Summer Fun 2012

Summer is here and with it comes another season of Summer Fun. The theme this summer is

This year my friends Val, Ann, Maria, and I planned out a summer of scripture adventures. We will follow the creation, help Noah pack up his ark, fight Goliath, journey with Lehi and Nephi into the wilderness, train with the Strippling Warriors, climb the tower of Babel, and go to a Nephite market.

To begin our adventure we went to the Church History Museum to see a replica of the Gold Plates.

(Don't mind the nose picker in the background. He doesn't belong to me. Really, he doesn't.)

 They were too heavy for any of the kids to lift.

While we were there we also enjoyed a little fishing off of Nephi's boat, building a temple in the land Bountiful, harvesting vegetables from the garden, feeding the missionaries, and doing a little Mexican dancing.  We also managed to take in some of the artwork from the Ninth International Art Competition: Make Known His Wonderful Works.

The next day we met our friends at the park for our Summer from the Scriptures Kick Off Party. (We missed you Maria! I hope Ben feels better soon!)

Val taught the kids about the different books of scriptures that we have and why it is important to keep records. Each of the kids received their own plates to keep a record of all their summer activities.

The Plates of Mason  -   Kate's title page and Adam's goals

I made my children's plates out of cardboard. I spray painted them gold then punched holes in the sides and secured them with binder rings.  They will get new pages almost every day to add to their plates.

Next I did an object lesson about how the scriptures are a treasure. I held up a locked box and told the kids that inside was a very valuable treasure that could give them the answer to any question they could ask. I let each child hold it and asked them if they felt any wiser just by holding the box.

I asked the kids if they could open the box, but they couldn't because of the lock. I gave them a clue for the code to open the box: 1 - search, 2 - ponder, 3 - pray. Adam figured it out right away and opened the box to find his set of scriptures.

I asked Adam if he felt any wiser holding his scriptures. (No.) Then we talked about how we have to OPEN our scriptures and read them to be able to get the wisdom inside and use this great treasure.

Next Ann helped us open and use our scriptures with a Scripture Scavenger Hunt. The children were divided into teams and each team was given a list of references. They had to look up the scripture then find that object and add it to their collection.

1.   Matthew 7:25
2.   Psalm 102:11
3.   Jeremiah 8:8
4.   Doctrine & Covenants 45:37
5.   Mark 10:38
6.   Ezekiel 37:16-17
7.   Matthew 10:30
8.   Exodus 3:5
9.   Moses 1:41
10. Mosiah 2:17-18  To finish the game, do something this scripture is talking about.

When we were finished we enjoyed a picnic and hours of fun on the park playgrounds.

 Today I told the kids that there was a scripture treasure hiding in the house. I gave them a few clues and then they found - in a box in the front room - their own sets of Scripture Stickers (these for the little ones and these for the older ones).

I purchased mini Books of Mormon for Mason and Colin and it was fun for them to see the pages come to life as I pointed out Ammon,  Abinidi, and other heros. It was also very rewarding to watch Kate and Adam find the scripture references by themselves and recognize all the stories.

So far, making the scriptures fun for my kids has been a success!

You can go here to find the first posts for Summer Fun 2011, 2010 and 2009.