"Tap Tap" Journals

There are many journaling requirements sprinkled throughout the LDS youth and Scouting programs (see below), so why not pick up one of these “Tap Tap” journals and do some good while you’re at it?

I came across these adorable journals when I discovered Project HOPE Art yesterday. They’re only $14.99 and $5 benefits Project HOPE Art and their work with Haitian orphans. How can I help but spread the word?

Also available are the “Tap Tap” Journals in white and the Haiti Mural Journal composed of mural art created by Haiti children:

That’s the one I ordered and I chose the blank page option (you can also get lined, dots, or planner pages). I think I’m going to use it to try some of Kathy Barbro’s projects, which I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. She has some new projects at her website which look like fun.

LDS Youth and Scouting Program Requirements Involving Journaling:

Faith in God – Preparing for Young Women #3: “Write in your journal how you can serve the Lord as you stand for truth and righteousness.”

Bear Scout – Family Requirement #8f: “Start your own history: keep a journal for 2 weeks.”

Bear Scout – Jot It Down Requirement #18c: “Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks.”

Webelos – Scholar #5: “List in writing some important things you can do now because of what you’ve learned in school.”

Cub Scouts – Communicating Pin #2: “Keep a journal of daily activities for at least seven days.”

Cub Scouts – Reading and Writing Belt Loop #3: “Keep a diary of your activities for one week. Read it to your den or family.”

Communications Merit Badge Requirements 1a or 1b: Keeping a log of communication activities for a day, or keeping a journal of “listening” experiences for three days.

Personal Management Merit Badge Requirement 8c: “Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your “to do” list compared to when you scheduled them.”

Duty to God requirements often encourage journaling, and a general requirement of the Personal Progress program is to keep a personal journal.

Venturing Religious Life Bronze Award requirement 4b: “Keep a personal journal of your experiences each time you worked as a volunteer.” (After three months of volunteer work, see requirement 4a.)

As one of the many service arms of Project HOPE Art, the Handmade Dresses Project benefits poorly-clothed orphan girls living in Haiti. This super easy sewing project is a great idea for Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, or Good Works value projects, depending upon your focus. A young woman could work on this project on her own or organize a service night for a Mutual activity.

The first batch of dresses was delivered in January, but more trips are planned for April and July.

HOPE Art Facepainting Project

Feel like being uplifted? Take a few moments and peruse the Project HOPE Art website, blog, and photos. If you’re going to spend time on the Internet, this site is a worthy candidate. I stumbled across it just a few minutes ago and knew I had to share. Enjoy!

James M. (Jimmy) Stewart

Faith in God:

Learning and Living the Gospel requirement #4: “Read a recent conference address given by the prophet. Decide what you can do to follow the prophet, and do it.”

Duty to God:

Deacon Spiritual Development requirement #2: “Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” Review them with a parent or priesthood leader.”

Personal Progress:

Divine Nature requirement #2: “As a young woman you are blessed with divine feminine qualities. Increase your understanding of and appreciation for womanhood. Read Proverbs 31:10–31 and two talks on womanhood from a conference issue of the Church magazines. Review what “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

Cub Scouts:

Webelos Family Member Activity Badge requirement #8: “Tell what your family does for fun. Make a list of fun things your family might do for little or no cost. Plan a family fun night.”

Boy Scouts:

Send away for the James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award. This is a unique award that would be fun to work on, with some activities being appropriate for future Sundays. While not required, you could watch a Jimmy Stewart movie with your family. (Your kids do know who Jimmy Stewart is, right?)

More great worship ideas. I especially like the first one. I emphasize the importance of a good education to my kids, but I also want them to understand the concept of learning “by study and by faith.” Faith trumps all.

Faith in God:

Developing Talents requirement 6: “Read D&C 88:118. Discuss what it means to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” Improve your personal study habits by doing such things as learning how to choose and read good books or being prepared for school each day.”

Duty to God:

Deacon Quorum Activities requirement 2: “Explain to a priesthood leader the law of the fast and how fast offerings are used. Read Isaiah 58 and D&C 59.”

Personal Progress:

Choice and Accountability requirement 3: “Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God’s greatest gifts to His children. Read about agency in Joshua 24:25, 2 Nephi 2, and Doctrine and Covenants 82:2–10. With a parent or Young Women leader, discuss the blessings and responsibilities of agency. Record in your journal your understanding of agency and the consequences of choices and actions.”

Cub Scouts:

Wolf cub scout requirement 10d: “Read a book or Boys’ Life magazine with your family. Take turns reading aloud.”

Boy Scouts:

Personal Management merit badge requirements 8a and 8b: “Demonstrate to your merit badge counselor your understanding of time management by doing the following: [8a] Write a “to do” list of tasks or activities, such as homework assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in the coming week. List these in order of importance to you. [8b] Make a seven-day calendar or schedule. Put in your set activities, such as school classes, sports practices or games, jobs or chores, and/or Scout or church or club meetings, then plan when you will do all the tasks from your “to do” list between your set activities.”

George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Here you go. More things your children can do to keep the Sabbath day holy. Instead of a list of “don’t's” on Sunday, give them a list of “do’s”. These are great ideas for adult worship too.

Faith in God:

Preparing for the Priesthood (also Preparing for Young Women, with slightly different language) #4: “Read D&C 88:77–80, 118 and D&C 130:19. Discuss with a parent or Primary leader how important a good education is and how it can help strengthen you as a priesthood holder in your home and family and in the Church.”

Duty to God:

Priest Family Activities #8: “Read D&C 134, and discuss with your parents how it relates to your responsibilities as a citizen of your country.” (See note below.)

Personal Progress:

Integrity requirement #3: “The Savior is the perfect example of integrity; He did what He promised the Father He would do. Read 3 Nephi 11:10-11. Study the lives of other individuals in the scriptures who lived with integrity. Read Genesis 39; the book of Esther; Job 2:3; 27:3-6; Daniel 3 and 6; Acts 26; Doctrine and Covenants 124:15; and Joseph Smith—History 1:21–25. In your journal identify the ways these people demonstrated integrity. Think of a time when you had the courage to show integrity, especially when it was not easy or popular. Share your experience and your feelings about it in a testimony meeting or lesson or with a parent or Young Women leader.”

Cub Scouts:

Reading and Writing Pin requirement #5: “Create a bookmark that you can use, or design a book cover.”

Boy Scouts:

Citizenship in the Nation merit badge requirement 2d: “Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the Internet (with your parent’s permission), and other resources, find out more about the monument. Tell your counselor what you learned, and explain why the monument is important to this country’s citizens.” (Click here for a surprisingly long list of national monuments.)

*Note: if you’re also working on the Duty to God idea above, check out Citizenship in the Nation requirement #1, because the two are very similar.

The Good Samaritan, by Eugene Delacroix, 1849

More ideas… one from each program. Some of these are great spiritual enrichment activities for us grown-ups too. 

Faith in God:

Serving Others requirement 1: “Read and discuss the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30–37). Plan and complete a service project that helps a family member or neighbor. After completing the project, discuss how it helped your faith grow stronger. ”

Duty to God:

Duty to God Teacher – Family Activities requirement 3: “Read about the following topics in True to the Faith or Gospel Principles, and teach 2 of them to your family: conversion, faith, forgiveness, the Holy Ghost, obedience, the plan of salvation, prayer, prophets, repentance, and revelation.” (Good way to get your FHE lesson planned ahead of time!)

Personal Progress:

Individual Worth requirement 4: “You are preparing to fulfill a unique mission on the earth. Read Doctrine and Covenants 88:119. In your journal make a list of your hopes and dreams for your future home, family, and education and some important things you would like to accomplish in your life, including becoming a wife and mother. Then write a plan that will help you achieve your goals. Share this plan with a family member, leader, or friend.”

Cub Scouts:

Heritages Belt Loop requirement 2: “Make a poster that shows the origins of your ancestors. Share it with your den or other group.”

Boy Scouts:

Family Life merit badge requirement 2: “List several reasons why you are important to your family and discuss this with your parents or guardians and with your merit badge counselor.”

Christ Blessing the Children by Nicolaes Maes, 1653, National Gallery, London

Here’s the next installment in my Sabbath Activities series. One idea from each program…

(I gotta say, there’s not much in the Boy Scout department. I’m guessing I’ll run out of stuff in that category first.)

Faith in God:

Developing Talents requirement 3: “Write a poem, story, or short play that teaches a principle of the gospel or is about Heavenly Father’s creations.”

Duty to God:

Duty to God Deacon – Spiritual Development requirement 4: “Read D&C 20:38–60, and talk with a parent or a priesthood leader about the duties of a deacon.”

Personal Progress:

Divine Nature requirement 1: “What are some of the divine qualities of a daughter of God? Read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, 2 Peter 1, Alma 7:23–24, and Doctrine and Covenants 121:45. In your own words, list the divine qualities discussed in your reading. Think about how you can discover and develop each of these qualities. Record your ideas in your journal.”

Cub Scouts:

Bear cub scout requirement 18c: “Keep a daily record of your activities for 2 weeks. ” Also known as a journal!

Boy Scouts:

Music merit badge requirement 3a: “Attend a live performance, or listen to three hours of recordings from any two of the following musical styles: blues, jazz, classical, country, bluegrass, ethnic, gospel, musical theater, opera. Describe the sound of the music and the instruments used. Identify the composers or songwriters, the performers, and the titles of the pieces you heard. If it was a live performance, describe the setting and the reaction of the audience. Discuss your thoughts about the music. ” (Another good reason to listen to hymns on Sunday.)

Early LDS Sunday School

If you’re like me, it can be challenging to find appropriate activities for your children to do on Sundays. Perhaps it gets easier as children get older… or perhaps not. (Please tell me it does.)

In any case, I thought it’d be a good idea to highlight some requirements from the various LDS and scouting programs which I think make for good Sunday activities.

The goal with most of these is not simply to be able to check them off our list, but to build faith and inspire spiritual growth. So take your time.

I’ll post a collection of these Sabbath activities (one from each program) every Sunday until I run out. When we’re all done, we should have a nice collection of ideas to draw on the next time our kids are bored on a Sunday and we’re wondering what to do with them.

Faith in God:

Learning and Living the Gospel requirement 3: “Mark these verses about the Holy Ghost in your scriptures: John 14:16–17, 2 Nephi 32:5, and Moroni 10:5. Discuss ways the Holy Ghost helps you.”

Duty to God:

The second requirement in the Family Activities section of all three Duty to God programs (Deacon, Teacher and Priest) involve reading For the Strength of Youth and discussing it with parents.

Personal Progress:

Faith requirement 1: “The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn about faith from the scriptures and living prophets. Read Hebrews 11, Alma 32:17–43, Ether 12:6–22, and Joseph Smith—History 1:11–20. Read two general conference talks on faith. Exercise your own faith by establishing a habit of prayer in your life. Begin by saying your morning and evening prayers regularly. After three weeks of following this pattern, discuss with a parent or leader what you have learned about faith and how daily personal prayer has strengthened your faith. In your journal express your feelings about faith and prayer.

Cub Scouts:

Wolf cub scout requirement 11a; Bear cub scout requirement 1a and Webelos requirements 8a-8c: “Complete the Character Connection for Faith. Know: What is “faith”? With your family, discuss some people who have shown their faith – who have shown an inner strength based on their trust in a higher power or cause. Discuss the good qualities of these people. Commit: Discuss these questions with your family: What problems did these faithful people overcome to follow or practice their beliefs? What challenges might you face in doing your duty to God? Who can help you with these challenges? Practice: Practice your faith while doing the requirements for “Duty to God.”

Boy Scouts:

Genealogy merit badge requirement 2b: “Keep a journal for 6 weeks. You must write in it at least once a week.”