Top Mutual Ideas

Last week my Mia Maid presidency met to plan our class activities for the rest of the year. My ward also has meetings at the beginning of the year to plan most of our activities, but no matter how hard you try some activities end up last minute! I've been going through Pinterest & I've found SO many fun ideas!! Some of them are last minute, some have been tried out by my own ward, & some are classics - but all of them are/look so great! Whether you have a planning meeting coming up or your plans fell through last minute, hopefully you find this list helpful!

#1 - Ice Blocking/Sledding
These are two of the greatest, most basic mutual activities out there. Some of my favorite memories come from sledding & ice blocking with the young men/women in my ward. If you haven't heard of ice blocking (where have you been??) basically you buy a block of ice from whatever grocery store you can find it, put a towel over it, sit on it and slide down a hill! I highly recommend doing this during the summer because the ice will melt faster, which makes it so much more fun - my ward went last week & we had so much fun! Sledding is pretty self explanatory, just throw in some cookies & hot chocolate and you're good to go!

#2 - SERVICE.
Service in any form is a good option! One of my favorites my ward has done was sewing bags for Days for Girls kits. We've also done babysitting nights during Relief Society activities (or during the Christmas season so parents can go Christmas shopping), gone caroling in nursing homes, and made meals and gifts for new families in our ward. We're also right by a temple & once we went and put post-it notes on car windows there, thanking them for their temple attendance. Look around you and find the things that need to be done in your ward! Rake leaves, heart attack your bishop, visit the elderly in your ward (you have no idea how much some of them appreciate this - key note is 'some', haha!). It's a good last minute activity and it's sure to make someone's day!

#3 - Photography
We haven't ever done anything like this but I think it sounds like so much fun! Take a camera or two and let the young women (or young men!) go take pictures. If you have a temple nearby that's definitely a good place to go! If you can, have a serious photographer come and teach them some tips on how to take better pictures. I don't know about you, but I love taking pictures & I would be more than happy to spend an hour doing it! Plus you could definitely apply the activity to Knowledge in Personal Progress.

#4 - Spa Night
Okay, this is definitely not one for the Young Men, but it's a classic all the same! You can definitely go full out and have different stations like painting nails, doing hair & really anything you can come up with, but one of my favorite last minute activities was when we made a brown sugar body scrub (like this one here!) & decorated the jars we put it in, then took a few to the girls who weren't there. It was fun, simple & easy!

#5 - Life Sized Games
These activities definitely take more prep, but they're so worth it & way fun! A couple months ago my ward played Angry Birds (someday I'll write a post about that & link it here) which I was in charge of, and I got a lot of my inspiration from THIS & THIS blog. It was a crazy chaotic activity but it was a lot of fun! We're also playing 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' in a week or two (like on this blog HERE) & I'll have to let you know how that goes too! I'm sure there are more ideas like these - they're fun, big & definitely memorable!

#6 - Shaving Cream
You would be amazed by the fun you can have with shaving cream! We had a 'pie war' once where we filled up pie tins with shaving cream, put on garbage bags and went to town attacking each other with them - we ate actual pie after, of course! (There was a purpose to us doing this, we had to earn the pies through personal progress) We've also played shaving cream Twister where we put shaving cream on each circle. Another way to play this would be to dye the shaving cream to match the color of dot it's on, or to play it with paint - that's how I would LOVE to do it, so if you do be sure to invite me (; Be willing to be a little out there & you can come up with fun and easy activities!

#7 - Baking
So simple. (What can I say, I like the basics!) Just get together & bake something! It applies to Knowledge because you're learning how to make it, or you can apply it to Good Works #2 (helping your family with meals for two weeks) & make a freezer meal or two. The Mia Maids in my ward will be making enchiladas in a month or two to fill that exact requirement! Another idea is to bake bread & donate it for sacrament meeting - just be sure to let the Young Men know that that's what you're doing! (;

#8 - Missionaries
Use a mutual activity to remember your ward's missionaries! Make them care packages, write them letters, send them pictures - let them know you're thinking about them! If you have any recently returned missionaries, have them come speak, or do something with the missionaries currently serving in your ward! So many ideas & options.

There are really so many ideas for mutual activities. Do what fits your ward, keep the spirit & have fun!

-Savannah