This past Saturday, we had a great primary activity. I feel so lucky to get to live in UT and around so many unique and special church sites. One of which is the church history museum downtown. I’ve blogged before about how my family went there on a Sunday night and really enjoyed their children’s exhibit. After that experience, I thought that our little small primary might enjoy doing something similar.
First, we decided to take the train to our destination. This was very exciting for the children. Some of them had never ridden public transportation before. To do this, we had to make sure that we had plenty of adults with us. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about parking! Luckily, we had about a 2 to 1 ratio of adults to children at our activity, so riding the train was a lot of fun.
Once we got downtown, we gathered outside the museum until our whole group of 13 kids and 6 adults was together. We went inside and were greeted at the museum by 4 wonderful ladies who would be our tour guides. We divided the primary group up into older and younger children. Then, each group of kids got to do an activity that was based on the prophets. In one group, they got to open different boxes and inside was an object that represented a story about one of the prophets. The other group got to learn all about our current prophet, President Monson by putting together a puzzle of him with fun facts on each piece.
After they did the activities, we made sure to give them plenty of free playtime in the children’s area. After about 20 minutes, they were asking for lunch. Each child was told ahead of time to bring their own lunch with them. We simply went and had a picnic on the lawn afterwards. After lunch, we rode the train back home.
The kids loved being together on a day outside of Sunday. They had more freedom to goof off, run around, and play. So, it was nice to see them when they didn’t have to be told so many times to be reverent.
Since not all primaries are in Utah, here are some tips for making your next activity great, no matter what you do:
Send out a letter to the parents ahead of time. Explain what the activity will be like, and what the children are expected to bring, or where, or do. Ask for the parents to fill out a portion of your letter and return it to you so you will know who will be attending. Send letters to less active families too.
Try venturing out to a different location. If you have public transportation that is easy to use, try making your activity more adventurous by using it. It might just be more economical too!
Think about other areas that might be close to you that contain church history. Utah is not the only place with a lot of church history sites. If you live close to one, think about incorporating that into your next activity.
Have a picnic! Many of the kids told me that it had been, “sooo long” since they had a picnic, and that was their favorite part! That is the simplest of ideas there is!
While primary activities are no longer a quarterly requirement, they are still fun to do and a great opportunity to bond with and get to know your primary children better!