I had a very good activity last night. At least that was the feedback I got! Anyway, I was focusing on the value Faith (I am the Personal Progress leader and want to focus on one value a month).
LESSON:
Who was Michelangelo? (An artist, famous for the Sistine Chapel, Marble statue of “David”)
He spent a lot of time in the quarries choosing the stone that he would carve. He said that he could SEE “David” or the “Piata” or whatever it was he was carving IN the stone and he NEEDED to release it from the stone. (I took my piata statue and froze it in a block of ice. This way you can "see" the statue inside the hard "stone" just as Michelangelo did. This served both as an object lesson and as a center piece for the lesson. It was a huge hit. Everyone was in awe of this!)
Marble carving is HARD work. Marble chips fly in all directions; the dust lies thick. Modern stone workers wear goggles; Michelangelo did NOT. He needed to see the stone, to see each mark, to make tiny adjustments to the angle of his chisel and to the force of his blow. He could not afford one slip. One wrong stroke could break a finger, an arm, or worse. A figure comes alive only after thousands, thousands- tens of thousands- of perfectly directed hard and soft blows.
Marble carving is difficult & unforgiving. The marble for David was a huge block that had been abandoned 40 years earlier. Several other sculptors wanted the commission but Michelangelo was the only one to achieve a design of such enormous dimensions that used only this marble block, requiring no additional parts.
When we sculpt, what do we do? (We must take away part of the stone. We must take away the parts that aren’t needed, so that the vision of the artist can escape the stone.)
Obviously we aren’t here for an art history lesson. So what does this have to do with us? With Personal Progress? With Faith, more specifically?
Often there are things we must “take away” in our lives in order for us to become the masterpiece that Heavenly Father intended us to become.
What are some of these things? (R-Rated movies, Profanity, Immodesty, Bad websites, Bad Choices… etc.)
Just as in carving stone, is it always easy to remove these pieces from our lives?
If Michelangelo made a wrong stroke what could happen? (Break a finger, or an arm or worse.)
If we make a wrong move what could happen? (Harder to get back onto the right path)
What tools do WE have to help us carve our stone away? (Scriptures, Prophet, Parents)
Just as Michelangelo had faith to see his work in the stone and faith that he could release that art…we have to have faith that God can release us from sin (stone or ice) and can sculpt us into a perfect person. The person we are intended to become. One worthy of the Celestial Kingdom.
The David is considered one of the most perfect pieces of art. The David reflects Michelangelo's vision of the perfect man. Just as we, the Children of God, reflect God’s vision. I found this quote by President Hinckley and thought it was fitting to end with…
“My message to you today is to live the gospel. Cultivate in your hearts a testimony and a love for God, your Eternal Father. We sing, ‘I am a child of God.’ That isn’t just a figment, a poetic figment—that is the living truth. There is something of divinity within each of us, my brothers and sisters, that needs cultivation, that needs to come to the surface, that needs to find expression.”
Suggested goals the girls can use from this lesson in personal progress.
Faith - Think about the lesson. What carving do we still need to do on ourselves? What tools are we using? What tools should we use more? Journal.
Knowledge - Research different artists. What styles do you like? Why? Journal. Do an “art project”.
Choice & Accountability - What are you doing that needs to be carved away? What can happen in your life if you do? What if you don’t? Journal.
HANDOUT: Printed as a 4x6 print. Has quote from above. Font is CKBecky. Just click on handout and it will show you the full size image. Right click on image and select "save as". Save file where you'd like on your computer and adjust size as desired.
TABLE DISPLAY: Piata frozen in ice
Yup, I forgot a table cloth.
After the lesson, each girl was given a pair of medical gloves (make sure they are powder free). They were divided into groups. Each group was given a carton of (generic brand) vanilla ice cream.
As a team they were to come up with what they wanted to carve. They were given an assortment of candy (skittles, starburst, M&M's, licorice, sprinkles, coconut, chocolate syrup, fun dip, life savers) to help with their creation. They had about 10 minutes to work on this. The idea was, we learned how to sculpt our lives to bring out the person that Heavenly Father intended us to be. The girls were to sculpt their ice cream to bring out the creation that they (the artist) had envisioned.
HEART:
DICE:
VOLCANO:
WILLY the MONSTER:
The ice cream melts FAST! Give the directions to the girls BEFORE they go into the kitchen to start working. Once they get in the kitchen they are too excited to listen. What they create is what they eat as a snack. So remind them to keep their gloves ON. Try not to touch it too much. I had them all bring spoons and knives with them. When they do start eating, have them break sections off to eat so they aren't "double dipping" with their spoons.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Click here to see related activity
Did you try this activity? Did you vary it at all? Do you have any ideas or suggestions for others that may try this activity? E-mail me your comments or even pictures and I'll add them below...
- I was able to use it on our Relief Society Birthday, although I know it was for the Young Women but I thought I could use the same idea for the Relief Society. The sisters enjoyed carving the ice cream. (Shared by Gina Potts / ga03192008)
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