In my ward we always have refreshments first:-)
The plan for the activity is as follows:
6:30 Bless Refreshments/Socializing
7pm Start Program.
It works out perfectly, since not everyone can make it at 6:30, so the program is at 7pm. When we used to have refreshments at the end, people would have to leave and miss them, so it just made sense to start them off at the beginning.
at 7pm we have an opening song to start off the program portion of the night.
We set up 3 rectangle tables in a U shape for sisters to sit at and enjoy their hot cocoa, and later for 2 of the stations.
At this activity we had 3 stations, and the ladies spent about 10-15 min or so at each. We were lucky to have about 20 sisters come, so there were 6ish sisters per station. One of the midweek committee members ran each station.
I took this pic mid set up, there were more toppings and cookies we added.
Station 1: Marshmallow minute to win it game.
2 sisters compete at a time to throw as many mini marshmallows in a red plastic cup as they can in one minute. I taped the red cups to a small table and then put 2 bowls (each with 1 bag of marshmallows in it) on two chairs about 5 feet away from the red cups. The ladies stand at the chairs and try to get as many marshmallows thrown into the cup as they can in one minute. We played some music on my phone to make it a little more exciting, and the sister in charge of the station set a 1 minute timer on her phone and we counted down the last 10 seconds. It was super fun for everyone, and easy enough that even sisters in wheel chairs could play.
Station 2: Catch Phrase Board Game
I'll admit I just wanted the ladies to have fun, (and friend shipping/fellowshipping is the goal here as well!) and rationalized playing catch phrase by tying it into visiting teaching: you have to use phrases to be a good visiting teacher (then we played the game as usual).
Station 3: Visiting Teaching Discussion (the spiritual part)
When the ladies rotated to this table, we had Karen lead a little group talk about how visiting teaching has touched her life. Then each sister had a minute or two to share any experience they had either being a visiting teacher, or been visit taught.
Handouts/Take Home Treats
At the end we handed out these little bags with an assortment of Werther's caramels and a tag that said "Treasure every sister" You can download the cards where I found them on this site
