"To give me opportunities to learn the gospel, share it with others, and prepare for temple blessings."

• ARTICLES OF FAITH: Memorize one of the Articles of Faith.
• MOVIE: Watch a church movie. Have some popcorn.
• TEMPLE WALK: Take a walk around the temple grounds and discuss the importance of temples and temple marriage.
• TEMPLE HANDKERCHIEF: Make a temple handkerchief to take to temple dedications.
• SUGAR CUBE TEMPLES: Make temples out of sugar cubes. Use icing in between the cubes to stick them together. (It is like making a gingerbread house but with little cubes of sugar instead. I saw it on Martha Stewart) Have pictures of the temple for them to look at while they are building it. Talk about the temples and what they are for.
• THE 6 "B": Watch and/or discuss the talk that President Hinkley gave to the Youth about the 6 "B" s. Ask your ward librarian for a copy of the video.
• BOOK OF MORMON CHALLENGE: Have the girls read the Book of Mormon in 30 days ( 16 pages a day ) It will change all of your lives.
• TEMPLE DEDICATION: For spirituality, we discussed the temple. Just prior to the dedication of the Winter Quarters Temple, we talked about the dedication of Kirtland and the outpouring of spiritual manifestations. It's a great opportunity for the girls to participate in dedications by satellite.
• TEMPLE TRIP: If it is possible make a trip to a Temple near you. Call ahead and ask the Temple President if he can talk to the girls for a few minutes. Take a picture of the girls in front of the temple. Talk about temples and what they are for.
• PRAYER RUG: Talk about the importance of prayer. Make a prayer rug. The children can take their rugs home and place them by their beds to remind them to say their prayers.
• PATRIARCHAL BLESSING LESSON: Teach the children what a Patriarchal Blessing is. Explain what it is for, what age they can get one, that they need to live worthy to get a recommend from the Bishop. Read a few sections from your blessing that you feel is appropriate for the girls. Bear your testimony of Patriarchal Blessings and that they should look forward to the day that they get their own. It would be wonderful to have the stake Patriarch come and talk to them for a few minutes. They will have a wonderful spiritual experience and go away excited to get their own blessing.
• ACTING OUT SCRIPTURE STORIES: Have the children bring their scriptures. Read a scripture story together allowing each child to read. Talk about the story and then let them put on a little play to act out the story. We did Samuel the Lamanite and everyone threw marshmallows (instead of arrows) at "Samuel" while he was on the wall. It was a blast.
• MISSIONARY LESSON: Ask the missionaries,or a return missionary, to come and tell the children what is is like serving a mission and what they should do to prepare for a mission. Challenge the children to fellowship someone in their school. You could even give them each a Book of Mormon and challenge them to give it to someone. Follow through on the challenge that you make and have them share their experiences at the next meeting.
• MUSIC DISCUSSION: Talk about how music can invite the spirit of the Holy Ghost or drive the spirit away. Have the girls bring a tape or CD of their favorite song. Play the songs, let them dance to the music. Talk about the feelings they get when they listen to different types of music. Have the girls then tell you their favorite church song. Play or sing the church songs and notice the different feelings from the other music. Once the children realize how powerful music can be, challenge them to be aware of what they are listening to and to turn it off if it does not invite the spirit.
• WRITE TESTIMONY: Help the children to write down their testimony. You could have them earn money to buy a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon and place their testimony in the book. They could then give the book to a friend or you could send the books to a missionary who is serving from your ward and they can give them away.
• TESTIMONY LESSON: Talk about testimonies. What they are, what is appropriate to say when you are bearing your testimony. Read some scriptures about testimonies. Bear your testimony and create a comfortable, spiritual environment for the girls to each bear their testimony to each other. Challenge them to bear their testimonies at the next testimony meeting.
• WOMEN IN THE SCRIPTURES: discuss women in the scriptures
• BABY FOOD JAR CANDLES: I saved up and cleaned enough baby food jars so each girl in my class got one. We decorated them with glitter glue (pen style that I found at Wal-Mart Mart for cheap). I had printed out the 4th Article of Faith and had each girl tie it to the jar with ribbon I bought at garage sales and the DI, or they glued it on with the glitter glue. We put tea light candles in the jar and each time they lit the candle they were to recite the article of faith. It was a big hit.
• JESUS DOORHANGERS:. I found the door hangers already painted at Roberts craft for $0.59 each. I found die cuts of Christ at a local craft store that was going out of businesses and got them for $0.05 each. I then bought paint pens (Wal-Mart Mart 10 for $4.95) so they could decorate the hanger with their name or whatever. We Modge Podged on the Jesus die cut and I printed off on my computer the 5th Article of Faith for them, which they also Modge Podged on. They went home and hung them on their bedroom door so that every time they left their room the would remember to be like Jesus and recite the 5th Article of Faith. Everyone had a great time and this activity took less than 45 minutes to complete!
• GINGERBREAD TESTIMONIES: Around Christmas time we did an activity to learn about testimonies (as well as making a Christmas classic, Gingerbread houses). Before I let them start decorating their own houses I stood in the front of the room with the pieces for each part of the house. I told them that the roof was like their own testimony...what were things they needed to help "support" their testimony? The Front wall with a peak in it (I cut out the crackers to form a triangular top) they decided was like "Prayer" because it pointed to heaven reminding them of the Lord. The rear one quickly became "Remembering to be like Jesus" because of it's point as well. The long sturdy side wall they decided was "studying the scriptures" and the other was "Faith and enduring to the end". I glued the house together as we talked.(I had one already glued for each girl) They all had brought some candy to share and I let them start decorating. One of my girls made this observation...the candy and icing represents the happiness we feel inside when we SHARE our testimonies. I was thrilled with the success of it. Even now 1 1/2 years later they can still tell me what it takes to support your own testimony and beg to do it again every year. Questions to hdorius@yahoo.com
• BAPTISMS FOR DEAD LESSON: The First counselor in the bishopric met with us one night and discussed preparation to attend the temple to do baptisms when they turn twelve. The reasons for the work were discussed and he reviewed the questions they would be asked by the bishop to be able to enter the temple to do the work. They were all ears and full of questions. At the end each girl received a picture of the Orlando temple for her room or for her Achievement Day Book. This night was a big hit with the girls. Each Achievement Day night we take 10 minutes to discuss either a Primary Value or one of the Thirteen Articles of Faith and how they have meaning in our lives as young sisters in our homes or at school or in any setting. This gives us a chance to talk about what is on their minds and to teach the gospel.
• SCRIPTURE STORY CHALLENGE: In 2003 the girls will be challenged to read the primary readings provided to members of our stake each year. These are basic scripture stories. We will have quarter bench marks for achievements of reading. Those girls who complete this challenge will have a chance to go with the leader to Chuck Cheese for a party. Christmas time the girls will be invited to a Birthday Party of Jesus. They will sing hymns and act out the scripture of the birth of the Savior in a role play fashion. Each girl will make a birthday card for the Savior making a commitment to make a spiritual change or increase in her life in the next year. Goal if it is easier to understand. Then quarterly we will revisit the cards and the goals to see how we are doing individually and as a group to perfect ourselves.
• A LESSON ON THE LAW OF CONSECRATION: Have ready a bag of candy for each girl. The contents must be exact. Then play some game in which the bags move around from person to person. For example pass the bag until the music stops...hum if you must. When the bag stops then have the girl hand it to the girl next to her. You can make up your own ideas of how to move the bags. After the girls are really watering in their thoughts for the bag have them return the bags to the Leader/Bishop. Each girl has to have a family for this game which may be her own or you may make up a family for each girl. When the bishop gets the candy he meets it back to the girl according to need. One child has six siblings and one child has one. Therefore the amount is different but sufficient for her needs. It is a good time to expound on this principal.
• SACRAMENT BREAD: Make the bread that is used to sacrament on Sunday. If you do it for Easter Sunday then you can have a lesson about the last supper, the atonement, and what it means to partake of the sacrament.
• 10 COMMANDMENTS: We will be learning the 10 commandments by heart. I got pictures from the clip art on my computer and matched them with each number..example: 1 rhymes with sun-there is one sun and one God, 2 rhymes with shoe-some people wear brand name shoes to portray an image of being rich and important, 3 rhymes with tree-if you fall from a tree don't say a bad word, 4 rhymes with door-the chapel doors seem to say to me shhh be still, 5 rhymes with hive-just as queen bee honored in hive we should honor our parents, 6 rhymes with sticks-don't kill someone with a stick, 7 rhymes with heaven-can't get to celestial kingdom if commit adultery, 8 rhymes with gate-don't go through someone's gate and take what doesn't belong to you,9 rhymes with lion-don't tell a lie on someone, 10 rhymes with hen-don't with you had your neighbors hen. We will play a game using spinner and see if they can remember them. They will have copies of pictures to take home and make a spinner to have their own family home evening.
• THANKFUL DAY: Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, we decided to spend a day listing everything we were thankful for. As we gave the girls time to write, we mentioned some of the things they might consider: Things they like to smell, or hear, or see, or touch; feelings they have when they help someone, come to church, or learn something new; gifts of the gospel; family, talents, etc. When they were done, we gave prizes for the girl with the longest list, the girl with the most unique thing on her list, the girls with duplicate items, and anything else we could think of. Then at the end, we prayed and thanked heavenly father for each item.
• TEMPLE DEDICATION: Our achievement days group decided to get ready for the Nauvoo Temple dedication. We decorated and folded men's handkerchiefs that the girls could take to a temple dedication. The handkerchief was folded really pretty so that it could be put into a cellophane wrapper to be used in the future for other temple dedications or for their own weddings. We put a picture of the temple inside of the package that said "I am going to the temple some day." with a ribbon glued to the outside to make it a pretty keepsake for the girls. Beaver 5th Ward, Beaver Utah
• ARTICLES OF FAITH: I am stressing the importance of memorizing the thirteen articles of faith. I am giving my girls an article of faith and challenging them to memorize it before the following meeting. I also try to revolve my achievement days activities around that article of faith for the month.
• CROSSWORD PUZZLE: I made up a church crossword puzzle. It had questions like, "What is the first and last name of your Primary President" and "What is the last name of your Stake President" and "How old are you when you get baptized".I had about 20 questions all together. We had a contest to see who finished there puzzle. I put little prizes in paper bags and numbered the bags 1-15, that is how many girls we have in Achievement Days. As the girls finished their crossword puzzle they got to choose a bag. When all the girls were finished the girls opened their prizes. This was a fun and easy activity. The girls had fun while learning about our church.
• SCRIPTURE CHARADES- Allow each child to act out their favorite scripture story while the other children try to guess what or who it is. There is no need for teams or competition. It is just a fun activity that will review the scriptures. It might be a good idea to send a little note prior to the activity and explain what you will be doing so they can come up with ideas before they come. This will make them feel more confident and everyone will have a great time. Bear your testimony of the importance of scripture study and challenge them to study the scriptures every day.
• religion
• MOTHER DAUGHTER TEMPLE DAY: Our group combined Arts and Crafts, Hospitality and Spirituality for a wonderful Saturday morning with their Moms. Each Girl had a mock temple interview with one of the Bishopric on our regular scheduled night, I made up little mock temple recommends for the girls and the Bishopric member to sign. The girls helped prepare the food on the same night as the interviews.The girls and their Moms were invited to make Hats to depict their personalities to model before the Luncheon. On the Saturday morning we met at 10:00 in the Relief Society room , the first part was the Hat modeling then I had a sister from the Relief Society talk a little bit about temples. She gave each girl a picture of a temple. Then I asked each Mom to give her testimony about the temple. Before lunch each Mother and Daughter went outside and got their picture taken for lasting memories. We decorated the primary room with pictures of temples.