Last weekend our primary activity was a service one. We made almost 100 humanitarian kits (we have about 60-65 children), wrote letters to missionaries and servicemen and cleaned the primary chairs. It was a lot of fun and work for the children. We had posters for our missionaries for them to color and write on as the arrived and also had them separate all the kit items they had brought to donate. (Also, for 3 weeks before we talked about the families with nothing – not even toothbrushes. Encouraged them to do extra chores and earn money to but the items them selves. Also, talked in RS and Priesthood, so they understood our objective.) Then half the kids wrote to the servicemen while the other half put together 2 kits each. Then switched. We then all went out in the back and scrubbed chairs. (They were soooo dirty, I could hardly believe we touched them each week!) We BBQ’d hot dogs and sat on the lawn and ate them. It was very successful and fun!
We did a “service” activity day in March. We focused on demonstrating different types of service —- service to community, to Church, to God, country, to family/friend, etc. Our goal was to get them thinking about
different types of service and how they could provide service everyday in one way or another.
1. We had it on the same day that our stake was doing a food drive and we asked that each child each bring in at least one nonperishable food item.We then gathered them around the collection and explained that the food was
going to be donated to a local homeless kitchen…that there are people and children that don’t have enough money for food. We tried to make it “real” so it wasn’t just a food drop. So they knew it was going to help people
living close by that went hungry.
2. We had a station where the kids wrote cards to our missionaries. We talked about how missionaries are serving God and the Church. We talked about how writing to the missionaries was supporting their service to God
and the Church. If we had had more time, we would have done something for the building as a service to Church —– plant flowers, pick up litter, straighten hymn books/clean pews etc.
3. Country. They were all aware of the war that had just started. We talked about how men and women were serving their country. We made a banner (large muslin, grommets) where they put there handprints in red and blue
around the edges with fingerpaint. We wrote a message to our troops. Transferred on two photos — group shots of the kids, and mailed it off to a local unit.
4. You could also talk about what “being a good citizen” is and doing something as an example (e.g., picking up litter nearby). We had them make Easter cards for local nursing home patients (you could have the Sr kids
write the letters to the missionaries and the younger ones do the cards -all at the same time)
4. Family – we talked about how serving our family is not only doing what is expected of us, like our chores but doing “extra” things for others. We had the kids raise their hands and tell how they had done something recently
for their family or friends.
5. We taught them and sang the “Give Little River” song.
We wanted to keep an emphasis on service through out the year, so we made a “Service Rainbow” chart on poster board. Each stripe of the rainbow is made up of little uncolored blocks. During opening/closing exercises each week we invite a few kids to describe some sort of service they’ve done during the past week. We emphasize it has to be something “extra” that they don’t usually do or are expected to do. Those kids then color in one of the small
blocks in one of the stripes (so the rainbow keeps it’s colors right). The rainbow ends in a pot of gold. When the rainbow reaches the pot of gold, we’ll have a special treat (don’t know what yet). We’ll emphasize then that
service isn’t about the “goodies” (the pot of gold) but about serving God by serving others. We explained how the chart worked at the Activity day and had some of the kids start it off when they shared a service they had done.
The “service rainbow” was something that one of our Primary Counselors remembers from her Primary days with fond memories. So we knew it “worked”. It has been a good thing too. It gives us a chance to let the kids “live”
service by sharing and then we reframe what they say and emphasize why it is (or isn’t) service. It’s really been terrific. —Jan
Missionary Activity Day ideas
We are planning a missionary theme Activity Day. We thought about issuing a
call to the Primary children asking them to choose the right, limit TV
watching to only 1 hour a day, have hair trimmed and neatly groomed, read
scriptures daily, and refrain from offensive language and conduct that is
not befitting to a missionary. In this call it will also inform them of the
place that they are called to “serve”.
On the day of the Activity Day we want them to dress as missionaries. We
will talk to the children about the importance of missionaries and why we
have them in our Church. Prophets have repeatedly said that every member is
a missionary, regardless of age. Then we will split into a few groups that
rotate to different areas doing the following activities:
*Learn to make a meal—–kids make their own peanut butter & jelly/honey
sandwich (or cheese sandwich). We put it in a lunch sack with carrots &
chips & a treat….to eat at the end of the activity
*Learn to sew on a button or tie a tie (we would use large cardboard buttons
and yarn or shoelaces for the younger children)
*Learn about a mission experience/culture of where a missionary has served
(or have local missionaries talk with the kids about their personal
experiences)
*Sing song “I Hope They Call Me On a Mission” and also teach older kids how
to lead music to this song
*Learn/discuss a scripture pertaining to missionary work or an Article of
Faith
*Write letters to our ward missionaries
After these rotations, we will have the kids eat their sack lunches that
they made and call it a done deal! —Cara Lee :o)
You are going to a lot more work than we are for our activity. Yours sounds
like a lot of fun.
We have asked each child to bring an item to put in a care package for the
missionaries. We will assemble these care packages for the five young men
serving from our ward and the set of missionaries in our ward. We will also
be writing letters to them.
We have asked several people who have served missions outside the USA to
come and tell about their experiences. We also asked them to prepare
something for the children to taste that is traditional for that country.
The countries that will be represented are Australia, Argentina, Japan,
Mexico, and Germany.
Refreshments will be the tasters’ table. —DeAnne’
Yes, when I was serving in primary we had a super missionary activity. We
had the ward missionaries attend, of course, and they were in charge of a
game where 2 teams have a relay on packing a suitcase of clothes the
fastest. I can’t remember how we did it exactly, but I know the kids had to
each dress in the clothes or outfit first (over their own clothes, of
course), run to the suitcase, undress, then fold and pack in the suitcase.
??? Does this make sense? I think it went along that line.
Also, we set up dividers in the gym with “aisles” like an airplane.
Everyone had tickets to get “on board” for their mission destination. They
all watched a missionary film (from the library, sorry, don’t remember the
title) while they ate their airline peanuts. We did this at the end of the
activity, as everyone was a bit wild from all the other activities and it
was very uplifting and spiritual for the children to take home with them
that feeling of preparing for their own ‘real’ mission. —Lynn
One thing we did for a Missionary Activity was have the children bring
little suitcases or bags with them. Then we had the parents say goodbye to
them like they were really leaving on a mission. We had part of the
cultural hall set up like the inside of an airplane–we had a pilot, flight
attendants, peanuts, sprite, etc. You could have an in flight
movie–something short from the meetinghouse library having to do with the
theme–and then they get off the plane and go to the MTC. We had folders
made up with their nametags, info about the country they were going to, etc.
At one of our missionary activity days we decorated the stage to look like
an airplane. We set up chairs in two or three rows of 2-3 chairs as if they
were airplane seats. We had made “airsick bags” out of paper sacks with the
name of the airline on it…I don’t remember…. Missionary Air or something
like that. We made oxygen masks from rubber bands and paper cups. We had a
tape (from our local library) of airplane take-offs and landings. The pilot
came on and said his spiel, the stewardesses demonstrated the airsick bags
and oxygen masks, and then they served soda and peanuts. I think we even
had an in-flight movie excerpt–just a short clip of something approved.
This was just a fun activity we did to prepare the kids to see and hear
missionary memorabilia from members who had come to share their missions
with the kids. We also made each child a missionary nametag, but I read
somewhere recently that we are not supposed to do that anymore. I just
remembered that prior to that we had even obtained some actual tickets from
an airline and gave them to the kids as a ticket to board the
ane. —Leslie
See the October 1999 Friend, page 38, #2.
Here is the quote “Recently Church members have been counseled to not have
children pretend to receive callings as full-time missionaries or wear
pretend missionary name tags. However, preparing for full-time missions and
being “member missionaries” is encouraged…”