These
idea were passed on to me from Sharma Worthen Anderson, she has
collected these over the years, if some one recognizes an idea that is
theirs, please let me know and I will give you full credit! Thanks
Many
have asked if I have more info on some of this ideas, I wish I could
help, unfortunate these ideas are ones that Sharma sent to me, I don't
have any other information or email address to the people responsible
from the start! She gather these ideas form email lists she was on over
the years.
BIRTHDAY
SPOTLIGHT: - - In my ward, we did something different as to not cause
expense. When it was each girl's birthday, they came to the front of the
room and stood. I had the
Laurel
conducting opening exercises write on the board, and another write on
pretty stationary with the girl's name written in calligraphy on top,
and one by one we went around the room and said her best qualities.
Everyone had to participate with no duplication. At the end the girl
received the paper to take home. In later years, one young woman said
how that paper pulled her through her darkest hours. Things said were
like, beautiful smile, friend to everyone, fun laugh, always there when
she is needed, responsible, dependable, spiritual, etc.
BIRTHDAY
CARD: - (This was written up on stationary that folds up into its own
envelope with a balloon inside it. On the balloon is written "Happy
Birthday, ______(name)! Have a BLAST!!!!!") (on the card is
written) "Instructions: Place balloon in mouth (we used a balloon
blower upper), give about 4 to 5 puffs. Then read message. To bring
about the "blast", may we suggest a pin!!!"
MORMON-AD
POSTER: - We acknowledge the girls the Sunday before their birthday and
they get to choose a Mormon Ad poster. We keep a stack of them on hand
for this purpose. I am the Beehive advisor, and I also send them a
personal card in the mail with a special note to either welcome them to
Beehives or tell them how much they mean to the class!
SCENTED
CANDLE: We are giving the girls a Glade candle with this poem: “We
scent you this candle to light-en your day, And tell you we’re Glad(e)
you had a Birthday!”
CANDY
GRAMS: We make birthday candy grams on poster board with a cute
personalized message using candy bars. Ex. “LOOK who is finally 16!
UNO we are excited to have you in our class. We hope you will have
MOUNDS of fun in the Laurel Class. We hope you will be CHEWSY (gum)
about the boys who ask you for a date. Remember your example can be a
real LIFESAVER to others.
HUGGING
LINE: We came up with a unique idea that the YW really enjoy. The YW who
had the birthday in the past week goes through a Hugging Line during
opening exercises. The line is made up of her classmates and leaders.
East of us gets to hug her, wish her a happy birthday and tell her how
much we love her.
BREAKFAST
IN BED: Donuts, instant oatmeal, instant cider, etc. in a shoebox
decorated like a bed and a pillow with a poem about enjoying breakfast
in bed.
We
gave the little short sneaker socks for birthdays last year. I
rolled them up and tied them with curly ribbon and attached a little
card. It has a picture of a pair of cute tennis shoes with the
scripture "Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved,
until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the
Lord. Amen." D&C 87:8 I
found it in a YW Activity Helps book from the bookstore. It was
actually bigger, but I shrunk it down.
Karen Abreu
I've
made "Stand as a Witness" pillowcases for each coming/going
girl. The
main
part of the case is that fabric found in the baby sewing section of the
fabric
store and is covered with little pastel baby footprints. The cuff of
the
case says "Stand as a Witness" -- once they understand the
relation of
the
theme and the feet, they smile. Two pillowcases from 1 1/2 yds.
value
colored bears from www.orientaltradingcompany.com
"We
wanted to "Bear" witness to you that our Heavenly Father loves
you and will always be there to answer your prayers and that Jesus Christ
is our Savior and He loves you too! Our Savior is so special and
will help you find eternal happiness if you will follow Him. Joseph
Smith was and is a prophet of Our Heavenly Father! President
Hinckley is our Lord's prophet to guide and direct us today! We pray
for your eternal happiness. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
CTR
silicone wrist bands from www.ldsband.com
bar
soaps (like the ones at Bath & Body Works) that are in the value
colors
I
made them hugs n' kisses necklaces. I got different colored
Hershey's Hugs and Kisses and tore off a long piece of saran wrap (however
long you want the necklace). Then I laid out the candies in a long
row (lengthwise) on the saran wrap, and rolled it up (lengthwise).
Then took value colored ribbons (the cheap ones from the dollar store) and
tied them in between the candies and then tied the ends together to make
it a circle for a necklace and attached a tag that said: "For your
birthday, we wanted to encircle you with our hugs and kisses! Love,
(and we put the names of our YW Presidency).
We
get little terra-cotta flower pots, line them with plastic and fill them
with M & M's. We then make paper flowers and hot glue them on to
bamboo sticks. The flowers are the value colors. We make paper
stems, too. Then we stick a ribbon around the top rim of the flower
pot and that's their birthday gift. They really like it a lot!
Just an idea!
YW BIRTHDAY IDEAS
(other leaders share)
BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT: - - In my ward, we did something different as to not
cause expense. When it was each girl's birthday, they came to the front of
the room and stood. I had the
Laurel
conducting opening exercises write on the board, and another write on
pretty stationary with the girl's name written in calligraphy on top, and
one by one we went around the room and said her best qualities. Everyone
had to participate with no duplication. At the end the girl received the
paper to take home. In later years, one young woman said how that paper
pulled her through her darkest hours. Things said were like, beautiful
smile, friend to everyone, fun laugh, always there when she is needed,
responsible, dependable, spiritual, etc.
BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS: - - In our ward, we have a birthday party at the
beginning of each month to celebrate everyone's birthday that month. By
doing this we never miss anyone's birthday or give other people special
treatment.
RECIPE BOOKS: - For our YW birthdays this year we, as leaders, made them
recipe books. Each leader, (we have 9) submitted 2 recipes each, for 5
categories; Main dish, soup & salads, breads & rolls, desserts,
& misc. I copied them on the computer or they were hand written on
recipe cards. We then put the recipes on a page, 3 to a sheet, and copied
enough for each girl. We made a front cover and division pages for the
different categories and then put all the pages together and bound them
with a spiral binder. We personalized them by coloring the front cover and
writing a special birthday message from all of us inside.
UNBIRTHDAY PARTY: - We did an "UNBIRTHDAY PARTY" where we
brought an already baked cake, cut up big pieces for the girls (I have a
class of 9) and brought frosting. We let them decorate the cake any way
they would like and then we sang Happy Birthday to "us" and had
a white elephant gift exchange. After that, to get more serious, as a
"nice" gift, we passed around a piece of paper and wrote
something nice about each person. It was really revealing and made us each
thing about each other in a different light.
BIRTHDAY CARD: - (This was written up on stationary that folds up into its
own envelope with a balloon inside it. On the balloon is written
"Happy Birthday, ______(name)! Have a BLAST!!!!!") (on the card
is written) "Instructions: Place balloon in mouth (we used a balloon
blower upper), give about 4 to 5 puffs. Then read message. To bring about
the "blast", may we suggest a pin!!!"
MATTED "LOVE": - Last year we made a 5x7 matted picture that
said: "I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me." (We
just did those on the computer) and then we had a quilted heart which we
glued on to it too
PERSONAL POTS: - We got a little terra cotta pot (5" tall), painted
white, then simply decorated with dots or triangles or hearts, and the
girl's name. Different colored markers based on the girl's favorite
colors. Then we put floral foam inside, covered it with moss, and stuck 7
short skewer sticks around in the foam. I had gotten a bunch of 1
1/2" wooden hearts, which I painted value colors. I glue gunned 7
hearts onto each girl's sticks, then tied a little ribbon bow under the
heart (because it kind of looked bare standing up on that skinny skewer
stick!). We used bows in the same colors as the value hearts, but it could
have been all white.
CROSS-STITCH: - We make a hoop cross stitch that says "Families Are
Forever" or bookmarks with the YW's name on it for their scriptures.
ROSES & COOKIES: - In our ward, we present the YW having the birthday
with a rose (red,laurel...pink,mia maid....white,beehive) and a plate of
cookies (homemade of course) and a mylar ballon tied to it. Then we sing
Happy Birthday to them on the Sunday before their birthday in opening
exercise
UNIFORM BIRTHDAY GIFTS: - At the first of the year, I put together a
little something like note pad/pencil or stationary/envelopes and then we
present this to each YW on or close to her birthday in opening exercise on
Sunday. Each girl receives the same thing, so nobody feels like they were
slighted. Then we sing Happy Birthday to her. Then each class adult
leader(s) also does something, on the girl's birthday and usually also has
treats in class.
ALL AT ONCE: - We had a big birthday party in July for all the girls'
birthdays. And it was a pool party (to make sure everyone showed up. We
did a big birthday cake and handed out presents, and they had great fun
just playing together.
MORMON-AD POSTER: - We acknowledge the girls the Sunday before their
birthday and they get to choose a Mormon Ad poster. We keep a stack of
them on hand for this purpose. I am the Beehive advisor, and I also send
them a personal card in the mail with a special note to either welcome
them to Beehives or tell them how much they mean to the class!
SPOTLIGHT/TREASURE: - The way my home ward recognizes the birthdays of the
young women is with a
spotlight and a small figurine. There is a series of six questionnaires
(one for each year they are in yw's) that the girls answer. The type of
questions on each questionnaire grows in depth with each year. They
complete the questionnaire the Sunday before their birthday and choose
someone from their class to read the questions and the answer that has
been given. The YW being honored (or spotlighted) and the friend reading
the answers stand in front of the room during opening exercises. The
birthday girl also receives a small figurine of a woman, which is
different, each year. When they leave YW, they have 6 questioners to keep
as a history and 6 figurines.
FAMILY WREATH: - This year we gave the girls a grapevine wreath for their
birthday. We wrapped the wreath with ribbon and wired a bow on it. Then we
painted wooden hearts and wrote the name of each member of her family on a
heart and hot glued it to the wreath. We did this to go with the theme of
"turning hearts to the family". The round wreath symbolized the
eternal nature of families and the hearts with family names represented
the love for family.
SCENTED CANDLE: We are giving the girls a Glade candle with this poem:
“We scent you this candle to light-en your day, And tell you we’re
Glad(e) you had a Birthday!”
ITEMS FROM THE DISTRIBUTION CENTER: “Daily Requirements” Poster ($1),
Mormonad Posters (each set has 12 posters for $6), Hymns Made Easy ($2),
CD’s from OT, NT, or B of M Media Series ($1), Cassette Tape from Hold
to the Rod series ($1), A Song of the Heart music book ($4).
CANDY GRAMS: We make birthday candy grams on poster board with a cute
personalized message using candy bars. Ex. “LOOK who is finally 16! UNO
we are excited to have you in our class. We hope you will have MOUNDS of
fun in the Laurel Class. We hope you will be CHEWSY (gum) about the boys
who ask you for a date. Remember your example can be a real LIFESAVER to
others.
HUGGING LINE: We came up with a unique idea that the YW really enjoy. The
YW who had the birthday in the past week goes through a Hugging Line
during opening exercises. The line is made up of her classmates and
leaders. East of us gets to hug her, wish her a happy birthday and tell
her how much we love her.
THREE TREES STORY: We made each girl a set of three wooden trees the
tallest being about 4” tall. We tied the trees together and gave them
out with a copy of the story about “The Three Trees.” The story goes
that each tree had a dream to become something special, i.e. a treasure
chest, a mighty ship, and the last to just stay on the hill and be the
tallest tree around that would always point to heaven. Later, each tree
was cut down and then made into something not quite so grand, a box for
feeding animals, a fisherman’s boat, and the other just into beams. The
it tells how each still accomplished his goal, the manger where baby Jesus
was placed, the boat that carried Him across the sea when He clamed the
storm, and the beam that made up the cross where He was crucified. The
girls love this and so did their leaders.
PARTY IDEA: One year we celebrated all the yw’s birthdays by
having a really fun party. We divided the girls into 5-6 groups of about
3-5 girls and played about 6 childhood games—Jacks, jump rope, old maid,
etc. in a timed round-robin of about 5 mins. each. At the end of each
game, the winners of the games were rewarded with play money—1st place
got $20, 2nd $10, 3rd $5 and the rest each got $2. At the end of the
evening, we auctioned off the gifts (each girl had been asked to bring an
inexpensive or white elephant gift and the leaders brought some extra
ones). Everyone went home with at least one gift.
BREAKFAST IN BED: Donuts, instant oatmeal, instant cider, etc. in a
shoebox decorated like a bed and a pillow with a poem about enjoying
breakfast in bed.
|
"Choose
you this day
whom ye will
serve
but for me
and my
house we will
serve the Lord "
