Mid-Week Activities centered around...
Divine Nature
 

Motherhood Activity

You are Special

Have you ever had a Wilbur day?

Worth WAY more than 100 Grand by Sam Cousins

Make divinity - Invite the moms to come along, while you make the divinity, talk about - the divinity in each of us, and have each mother and daughter talk about the traditions they have in their home - highlighting how each mother/daughter is special - and how having those traditions helps strengthen their home and relationship with their family. (Idea by Amy)

Temple Marriage Night - When I was a Mia Maid, our leader set up the whole night, she brought all of her wedding pictures. She also made us a very small wedding cake.  We played the game with the toilet paper and had to make a modest wedding dress. Our leader also had white clothed hangers with large white bows and wooden hearts and paint for each value color. We painted the wooden hearts one with each different color and wrote the value on the heart. WE then glued on the hearts onto the hanging part of the ribbon. While we painted, wrote, and glued our leader talked about the differences between what happens at temple marriages and a church wedding. Also how important it is that we strive to get married in the temple. There is also a poem that goes with it:

"Hang on to your values,
Hang on to your testimony
Hang on to you goals,
So that someday you can
'Hang' your temple dress on me"

I still have the hanger with all the hearts on my wall in fact with the poem nearby. I thought I would share this activity because it was one of the most memorable activity I had as a Mia-Maid. (Idea by Megan)

  “No Room at the Inn” - Young women are only told to dress warmly and that they are going to visit a few homes in the neighborhood to bring Christmas cheer.  An adult leader calls 3-4 families in advance telling them to have an excuse for NOT letting the young women in or listening to a song at the door.  Leaders must play along with this and not give it away.  At the last home ask, “Could you suggest where we can go to have our Christmas program?”  The family there tells you “there is a bar (or shed, stable, garage, etc.) you could use.”  The barn has been set up to resemble a stable with an empty baby cradle/basket draped with muslin and dimly spotlighted.  Old blankets spread on hay are available to sit on.  Read a poem, etc. about “No Room at the Inn”; play the song “Let Him In” from Michael McLean’s “The Forgotten Carols” (or something similar); talk about making room for Christ in our lives and hearts; then sing together and share testimonies.  After closing prayer serve hot chocolate either in the barn, at a home, or at the Church.

 
Life Story -  Read an exciting biography to the young women about someone like Florence Nightingale, Camilla Kimball, or Emma Smith.  Shortened versions may be found in the encyclopedia or library.  Tell them that their biography can be just as exciting.  Instruct them to pretend they are 80 years old and are writing their life stories.  Give them at least 20-30 minutes.  They will realize that their life is an open book and the possibilities for accomplishments are endless.

Chaste While Being Chased -  The young women bring cars made from cardboard boxes.  They sit in a half-circle in their “cars” like they are at a drive-in.  Have a speaker come and talk to them about chastity.  Serve root beer floats.

Fashion Show -  Each girl could dress up as her mother and present a “spotlight” on her mother’s background, interests, etc.  To prepare them for their participation each girl could fill out in advance a “Spotlight on My Mother” form to plan what she would present about her mother.  Costumes could be as simple as an apron or hat, gloves with a garden tool, book about a hobby, etc.

Once I had several muslin rag dolls made and gave each girl a doll to dress (or paint on clothing) in clothing that one of their ancestors might have worn, then they also brought a story about that ancestor and a food dish that that ancestor might have eaten. It was a really fun activity and the girls really learned a lot and this started a love of family history within our Young Women group.  (Idea shared by Cindi Klumm - ga / 04202007)

Ancestor Night -  Have the girls find out in advance about some of their ancestors and have them write down the birthdates, birthplace, marriage dates, baptismal dates, temple endowment dates and death dates, if available.  Have them find the information available for their ancestor, their brothers and sisters, grandparents and great-grandparents.  As a group, fill out family group sheets with the young women as children.  Then split into two groups:  one group plays “Ancestor Spin the Bottle.”  Spin an antique bottle, when it points to a girl she tells her ancestor story.  The other group plays a game to fill in a pedigree chart.  It is sort of like Bingo (the cards have grandfather, birth date, etc.) and they fill in that spot.
 

Heritage Night -  Each young woman invites her grandmother (or older person close to her) to attend.  Each also brings an antique or heirloom item to tell about.  The evening is spent enjoying amusing or inspirational stories told by the grandmothers about their younger days and learning about the antique treasures.