Who doesn't love waffles? That was the question my Laurel class had for me when they planned this activity. Their idea was to have a waffle night and invite the Priests.

Assignments were made: waffle irons, waffle batter (6 types!) and toppings (fruit, syrups, whipped cream, etc.) and the party was held.

This was a great activity for socializing. The youth had a good time making different flavors of waffles and just enjoying one another. They played a couple of games and had a fun time. For the waffles, we did "normal" waffle batter and then several flavors of cake batter waffles. To make cake batter waffles, just combine cake mix (ANY flavor - we used fudge, strawberry chip, red velvet, yellow cake - and more) with 3 eggs, 1/3 C oil & 1 1/3 C water.

I purchased disposable containers like these to make the batter in. This worked well because when it was over I just put lids on the batter and sent them home with the young women!

This is a play on the old Newlywed Game. It is great for a Priest/Laurel activity. We did this after the Priest/Laurel dinner. You draw names for the couples. Send the boy or girl out, then question the partner. They write their answers on a card and put it answer down on their lap. After the questions are all answered, the partner comes back in and sees if the answers match. When all the answers are given, the other partner leaves the room and the process begins again with different questions. Usually 3-5 questions per round is good. That way you can get through one round quickly and if you have enough partners, you can give everyone a chance to play.

Sample questions: Does "Billy" still sleep with a favorite stuffed toy? Does "Susie" sing like a rock star into her hairbrush while getting ready? What is "Bobby's" favorite food? What is "Katie's" favorite movie? And so on...

The winning couple gets a silly prize.

In February, we had a Laurel class activity where the Laurels invited the Priests to a "Date Night".

One of the Laurels made cute invites for the boys, and we had simple refreshments along the Valentine theme.

To open the activity, the youth played "Do You Love Your Neighbor?" and then we had a cute young-ish married couple from our stake come and talk about creative and fun ideas for dating. They handed out 13 little trinkets that represented a different idea for a date, which they would have the youth guess about, and then the speakers would explain and expand on the ideas. As they did that, they also inserted thoughts about keeping the standards and not pairing off, as well as interacted with the youth asking questions about what was difficult about trying to date. They also gave some etiquette tips, as well.

Our Laurels & Priests combined for a group date activity night. We decided to go M&M Bowling.

We went to the local bowling alley and before each person bowled, they had to pull an M&M out of the bag and follow these rules:

Blue: Eyes Closed

Green: Backward, between your legs

Orange: Sing a primary song while you bowl

Yellow: Righties use left hand, Lefties use right hand

Brown: Granny Style

Red: Ballerina Style

We especially loved watching the priest and YM leaders bowl ballerina style!!

Last night the laurels made these amazing no fail chocolate chip cookies for the priests in our ward and then hand delivered them. This was an activity based on this article in the New Era and was an idea from the same New Era for a youth activity. As the YW made the cookies, we talked about the article, specifically we discussed this section...

Be friends first and sweethearts second. University professor Lowell Bennion once said that relationships between young men and young women should be built like a pyramid. The base of the pyramid is friendship. And the ascending layers are built of things like time, understanding, respect, and restraint. Right at the top of the pyramid is a glittering little mystery called romance.

Now, you don’t have to be very smart to know that a pyramid won’t stand up very long if you stand it on its point instead of its base. In other words, be friends first and sweethearts later, not the other way around. Otherwise, people who think they are sweethearts may discover they can’t be very good friends, and by then it may be too late.

We talked about how doing things like baking these cookies was a way to foster friendships and build the base of the pyramid. The laurels had a great time and it was a simple, low-cost activity.