Keepers At Home Girls Club Ideas

I thought it would be fun to share a post on some of our Keepers at Home meetings since it’s been awhile. For those of you who haven’t heard of this, Keepers at Home is kind of like Christian version of the Girl Scouts. It’s also a way to help spend some one on one time with your daughter as the mom’s and daughters both participate together. The group focuses on teaching girls practical life skills that they can utilize as they grow older and become women themselves. It is a Bible-based and Christ-centered program, and the parents lead the group, not an organization.

What does our group look like?

For our group, there are 7 families, and each mom takes a turn hosting at their home and teaching the skill for that night. It makes it much less stressful on the families when you only have to teach/host once per year.  But really you can set up your group anyway you like. Just gather some friends together with like aged girls and start up a group!

 

We’ve been involved in a Keepers group for several years, I think we started way back when Strawberry Shortcake was about 7 years old or so. Since then our group has changed a little because we had so many families we eventually had to break off into smaller groups. It’s a great way to meet other families and have a lot of fun in the process!

 

What do we do at Keepers?

Laundry: Last month we did Laundry! My kiddos all help with the laundry already, but even I learned some great tips for getting out stains and properly washing garments! We also did a folding lesson which has helped the “pile” of folded clothes in my laundry room not look so crazy! (Sorry, I was so enthralled that I forgot to take pics!)

Health & Fitness: This month we did health and fitness, so the girls brought healthy snacks, we talked about how to take care of their bodies, and then we did some exercises together! A HUGE thanks to our ambitious leader Miss Angie!

 

Scrapbooking: We also did scrapbooking. I used to scrapbook. Back when I had one baby. And free time. But that was eons ago people. So I figure if I don’t have time to scrapbook anymore, at least my girls can make use of all of my stuff! For this night all of the mom’s gathered their supplies and pitched in for the cause. I’m not sure who had more fun, the girls, or the moms who hadn’t scrapped in awhile LOL!

 

Painting on canvas: We went to a fun class where the girls learned how to paint on canvas. Normally we teach our own classes, but this one was worth the price. I think it was $15-20 per girl, and the teacher was wonderful! They learned a little about colors, color mixing, how to care for supplies, then she went through a step by step lesson with them. They have various options to choose from, our girls went with the panda bear.

 

Coookie Making: We also did a cookie night. The girls learned to make several different types of cookies. They prepared the dough, cut the cookies, and baked them. They made several different types to sample some of the varieties available.

 

Operation Christmas Child: Every year we gather together and pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. You can read more about hosting an OCC packing party here!

 

Roller Skating: This night was so much fun, and honestly I haven’t been on skates in awhile. Believe it or not I used to be really good. So good in fact that I actually skated competitively.

Apparently that was a very L O N G time ago.

Because I seem to have lost some of my  mad skills.

But that didn’t stop us from having fun ;o)

 

Hiking: My girls were sick and so we weren’t able to go on this one, but we heard it was a great hike. They saw a bunch of beautiful flowers, and had a wonderful time! I wanted to include it just to help give you some ideas for your own groups.

 

Jewelry Making: I think the beading lesson was probably one of  my favorite meetings! We learned a lot about jewelry making, and organizing your beads into pleasing patters. It is really fun, but I will warn you it can be addictive, and those little beads can get pricey! For our meeting the girls made Keepers necklaces and bracelets that turned out really cute. But they’ve also kept up with their jewelry making and have since made a lot of Christmas presents as well as their own jewelry!

 

Knitting on a loom: This activity is a great way to introduce knitting to younger students. Sometimes using actual knitting needles can be difficult, but the loom is really easy to use and the projects go really fast too! Seeing progress definitely makes it a little more fun for the them.

 

Canning: We made some great jelly and jams for our girls’ families! Yum! This was one of the Teeny Tot’s first meetings. She turned 5 this year, and so we finally allowed her to join the big girls! She was so excited, and has done great.

 

Underwater Basket Weaving: Okay, this one was probably one of the harder crafts we did. Some people loved it, and some swore they would never do basket weaving again! I personally like this, but it is difficult to get started. But with a little perseverance, the baskets turned out really cute!

 

Farm Animals: Goats: This was a fun night, one of our families owns a goat farm so everyone was able to to and feed the babies, and help milk one very patient and gracious goat!

 

Embroidery: My mom was kind enough to sew a bunch of bags for the girls, and then they put on the button, embroidered their pocket, and then added it to the bag. The girls use their bags to keep all of their Keepers stuff in for our meetings.

 

Interested in starting your own group?

Here is a post I did on Starting up a Keepers group, and some helpful organizational forms too!

• Activity Planning Form – Word Doc
• Activity Planning Form – PDF

Have boys? They also have a club called Contenders for the Faith which is for boys and their fathers!