be-YOU-tiful

^^That was our theme of the evening. Since I get to work with the young women in my ward, I get to spend Wednesday nights with them. We have an activity each week and this week was extra special.

About a month ago we had an activity suggestion that involved the younger girls (ages 7ish-10ish). Moms wanted to teach their daughters about modesty and one mom suggested we take all the girls to the store and have them try on outfits. That would be a little too much so with lots of brainstorming we came up with our own modesty activity.

About 2 weeks ago was when we decided to really do this activity so it all came together fairly quickly. I made up the invites then last Wednesday had the girls put them together.

We also had the girls break up into pairs to prepare stations, there were 6 stations total. 

I didn't know if the girls would know what kind of stations they could do so I had a few ideas prepared, but besides the ideas, they took everything else on and made it their own. I was SO impressed. 

The Stations:

First we had a table when they walked in they grabbed the following items:

•   I made little color coded name tags for each little girl and each YW/leader so everyone would know what group they belonged in.
• A little canvas purse with our 'theme' be-YOU-tiful ironed on it. They all wore these and put their little goodies/handouts in it throughout the night.
• A duct tape covered water bottle....(this ended up being annoying for the girls to carry around, next time I'll just leave those on the table and they can grab one when they want it.)
• Their moms also got a letter our YW president wrote to them as well as a Strength of Youth book (since the girls are a bit young to have their own copy we thought the moms might like to have one for reference)

Station #1:

 Xela and Tiana's station was 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes'. They had gotten together the day before and prepared a really excellent lesson. They had each girl stand up and do the motions with them and explained how that related to modesty.

• Head= When you touch your head, your shirt should still be long enough to cover your belly
• Shoulders= To remind us to keep our shoulders covered and to avoid sleeveless shirts
• Knees= When you bend down to touch your knees, the front of your shirt should be high enough that you don't show too much skin
• Toes= To check to see if your shirt and pants meet in the back so you avoid showing your backside

One group of girls learning the Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes of modesty. I had found a song that someone wrote to this tune and it related to modesty but I totally didn't like it at all and it wasn't appropriate for this age group, but I still thought the idea would be neat and they made it way better than I ever could have.

These girls had a handout that they made and they also made a really cute poster that had an outline of a girl and they made little clothes to put on her. They would put a piece of clothing on the poster and the girls said whether it was modest or not.

Station #2

Hailey and Ashley's station was next. They had a cute poster that talked about how they can be modest no matter where they are. After they talked, they had three dolls, only 2 were modest and the girls had to point out the immodest doll. Then they had a piece of paper with three sections where the girls could design their out modest outfits. I think the little girls really loved this activity.

 

(in action)

Station #3

 This station was Nicole's and mine. Honestly we had like a million ideas of what we could do and when we got there, we just wanted to watch the YW teach. Our main theme was showing them how we make our immodest clothes modest. With sweaters, undershirts, etc....Nicole also brought four of Michelle's fancy dresses which the girls LOVED they all had a favorite. I had this poem printed out:

Ours was just kind of pieced together, neither of us prepared what we had planned on so we just winged it.

The girls probably wondering what these crazy ladies (N and me) were talking about haha.

 Station #4

 

This station was Bailey and Bridgit's. Our YW President had shared an object lesson the week before about how modesty helps us. An unpeeled orange floats, while a peeled orange sinks right to the bottom. It was a good visual of how we can be protected if we obey God's commandments. These girls were awesome too and they shared their experiences and how they make their immodest clothes modest. They also had a fun handout with a picture of the object lesson.

Here they are in action --------->>

 

 

Station #5

 Moira and Abby taught the girls what it means to be a daughter of God. I have this cute set of princess cookie cutters and I thought I would use the crown to make the girls sugar cookie treats, then I thought that they could be taught about being a daughter of God then decorate their own cookie!! Thanks to our YW president who made the cookies in a mad rush.

 

We had pink frosting and lots of sprinkles to decorate with. The girls got most excited when we would tell them they could lick the frosting off their own spoons :)

  First the girls reading the awesome handouts the girls made.....

 ......then decorating cookies :) (sorry the pics are from my cell phone and not great)

Station #6

This station got absorbed in with Station #1, we had a YW who came down with the flu. It wasn't a big deal though, it ended up working out great. 

Our YW president and Dena worked on this station. 

I wanted the girls to have something to remind them of the things they learned (besides all the handouts :)) so I suggested some sort of certificate for completing all the stations. Of course, that idea was magnified and ended up great. Each of the YW signed the certificates then the young girls signed their names and made a pledge to dress modestly and to follow the standards. 

Oh but wait, the fun doesn't stop there!!

In my research of modesty related activities I saw several that had a runway for the girls. Of course I thought 7-10 yr old girls would love this (most did BTW :)). Nicole rolled out a long piece of paper then lined it with Christmas lights and wrote be-YOU-tiful on it. 

Bummer, I have the actual runway pictures on my real camera so no pics of the girls dancing down the runway. We played a fun upbeat song while the girls danced/posed as they walked. We had each girl say one thing they learned that night into the microphone then go down the runway. Some got really into it, some just walked, they were all beautiful!!

The fun continues!! 

We set up chairs all along the edge of the stage.....

.......Each girl chose a polish color/nail stickers/mini nail file and a YW gave them a pedicure!! I have more pics of that on my other camera too.

 A few painted toes. The circle picture didn't work to get the toes, but I think it's a cute picture anyway, those girls had those big smiles on the entire night.

Overall it was a HUGE success. We have had moms email us and comment on how much their daughter/s loved this activity. How they went through their modesty bags and shared all the items they got and what they learned.

Oh ya, besides all the cute handouts from each station each girl also got:

Chapstick with a custom label that I put our 'theme' and the date on

A small pack of gum with a custom label that said, "I can 'chews' to dress modestly"

A mini nail polish (each girl got 2)

A mini nail file and nail stickers

An orange and a candy cane or two

I want to share all the photos I took, I am going to see if I can find a way to make a blogger slideshow so you can see more of our fun night.

If anyone wants more details about this activity feel free to ask. It was a great one and one that would be beneficial for every ward. The young girls got to have a fun memorable night and learn about modesty, and the YW learned as they prepared their lessons and saw how much the young girls look up to them. It was a win win win win win all the way around.

More photos coming, close ups of our handouts and other fun pictures.

Nicole, please look at Ina BooBoo Beans face :) she's great.

 Such a fun night.