Spooky Hair Clip

I know Halloween is over but a few days before we made these super easy, cute, hair clips! These are so simple and quick you could make them for any holiday or just for fun! With Christmas coming up these would be a fun little gift.

 

To make these clips my mom found some festive cupcake liners. The big ones were from TJ Max and the little ones are from Target. First, we took the big ones and folded four of them into fourths. We glued them onto a circle of card stock that was already glued to the hair clip.Then we just glued the little liners inside out on top of the big ones!

To give to the clips to the girls we put them in a baggie with a little note!

 

October Recognition Night

 Recognition Night is here and went off with out a hitch! We had lots of fun putting it on! As I mentioned in an earlier post, our theme for the night was, "A good home is never an accident.", basically homemaking! There was so much going on that night to start here are the decorations. The idea to use wrapping paper on the tables and the table cloth bows on the chairs came from The Art of Choosing Joy.

The table runners are made of wrapping paper I found on clearance at Target and the flowers were made by the girls at an earlier activity.

I cut a plastic table cloth into strips and then we just tied them into bows on the chairs for a little extra color.

Here we used more wrapping paper and then a banner I also found at Target. This was the photo booth area we used later in the night. I painted some picture frames that the girls and moms could use as props. You will see those later.

This was the refreshment table where we served punch and the girls put their cupcakes. Instead of providing refreshments, I had the girls and their mom each bring a cupcake decorated to represent themselves. At the end of the night, we had everyone guess who the cupcakes belonged to then, the best part, they ate them!

This was a separate table filled with lamps which were our "recognition lights". Instead of going the usual route of having the girls bring a project, we had them share an Article of Faith. The first thing we did for the night was have each girl walk up to a lamp, turn on their light and recite their Article. It turned out really cute and was a great way to highlight each girl.

Unfortunately, I was so busy running things, I was awful and forgot to take pictures during the night but here is a run down of what we did.

So once everyone arrived we did their recognition lights. Next, we split into groups where they did 4 fifteen minuet rotations. Each leader was in charge of a homemaking station.

The first station was sewing where the girls and their mom made quilt squares for a family in our ward that was having twins.

Second, was a laundry relay. The girls and moms had to iron shirts, fold them and separate the laundry!

Third was the beautifying station. The moms got to do their daughters hair and the daughters got to do their moms. Each pair was given a little baggy with a comb, bobby pins and rubber bands. There were also hair do tutorials that they could use.

Last, was the hair bows and photo booth. The girls and moms made mini tissue paper flowers and glued them to hair clips. These were added to their awesome hair do's and pictures were taken in the photo booth.

At the end of the night we guessed cupcakes and ate them. We had so much fun and hope the girls did too!

Invitations and Decorations

So a little while back I was worrying about the recognition night coming up. I was thinking about all there was to do along with planning for that nights activity. Then I thought, well its the girls recognition night why not get them involved?! I decided that they could help with decorations and invitations that night and it was a hit!
First, I had them help me with the invites. Our theme for the night was going to be "A good home is never an accident." basically, we were going to focus on homemaking. So for the invites I cut out little paper dolls and cute little dresses with my Silhouette. Then I had the girls put the dresses on the dolls and glue it to an invitation. Then if they wanted, they could draw a little face on the girl too. This sounds simple and it was, but we only had 4 girls and 13 invitations so this took a while.

Next, I had them make tissue paper flowers for the decorations. This was lots of fun and the girls really seemed to like it. There are lots of tutorials online for how to make these and its pretty simple once you try it. Here is a good link for making them. Also, youtube has some easy videos to follow. Having the girls help gave me a huge jump start on the recognition night and got me excited to do the rest!

A few years ago I did a first aid lesson for a Young Womens Class. This could be done for activity day girls, anytime of year but the supplies are easiest to get around Halloween. Just purchase your eyeballs now and save for when you give the class. The posted pictures came from this blog: http://creatingandcruising.blogspot.com/2009/10/spooky-eyes.html

Nurse Nancy would be a fun book to have one of the girls read aloud along with your first aid lesson. (Stating ahead of time that you know the book is young for them but is a fun way to start the theme) 

Septembers PJ Party

  

We invited all the girls to come in their PJ's and bring along their scriptures. Kristal and I made sure to wear are goofiest PJ's and slippers to help set the mood.

We then had a short lesson which we found directions for at :

http://ldsactivitydayideas.blogspot.com/2012/09/pj-party-ad-kickoff.html

She has wonderful ideas and is worth checking out. Most of this activity was copied from her site, however we put our own spin on it when it came to the games.

Here is how it reads:

We had a short lesson on what the word "breakfast" means.  We talked about how important it is to nourish our bodies every day.  Then we discussed 2 Ne. 31:20 and Moroni 6:4.  We discussed the difference between feasting, snacking, nibbling, and just looking at the menu.  We all committed to read our scriptures every day for a month.  I made a little chart for them to keep track(-it is actually just a four-week one, but I figure that way they can still complete it if they just read 28 days total).

See link to scripture chart on: http://ldsactivitydayideas.blogspot.com/2012/09/pj-party-ad-kickoff.html  

From that point on we decided to come up with some of our own ideas for games that were more our style.

The first game we played was our version of Piggly Wiggly Oink Oink. We had each girl hide under
a blanket while the "farmer" went out of the room. Once the farmer came inside she went from blanket to blanket saying " piggly wiggly" to which the person being touched would have to reply saying
"oink oink". The farmer was then to guess who the pig was under the blanket. This was a favorite game with lots of giggle.

For the second game we sent all the girls out of the room. We put pillows for each one in a circle. Under two pillows we put a peanut. When the girls came in they were to pick a pillow and sit on it. After everyone was seated they were to check to see if they were sitting on a peanut. If they had a peanut they were to stand and recite an article of faith. The girls who had been going to Activity Days for a while were not allowed  to do Article of Faith One!

The third game was played with Skittles. Each girl was to reach in the bowl of skittles without looking and pull out 2 skittles. If the skittles matched then they could eat them. If the skittles did not match then they had to hold them in their mouth until the next round. This went on with girls collecting quite a number of skittles in their mouth before they were allowed to chew. ( We made sure it never got to a point where it looked like someone would choke and all girls were warned that they could chew at any time they felt uncomfortable.)

The last game was a rowdy one, but fun nonetheless. Each girl had 5 clothes pins attached to her back. When the whistle blew they were to run around and try to take off as many clothes pins as they could on the other opponents all the while trying not to get theirs taken off. Winner is the one with the last clothes pin on their shirt. Lots of fun.

At the end of the night they were sent home with a mini cereal box, spoon and flyer and about breaking the fast and studying the scriptures.

Find the link to PDF for this flyer on the above mentioned link.

First Day of School Treat

We saw this great  idea posted over at http://seasonsgredings.com/2012/08/caramel-apple-kits/ and decided we just had to copy! 

We used this link to print off tags. http://cupcakecutiees.blogspot.com/

We got apples and store bought carmel dip. We then delivered the treats the first week of school. If you are quick, there is still time to print off tags but change it to say something about having a great Halloween. Then deliver the evening of Halloween or hand out at an activity night.  

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Carmel Pull Aparts

This fun activity gave our girls a chance to get their hands dirty in the kitchen. It was nice to do something different and ended with a snack which is always the girls favorite! To start we put the girls in pairs. This made the activity much cheaper but gave them each a chance to be involved the whole time. Below are the ingredients we used and how to make them. My cute little sister is the one demonstrating!

All you need is a stick of butter, a roll of biscuits, and some brown sugar (you can use as little or as much as you like).

Next, we turn on the oven to 400 degrees.

As the oven heats up, put the sick of butter in the pan and slide it in. This will melt the butter on the bottom of the pan.

While the butter melts, cut the biscuits into fourths.

Warning if the butter melts this much when you pull it out it will pop everywhere and make a mess, not to mention it can burn if it gets you so don't melt it quite this much!

Next, you cover the butter up with brown sugar. We like a lot!

Put the biscuits on top of the brown sugar and put it in the oven for the time you would for the biscuits.

Last, flip them over onto a plate and enjoy!

This activity was perfect to teach the girls their way around the kitchen. We also got to discuss the importance of cleaning their hands, how to use a knife, and how to write a recipe. The girls each copied the recipe and took it home so they could make it for their family. We had them each wear a cute little apron and while the pull apart's were in the oven, the girls played outside. With a little planning, this was a great activity and every one left with their tummies full!

Tithing Banks

To get out of the heat last nights activity was a fun craft and mini lesson on tithing. To get the girls thinking, we read a talk by President Hinckley called Five Little Fish. It was in the November issue of the 2007 Friend. The story was about a couple who paid their tithing even when they didn't have food and the blessings that came from it. After we read it there were some questions at the end that lead to a discussion all about tithing. Although the girls had been taught about tithing, we were surprised what they didn't know so it was a perfect chance to go over some things. To end our discussion we talked about how much to save for tithing. We told the girls that we were decorating tithing banks that they could keep their tithing money in. My mom got these adorable little banks from the dollar store and each girl got to pick one out.

Then the girls got to go crazy with the paints! Some got very creative and they all turned out really cute.

While the girls banks were drying we had some extra time so we had them make little snack butterflies to take home. To do this they painted a clothes pin for the body. Then, they put some googly eyes on it and used a pipe cleaner to make antennas. Last, for the wigs, we filled up plastic baggies with some treats! This was a perfect, easy filler.

Here's one of the butterflies without the antennas.

To finish off the night we like to do something a little more active. My mom found this game at a garage sale and it was tons of fun. Its called Bucket Blast. The girls clip a bucket to their back and run around trying to get bean bags into each others bucket. The girl with the least wins!

Can Food Drive

Now I know its a little early to be thinking of the holidays but this idea doesn't have to be used just around then. Last Thanksgiving we did a really fun canned food drive. I wanted the girls to learn that we can do service but also have a little fun. What I did was asked a few families ahead of time, if we could come by and they could donate a can of food. In order to get the food though, the girls would have to do something funny to entertain the family. Everyone we asked was eager to help and because of our limited time we didn't need too many families. When the girls arrived we told them what we were doing and although some of the shy ones were nervous, they were really excited too. When we would arrive at a house they would hop out and huddle around me. I would tell them the silly thing they had to do and then up to the door they went. Here is a list of some of the silly things they did:

1. Bark jingle bells
2. Recite an Article of Faith with their tongues out
3. Sing "I'm a Little Tea Pot" and do the motions
4. Do a silly dance for 10 seconds
5. Pretend to be kitties
6. Do ring around the rosie with the children in the family
7. Read a bedtime story to the kids at the house

These are just a few of the numerous ideas I'm sure you could come up with loads more! By the time we were at the last few houses the girls were crazy with excitement and would run to the door and run back to the car cracking up. Once we got back to the church we counted up our cans and talked about the people who would be getting them. We also talked about the importance of service and the great way it can make them feel. Overall this was a super easy, free and fun activity!

Water Bombs

Last month to kick off summer we did a fun outside activity. We called it water bombs. Funny how this craft is now in the July issue of the Friend! I forgot to take the pictures because it was a little crazy running around but below is a picture of the same "bombs" that we made. To make it was super easy! I just bought the cheapest sponges I could find and because we have a small group I gave the girls four so they could make two bombs each. The girls cut it into strips then they just put a rubber band around the middle! We found that the tighter the rubber band the more the little strips stick out. I also gave them a sharpie to write their initials on their bombs because I know they would want to keep their own.

We then went down to a near by park with a bucket of water and played freeze tag with their water soaked bombs. To tag someone you had to throw your bomb and hit them. Then to unfreeze someone you did the same. Luckily the girls didn't get soaked but they got wet enough that it was pretty fun.

The second game we played was baseball. I just had the girls use a little kid plastic bat with the flat side. We used the bombs as a ball and when they hit it water went everywhere. Also to tag someone out they had to throw the bomb at someone. Having two games worked out really well and by time everyone got to bat we were out of time!

Babysitting Night

This activity was super simple to put together but still lots of fun. It was nice because I had most of the things I needed around the house. Even though our girls are younger, we have the 8 and 9 year olds, I know they love kids. Most of them have siblings that they help with or nieces and nephews. So to start out we had the girls leave the room. We hadn't even told them what we were doing that day. While they were out of the room, I quickly set up a bunch of items around that could be potential dangers for a child. Some things were really obvious, but others were a bit tricky.

Here are a few of the things I put out. I even dumped some of the medicine out on the floor, but had the knife just on the edge of the table.

After I put the items out I had my mom send the girls in one by one. They were told to look around the room in ten seconds. They didn't know what they were looking for but they needed to remember what they saw. At this point they were very confused!

Once they all had gone through I quickly hid the stuff and had them come back in. I told them that today's activity was about babysitting and they needed to get with a partner and remember all the dangerous things they saw that a child could get into. Then in their partners, I had them tell me. Most of the girls got the main things like the knife, but some didn't even notice the cleaner. So after we talked about each item and why it might be dangerous and what to do if a child got into some of it.

The next part of the activity was child care. I taught them how to feed a baby. I did this by bringing some baby food. I told them what they needed and how to do it. Then I had them practice on each other, bib and all. It was lots of fun and they each got to be the baby and the feeder.

After feeding the baby, it is important to learn how to change its diaper. I first showed them with a doll and some Hershey's Syrup. The girls all thought this was disgusting! After showing them the right way I split them into two teams. Then we did a relay. Each girl had to run down, change the dirty (chocolate filled) diaper and put a new one on their doll. I went a little crazy with the syrup but it was so funny to watch the girls gross out!

After all the fun I thought it might be good review to do a jeopardy game going over the things the girls learned. I just wrote questions on 3 x 5 cards and taped them up on the chalk board. The girls then were put in teams and took turns trying to answer. They did great and learned a ton!