Thursday, March 10, 2011

Knowledge Value Experience #1

I think matchbook handouts are a fun way to give the girls lists of things to do.  They're inexpensive, relatively easy to make, and they're just something a little different.  I have another matchbook handout for Individual Worth #1 I'll add here soon also.

To make these you will need to print the following:
Paper cutter
Stapler
Matchbook Cover printed on white cardstock
Matchbook Inserts printed on white copy paper

I created the PDF's with some light guidelines for cutting and folding.  They are light enough, however, that if you want to adjust them for personal preference please do.

Cut the matchbook covers on the outside lines.  The interior lines will be used as markers to fold the matchbook. Cut the inserts on the outer guidelines also.  Place one of the scripture sheets and the action plan on top of each other and line them up so the top line is action plan is visible to be read.  Trim the bottoms so they are even.  (I'm sorry for this, but no matter how I placed the lines, as soon as I created the PDF the margins are different so they move a little.)
Cut the lines between the scriptures down to 1/2" from the bottom of the page.  Place both sheets inside the matchbook, fold the bottom piece over.  You may need to trim a little off to not cover the words on the matchbook cover.  Staple the handouts in place.

Choice & Accountability Value Experience #!

This is the bookmark that started all this hooplah.  We were planning for mutual to do all the reading associated with Choice & Accountability value experience #1, and I was asked to make some sort of checklist for the girls to mark their prayers and scripture reading each day for the two weeks while they worked on their goal.  I decided to make a bookmark.  My thoughts were if they're suppose to be reading their scriptures, the girls could keep the bookmark in their scriptures to remember the goal.  I didn't have a lot of time, so we just printed a quick bookmark out on cardstock.  Of course we're using orange because of Choice & Accountability.

 The girls had a lot of positive feedback on how helpful the bookmark was and how much they appreciated it.  After talking to them a little more I decided to go full force and create the rest of the handouts you see on the blog.  I'm hoping those of you who choose to use these will find them as helpful for your Young Women as we have for ours.

C&A Value #1 Bookmark

Virtue Value Experience #3

We have done this activity in two different wards before temple trips.  The first time we had a pretty small group, sat around a table and read together.  We discussed and BARELY had enough time to get through the scriptures.  I had gone through before and made a list of the verses they were looking for questions in so they didn't get hung up on the "were they destroyed?" questions and were really paying attention to the personal questions.

The second time we did this activity the group was bigger and they read individually or a couple of girls together.  Not such a great idea.  If you use this for an activity I feel like you really need to look at the dynamics of the girls in your group and decide what will work best.  I have also included this in our handout basket so the girls can do it on their own.

The handout I used for the second activity has numbers referencing the verses with personal questions.
If you would prefer not the have the verses listed, I have a second one that is blank.

Have fun!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Faith Value Experience #5 Activity Night

This activity was planned in our ward to help the girls work on Faith #5. We had two girls who were working on Virtue #4 because they had finished Faith #5, but I really feel any value that has to do with the atonement or repentance would work.




The girls started by making tiles with pictures of the Savior.  This took about fifteen minutes from start to finish.  I am including the gathering, passing out supplies and finishing the project.  As soon as they were done we introduced the rest of the activity, explaining who would be going where and making sure everyone had their books and their scriptures.



After instructions were given, we showed the Mormon Messages, Lifting Burdens. We used a projector and showed it from the laptop.  The clip is only about 3 and a half minutes long, but it was effective for getting everyone back on track for scripture reading.

The girls then went into groups to help with talking.  At each table they had certain scriptures (or For the Strength of the Youth for the virtue #4 girls) to read.  After they moved through the last table they went to another area to write in their journals. We had everyone read their own scriptures, so they could move to the next table as soon as they finished.  During the scripture reading we had music playing in the background to help keep the reverence.  All the songs we selected had to do with the Savior.

During the activity we had Personal Progress interviews taking place in the corner of the room.  As they set their new goals for the coming month we have the Personal Progress bucket with the little handouts for the various goals available.  This makes it really hard for anyone to come up with an excuse as to why they aren't working on Personal Progress.

For refreshments we had homemade Soft Pretzels.  We are one of those wards that has to do a treat that starts with a "P" for Personal Progress.  We had some with salt and some with cinnamon and sugar.   They were all gone by the time we left, so I take that as a sign they liked them.

Overall I felt like the evening went well and we have received a lot of positive feedback from the girls.  Hopefully this will help you and your girls also!

The tiles were really easy to make.  I purchased these at Lowes for $0.48/each.  The pictures of Christ were printed on an inkjet printer.  When I made the sample I didn't have Modge Podge so I used Elmer's glue.  It worked great so we used that for the activity also.  Remember the pictures are printed with an inkjet so the ink will bleed if it gets too wet. We had the girls apply the glue to the tile, place the picture on the tile and push the air bubbles out from the middle of the picture.  Next, applied a generous amount of glue with strokes moving horizontally to spread the glue evenly, then vertically.  Last, just the girls pressed down on the edges to make sure none of the torn edges were left uncovered.

Crummy Cookie Personal Progress Reminder


This is actually the first Personal Progress reminder I gave our girls.  I used 4" bags that I had on hand from who knows what.  Any clear cello bags will work.  I cut the printed page into fourths.  I did find when I converted to PDF I had to cut about 3/8" off the bottom to keep the bag toppers even.  Have fun!

Just a reminder the link will redirect you to Scribd.
Crummy Cookie Reminder Tag

Monday, March 7, 2011

Good Works Value Experience #2

This was probably one of my favorite handouts to make.  This is a value experience that really the young women need to do on their own, but it can sometimes be put off unless the parents take the lead.  This handout can be combined with a cooking activity, or just something the girls can take to remind them or help motivate them to start on the project.

To make these you need: 
The three file downloads
     Album Covers
     Menu Plan
     Shopping List
Yellow Cardstock (thinking about Good Works)
Brag Book
Recipe Cards
Glue


I printed the album covers on white cardstock and the shopping list and menu plan on regular printer paper.  The shopping list was cut in half and the others were cut in quarters.  The yellow cardstock I used to back the album covers was cut to 6" x 4 5/8".  This was the size of the album cover I removed. I glued the Album Covers on the yellow cardstock to fill the opening.


I picked the brag books and recipe cards up from the Dollar Tree.  There were 50 4x6 recipe cards in a package, and I used 17 recipe cards for each book.  The first photo slot is where I placed the Menu Plan, and on the back side I placed the Shopping List folded in half.  All of the other photo slots had one recipe card in the front.  I figure the girls can add more if they want later.  I did use three differently designed recipe cards so they wouldn't feel like they can't add something that looks different.

If you wanted to incorporate this into an activity, the girls could make their own albums and share family recipes.  Whatever you choose - have fun!

Faith Value Experience #4

Here is a booklet I put together for Faith value experience #4.  My printer allows me to print on both sides automatically.  If you don't have a printer that is set up to do so, print one page at a time, loading the paper back in to print on the reverse side.


Cut the paper in half length wise, then fold the pages.  I stapled them in the middle to keep them together.  (Yes, I had to bend the paper a little to get it into a regular stapler.  If you use regular copy paper you can't tell once it's laid flat.) This is small enough for the girls to put in their scriptures to keep with them on the three Sundays they choose to work on this goal.


Again, the link will take you to Scribd.  Please don't panic when you are directed away from my blog.
Faith 4-Booklet

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Integrity Value Experience #6

I love this little handout if for the girls who may need a little jump start in the Personal Progress.  This is such an easy value experience to complete.  All it involves is fasting.  For the girls who really struggle with Personal Progress, this experience doesn't even include journal writing (although if they don't notice it, don't point it out.)

We made little invitations to give to the girls the week before Fast Sunday at our mutual activities.  Nothing too fancy, but just a little reminder.

The envelope is a 6x6 piece of purple (of course) cardstock. The only reason I used this size was because I had some solid purple 12x12 cardstock in my scrapbook supplies.  You can adjust the envelope if you want.  If you have an envelope template you can use that, but I just folded all four of the corners into the middle.

The words are printed six to a page; these are glued on the inside of the envelope.  If you use the pdf file I've linked below, I trimmed 1 inch off the left side of the paper, and cut the squares from there.

Integrity Value Experience 6 Inserts

To make them look a little nicer I wrapped some ribbon around the outside and then sealed them with a round sticker.  The stickers I used were Avery 5293 round labels.  I realize this is not the most commonly used label size, so you could use even another piece of paper, a sticker, anything really to hold it closed.  The ones we are delivering to the girls at the mutual activity are personalized, but the ones we have in the Personal Progress basket have the Value Experience on the sticker to identify it from other integrity handouts.