Winter Activities
Sledding
Snow Man Building Contest
Winter Craft: Make something the girls can put in their trusseau.
Fireside on Christ
Karoke Talent Night
Ice Skating
Secret Valentines (Service Project): Bake cookies or other treats to take to some elderly people in the ward, or someone who could use cheering up. Leave them on the doorstep, knock, and run.
Pinewood Derby: Give each young woman a pinewood derby car kit. Spend an activity night painting and fixing up the cars. Then prepare to race the young men on a Pinewood derby race track.
Help serve dinner at a homeless shelter.
Angel Tree (Sub For Santa): Have the girls decorate a Christmas tree and place it the foyer of the church. Hang ornaments on it with the age and sex of a person in need of Christmas gifts. You could do a family or individual widows, or both. Have the ward members purchase an item for that person and return it to the young women to wrap. This should be cooridnated with your Bishop, and you should contact the family you are buying for to get specific ages, sizes, needs, etc. This can be a very great experience for the girls.
Caroling/hayride
Visit Temple Square
Twelve Days of Christmas for widows
Read the story of the Birth of Christ (Fireside)
Christmas tree decorating contest. Or make oranaments for the young women’s trussau.
Spring Activities
Easter Egg Coloring Contest & Egg Hunt for primary children: Set up an Easter Egg Hunt for the primary children at the church.
Easter Egg Baskets for Widows/Families in Ward
Recipe Exchange: Have the girls bring samples of their favorite recipes and the recipe to go along with it. (This works great for Laurels who are about to graduate and go off to school- but all of the girls enjoyed it).
Prepare Candlelight dinner for couples in the Ward (offer to baby-sit)
Baby Blankets: learn how to quilt a blanket, then give it to someone who is expecting a baby in the ward.
Egging houses with paper eggs. (Leave baskets of goodies): This could be a good sleepover activity. Or just a fun activity to do for the inactive girls, or someone who needs a little cheering up.
Graduation Dinner: Have a dinner to honor those girls who are graduating.
Mother Daughter Night (getting to know your mother): Play games, have dinner, the possibilities are endless.
Learning Skills For Motherhood (bake bread, filing, budgeting, etc.): Have mini classes on motherhood skills. Have the girls go to different rooms for each mini class. Make sure to give the recipes or handouts from each class.
Sew Table Cloths for Mother’s Day
Plant flower garden (service project)- Or have a class on planting flowers and which flowers grow best in what climate. Prepare plenty of handouts to give to the young women as future references.
Summer Activities
Father Daughter Date: Plan a dinner and party for the girls and their fathers. (Be sensitive to those who may not have a father at home – in this case you could do a young women/priesthood holder date.)
Sleep-over Party: This works well as a leadership retreat. But we also did a sleepover at a leaders home and gave “heart attacks” to those girls who didn’t come, or were inactive). A heart attack is like toilet papering, only we used red and pink hearts and scattered them on the lawn. We had a few put on stakes in the grouns, and the girls each wrote a note on the back.
Learn to Fix a Flat Tire
Water Gun Tag: We played this for a month long activity. Each girl and boy drew a name, and received a water gun. The object was to get your opponent by surprise (while they’re taking a walk, taking out the garbage, etc). We set limits like: no shooting at the church, etc. Once you get your guy, you take the name they drew, and keep going until only one man is standing.
Have an Outdoor Cooking Class (prepare for Girl’s Camp)
Free car wash for ward members – or do it as a fund raiser for girls camp.
Service Scavenger Hunt: Divide the young women into groups. Give each group a list of services they can provide to someone. Give them a specified time limit, or let them go until each one is done (whoever is back first wins). The girls have to go door to door looking for ways to provide service (i.e. rake leaves, wash dishes, vacuum, dust, read a book to children, etc.)
Hike to Cave
Wedding dress fashion show: Ask the local bridal shop if they have any dresses you could use for a fashion show. If not, ask members in the ward for their old dresses, and invite them to come watch the show. Have a speaker talk about the importance of getting married in the temple.
Bike Ride
Book of Mormon Readathon
Go to the zoo and have a picnic – could tie it in to The Creation
Hawaiin Luau
Barn Dance and Bonfire Dinner (teach line dancing)
Fall Activities
Progressive Dinner: Have a 5 course dinner, but have it each course at a different location. (you could also do a backwards progressive dinner and start with desert)
Write notes of appreciation to people who have “richly” blessed our lives – Bishopric, parents, leaders, etc. (give them a bag of chocolate candy coins).
Modeling/clothing expert: Have the girls come dressed in their favorite (modest) outfit. Have a little fashion show. Invite an expert to come talk about the girls and what their clothes say about them.
Back To School Party: Have someone speak to the girls about good study habits and organization. Put together a kit of important school supplies (pencils, erasers, notebooks, etc.)
Make-Overs: Have a make-up expert come show the girls how to apply make-up and take it off. Talk about what colors make each girl look different.
Family Home Evening Packets: Gather old Friend magazines (available at the DI). Have the girls take out the family home evening sections and put them together (flannel board stories, games, etc.) Make sure you have a copy machine handy for those who want the same lesson.
Missionary Night : Focus on what a mission is like. This is a good combined activity. Have mini classes set up. Some of the mini classes might include: How to press a white shirt, the first discussion, returned missionary talking about the country they served in, make white name tags, how to do laundry, etc.
Career Night: Have mini classes on different careers. Have different career oriented people talk about their jobs and what they had to do to get there.
Pillow Talk: Have a pajama/pillow chat. Let the girls decide the topic. Have plenty of leaders there to help answer questions or share experiences.
Carve Pumpkins
Rake Leaves (Service Project)
Help serve dinner at homeless shelter
Learn to make pies
Make care packages for missionaries
Table Decorating Contest
