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Old Fashion Country Fair
Everyone loves the good old fashioned fun at a country fair.
Have contests for best quilt, painted woodcrafts, jam or jelly,
pie, cookies, pickles, canned fruit, fresh vegetables, yeast
and quickbread. Hand out blue ribbons to the winners. Keep refreshments
simple; corn on the cob, hot dogs and homemade root beer. Keep
the kids entertained with potato sack races, tug-a-war, square
dancing and apple bobbing.
Top Banana
Showcase ward members’ talents with a talent show. Musical
instruments, dancing, singing, joke-telling, juggling -- anything
goes. Performances can be done individually or by family, groups
or church auxiliaries. Display artwork and other visual talents
on tables around the Cultural Hall. Serve banana splits for
dessert.
Yak and
Snack
This is a fun and simple activity whose name says it all. The
Yak and Snack is a potluck in the park. No formalities, just
fun. Members with last names that begin with the letters A-L
bring a main dish and M-Z bring a dessert or salad. After dinner
and dessert, the kids play in the park while the adults visit
(a.k.a. yak).
Ward
Camp Out
A camp out can be an overnighter or last a few days. During
the day members can hike, horseback ride or fish. Kids can go
on scavenger hunts for leaves, flowers, rocks, sticks and shells.
At night everyone eats hotdogs and s’mores by the campfire.
Skits and stories provide entertainment for campers.
Service
Day
Community project could include volunteering at a soup kitchen,
food bank or convalescent home. Members can clean up a beach
or park. At the ward house members can tie blankets for the
elderly, crochet baby booties or caps, wash nursery toys or
plant flower around the ward building. Talk to your ward Humanitarian
Service Representative for ideas.
Ward
Temple Trip
Depending on your distance from the Temple this activity could
be an all day trip or a few hours. If your Temple has a Visitor’s
Center you can invite children, members of other faiths and
less active church members. Youth can perform baptisms while
adults do other ordinances. Meet afterward in a local park for
a picnic.
Western Roundup
Wear your best western duds to a country western celebration.
Have a chili contest and give prizes for the spiciest, chunkiest,
healthiest, most colorful and meatiest chili. Have someone teach
line dancing. Games include jump rope, cherry seed spitting,
arm wrestling and a pie eating contest.
Chili
Cook-off
A variation of the Western Roundup, have a Chili Cook-off and
Pie Bake-off. Let ward members vote for their top three chilis,
by handing out taster cups (little Dixie-like cups filled with
taste of each chili). Winner of the chili cook-off wins a golden
chili bowl trophy. Have the bishopric pick their favorite
pie and award the winner a golden spatula (an inexpensive spatula
spray painted gold).
Making
the Golden Chili Bowl Trophy (picture coming soon!)
Supplies: inexpensive stoneware bowl, dried pinto beans,
glue gun and quite a few glue sticks, inexpensive metal spoon,
floral sponge shaped in a half-sphere that fits nicely in the
bowl, gold spray paint.
Step-by-step:
(1) Using hot glue, adhere floral foam in bowl so that round
side is facing up.
(2) Stick spoon into the
foam.
(3) Spread glue on the floral
foam and coat with beans.
(4) Spray until trophy with
gold spray paint
Local
Culture
Take advantage of the events in your area. Pack a picnic to
a concert or Shakespeare in the park. Go to a minor league ball
game. Have everyone meet at the Drive-in for a G-rated movie.
Check your local newspaper or city website for inexpensive or
free events in your area.
Family Fun Run
Design a basic walking or running coarse in a nearby park
and have families participate together. Participants can walk,
run, bike or even be pulled in a wagon. Give each family a number
to wear on their shirt and encourage them to wear the same color
of T-shirts. Assign those not walking/running to help passing
out water at checkpoints. Meet after the event for ice pops,
watermelon, or other summer treat.
King
for a Day
Celebrate the men and fathers in your ward with this activity.
It's best to do it around Father's Day, but it can be done anytime.
Have all the men bring a baby picture of picture from their
mission and have people guess to see who it is. Also have each
man write down something interesting, funny, crazy or odd about
themselves that many people don't know. Read each person's response
and have the crowd guess who it is. For refreshments have ball-game-style
appetizers like nachos, little smokies, potato skins, and more.
Serve with root beer and a do-it-yourself sundae bar. Have primary
kids decorate gold, foil crowns (that you get at any party supply
store) for their dad, adding fake jewels and such. Kids can
also make Father's Day cards for their dad, teacher, bishop,
etc. Hold a daddy-dress-up race where kids have to rely back
and forth putting on daddy clothes like suit pants and jacket,
white shirt, tie, hat and shoes. For centerpieces, use plastic
gold crowns, confetti, scepter
Pioneer Day Pancake Feed
Turn Pioneer Day (July 24) into a ward affair. Have a pancake
feed early Saturday morning along with a simple Pioneer parade.
Have kids dress up like pioneers and decorate their bikes, wagons
and such like covered wagons. You could
also have pioneer-type games for adults and kids alike such
as broom pull, taffy pull, square dance, fishing (for prizes),
bob for apples and more.
Turn
your Red Wagon into a Covered Wagon
Supplies: PVC pipe, duct tape, white sheet
Step-by-step:
(1) Cut the PVC pipe about 3 feet long, making 3 pieces.
(2) Tape each piece to the
inside of the wagon.
(3) Drape a white sheet
around the pipe to create a simple, covered wagon.
Halloween Carnival & Trunk or Treat
A carnival is always a favorite for Halloween. Booth ideas
include: cup cake walk, fishing booth, duck pond, bowling, drop
the clothespin in the bottle, ring toss, bean bag throw, face
painting, etc. Use candy and small toys as prizes. Pass out
tickets before hand so each person only gets 5 turns, etc. Hang
popcorn balls or donuts from the stage on strings and have a
eating contest to see who can eat it the fastest without using
their hands. Place bunches of helium-filled balloons on each
corner of the gym to create a carnival feel. Other ideas include
bob for apples, a pie eating contest, etc. Have someone in your
ward dress up like a clown and make balloon animals. (Balloon
animal kits are available for under $5 at local discount stores
and include balloons, pump and instructions for making simple
animals.)
Trunk or Treats are also
a popular Halloween activity. Have each family decorate the
trunk of their car and pass out candy while children trick or
treat car to car.
Luau
A luau is a fun family activity for all ages. It can be
a simple as Hawaiian
Haystacks Hawaiian music, hula hoops, plastic lays and the
limbo, or it can be as intricate as a pig roast, Hawaiian dancers
performing and teaching the luau, and baskets of tropical fruit.
Make simple candy lays for children, tying together pieces of
hard candy to a yarn necklace.
Ward Pinewood Derby
Have each family create their own pinewood derby car and race
them. Give matchbox cars for prizes and sever food similar to
what you would find at the race track.
Lipsync
Talent Show
Can't carry a tune, no problem. Have a lipsync talent show using
fun, appropriate music. Oldies are good songs to use, as well
a fun primary songs.
Linger
Longer
If you're the last ward in your building (or the only one for
that matter) consider holding a linger longer after your meetings
for members to get to know each other better. For a new ward,
or young adult ward, hold them regularly and assign different
themes for variety.
Sometimes taking a popular game show or board game and giving
it an LDS twist, can make for the best ward activities. Here
are some ideas your ward is sure to love:
Who Wants
to be a Millionaire
Turn this popular game into an LDS version, creating your own
Book of Mormon or Bible trivia. You could also use it as a get-to-know-you
game, by making the questions facts about ward members.
You could also call it "Who
wants to be a Celetialaire?"
Jeopardy
A ward favorite that can be easily twisted into any theme.
Wheel of Fortune
Another famous game that can be used with any theme. Create
your own wheel out of posterboard (easy) or plywood (a bit more
difficult) to give your game more realism.
Family
Feud
Create a questionnaire ahead of time with questions such as,
"What's a good place to take a date," or "what's
your favorite temple," and use the answers to create your
own version of Family Feud. Rotate families through so everyone
gets a chance to play.
Newlywed/Longwed
Game
Create your own version of the Newly Wed game and pit newly
weds against lognweds.
Human
Foos Ball Game
Family Football
Hold a ward family football game in November around Thanksgiving.
Divide into two teams, keeping families on same teams. Have
cheerleaders, a cheering section, referees and a trophy for
the winners. Afterwards have hot cocoa or chili to warm you
up.
Family
Fear Factor
Video tape this one! This works best in a member’s backyard
but could also be done in a park. A ward members’ unheated
pool in January is also fun. Divide contestants into two groups:
kids and adults. Contestants compete in three wild challenges.
The first challenge is an obstacle course. Top contestants move
to the second challenge which is an eating challenge. Kids eat
as many steamed Brussels sprouts as they can in 20 seconds.
Adults have to drink a pigskin shake made of pickled pigskin
and ice cream. Top contestants move on to round three which
is another obstacle course. Give prizes to the top adult and
child contestants. (As always, use common sense when creating
"fear factor-like" events.)
Class Reunion
Celebrate the history of ward members with a class reunion.
Everyone gets a name tag. Set up decade memorabilia tables where
members can place high school pictures, yearbooks, trophies,
uniforms, etc. Play music from the decades and have members
dance to disco, swing, the twist, and other popular dances from
the past. Serve dinner and have members decorate tables in their
school colors. This is a fun adult activity.
Treasure Hunt
Have adults meet at a ward member’s home to start the party.
While partygoers eat dinner and mingle, hide sandwich bags full
of enough stickers for all the groups at four different locations
and bury the “treasure.” Gather everyone and hand
out the clues to the four locations around town. When treasure
hunters have the stickers collected from all four locations
they return to the party to get the final clue to the treasure.
After the winning group digs up the treasure everyone reunites
at the party for dessert and treasure adventure stories. This
is a great Halloween party idea.
Movie
Night
If you're lucky enough to have someone in your ward have a home
theater, projection TV or large-screen TV, you can create your
own movie night. This is a relatively inexpensive activity with
popcorn and soda for refreshments. Make custom movie tickets
as invitations that participants must bring to get in. Be sure
to run your movie choice by your bishopric for their approval.
(Note: remember almost all movies have copyrights and can
only be viewed in private locations like one's home. If you
show a copyrighted movie in a public place, such as at church,
then you are in violation of copyright laws.)
Sweetheart
Dance
Celebrate Valentines Day with a sweetheart dance. Have a volunteer
band play music or use a DJ. Decorate the room in reds, whites
and pinks, with hearts, balloons, cupid, etc. You could also
have a dance instructor come and teach ballroom, square dancing,
swing or other types of dance.
Guess
Who's Coming to Dinner?
Have a few families sign up to be host families and ask them
how many they can accommodate for dinner. Have host families
make a main dish and tell them that they will will receive four,
for example, guests for dinner. Other participants meet at the
church that night with a side dish. When they arrive, they will
be told which host family they will have dinner with and travel
to their home. After dinner, everyone meets back at the ward
building for dessert.
Mystery
Murder Dinner
>
Fun Murder Mystery Dinner script from Homemaking Cottage
>
Murder Mystery Script from PrimaryEtc.com
Skit
in a Bag
Divide members up into groups of 5-10. Give each group a bag
of props and have them come up with their own short skit. You
can give each a theme or have them come up with their own. Theme
ideas--nursery rhymes, sesame street, dating disasters, at school,
movies, musicals,
A Night In Bethlehem
Recreate a night in Bethlehem in your ward building. Send
invitations that look like scrolls. Have participants where
sheets and towels to look like shepherds and bring blankets
and quilts to eat on. Eat food typical of that time and even
create a Bethleham-style village. Have ward members perform
the Christmas story.
>
Read more from the Homemaking Cottage
Christmas
Service Opportunities
Make wreaths and other decorations
for the less fortunate
Create Christmas dinner
and other presents for families in need and deliver them anonymously.
Christmas
Plays from PrimaryEtc.com
>
Christmas Nativity Pageant Script
>
Another Nativity Play
White Elephant Gift Exchange
Have each family wrap a used gift or a gag gift as a white elephant.
Take turns picking a present or trading with someone else. Remember,
a white elephant gift can only be traded twice.
Christmas
Talent Show
Showcase your ward's talent with reverent Christmas songs, instrumentals,
poems, stories, etc. Decorate with evergreen garland and Christmas
lights and bows. Serve Christmas cookies and punch for refreshments.
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Getting the Word Out: Advertising
Fliers:
Use a quarter-sheet of paper
to cut cost. Make fliers simple with clear message of what
the activity is and all of the important info: who, what,
where, when, why, how.
Posters:
Posters can either be made by hand or created with a computer.
If you want to create large posters but only have a 8 1/2
by 11 size printer, print out pieces of the large poster one
at a time and piece them together on poster board.
Place posters
outside the chapel at least a half hour before meetings start.
Before sacrament meeting is released, sneak out and rotate
the poster so it is facing the out-coming traffic. After sacrament
meeting, place the poster on the ward bulletin board for additional
publicity and storage until next Sunday.
Unusual
Forms of Advertising: Sometimes the best form of advertising
is the unusual. Having a chili cook-off? Try passing out plastic
spoons with the information taped to it. Say something like
"Don't forget to bring your spoon to taste all the chili
at the Annual Chili Cook-off"
Ward Bulletin/Web
Site: Make sure to include the information in the ward
bulletin and on your ward's website at LDS.org.
Sign-up
Sheets: Make sure to include all the activity information
on the sign-up sheet, including the date and time. A person
might want to sign up to bring a pie to the old fashion county
fair activity, but they might be hesitant to sign up if they
are unsure of the date or time. Avoid uncertainty by putting
all the info on the sign-up sheet so when the info goes around
on the RS clipboard, there's no need to interrupt class to
ask questions.
Info Sheets:
Give your bishopric and each auxiliary their own info sheet
with a short description of the activity and the date, time,
location. That way they will have all the info they need to
announce the activity during their classes.
Dinner Groups
Dinner groups are a fun way for
ward members to get to know each other in a more intimate
setting. Here are step-by-step instructions on creating dinner
groups:
(1) Decide how often you are going
to hold dinner groups -- monthly, quarterly semisterly, annually
(2) Create a sign-up sheet for
those interested in dinner groups, asking those who wouldn't
mind hosting the dinner to indicate as such, Be sure to lay
out the rules clearly and indicate the dinner group frequency.
For example, most wards choose to have dinner groups for only
adults.
(3) Assign groups of three or four
couples.
(4) Assign dinner group days or
weekends and give a theme for the dinner. Giving a theme helps
give participants direction. For example, a theme could be
Mexican dishes.
(5) The host couple makes the main
dish and contacts the other couples to see what side dishes/desserts
they will bring.
(6) Be sure to ask feedback after
dinner groups to see if they are the correct frequency, size,
etc.
Getting-to-Know-You Games
A part of
an activity is getting all involved to get to know one another
and bond. Here are some links to games that will do just that:
>
Party Games from All About Mormons
>
Getting to Know You Games from PrimaryEtc.com
Books & Other Resources
“Parties,
Picnics, and Potlucks,” Ensign, July 2004, 29.
“The
Best Things We’ve Done From Rodeos to Cultural Balls:
Activities Committees Finds Success,” Katie Beecher,
Ensign, January 1980, 73.
“Activities
That Change Lives,” Kathleen Lubeck, Ensign, August 1983,
12.
Ward Activities
for the Clueless Clark L. and Kathryn H. Kidd, Kent D. and
Shannon Pugmire. 2001.
Tips for Being a Successful
Ward Activities Chair
- Surround
yourself with a good committee
- Delegate,
delegate, delegate. Delegate within your committee and delegate
to other auxiliaries as well.
- Budget
your money in advance. If you know you want to have a lavish
Christmas party, be sure to set aside that money upfront.
- Advertise
in multiple ways. Use fliers, posters, info sheets, the ward
bulletin, etc., to get your message out. The best activity
would be nothing if it is poorly attended.
- Get direction
from your bishopric. Ask for guidance on how often to plan
activities and what types. Heed their counsel.
- Create
traditions and add variety. It's a good idea to create traditions
in your ward, like an annual pancake breakfast on Pioneer
Day, but it's also a good idea to mix things up to keep them
exciting.
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