Stake Activity Day - "There's No Place Like Home"

I served as the secretary in our Stake Primary Presidency.  I loved this Stake Activity Day event! Feel free to copy anything you'd like from the activity. 

We had a committee of around 20 people working on it and it was incredible.  Everyone magnified their responsibilities and I have to say it turned out to be quite a memorable event for the girls.

This was our poster (I took our stake name off to make it generic).

Our invitation. We printed them as 4x6 pics at Costco.

We based the theme around the Wizard of Oz but adjusted it to fit our desired goal.  Our theme was "There's No Place Like Home with Our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ."  Our focus was trying to prepare the girls to attend the temple someday and then eventually return to live with Heavenly Father.

Primary Talk - Having Good Friends Will Help Me Choose the Right

Here is a talk that my son is giving in Primary tomorrow.  There is a small object lesson in this talk.  Check with your Primary Presidency to make sure it is okay to do.  The object lesson is writing the word "FRIENDS" on the chalkboard and then having a child wipe their hand on it to show that the chalk rubs off on the hand like friends rub off on you.  In order to prevent chaos, choose the object lesson participant in advance.

Talk:

In the Gospel Standards, it says, I WILL SEEK GOOD FRIENDS AND TREAT OTHERS KINDLY.

Everyone needs good and true friends. The friends you choose in life can have a big impact on the way you act. Friends can influence what type of clothes you wear, the type of music you listen to, what you believe, the words you use, the way you treat others, and the list goes on and on. In other words, friends can rub off on you.

Could someone please come up to the chalkboard.  You’ll notice the word FRIENDS on the chalkboard.  Please rub your hand on the word.  What is on your hand?  Chalk.  Just like the word FRIEND rubbed off on your hand, friends can rub off on us.  Since friends “rub off” on us or influence us, it is important to choose friends wisely.

To have good friends, be a good friend. Show interest in others; smile and let them know you care about them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Do not bully. Make a special effort to be a friend to those who are shy or lonely, or have special needs.

If your friends try to get you to do things that are wrong, be the one to stand for the right, even if you stand alone. You may need to find other friends who will support you in keeping the commandments.

I challenge all of us to try to be a good friend and pick good friends.

Click HERE for a good article about friendship.  Some of this talk was taken from that article.

Primary Sharing Time - Choosing Good Friends

Here is a Primary Sharing Time that can also be adapted to use for Family Home Evening.

Subject: “I will choose good friends and treat others kindly.”

I’m thinking of one of My Gospel Standards. It has less than 11 words in it. It has a word in it that means to search for or try to find. It talks about how we should act toward others. Who can guess which Gospel Standard it is?

I WILL SEEK GOOD FRIENDS AND TREAT OTHERS KINDLY.

Ask someone to pass out CTR signs and explain the role play activity. If you don't have CTR signs, you can just have kids do a thumbs up or thumbs down for good and bad choices.

Role Play Activity: We are going to have a role-playing activity now. If you think they made a good choice hold up CTR. If they made a bad choice do not put up your sign. If they make a bad choice, help them decide what the right choice would have been.

· 3 PEOPLE - Two of you are playing ball. Another friend walks up and asks if they can join you. You say “no.”
· 2 PEOPLE - You are on a class field trip on a bus and your friend dares you to hold your hand out the window with a jawbreaker in it. You do it and another kid hits your arm and the jawbreaker falls and almost hits a car on the freeway.
· 2 PEOPLE - You are at recess at school and see a new kid who is playing all alone and looks sad. You go over and ask them if they want to hang out with you.
· 2 PEOPLE - Someone at school comes up and pushes you. You punch him.
· 2 PEOPLE - You see a homeless person who looks sad and hungry. You give him a big smile and a granola bar and a bottle of water.
· 2 PEOPLE - You invite a neighbor to come to a church activity.
· 2 PEOPLE - You are at a friend’s house and they ask you if you want to watch a movie. The movie they pick is rated PG-13. You know you shouldn’t watch it, but you are embarrassed so you watch it anyway.
· 4 PEOPLE - You see one of the kids in your class being teased by some of your friends. You join in and tease them too.
· 2 PEOPLE - You see a person at school who uses a wheelchair. You go up and talk to them and offer to push them around in their wheelchair.
· 2 PEOPLE - You go to a friend’s house and make a big mess playing with their stuff. When it is time to leave, you run home and leave the big mess for your friend to clean up alone.
· 4 PEOPLE - You are playing a game at family night. You help your younger sister to learn how to play the game instead of getting impatient and frustrated with her.
· 2 PEOPLE - You are at a friend’s house and he asks you to play a video game that is rated M. You tell him “No thanks, I can’t play games with that rating.” You pick a rated E game instead.
· 3 PEOPLE - Your friend’s parents are driving you home from an activity. Instead of driving you home directly they decide to go get pizza instead. You call your parent and tell them where you are going.

Q. How do you feel when your friends are kind to you?
Q. How do you think they feel when you are kind to them?
Q. How important is it for you to choose good friends?
Q. Do you think being around friends who make bad choices can hurt you?
Q. Do you think being around friends who choose the right can help you make good choices too?

Song: “Kindness Begins with Me” (Children’s Songbook, p. 145).
I want to be kind to everyone,For that is right, you see.So I say to myself, “Remember this:Kindness begins with me.”

Chocolate Object Lesson: Bring chocolates to share with the Primary children. Place the treat where the children can see it. Mention how good it looks and ask the children if they would like you to share it with them. Ask the children how they would feel if you shared the treat with only some of them. Discuss how others feel when they are not included. Share the treat with the children.