Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tuesday Tried It - "Modesty is Fundamental"


I have no idea if this idea is on pinterest, but if it's not it should be! We had a great time, it took minimal planning, the girls interacted and helped each other, and they learned.

We went to Wal-Mart for a Young Women's activity.  Our purpose?  Practicing how to dress modestly.

Before going to the store we read For the Strength of Youth - Dress and Appearance and then each girl was given an envelope with her assignment and some monopoly money.  
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for a day at the sand dunes/lake.  $32
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for a trip to the temple.  $43
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for school.  $37
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for a formal dance.  $105
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for senior pictures.  $41
  • Your assignment: Put together an outfit that is appropriate for sleeping. $26
They had 25 minutes to put their outfits together.  Lucky for us, Wal-Mart had a big clearance sale which left a 6' section with nothing on it . . . and shirts for a dollar.  The girls shopped and then displayed their outfits on that 6' section for each other to see.  Each girl talked about her outfit and told us how much it cost.  Then they voted on which outfit they were most likely to wear.  

A&K choosing pajamas

R&D looking for swimming suits and getting sidetracked with the sales

D&H looking for formal wear and school clothes

Karen's outfit (appropriate for the temple:  a white gauzy skirt, soft-gray, striped shirt with a white cardigan, and a butterfly necklace) won the prize.  She could choose between a pair of socks or fingernail polish for her prize - she chose yellow fingernail polish.

After the girls finished putting all the clothes, shoes, and bling back on the racks where they found them, we met in the breezeway and ate Reese's  peanut butter eggs while each girl taught the group what she had learned. The main thing they came to understand is that modesty is a way of life.

It was a fun, repeatable activity.

(While the girls were shopping, I saw one of my friends from Moldova.  She works in the men’s department. She has very, very, very little English. I talked to her for a few minutes, and then my friend Laura [from the Spanish Branch] joined us. Laura works in the underwear department and she also speaks very, very, very little English. There we were in a triangle of languages trying to talk to each other.  There was a whole lot of “say that again” and “one more time” and smiling and nodding going on.  It was the best.  None of us let a little thing like language get in the way of being friends.)


3 comments:

Jill said...

That looks like a great, hands-on, real life experience kind of activity, great job!

Gail said...

You went to WAL-MART for a modesty lesson?!?!? Isn't that a type of oxymoron? Sorry, I just couldn't help it. I hope your stores are better than what we have out here in California.

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Gail your comment made me grin from ear to ear and then back again. That was the magic of the lesson, they had to HUNT for modest things. They had to look and look some more!

I think we've got the same Wal-Mart. They don't have the same disgusting sayings that some of the t-shirts in the mall have, but they've got plenty of skimp and skin.