R.A.K. (Random Acts of Kindness) Challenge
by Marcy Boice - transferred from lds-yw files
 

Announcement/Sign up sheet (opens in Word) - click here
Instructions/Score sheet (opens in Word) - click here

I was in charge of the combined activity this past week and it went really well.  We did not tell anyone except the youth and leaders in charge what R.A.K. stood for - which was Random Acts of Kindness. The Sunday before the activity we handed out fortune cookies with a paper
inserted that said: "YOU WILL HAVE AN EVENING FILLED WITH ADVENTURE... R.A.K. Challenge - date & time - Are you ready?" A lot of speculation started as to what RAK stood for.

I had sign up sheets for the adult leaders to sign up to drive, so I knew who they would be. I asked each of them to be a team leader and to bring a bag with colored paper, scissors, tape, markers, and string - I also asked them to come 15 minutes early to get more instructions and be ready. The night of the activity I gave each of them a sheet with instructions, guidelines, score card, and the title of a primary song. To their bag of items I added balloons, window
cleaning wipes, a bag of treats, and a Book of Mormon.

I told the kids that their challenge was going to be to do as many good deeds as they could in a set amount of time. I told them they would be split into teams, have a team leader to drive them, a bag of items to use, get points for each good deed, and that they were to be back at the church no later than 8:10 (points for being on time!).  To split them into groups I had slips of paper with lines from primary songs that they chose out of a bucket. They found the rest
of their team & leader by humming their song - once they had all their team together (4 youth, 1 leader), they took off.

I was amazed by the enthusiasm and creativity of all the youth!  They really got into it and each team came up with different things - they ended up at hospitals, assisted living centers, stores, the movie theatre, members and non-members homes. But what really amazed me was that every group gave out their Book of Mormon - I didn't know if they would have the courage. When they got back they were full of things to tell and share. For dessert we had ice cream bars and they ate them while each team shared some of their experiences.  This was a fairly easy activity to put together and it really seemed to have an impact - I have had a lot of feedback on it from both kids and adults.