"To encourage me to succeed in school and set goals for my education."

• CAREER GUESSING GAME: Write down different types of careers on separator sheets of paper. Tape one paper to the back of each girl and have her ask yes and no questions about the career on her back until she can figure out what is on her back. When all of the girls have figured out their career, then talk about each one.
• CAREER FAIR: . Have the girls decide what they want to be and assign them to interview someone in that career. Have the girls come to Achievement Days and tell all of the girls what they learned about their career. Invite members from the ward to come and discuss their careers/training, giving the girls some ideas of paths to pursue.
• BYU CREAMERY TOUR: The BYU Creamery gives tours on the Last Friday of the Month. They show the girls how they make ice cream, cheese etc... Call 378-2581 for more information. If you live in another city with a University near by perhaps they do the same thing.
• ACHIEVEMENT DAY BOOK CLUB: Assign a book for all of the children to read. You can go to the library and check out a book that has multiple copies. Have all of the children read the same book and then come to the next activity and discuss what they read. Have some snacks. It is a blast!
• WORLD CULTURES: Have a return missionary come and talk to the children. Teach them about the country in which they served and what it is like to be a missionary.
• SPELLING BEE: Give the girls a list of words to learn. Names and words from the scriptures are fun as well as words that they are learning in school. When they are prepared, have a spelling bee with prizes for everyone.
• LIBRARY TOUR: Arrange to have someone give you a tour of your local library. Make sure each girl has a library card before you go. Encourage the girls to check out as many books as they like.
• READ-A-THON: Have each girl bring a book to read and have some treats and sit around and read. You can also play a game like pictionary.
• BOOK SCAVENGER HUNT: Have a book scavenger hunt in the public library. Give each girl or group of girls a list of call numbers for books, movies,periodicals etc... depending on the age group. Start the timer and see how long it takes them to find the items and bring them back to you. If you are worried about them being quiet, then you can send an adult with each group. A library worker might be willing to help out. Before you begin you could have short lesson if you need to.
• CAREER DAYS AT THANKSGIVING POINT: If you live in Utah, you can go on the Career Day tour at Thanksgiving Point. They talk about careers in retail, food service, marketing, horticulture, agriculture and paleontology. Cost $2.00 per child. Call 801.768-4971 to register.
• TALENT SHOW: . The children can play an instrument, read a story, dance etc... brainstorm about the different ways that they can earn a living with their talents. IE: teach piano or dance lessons, read to children at the library, have a home preschool.. Encourage them to think of things that they can do and still be a mother and use their talents.
• LEARN A FEW WORDS IN A NEW LANGUAGE: Have someone come and teach the children a few words in another language, IE: sign language, spanish, french etc... Play some games using the new language, like "red light, green light" etc...Talk about why learning another language might be helpful to you.
• SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS: Do some simple science experiments. You can find them on the internet, at the library or in scout books. Learn the scientific process and important things that scientists are doing.
• BOOK LISTS: Have each girl bring a list of their favorite books. Let the girls tell why they like the books. Make a list of all of the books so the girls can take them home and use them when they need something to read.
• GROCERY STORE FIELD TRIP: Take a field trip to a grocery store or Target or Wal-Mart. Call around and see who does the most fun things. They may show the girls the bakery and let them have samples, or go in the big freezers, or learn to scan items or even go on a store scavenger hunt. Many stores do these type of things as a community service. Some are more exciting than others so do a little phone calling to see what is included in the tour before you go.
• SCHOOL TOUR: Some of our older girls are starting 7th grade and most of them are starting 6th. We have made arrangements will the middle school to take a tour of the school before it starts again in Aug. The older girls that are familiar with the school will provide the tour.
• ENGINEERING LESSON: Learn about engineering and problem solving by building a structure with straws. Give each girl a handful of straws and a glob of play dough and a paper cup. (The straws are cheap at CostCo or Sam's club or ask a business owner to donate them. The play dough can be homemade.) Tell them that they need to build a structure that will hold the cup off of the table. (You can make up your own rules) They can work in teams or by themselves but don't let them see each other while they are creating the structures or everyone will do the same thing. When they are ready, have them drop pennies in their cup one at at time until the structure falls over. The object is to see who's structure can hold the most pennies. It is a really fun activity. It makes them have to think and try to solve a problem. Children these days are used to being told how to do everything and they need to learn problem solving skills.
• HOSPITAL TOUR:Take the girls on a tour of a local hospital with attention to pediatrics and the emergency room. These are two of the possible places they may visit.
• PANEL DISCUSSION: Have someone from a Jr. High School, High School and University come and tell What each school is like. Describe a typical day and the types of classes that they may take. Discuss why education is important.
• LIBRARY COMPUTER SKILLS: Learn to use the local library. Learn how to use the computer system, card catalogues, etc.
• CULTURE STUDY: Learn about other cultures and learn how to say a few things in another language. Check out tapes from the library to learn how to say hello, how are you, I'm fine, what's your name, my name is ____, happy birthday, I like you, etc. You could serve food from various countries.
• LEADERSHIP SEMINAR - We held a Stake Leadership-style seminar for the girls on a Saturday morning; called "Seeing Yourself as a Leader." We kept the "seeing" theme and used mirrors to decorate each of the classrooms. We asked sisters in the ward to do 15 minute classes on several topics including: Listening Skills - "Stop, Look, Listen", Conducting a Class (and Praying for a Group) - "Eye to Eye", Fellowshipping - "Look Beyond Yourself", Filling Assignments - "Seeing a Job Through", and Dress and Grooming - "You've Got the Look." The girls checked in as they arrived and received a notes page, pen, folder and clip board for taking notes. We held opening exercises in the Chapel and then went to the first class. We rotated the girls in a group around to each of the classes with a 5 minute break between each. After the classes we had a lunch for them in the cultural hall. We gave each girl a certificate for completing the training and a personal mirror so she could see herself as a leader.
• WHAT'S MY LINE: One of our most successful activities was playing the "What's My Line" game. We invited two women guests and supplied the girls with a list of 20 questions they could ask to try to guess what the women did for a living. They could also make up their own questions if they chose to. We were discussing careers for women who are still single or find themselves single through divorce or being widowed. The girls loved asking the questions and trying to guess the occupations. One guest was in her late 20's and never married. One of her jobs was that of a dog breeder and trainer. She brought her three Rottweilers for show and tell after her turn and the girls got to see close up how well trained and behaved they are with proper training. The other woman was in her early 40's and had been divorced many years. She works as a merchandiser for Nabisco products in many of the Wal-Mart stores in our area. The girls did not guess her occupation but were thrilled with the whole package of Oreo cookies she brought for each girl.
• GOALS, GOALS, GOALS: Discuss with the girls what their goals are and what they want to do when they are older. Talk about going on a mission. Talk about colleges and send away for information from colleges. Use college information in another activity to practice filling out application and writing college entrance essay.