This was a fun pre-lunch activity we did half way through our week at camp. Following this activity we had a potato bar lunch. YUM!
Step One:
Make potato t-shirts for each YW that will be participating in the story.
Step Two:
Make potato puppets for those girls to hold that represent the characters.
Step Three:
Make brown bags with letters on them to spell the out the saying Don't Go Through Life Half-Baked. Use these to create your potato patch
Step Four:
Read and act out the story below...
The Greater Potator PatchOnce upon a time in a warm and sunny valley lived a very fine crop of potatoes. These potatoes were all members of the great “Potato Ward”. A fine and widely cultivated bunch of spuds who spent much of their time wondering just what their final dish would be. But if you look closely, you could almost see how they molded their own lives.
Some spuds had their heads so far down in the dirt they’ll probably still be there long past the harvest.
Irri-tator was one of the most well-known potatoes. She had large eyes and saw everything that was going on around her. Her eyes were big, but unfortunately, so was her mouth. How irritating!
Hesi-tator would like to join us, but she’s so unsure of herself that she hangs back. And you know what happens to she who hesitates!
Commen-tator isn’t fun to have around because she has some half-baked comment for everything.
You should meet Agi-tator; she really stirs things up and gets under everyone’s skin.
Then, there’s Dic-tator, she likes to have everything dished up HER way. While Spec-tator is just content to sit back and watch all the other French fries at work.
You haven’t lived until you’ve met Instiga-tator, you might just want to “mash” her, but a seasoning of love will be more productive.
Don’t think you’ve met ALL of the potatoes in our potato patch! The best is still to come.
Meet Sweet-tator, you’ll love her. She’s sugar coated and easy to digest.
And the largest variety and most common potato of all is the PAR-TICI-POTATOR, and all those like her—this spuds for you!!!
There are many ways that you can fix a potato much like how the lives we live.
Hash Browns – She is ready to serve bright & early in the morning, you know she’s ready for anything that may come because she’s so compact and organized.
Baked – She knows right from wrong and stays in the right place at all times. She can really take the heat. Don’t get her mixed up with some of her acquaintances who are only half-baked.
Boiled – She stays to herself. She is very plain, doesn’t have much spice in her life and doesn’t develop her talents.
Fried – She jumps into any kind of fun available and she doesn’t care whose company she’s in. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire!
Scalloped – She’s a happy-go-lucky dish who enjoys the “spiciness” of her friends. She’s always the main ingredient.
Mashed – She loves to get involved with all the other spuds, even the little ones. She’s quite a mixer.
French Fries – She’s the leader of the group, a very upright lady. She’s very friendly and the life of the party. A wonderful missionary and a great example because she can be served with just about anything and is great on any occasion.
Our personalities are quite like potato dishes. Some of us have thick skins, some of us go around half-baked, and some of us are content to join the others and be served “au-gratin”.
Don’t go through life half-baked!
The End!!!
I had the opportunity prior to Young Women's Camp to read a book entitled 100 Dresses. This book is an award winning children's book. The message behind the story is a powerful one. It inspired me to come up with the following camp activity. I wanted to have a way to really touch our Young Women. I wanted them to not only remember camp, but to remember that there are several wonderful blessings that will come their way if they choose the right. I decided that it would be neat if we could decorate the mess hall with 100 dresses...which we did and it turned out to be really beautiful. The 100 dresses would represent all of the wonderful things that these Young Women would do in their lives here on earth. Everything from going to the Prom to dance recitals that they would be in to special Sunday meetings, etc... Up front on the stage we placed the 3 White Dresses and a photo of the Orlando Temple. We placed rose petals on the floor and hung white lights up front. We really strived to make this activity a spiritual one. When the Young Women arrived in the mess hall I was impressed to see how reverent they were. I had invited all of the Bishop's Wives from the Stake to come and share three dresses and the experiences they had had while wearing those dresses in their lives. Wow...the spirit was amazing! Then...I presented a book to each Young Women's President called My Wedding Day. They each took their group of Young Women to a private place within the mess hall and began reading the story. This particular book talks about the happiness a father has on that special day when his daughter is to be married in the temple. The leaders and young women were in tears. After reading the story...we shared a You Tube Video called The Three White Dresses and summarized why the three white dresses were so important. The covenants we will make with the Lord while wearing these three white dresses will not only draw us closer to our Heavenly Father, but enable us to be able to return to His presence someday. Yes...the tears continued. At the very end of the activity...each Young Women received a little white bag with a CTR shield. Inside was a REMEMBER necklace made out of Gold to remind them of camp, to remind them of the activity, and to remind them to always Stand for the Right. Words can not express the amazing spirit and joy that filled that room on that day. Our Heavenly Father loves each one of us and truly wants us to be able to come and live with him again some day.
