Thursday, January 3, 2008
Young Women
Ok, it is that time of year when all YW Presidencies are tasked with completing a "calendar "of the year's events. I very much want to provide the girls with meaningful activities. I truly believe in "planning with a purpose." So, I have a list of things the girls would like to learn over the next year. Their lists include things like cooking, sewing, better study skills, family history, scripture study, etc. I know that you ladies have had some great experiences in YWs (both as leaders and girls) so please share with me some of the activities that were meaningful. Thanks!
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7 comments:
My Mom just became the YW Pres in her ward and two of her girls are going/have gone abroad on trips and she's having them present on a night about their trip, the culture, food, what they learned, etc. which I think is cool.
As far as cooking goes, I did that with my beehives. We made a list of things they wanted to learn how to make (within reason and could be done at an activity) and then once a month had a cooking activity. For each dish we had someone (a leader, a parent, fellow ward member, or someone the girls knew) come teach them how to make it. It was fun and they ended up with several recipes to keep.
Sewing is more difficult - each girl will be at a different skill level. You could start with something basic like a pillowcase and work up to more difficult projects like their own wedding dresses (just kidding ;)). That way they can start off having success, and they can also discover if they like it or not and if you should continue. You could also have someone come talk/show how to do basic mending or embellishing of current clothes (such as adding lace to a skirt or ribbon to jeans, just to be creative). You could make something for the humanitarian effort (blankets, baby gowns, diapers, etc).
Another thing my girls did is wanted to learn to knit. There were several old ladies in the ward willing to teach. That was doubly good - the youth had a chance to spend time with and get to know some of the old ladies in the ward. Interacting with older people is a skill that is hard to teach.
One more thing. - about family history. We had a night were each of the girls and leaders brought something to share about their family history - stories about their ancestors, pictures, or anything else they wanted. This required some effort on their own before the activity. It was pretty fun to learn about others, see pictures, etc. We had a hard time getting through everyone because once they started sharing they didn't want to stop.
One thing that would be cool to do (and has come out since I left YW) is to have them log on and try the family search indexing. I have done it at home. It is a neat and easy way to serve any time. You could combine it with a trip to the temple grounds to talk about why it is important.
When we learned sewing, we each made a baby outfit for a family in our branch that didn't have much. It was a little hard for me as a beginner sewer (I think it took me like 5 activities to finish it!) but it was really rewarding when I finally finished it and knew that it was going to a family that needed it. Looking back, that was way more meaningful than making something for myself, like a pillowcase. A blanket or something would probably be easier, and you could donate them to the Humanitarian effort like Cramster said, if you don't have a family in your ward that needs them.
I will get thinking about this, but also, check out the "church" link, there is a post about this on March 6 to give you even more ideas.
The most meaningful activities for me were always service. Singing showtunes/hymns at a nursing home, heart attacking incoming beehives, kidnapping someone for a Saturday breakfast, babysitting, cleaning, painting, etc. When I was an advisor we had the girls read the Book of Mormon in 40 days and for the last part of it, we read it together and had a sleepover and played games and had a testimony meeting.
Awesome ideas, thanks ladies. We'll be using many of these.
A good way to turn cooking into service is you could make a meal for someone in the ward (just had a baby, death or sickness in the family, etc.). And if there's no one in the ward who needs it you could do a "manners" dinner and talk about proper table manners and then invite the corresponding YM age group and have a manners dinner. We did that with the priests and laurels and had a great time. :)
This lady that I used to tutor for was the YW president in her ward and for New Beginnings every year they had a "Beauty Pageant" if you will where all of the girls dressed up and each of their dads (or brothers) escorted them in while she read facts about that girl so that people could get to know her better for the new girls, and then nice things about that girl or that that girl had done that year for the girls currently in YW. I thought that idea was cute...but they were also in Utah where modest formal dresses were easier to come by. Also, you'd have to judge the temperament of your girls and decide if they like dressing up...
When my mom was YW president she had the laurels all learn how to make a quilt by having them sew and tie a baby quilt together. Then the first one of them to get married and have a baby got the quilt. That was kind of fun. But also you could give it away for service (as has already been mentioned).
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