Activity Days: Healthy Lifestyle

We started this activity off with Stake Leaders coming to observe us. I think it was a little overwhelming just preparing for that! It ended up being only one leader and she works at the kids elementary school as the librarian so nothing to worry about in the end.

Physical Bodies
We talked about the Plan of Salvation including the connection of our physical and spiritual bodies. We used a glove to explain this. Next we placed categories were placed on the wall and there was a basket full of items to be categorized.

• Exercise: running shoes, jump rope, ball
  
• Healthy Foods: apple, nuts, water bottle
• Good Hygiene: Soap, toothpaste, toothbrush
  
• Protecting our bodies: sunglasses, sunscreen, lotion
• Rest: pillow, blanket
• Things to avoid: cigarettes (picture), beer (picture)

We discussed the need for living a healthy lifestyle and allowed the girls to give their ideas but also made sure they knew additional benefits too.

Spiritual Bodies
We used an object lesson to help them better understand what a healthy spirit entails verses an unhealthy spirit. First we placed ice cream which represented our clean spirit and then added toppings:

• Kindness = chocolate syrup
• Scripture reading = bananas
• Obedience = caramel sauce
• Prayer = chocolate sprinkles
• Family Home Evening = strawberry sauce

This entails a healthy spirit and then if we add other items:

• Cruelty = mustard
• Lying = dog food
• Bad words = dirt

The spirit is quickly contaminated and without the atonement of the Savior we cannot remove these from our spirits. With repentance we can be made clean again and enjoy our healthy spirit. We let the girls prepare their own "healthy spirit"!

Activity Days: Sewing wonderful pigs

For Activity Days this week we read this little book, the Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs about a little girl named Jillian Jiggs and her amazing pigs that she makes from old stockings. We then followed the instructions at the back of the book making the wonderful pigs. There is a lot of learning for the girls to do and I thought it would be a great way for them to learn a little bit about sewing. It ended up taking about 1hour and 45 minutes rather than a regular hour long. The girls still seemed to enjoy themselves. They learned how to sew a button on, a running stitch, they either drew or stitched on a mouth and tied on little feet. A couple of the girls really got into it but some just wanted to have the finished pig handed to them. I think it ended up being a learning experience for all of us.

Activity Days: Grooming & Hygiene

This week for Activity Days we talked about personal hygiene & grooming. First of all we had a skit where we had one leader dressed nicely and all clean and the other leader was a wreck, hair and all. I got to be the messy leader. Then the girls picked out items from a basket and we discussed their use and the importance of our appearance. We finished off with manicures and pedicures plus a healthy snack. The girls loved painting each others nails!

Activity Days: Cupcake Decorating

We reviewed the twelfth article of faith:We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

Then learned some techniques to cake decorating. The girls loved using all the different icing tips and goofing around. They were more thrilled to eat their creations than anything else!

Activity Days: Painting

For Activity Days we had the girls finish up their sculptures and start painting them to display at our Recognition Night. They really loved getting all creative with paint colors and decorating. We've had a couple girls miss the past activities so we'll have to have a makeup day to get these girls all caught up.

Activity Days: Sculpting with clay

We will be having our recognition night for Activity Days in June and I thought it would be a great time to work on some art projects. Developing Talents #4 Make an item from wood, metal, fabric, or other material, or draw, paint, or sculpt a piece of art. Display your finished work for others to see. We will be working on our art pieces for the next couple of Activities so they will be ready to be displayed at our Recognition Night. The girls really struggled at first coming up with their ideas but once they decided what to make they were off! I found this great website: http://fun.familyeducation.com/ which had many different recipes for sculpting clay. I tried the Modeling Clay recipe which turned out great! Next activity we will be painting the sculptures.

While the girls were busy creating I decided to make edible play dough as a treat for them to enjoy. It was very easy and the girls loved it!

Yummy Edible Play Dough

16 oz can of prepared white frosting
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Food Coloring


Mix first two ingredients until thoroughly combined. Gradually knead in sugar until stiff. Knead in Food Color and then add addition sugar if sticky. Makes 3 cups. This recipe comes from Rondi. Thanks!

Activity Days: Pie Making

We had Activity Days last night. I taught the girls how to make mini apple pies. They seemed to enjoy themselves and they had fun pies to take home!

Mini Apple Pies
Makes: 3 mini pies 2 servings each.
Prep: 20 minutes

4 apples, peeled, cored and diced (4 cups)
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp sugar
4 1/2 tsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Ground Cloves
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 box piecrust mix or 1 recipe double pie crust
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven 400. In large bowl, combine apple pieces, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, cloves and lemon juice. Toss to combine; set aside.
2. Prepare piecrust as directed, adding remaining 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll out 3 pieces to 7-inch circles. Fit into three 5-inch ceramic pie plates (we used pot pie pans). Roll out remaining dough to three 6 1/2-inch circles.
3. Divide apple mixture evenly among pie plates, about a generous 1 cup per pie plate. Cut butter into 3 pieces and place 1 piece on top of filling in each dish. Top with rolled-out doughs, and crimp edges to seal. Cut a few vent holes in each. Brush all crust with milk, and sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp sugar.
4. Bake pies at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350; bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden. Cool on racks for 20 minutes before serving.It took long enough with 7 girls that we ended up sending them home with instructions for baking. Hopefully they enjoy their homemade pies!