Ice Cream Sundae Bar
Idea by Rebecca Jones / ga11072006
 

We held our first recognition night in October. We did an idea I saw detailed several times, an ice cream sundae bar based on the 13 Articles of Faith. We had vanilla ice cream and 13 toppings. The girls had worked on the Article of Faith all year long. I actually let them choose any or all of the 13 toppings and didn't limit them to the number of Articles of Faith that they'd memorized--though I did drive home the point that the more knowledge you have the more sweet blessings you can partake of....but we had some new and less-active girls and I didn't want to embarrass them, you know? But the ones that did do all 13 I printed a certificate from Lakeshore Learning and made a big deal out of it that night and also at Primary the next Sunday.

It was an easy activity though a bit expensive to buy all those things for the sundaes. I believe that we spent close to $50 (though I'm sure it could be done for less).

For two activities prior to Recognition night the girls also made personal collages on 1/2 a poster board (foam core board). They cut magazine pictures from magazines and catalogs that told of their likes, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, etc. Each girl told about the things they'd chosen.

I ordered key rings and a charm from Charming LDS Gifts. The idea was for them to put the key ring on their scripture cover. The charm said, "Faith" because our year's focus was the Articles of  Faith. (Next year we're focusing on My Gospel Standards and I'll order a CTR charm to add to the keychain). The charms are 69 cents each and the key chains are around that...for a set of 8, including the little jump rings, with shipping, it was less than $13.

For a simple Christmas-themed Recognition Night, you might have hot chocolate and ask each girl's family to bring a dessert (a dessert potluck). The girls could make ornaments for an activity before and display them on a Christmas tree you set up. If you taught them a special technique for making the ornaments (baking clay, salt dough, decoupage, etc), displaying their projects would fulfill Developing Talents #2 (making something to display). Recognize the girls accomplishments by having each girl come up. Maybe you could have each parent write something special about the girl and the parent could read that to the group. Perhaps a star theme similar to the starfish one mentioned could work with Christmas. Perhaps read a Christmas story that goes along with the theme you get going. Make sure you emphasize Christ in all things!