Tuesday, September 13, 2011

advise me.

i have recently been solicited to "spice" things up in my singles ward.  apparently there has been a hard time getting people to attend fhe and activities.  it's because the things we are doing are boring, if you ask me.  so i was asked to come up with some ideas for family home evening and ward activity night that could possibly draw a larger crowd.  the problem is--i am not so stellar at coming up with ideas.  tell me the idea, and i am more than happy to plan it all out, down to the last detail.  but that creative bone that some people have, i think i was skipped over when they were handing those out.  good thing i know some awesome people who are willing to help a girl out...right???  what are some of activities that you have done in your wards (single or family) that are just soooooo much fun that people can't help but want to come?  what are some service activities that are fun and can involve a lot of people?  what are some fun activities that can be done away from the church house, ie scavenger hunts, camp fire/dutch oven, frisbee golf, etc?  how can we draw out those members who don't really come to things like fhe?  how can we unify the members of the ward through activities?

as a member of the church who used to hate going to fhe and activities, i can fully understand why these people don't want or like to come.  i firmly believe that a lot of the reason they don't come is because they are not interested in the activity going on.  and i'm not saying that every week has to be some big spectacle with fireworks and field trips and excitement, but i do feel like it is needed sometimes.  people will stop coming to fhe if they feel like is a gospel doctrine sunday school lesson all over again (yes, that has been my experience lately).

so.  do me a solid and think back to alllllllllll of those activities you have been to (good and bad) and give me some advice.  because it makes me sad that more than half of the ward doesn't go activities and knowing that we can do something to fix that.

*let me apologize ahead of time if this offends anyone, especially if someone from my ward is reading this.  that was not my intention.  

4 comments:

Katie said...

This is past the season but we did a boat day at Deer Creek and seriously EVERYONE came and I was in a pretty lame ward. haha

When I was in St. George singles ward we went to a corn maze and a lot of people showed up for that one.

That's all I got... because I was one of those NON participators. HAHAHA

Amy said...

You could do a Minute to Win it night, and play the games from the show and have prizes.

For Christmas every year in my ward, we would do a service auction and raise money for a couple of families in the area.

Human Foosball was always entertaining

Ward camp out

Volunteer work at the cannery. Sounds lame but it was a lot of fun!

Tubing at soldier hollow or even just finding a big hill and people bring their own sleds

Ice Skating

Going on a hike

Halloween party

Luau (we had one inside because it was cold, and we got some polynesian dancers to come perform)

Laser tag

Tumbling Gym

Going to a rec center where people can play different things like swimming or raquet ball, basketball...

That's all I can think of right now. I was the activities co-chair in my single's ward for forever!

Kateka said...

Hmmmm.... hmmm... and more hmmm....

Things that I think would be fun but have never done: Hike timpanagos, plan a MINUTE TO WIN IT activity (like the tv game show), outdoor movie theater get together (what are those theaters called? I forget). Generally, the more people you help plan the activities, the more people will come so don't be afraid the delegate!

Hannah said...

I am OFFENDED!!! :) Hahaha, Coming from the person who was in charge of fhe (I hated it) BUT since I am now gone, I no longer have to worry about that. So I am not here to give you any ideas, because obviously mine sucked.... :) I am here to wish you luck and commiserate with you. You can see why I hated it so much right? :) Miss ya Chejelsee!