Activity Days: The Gospel Game Show

This last week for activity days my partner wasn't able to make it so I was on my own to create a fun, gospel-oriented activity for the 8-9 year olds in my ward. I've wanted to start doing activities where the girls are able to get up and move around more than they are able to do if the activity is just a coloring activity (although depending on your girls' personalities, those can be great lessons too).

I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw an article appear from Utah Valley 360 titled, "Dieter or Dumbledore?" Being the HUGE Harry Potter fan that I am, I obviously had to click on the link and test my knowledge of Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Dumbledore...and let me tell you, this quiz is not easy! But from it sparked the idea to have a "Gospel Game Show" for activity days, and the girls loved it!

I had 5 girls show up to the activity, which actually turned out perfect so that they could each have a turn at all of the activities, but I think if I'd had our full class of 8, then the activity would have taken a little longer and maybe been a little more competitive.

Here's what I used for the activity:

• "Who Said It? Dieter or Dumbledore?" Power Point
• Four Signs: Two that read "Dieter" and two that read "Dumbledore"
• A package of Oreos or other small cookies
• Two sets of Book of Mormons with a bookmark at Mosiah 18:9
• A bag of Skittles, Jelly Beans, Candy Corn, or other small candy your girls like. 
• Eight plastic spoons (or enough for each girl to have one)
• Two paper bowls (more if you'd like multiple groups to be playing at once.
• Jar of Pictionary words
• Chalk
• 8 plastic medals (or enough for each girl to have one)

We started off by having a little discussion about helping others.

Discussion:

What is our main purpose here on the earth? (To return to live with our Heavenly Father again). That's my purpose; who else's purpose is that? (Have the girls raise their hands). That's your purpose (say it again and point to each girl in your class as you say "That's your purpose, too"). We all have that same purpose in this life. 

Read Mosiah 18:9 to the girls, or have one of them read it until "even until death.":

          "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death..."

Who's ever heard this scripture before? This scripture is very special because this is a promise we made when we were baptized. We promised Heavenly Father that we would keep His commandments and to love and serve others including mourning with those that mourn and comforting those that stand in need of comfort. How have you ever kept this promise in the past? (Let the girls answer how they have comforted friends, family members, etc.). So we all have the same purpose in this life, and we have all promised to help each other through it.

Well today  we will be having a "Gospel Game Show!" and it's your job to help your team win!

Activity:
Let the girls choose their teams or assign them teams, but make sure you have the 8 and 9 year olds mixed up so the activities are more fair.

Who Said It? Dieter or Dumbledore
The first challenge was completing Dieter or Dumbledore. At the first the girls had a hard time focusing, but then they really got into it. I gave each team one sign that read "Dieter" and one sign that read "Dumbledore". I read the quote allowed, gave the girls 10 seconds to deliberate, and when the timer reached 0 each team held up a sign with their answer. Whichever team (or both) that got it right, received one point. This was a fun activity even for those girls who weren't as familiar with Harry Potter or Pres. Uchtdorf.

I made a power point presentation using the fun quiz from Utah Valley 360. I added a manual timer to each slide to help the girls see how much time they have. (Sorry I can't post it here, but you should be able to just use the one from Utah Valley 360). 

Feasting on the Word
This next activity allowed the girls to move around a bit more... and they all got really excited when they saw it involved Chocolate Chip cookies. I explained that as we are helping each other come closer to Christ, that doesn't just mean just helping them when their sad, but it means sharing the gospel and "feasting on the words of Christ" or the scriptures so we were physically going to feast for this next activity.

This is a common minute to win it game, but it is so much fun! Have each girl take one cookie and place it on her forehead. The girls then have to squint and scrunch their faces to move the cookie from the forehead, across their eye and cheek, and into their mouths. They aren't allowed to touch it and if it falls off they have to start over.

The first girl to eat her cookie wins her team 3 points. Second place gets her team 2 points. Third place gets her team 1 point.

I made sure to mention to my girls subtly that "they could not touch their own cookie and would have to start over if it fell." I did this just to ensure that if none of my girls could actually get the cookie in their mouths, then I could reiterate that they can't touch their own cookie, but they are one a team and should help each other.

Feasting on the Real Word
Now that they have physically feasted, they are going to have to spiritually feast. Each team must memorize and present the scripture above, Mosiah 18:9 (just the first half unless you'd like them to do more). I let my girls decide in their teams how they wanted to memorize it: all memorize everything, memorize every other word, memorize lines, etc. Both of my teams decided to have each girl memorize one or two lines to present. I was very impressed at how quickly they were able to memorize it and how much they got into it. I helped some of the younger girls who were having a harder time and then we presented the scriptures to the other teams. To make it more exciting, I filmed the girls reciting the scriptures and they all did amazing! 

Pass Off
This last activity included candy, team work, and skill. Only two people from a team go at once -- if you'd like to move it along quicker and you have more girls, then you can use more bowls and candy to create more games at once, but I just had the one going since I only had 5 girls.

Sit each girl down on opposite sides of a table, one bowl in front of each, and the end of the spoon in between each of the girls lips. Fill one bowl with your Skittles, Jelly Beans, or other candy of choice. The girl in front of the full bowl of candy, scoops up a spoonful (using her lips to hold the spoon), dumps her spoonful into her teammates spoon who then dumps the candy into her own bowl. Give each team 1:00 minute. Whichever team ends up having successfully transferred the most pieces of candy gets a point.

You can play this as many times as you want and either tally all the scores for a final score or even give out points based on a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level, that's up to you!

NOTE: This game can get kind of crazy so having a candy that won't melt is a good idea.

Pictionary
We ended up not having time to play this, but I always bring this with me to the activities in case it ends early and the girls want something fun to do. So if the Game Show ends, feel free to pull this out and turn the wonderful game of Pictionary into a competition. I found some great words to use on Cook and Craft Me Crazy.

Before we had our closing prayer, I gave each girl a gold medal because it doesn't matter who got the most points. Everyone did a great job in helping their team to the best that they could do.

Do you have any activity days activities that your girls have just loved? We'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Building a Home on Righteous Habits

The entire East Coast was blessed today to have a very special Stake Conference broadcast from Salt Lake City, UT. We heard from four wonderful speakers: Elder Caster, Sister Reemes, Elder Anderson, and Elder Hales. The talks were beautiful and really helped focus my perspective on life again.

The Conference began with President Cheney addressing those who gathered in our church building near the airport. He started by reminiscing to when he was younger and General Conference wasn't broadcast throughout the world. He related the times when he and his family would travel out of state to at least St. George, UT to be able to watch conference. As he spoke, I was prompted with a very loving and motivating thought, "Look how much effort and time he had to put into something that now takes me no time at all to do."

We are so blessed in our day and age to have the advantages of technology to help us as we grow closer to our Savior and learn more of His gospel, yet so often we don't take advantages of those blessings, but instead see them as hassles that we don't have time for. How often do we choose not to go to the temple because it is a two hour drive? It seems like such a hassle, something we may not have time for, but rather it is a blessing to have a temple so close to us. We don't have to walk as the pioneers would have had to have done. We don't have to fly to another country as so many other saints in other areas of the world need to do. We simply need to get in our car and drive a few hours. The same thought is there for General Conference. How often it seems that we don't have time to sit for four hours on a Saturday to watch our beloved church leaders address us. But all we have to do is push a button and turn on the screen. We don't have to travel to another state, we are so blessed by many things that Satan would have us believe are actually hassles or road blocks and he distracts us with the business of our lives.

Elder Caster began his talk by asking, "Who's on the Lord's side, who?" Is it me? How do I, how do we, show the Savior that we are on His side and fighting for His kingdom if we are not accepting and using the wonderful blessings we've been given -- temples, General Conference, Stake Conference, Scriptures by our bedside, prayer, and more?

One way we can show that we are on the Lord's side is by how we raise and teach our own families, raising the next generation of saints. Elder Hales spoke about this momentous task we have as parents (or future parents in mine and Justin's case) to strengthen our families. One very important opportunity we have to teach our children is by having personal prayer, companion prayer, and family prayer; personal study, companion study, and family study. Each one of these opportunities to bring ourselves and our families closer to our Heavenly Father requires deep thought, and a sincere heart. Our behavior, even now before we have children, is a pattern for how our children should live.

Elder Hales continued to testify of the importance of having weekly Family Home Evening and that both parents should be fully involved in teaching the gospel. He recommended holding family fasts when needed to teach your children by example when to use this amazing blessing. He also recommended having family councils to further prepare and strengthen our homes and to gauge how our children are learning, to discover their hidden talents, and to cultivate a love of the Savior.

All of these wonderful habits that help strengthen a home with children in it are habits that need to start now. For once we have children, they will immediately begin learning from us by our examples.

This beautiful Sabbath morning, Justin and I are beginning to prepare our home with these habits so it will be ready for the time when we do bring children into it to grow up in the gospel with our loving Heavenly Father and Savior. We are beginning to replace inconsequential activities such as watching TV with activities that will strengthen our family together and bring us closer to the Savior.

I am so grateful for my family, for my wonderful husband who does so much for us, and for the great adventure we are in out here in Virginia. It truly has been a blessing to us in so many ways. I am grateful to my Savior and Father in Heaven for their guidance and the confirmation they gave us to move to the East. We have learned so much about ourselves, about the church, about our family, and about the Heavenly Father's plan for us and I'm grateful we were able to trust in Him enough to follow Him to learn these things.