Party.
Later this month we are using the theme "Daughter of a Heavenly King" for a Recognition Dinner for the Activity Day girls.
I will post details and pictures about that on Jan 19th.
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Jan 19, 2011 "Daughter of a King" Recognition Dinner(Jan. 15, 2011)



My cute Princesses.
We held our "recognition dinner" for the Activity Day girls and their parents this past Saturday.
I think it went well and the girls appeared to have a good time.
I really enjoyed putting it together and want to give a big THANK YOU to Erin (and Erin's hubby - your awesome!) and Rachel for all their help!!!!!
They are the wonderful friends I serve with and we have alot of fun!
I also wanted to tell my hubs, Brad, how much I would be lost without him!  He helped me the entire day and filled in the cracks that I couldn't get to or didn't think of! 
I really did marry Prince Charming and Mr. Darcy rolled into one!

"Daughter of a King"

The Invites
by Erin Freeman

sorry for the shadow and the glare

The Meal

Tossed Salad with Ranch Dressing
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Brownies
Cheese Cake
Water with Lemons

The Special Speaker

Our Fabulous Bishop Hibbert
(not sure why I didn't think to take a picture of him speaking but I didn't - bummer)

Recognition Table Name Cards
by Erin Freeman


Dinner Table Decorations
  • Two colors curling ribbon
  • Princess crowns (found on HaloHeaven.com)
  • Quote - D&C 25:15
  • Two table cloths - 1 pastel solid color & 1 lacy (we used plastic)
    Thanks Mom for lending us your table cloths!

Special Handout
"The Keys to the Crystal Palace" - List of "My Gospel Standards" found on back of the Faith in God booklet.  
If you would like the pdf for the "keys" go here.
We also sent a crown home with each girl.


What I could have done better.
(probably lots of things but here are two)
  • Planned for background music....something soft with no words during dinner.
    ( Brad jumped in and saved me on this but if I would have been on top of it we could have had more fitting tunes)

  • Created a slide show of pictures of the girls put to "Daughter of a King".
    (I wanted to do this but didn't have enough pictures of the girls and didn't think soon enough to gather some from parents.  It is on my to do list for later this year.)

I forgot to take a picture of everything before the dinner but here is a picture after.

We enjoyed a fun clean up party with fun music. 
Some of us even did the Macaraea.
That would have been a funny picture to post.  :)
Too bad I didn't think of it.

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Growing up my parents were involved in the "Mountain Man" world.  My Dad loved to learn about Native American history, culture and traditions.  During the summer we would have fun at a Mountain Man rendezvous.  One summer my parents decided to build their very own authentic Tee Pee.  I watched them gather wood from the forest and soak the wood and strip it of bark and then let them dry.   I watched my Mom take yards and yards of canvas fabric and cut and sew and cut and sew some more.   It took a long time but their efforts were worth it....this is their Teepee.  It has been used many many times but it still looks great! 
It was this Teepee that was my inspiration for this years Activity Day Girls Daddy Daughter Activity.

Daddy/Daughter Pow Wow
What we did.
When the Dads and Daughters arrived we sent them to the craft table to create little feathered head bands for both.   Then the girls were able to make little necklaces out of beads.
Each girl got to create their own.

Making the headbands and necklaces with the help of my cute Mom
(the one in the Native American attire).

 

 

That is my Brenley getting her headband tied on by Brad.
 
 
The Dads look so fab in their headbands....don't you think?  lol
They were great sports! 
Once everyone arrived and made their crafts they sat down at the tables we had set up.  
We had an opening prayer and welcomed them to the activity.
My Dad even taught them how to say "hello" in Navajo.

We then introduced the games.  We had 4 games.  We had an Activity Day Leader (or a helper) at each game keeping track of scores)

1.  The orange game:  (more details to come)

2.  Shooting game:  We set up two tables.  One table we stacked plastic cups and the other one we had their wooden rubber band guns.  As a Daddy Daughter team we gave them 3 tries to shoot the plastic cups.  Whichever teams got the most cups won.

3.  Horse shoe game:  Just your plain old game of horse shoes.  They played as a team.
4.  Throwing ball game:  (more details to come)

Each Dad and girl got to go through each game together.  We kept track of who won each game and we had prizes at the end.  
The Prizes:  My friend and fellow Activity Day leader, Erin,  created  cute awards using "Cow Tails" candy and "Moon Pie" dessert calling it a "cow pie".
I wish I had a picture of the awards she made them look so cute.  

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After the games were over we gathered everyone back to the tables and we had a buffet line. 

Thanks to Shane Freeman for standing in the summer heat frying the bread!
You are awesome!



We served Navajo tacos (build your own), strawberry lemonade and ice cream bars for dessert.
We used the sopapillas recipe from the "Our Best Bites Cookbook"  for the fry bread!  It is sooo yummy!  I tried to find it on their blog to link you to it but can't find it..sorry.  :(  It is in their new cookbook.

We received a great deal of positive feedback and we felt like the Dads and Daughters had a good time together.
You may wonder what we did with the tee pee.
First it was present to give the activity more of a" Pow Wow" feel.   But it also had a purpose.  My Dad has some really neat things like:  beaver skins, old guns, black powder rifles and many many other authentic Native American and Mountain Man items.   My Dad had items on display inside the tee pee.   He loved having the opportunity to show them to the Dads and I think the Dads enjoyed seeing the items. 
It kind of became the "Dad" hangout at various times during the activity.
My Dad lov'in every minute of this activity!  :) 
Thanks Dad!
   
I had to admit....I have one of the best callings in the church!
Here are a few more pictures from the activity.

My Mom made her Native American dress (and my Dad's attire) herself.  
They even used their own leathers.

My Dad in his normal attire.  :) 
It takes at least about 1 hour or longer to put up the Tee Pee...I truly have angel parents!

Haley getting ready to help set up the Tee Pee...well at least watch them set it up. :)  I just love my lil'Haley.
 
My blog post would not be complete without showing these cute lil' guys!  They would have loved to stay and play in the Tee Pee.
It won't be too long before I am seeing them in Cub Scout uniforms.   So glad I still have a few years to enjoy their tiny little voices and chubby cheeks.  :)

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Lovely Minds Activity
This month I am in charge of what we do for our Activity Day.    I decided to touch on what to do if you come across pornography and what we can do to keep our minds clean and focused on good things.  I saw this site and loved their art idea so I decided it would work out well with this activity.

This is what we did:
  • I then discussed with them how sometimes we might see something, read something or hear something (music etc) that isn't good or makes us feel uncomfortable.   We talked about what we can do when that happens and that it is important we talk to our parents, to not dwell on it and helped them understand if they come across something they haven't done anything wrong....they just need to tell their parents about it.   
  • We went on to discuss the part of the 13th article of Faith " If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." and the types of things we can do to fill our minds with good images and thoughts.

Art Activity:
  • I gave each girl a copy of this image below.  I asked them to draw or write those things which they will do to fill their minds with good and positive things in the circle outline.   The girls enjoyed making the picture their own and if they finished it and hung it up in their room they passed a requirement off in their "Faith in God" booklet under "Learning and Living the Gospel".

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"The Crippled Lamb" Activity

(blurp below taken from this my original post here)
Activity Days - The Crippled Lamb story and paper piecing ornament
My favorite children's story for Christmas is "The Crippled Lamb" by Max Lucado.   It holds special meaning for me as someone who once felt "left behind".   The first time I heard this story  I was a teacher of children in my church.  They had a Christmas activity and read this story.   I had to leave the room to get hold of myself.  I cried pretty hard because I felt like the story was speaking to me.   The story still speaks to me and speaks to anyone who feels like they are different, not as good or feels left out.  I decided I wanted to do an activity around this story in hopes the girls would remember that the Lord has a plan for them.  After I shared the story I will taught the girls about paper piecing and help them make a little paper lamb ornament.

The Lamb pattern came from this paper piecing pattern.  I purchased it online for less than 2 dollars.
I love Pebbles in my Pocket :)