Now we are doing a service activity in Sept. We asked the sisters in RS to make a few lap quits but leave them untied. We are teaching the children to tied them and them donating them to the Hospital or the millennium project
you know some thing on long those lines. We are doing about 4 quilts and will have a lot of help. So they kids who are done will be able to quilt there own little one to keep as a keepsake. Of course there will be things to fill the time and all but that is the basic. We have also in the past had them make place mats for the elderly bring them to the homes. I will look for more ideas for you.
A couple of things that we have done for service quarterly activities:
1. Sing songs at a local rest home. We did this before our late sacrament meeting on a Sunday morning. We picked some sweet songs and some fun ones. Our chorister even brought some of her props (sun faces for the little ones for “Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam”, etc.
2. Rake leaves in some yards of the elderly in your ward. We have a small boundary and so we were able to spread out and walk through our ward. We did this just after Halloween and we also picked up all of the smashed pumpkins
that were littering the streets as well. We had the kids bring rakes, shovels or brooms, and we swept walks and cleaned up, then left the full leaf bags (that we supplied) in the gutter, one of our husbands came with a
truck to pick up the leaf bags. At an appointed house, we passed out cookies, then walked the kids home. Be sure to have plenty of supervision for this one.
We just completed our Physical Activity. It was really fun. We had a family Olympics (to go with the summer Olympic). We held this at a local park in the evening. When each family arrived they made a family banner with their
name on it. We used poster board and cut it like a pennant. They used colored markers and lots of colors of curly ribbon to decorate. The pennants were punched with holes and then we threaded a two foot dowel through them. After the pennants were done and everyone had arrived we had a pot luck dinner. After dinner (the families each brought an unfrosted cake along with their pot luck dish), we supplied frosting and sprinkles, and
colored frosting in tubes with tips, and each family decorated their cakes. We put the cakes along the paper colored tables marked with a number. Each family voted for their three favorites. Then we took them off for three events just for Primary age kids. The discus throw (we used paper plates).
One child threw the paper plate, while another family member marked the place with the family banner. It was easy to see who threw the farthest and the closest. We awarded medals to the farthest, the closest and the throw with the most style, etc. Then we did a javelin throw (with a straw), and a shot put with a marshmallow. Then we did a mommy-calling contest, where the mommies were blindfolded and lined up. Their kids were lined up across from
them calling them franticly. The first mommy to her kids won a medal. After that there was an obstacle course with old tires and big boxes to crawl through. There were medals for each event and medals for the three favorite
cakes. We told the kids there was only one medal for each child, with some effort we managed to get a medal on every child. The medals were made with red ribbon hot glued to a canning jar lid. I put a small circle of construction paper on each medal that was white. Then wrote “Family Olympics Medallist” on it.
After eating our beautifully frosted cakes and ice cream (that we supplied), the families went home. Every one had lots of fun. Our only problem was that it got dark, and there weren’t any lights at the park. We held it in the
evening so that the families would all be able to come with their kids. But, you could do it on a Saturday afternoon on a cool, fall day. —Robin
In my “old” ward we did this every year. The meetinghouse was within walking distance of a retirement/nursing home. We’ve gone for Valentine’s Day and sang “love” songs (Love One Another, Jesus Said Love Everyone, I Love to see the Temple, etc), Mother’s Day, and Thanksgiving. The Sunday before the event we’d spend sharing time making cards for the residents. After the kids sang, we’d give them about 15 minutes to deliver cards and visit with the residents. —Lawanna
I am new to our presidency so I don’t have all the details but this is an activity they did just before I was put into my current position. They had a “birthday party”. Each family (or child if you wanted) brought an unwrapped gift to be donated to a charity. I don’t know what type of charity this is but they found one. At the activity they wrapped the gifts and then put “boy” or “girl” with an appropriate age on a tag. They were told what would happen with these gifts and thanked for their willingness to give to others. They then had a birthday party with cake, games, etc…..
You could also contact your city to see about cleaning up a park or something….. I hope that helps. —Deanna
Every year for our service activity the primary goes to a home for the elderly and sings Christmas Carols. Obviously we do this in December. But there’s no reason why you couldn’t do this at another time of the year and sing some of the primary songs about families. What person wouldn’t enjoy having the kids come in and sing the songs we normally sing for Father’s Day and Mother’s Day? —Lynne
Just thought I’d say that we had our first activity day yesterday and I survived it! It even went really rather well. We did the theme of Secret Service Agents. After I introduced the theme and explained it, each of the presidency took a turn to tell a service story. Then we gave them their “briefcases” that had copies of the stories to tell at home in FHE along with a goal sheet and clue cards to leave at the seen of a service. The kids wrote down some goals and decorated their “briefcases”. Then we divided up into 3 groups and rotated through 3 activities. In one group we planted flowers, another group did the weekly cleaning for the building, and another group played some cleaning type relay games. Then we came back inside and had a snack while watching a church video about service. The kids seemed to enjoy all of it, even the cleaning. So I would say it was a success. We had about 30 kids show up out of about 50 or so that are active. So I would say it was pretty well attended. Anyway, I just thought I would share since I know there are a few others with a similar activity coming up. Hugs! —Renee
We’ve had the kids make greeting cards for the Meals-on-Wheels program. (Or they could be made for retirement home residents.) We used colorful construction paper cut in shapes, stickers, markers and colorful stampers.
You can do it around a theme like Valentines Day, Easter, etc. or just springtime. If there is a meals-on-wheels program in your area, the people really love getting a card when their meal is delivered. Hope this
ps! —Lynne
In our last Ward Council, our Ward Mission Leader introduced the idea of having a “Love Your Neighbor” month. This idea was presented to all organizations to be taken back and passed on to each group. Instead of waiting to take a plate of cookies to your neighbor at Christmas, do it in June. Help your neighbor with their yard work, etc. This theme especially applies to non-members and inactives. You know…just being a friend and let the missionary work come later…
I want to use this theme and pass it along to my Primary. The best idea I came up with is to do an activity day with this theme. So, here is where I propose my question to you…what ideas do you have that I could use for an activity? Some ideas that I had were to plant a flower in a clay pot and deliver to some of the widows, etc., take goodies to the inactive children, service project (mowing a lawn). —Kimberli T.
Service projects we’ve done in the past as a Primary:
– Tied quilts to be given to the Red Cross
– Made cookies for older singles in our ward
– Sang Christmas carols at the local retirement home (you should SEE those
old folks BEAM when surrounded by those kids!)
– Picked an older person in our ward, & did all of their yard work for them
I’m sure I’ll think of others as they come to me, but that’s all I can remember for now! —Debbie
You could have them bring a new or very clean and “near new” toy and then take them to a pediatric floor in a hospital. The primary kids would be too young to go visit them but you could have them make cards and then your
presidency could deliver the toys and cards or you could make those construction paper stockings they make in school, the kind that are laced around the edge and you could fill them with cookies and candy canes and deliver them to a nursing home and sing carols to the residents. There’s also homeless shelters or domestic violence shelters where you could deliver toys. In our primary we had a valentine party a few years ago and we had 4 stations. We had the kids rubber stamp and decorate cards, we had 2 different craft stations and we had a station for decorating a lunch bag. We also played a few games with the kids. After the party the achievement day girls put the things the kids had made inside the bags and then the girls and the leaders delivered the bags to the shut-ins in our ward, this activity would work at Christmas time. —Amy
Last December our Primary children invited the older members of our branch for a Christmas party. The children made personal invitation cards for each of them. We had a program with a short play; a teacher told the Christmas
story and the children acted to it. That didn’t take much time to prepare for. We sang Christmas carols and some children said poems or shared their musical talents. Our guests very much enjoyed the afternoon. They also came
to know that the children already have so much to offer and are not only the ones who are noisy at church. The children felt the Christmas spirit and the joy that comes from serving others. —Heidi
Some of the service projects we have done in our Primary were making Christmas care packages for the missionaries serving from our ward, cleaning the church, cleaning up a nearby park, collecting canned goods, etc. to give to a homeless shelter. —Karlene
Call a local nursing home or some type of Elderly Care Facility. They LOVE to hear children sing and love to be with children. This is a great activity for other times of the year, too – when nursing homes aren’t bombarded with so much attention. —Julie
Last Spring (and at Christmas too) we went caroling at a local retirement home. We made spring-themed greeting cards to take with us (with things like flowers on them). We sang songs like “Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree”,
“Pretty Purple Pansies”, “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam”, etc. We sang for a small group in a gathering room and then went around and sang to those who were still in their rooms. We had a great time and the residents loved
hearing all of us sing to them. —Lynne
Preparing for the temple is like preparing to plant flowers
I am using this for my activity day tomorrow. We are actually planting flowers in front of the church sign as a service project and this is the symbolisms I came up with. This could be appropriate for a sharing time as well, without the actual planting activity. We are also doing other things as well but this is the main thing. —Geneen
Preparing for the temple is like preparing to plant flowers
First you must start by digging up the soil so the ground is not so hard for the seeds to grow. This is like our feelings we have when we pray; our hearts must be softened so that our testimonies may grow.
When you add the fertilizer it helps to keep the plants strong and growing producing many beautiful flowers. Just as with our testimonies we must constantly read the scriptures to help build our testimonies so that they
will be beautiful.
Flowers need water to survive without it, that would mean certain death. We need to be baptized so that we can continue in the Lords work. Without baptism we are unable to full fill the Lords covenants.
Flowers need sunshine to bloom and grow, without the sun it would be hard for a blossom to bloom to it’s potential. When we pray we can feel the warmth of our Savior.
Plants need air to breathe. We must also breathe the word of God, by reading scriptures and living a good example for the world to see.
By giving the flower all these things you help it to grow. But what happens if you do just these things? Weeds can grow and need to be pulled out. Weeds are often like sin. They keep growing and growing until they choke the flower and it begins to wither. We must also pull the weeds of sin from our lives by eliminating those things that are dragging us into the sin. To get rid of weeds you must pluck them out, to get rid of sin you must repent. We
need to try and keep the bad weeds and grass from growing into the flowerbed. How can we do this? We need to have a border. This border is a lot like the iron rod. If we always hold fast to it we can be free of sin
and keep the bad weeds out.
If we do all these things with the flowers in no time they will be ready to be put into a beautiful bouquet of flowers to be seen by many. If we heed the things the Lord has taught us to do we will be temple ready to be seen by many of those who have gone on before us.
Bear testimony of temple readiness
Colors of the flowers
Yellow for service from morning til night
Blue for purity in thought and deed
Red is for courage to choose what is right
This may not sound like a great service project activity, but it really turned out great! The kids had a blast! Last summer we scrubbed all the chairs in the primary chapel. They were so gross, and we didn’t even realize how dirty they were until we actually cleaned one just to show the kids what we would be doing. It really brightened up our primary chapel.
We had ice-cream cones for refreshments. We also took pictures of everything going on and made a big poster to put up on our wards bulletind. —Kristi