Activity Days: Joseph Smith's first vision packet

This weeks Activity Days we colored and cut out pictures of the first vision for the girls to use in their upcoming Family Home Evening. This covers Learning & Living the gospel #2. Here is the packet for Family Home Evening:

Opening Song: “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” #26 in Hymns

Prayer:

Scripture: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5)

Quote: President Joseph F. Smith said: “The greatest event that has ever occurred in the world, since the resurrection of the Son of God from the tomb and his ascension on high, was the coming of the Father and of the Son to that boy Joseph Smith. … Having accepted this truth, I find it easy to accept of every other truth that [Joseph Smith] … declared” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. pp. 495–96).

Lesson: Tell the story of the first vision, use the cutouts to help you.
1. Joseph plowing the field - When Joseph was fourteen years old; many people in his hometown were excited about religion. Preachers gave sermons to try to get people to join their churches. Joseph learned about the different churches, but he couldn’t decide which one to join. The preachers disagree with each other. They can’t all be right!
2. Joseph reading the scriptures - One day, as he was studying the Bible, he read James 1:5. “ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Then he knew what to do. Joseph decided he would do what the scripture said—ask God. He went into the woods to pray.
3. Joseph kneeling and praying - Joseph had never prayed out loud before. He looked around to make sure he was alone, then knelt down. As soon as he tried to speak, he was surrounded by thick darkness and he was afraid he would be destroyed. He prayed to be saved from this evil power.
4. Joseph looking up to the sky - Joseph later said: “Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. … I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”
5. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ - Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had appeared to Joseph. They told him not to join any of the churches because they were all wrong. When the pillar of light and the Heavenly Beings left, Joseph was lying on his back. He felt peace and joy. Joseph returned home and told his family about his experience. Joseph’s family loved God and wanted to keep his commandments. They read the Bible and prayed together often. Like Joseph, they were confused about which church was the true church of Jesus Christ. After Joseph received his first vision, his family believed him and supported him in the great work he was called to do.
6. Joseph talking with a preacher - When Joseph told others about his vision, they made fun of him. Ministers of other religions persecuted him, even though he was only a boy. “There are no such things as visions anymore! You’re either lying or you’ve been deceived by the devil.”
7. Book of Mormon - Joseph never denied his testimony. He said: “Though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; … I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”
8. Children praying - We, too, can go to Heavenly Father in prayer and receive answers to important questions in our lives. Through prayer we can also receive a testimony from Heavenly Father that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Discussion:
There are two reasons why we pray:
1-We pray to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings
2-We pray to ask for Heavenly Father’s help
Just like Joseph Smith’s prayer was answered, our prayers will be heard and answered when we sincerely speak to Heavenly Father. Ask the family if anyone would like to tell about a time they had a prayer answered. Share your own testimony of prayer or ask one of your parents to share their testimony.

Activity: Play stick pulling, one of Joseph Smith’s favorite games. Contestants sit on the ground facing one another with their feet braced sole to sole. Grasp a round stick, a 1 1/4-inch hardwood dowel, between them, parallel to the ground and lengthwise over their braced feet. On a given signal they begin to pull against each other until one is lifted off the ground enough to see daylight beneath him. The best out of three pulls determines the winner of the contest.

Closing Song: “On a Golden Springtime” (Children’s Songbook p. 88)

Closing Prayer:

Activity Day Ideas: Stocking Making Party

This idea is from: http://nacjmac.blogspot.com/2008/12/primary-fun.html

We had a fun stocking making party for the Activity Days girls at my house and made 35 stockings that we are filling and taking to a local clinic for needy families. We are excited to take them, and the girls had a lot of fun making them.

Activity Day Ideas: Mother Daughter Luau

This came from : http://rvdeming.blogspot.com/2008/09/activity-days-fun.html

On Sept 5th we had a mother daughters Hawaiian themed day for our activity. We played some hula hoop race games, some beach ball volleyball games. Then we sat and snacked while we had some getting to know you game between the moms and daughters. Here are some that I did.
We made these book marks and then had the moms and daughters sign this Pact...

I believe all of the girls and mothers had fun. I took pictures of all of them and then with photo shop put them into some Hawaii scenes and then got them printed at Costco for the girls. They decorated a picture frame for the pictures. They each had all 4 sunset scenes so they could choose which they wanted to frame.

Activity Day Ideas: Light of Christ

This idea is from http://evansfactor.blogspot.com/2008/10/activity-days-needing-light.html

The elders taught a little lesson to the girls. It was the week before General Conference, and they were referring to the direction we would be given, but I think we can apply it to us everyday! They gave the girls each 2 pieces of paper. The first piece of paper, was for a paper airplane. They gave them specific instructions on how to make the airplane, and the girls listened very carefully, and followed them.

When they were through with the first one, the elders said, "Now, close your eyes, and make the same airplane with the other piece of paper". The girls did the best they could. Of course it was more difficult doing it in the dark. Of course everything we do in life is easier when we have the Light of Christ. The missionaries are so awesome! We all loved the lesson.
The best part was flying the airplanes!!! These girls are such a BLAST! I love them to death!!!

Activity Days: Journals

Today was our first official Activity Days activity for the 8-9 year old girls. We decorated journals with lots of accessories: stickers, paper, paint, markers, gems, foam letters and more. The girls really enjoyed being able to decorate just for them. I also gave them a book mark with ideas of what to write in their journals. They pasted them to the inside cover. Click on this link from the theideadoor.com: http://www.theideadoor.com/PDF%20Files/Printables/Journal%20Prompts%20bookmark.pdf I found this article called Keeping a journal on the Idea Door also: http://www.theideadoor.com/PDF%20Files/Printables/Keeping%20a%20Journal.pdf

My Father’s Journal; a true story.
A man died unexpectedly. A few weeks after the funeral, his daughter was helped her mother go through his things. While cleaning out the closet she came across his journal. She was so excited to find something that her father had written. What had he said about her? She sat down on the bed, eager to read about his life. She lifted the leather cover to her face and smelled the musty aroma from being in the closet so long. Then she opened the journal; it contained only blank pages. He father hadn’t written one word of his life. She cried with disappointment.

*What is a journal? *Why should we keep a journal? *Who needs to keep a journal?
*What is the difference between a journal and a diary? *Where can I keep my journal so that no one will read it? *What if my handwriting is REALLY messy? Do I still have to keep a journal? *What if my life is REALLY boring, what do I write in my journal?

o If you are a perfectionist – lower your standards. Keeping a record of you life is the goal – nothing more, nothing less.
o Set a goal – Once a week, twice a week, or everyday. If you go a few days, weeks or months without writing, then pick up your journal and write a short entry. Sunday is a wonderful day to write in your journal, reflecting upon the sacrament, the talks, testimonies and lessons.
o Be honest in your writing.
o Write what is in your heart – not what you think other people expect from you. This is private writing where sorrows and worries can be aired. It is also a place where God can talk to you through your writing.
o Remember the details - date each entry & number pages.
o Take your journal to General Conference, vacations, or other situations where you will have time to make entries.
o Use first and last names when writing about individuals. Identify important locations and people in your entry.
o Forget about: Punctuation & spelling – just do the best you can. Sounding righteous, amazing, or perfect. Selling the rights of your journal for a TV movie.

Items to include in your journal
*Important events, impressions, personal feelings.
*Talks you have written, inspiration you have received, the annual family Christmas letter Personal counsel, promises, blessings received and circumstances surround them.
*Deaths, births, marriages, baptisms, endowments, temple service
*Personal triumphs, failures, challenges and how you handled them
*Current local, national, and world events that impact your life.
*Simple daily occurrences.
*Poems and stories
*Dreams, goals, plans for your future.

Remember – your journals are the field research for you personal history. Expect it to be at times chaotic, boring, inspiring, sad, and joyous with some spelling and grammar errors. Enjoy the journey!
Everyone’s journal is different because everyone’s life is different. There is no right or wrong way to keep a journal. The only mistake you can make with your journal is NOT to write in it!

The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. I served punch & cookies for treat. It seemed to go over very well!

Activity Days: Journals

Today we had the girls over at my home for Activity Days, there was 8 of them. We talked about the importance of keeping a journal. I found lots of information on the activity at http://www.theideadoor.com/ they even had cute bookmarks that I printed off for the girls with ideas about things to write in their journals. We decorated small notebooks that I found at Walmart for $0.97 with colored scrapbook paper and foam flowers. We also put flowers on the end of each pen with florist tape so they would be more motivated to write. We had them each write a short biography of themselves and their families. I made Carmel popcorn to snack on, the new microwaveable kind cannot be beat (so simple)! It was a fun project and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Activity Days: Hands

Our Activity Days night was really enjoyable. The girls seemed to get very excited about the topic of sign language. I had twelve young girls, between the ages of 8 to 11, over at my house last night. They have been a rather large handful lately and always seem to have a hard time settling down! I have researched many websites and found some great ideas to keep their minds occupied. The girls were all smooshed into my front room. Each girl introduced themself as there has been many new faces join us lately. We went over the alphabet in sign language twice and then I had each girl fingerspell her own name while the others girls practiced doing it with them. It got us to practice many letters in the alphabet.

After they thoroughly learned each others names, we watched a video that teaches lots of different signs that you may use everday! It is called "I Want to Learn Sign Language," I checked it out from the library. It was rather cheesy but was wonderful at teaching us signs! They all seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

As they practiced the many signs while watching this video, I gave them the Jam Filled Butter Cookies. The recipe comes from allrecipes.com one of my personal favorite websites! The cookies were great and they all wanted more! I've included a copy of the recipe if anyone wants to try it.

Jam Filled Butter Cookies
(allrecipes.com)

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fruit preserves, any flavor

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves. (put preserves in a ziploc bag and cut a bottom corner to make it easier to fill cookies)
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.