Easing Transitions for Young Women

Most girls are thrilled to be graduating from Primary and yet a bit apprehensive about joining the older teenage girls. But helping her to feel welcome, wanted, and needed will do much to set her on the right track for the coming years. Let her see that she is an important part of your group and that she can contribute much to the learning and success of the program in your unit. Try some of these ideas to bring unity and a sense of belonging.

· Organize a special Beehive/Deacon conference.

· Plan a "Bee All That You Can Bee" evening for the new Beehives to show them how much they can learn and grow during their next few years.

· Teach her some camp songs before camp so she'll feel comfortable joining in on the fun once she gets there.

· Help her memorize the Young Women theme so she doesn't feel awkward on Sunday when all of the other girls are saying it aloud together during opening exercises.

· Plan a special "bee" event and discuss President Hinckley's Bs.

· Give her a Young Woman survival kit. Cute suggestions can be found at christysclipart.com.

· Have a Beehive orientation breakfast where they learn about the program and are welcomed by all the young women.

· Invite the Beehive's parents to introduce their daughter to the rest of the Young Women on her first day. They can bring baby pictures, tell funny stories about her growing up, talk about her talents, and fawn all over her in front of the other girls for a few minutes.

· Create a welcome packet that includes all of the Young Women materials and welcome letters from all of the other girls.

· Assign a Laurel as a "big sister" to make sure she has someone to sit next to during opening exercises, knows about the activities, gets some fun treats or surprises in her mailbox, teaches her about the program, and introduces her to the other girls.

· Spotlight new Beehives on a bulletin board or in a newsletter.

· Find out what her talents are and have her teach a class to the other Young Women at mutual.

· Sit down with the parents of the new Beehive and explain all the ins and outs of Young Women's. For first-time Beehive parents it can be overwhelming!

· Have all the young women and their leaders go into the Primary room with balloons and flowers to escort the new Beehive to the Young Women's room on her first day.

· Begin a tradition of taking each new Beehive out to breakfast the Saturday before her first day in Young Women's.

· Give her a journal with her name engraved on it.

· Have a get-to-know-you game night so everyone can get to know her better and she can learn everyone's names and feel a part of the group.

Advancing Beyond Laurels

What a difference only a few years make! Somewhere between the time a giggling girl eagerly graduates from Primary to when she becomes a second-year Laurel she is transformed magically into a young woman with the future at her doorstep.

She is excited to leave the nest, but still wants to feel a comforting wing around her for just a moment longer. She may be uncertain about the world, but confident that she can conquer it. Her schedule is filled with school, work, seminary, sports, performances, dances, and maybe even a boyfriend. Her presence at Young Women's activities may be more sporadic, but when she comes, she lights up the room.

Often times the Laurel girl feels she has outgrown the Young Women's program, but she can't imagine herself in the same organization as her old mother! Studies have shown that it is exactly at this transition that so many young adults lose activity in the Church.

There are many things we can do to help ease her from the comfortable and familiar surroundings of Young Women's into the loving hands of her older sisters. Whether she is going away to college or staying home, here are a few suggestions to help get her excited about the next step:

· Encourage the Laurel's mother to work with you in easing the transition, especially by talking about how Relief Society has blessed her life.

· Work with the Relief Society presidency to get to know your graduating Laurel and welcome her with open arms. Have them explain what options are available in terms of singles wards and her home ward. If she is staying at home but interested in a singles ward, have your Relief Society presidency get in contact with the leaders of the singles ward to extend an invitation.

· Have Mutual activities that involve the Young Women and some of the older Relief Society sisters. For example, create a "Then And Now" evening where older and younger sisters team up to answer trivia questions from their era. Have them teach each other popular dances from their time. Your Young Women could also "Adopt A Grandmother."

· Invite the Relief Society presidency to a special mutual dinner about how their organization works. You could have a panel atmosphere so that the girls could ask them questions about the similarities and differences of the two organizations.

· Work with the Relief Society enrichment leader and counselor to plan special Mother/Daughter events (fun ones, that the girls will want to attend).

· Find out if there are some mid-week enrichment activities that would appeal to your Laurels and attend some of them together.

· Have the Relief Society president come into Young Women's with balloons or flowers for the graduating Laurel and then escort her to the Relief Society room on her first day.

· Have an "Enrichment Night in Training" evening, modeled after the Relief Society evenings. Offer several classes that the girls can choose from to attend. Have a spiritual thought before the girls divide and offer refreshments at the end with time for the girls to socialize.

· Encourage the visiting teachers of the girl's mother to talk to her about visiting teaching and how she will soon be one, too.

· Present each graduating Laurel with a Relief Society gift basket with such items as the Relief Society theme on a bookmark, "Charity Never Faileth" stickers, a copy of the enrichment night calendar, visiting teaching cards, and a lesson manual.

· Take the Laurels on a field trip to attend Relief Society class one Sunday. The next week talk about the similarities and differences. Ask the girls what they think they could contribute to the Relief Society as well as what they thing they could learn.

· Invite the Relief Society sisters to a playful game night so the young girls can see how young at heart the older women are.

· Attend opening exercises in Relief Society once a month. Have the young women stand and recite their theme and then have the Relief Society sisters stand and recite theirs.

· Find an older sister in the Relief Society who could be a mentor to each transitioning Laurel. Try to match up similar interests and hobbies.

· Have both the Relief Society and the Young Women draw names of someone in the other organization to bring surprises and treats to her secret sister for a month. Hold a special event where they can reveal their identities and enjoy their new friendships. Have the young women give the older women a flower with a handwritten note attached that says, "Sister to Sister--Heart to Heart. You were my friend right from the start."

· Invite the graduating Laurels to attend the March Relief Society birthday enrichment night (usually an extra nice event) so they can become more familiar with the history and culture of the Relief Society, as well as get to know some of the sisters.

· You'll find that oftentimes the Laurels will claim they are too busy to attend a particular mutual activity, but if you invite the Priests to join you, all of a sudden, their interest is piqued.

Graduating Girls

As Laurels graduate high school and move on, there are some special things you can do to let them know they will be missed and forever loved:

· Present her with a pearl bracelet or necklace (not necessarily real pearls) to help her remember she is a Pearl of Great Price.

· Present her with an oil lamp or pretty light to let her know that you appreciate how she has been a shining example for all the other young women.

· Have a "Graduating Seniors Honor Night" where you spotlight each girl and her accomplishments.

· Create a "This is Your Life" event for all the graduating girls. Invite their parents and make it a really special honor.

· Invite all the young women to write a letter of appreciation for the graduating Laurel and put them in a specially decorated binder with photos of everyone so she can take it with her to college.

· Present her with some stamped envelopes and pretty stationery so she can write to your ward while she is off to college.

· Hang pictures of all graduating seniors on a bulletin board with information about their accomplishments and what their future plans are.

· Give her a picture of your nearest temple and a basket with some things she'll need when she goes to do proxy work, such as a white hair tie, comb, picture of Christ, journal, white knee highs, a book about the temple, etc.

· Get a pizza place to donate one of their boxes and create a college survival kit with silly items she might need while living in the dorms.

· Make a spiritual survival kit that she can use while she's out there on her own with a bookmark, the temple schedule, a journal, a list of favorite scriptures that all of the young women have written down, an uplifting book about prayer, etc.

· Give her a list of emergency numbers she might need and include some scripture references for emergencies.

· As a Young Women's presidency, take the graduating Laurels out to lunch or dinner (or cook them a dinner in your home).

· Have all the young women make a quilt for her dorm room if she's going away to college.

· Create a "Living On Your Own" budget contest among all of the Laurels. Give them some pretend dollars to spend on college, housing, food, etc., and see who can spend the least amount for certain tasks. Teach them how to keep a checkbook, rent an apartment, etc.

· Present her with a photo album of all the pictures you've taken of her at mutual and other events through her time in Young Women's.

· Present her with an "Easy College Recipes" cookbook that includes favorite recipes from all the other young women, as well as recipes for yummy refreshments that have been served at special Young Women events.

· Set up stations where the girls will compete in timed events such as ironing, sewing on a button, looking up the phone number for the DMV in a phone book, balancing a checkbook, checking the oil level in a car, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, etc.

· Have plaques made that can be hung on the wall by the bishop's office for all the girls who have received their Young Womanhood Recognition Award.

· Host an evening with the graduating Young Men and Young Women where you slobber praises all over them and let them know they'll be missed.

· Make and decorate a drawstring laundry bag that the girls can take to college. Include a scripture "And let all things be done in cleanliness before me" (D&C 42:41) or the quote "Cleanliness is next to Godliness."

For more fun activities, check out Trina Boice's Bright Ideas for Young Women Leaders.

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