Crib Notes: 52 Weeks of Fun Family Service

Following up on Jen's post yesterday about philanthropy for kids, I just have to share with you all this great new book called 52 Weeks of Fun Family Service.

It was written by Merilee Boyack, who is apparently a well-known BYU education week and Time Out for Women speaker. I "met" Merilee when I was looking to organize a service project for my ward last year. She so kindly passed on instructions on how to make t-shirt dresses which are then delivered to children in Africa by Mothers Without Borders (and organization in which she is heavily involved.

She contacted me a few months ago to ask if she could use my sketches on "how to make a t-shirt dress" I had done for my ward to accompany her written directions in a book she was writing about family service. I said yes, of course, but I wanted a copy of the book when it came out. Well two days ago, I got the book and it is awesome!

It has 52 ideas of service activities to do with your family. Some simple, some that take more planning, and all great ideas. My favorite part about the book is that she includes variations of each activity to cater to either younger children or teenage children. She also includes family discussion questions and additional ideas on how to plan a whole family home evening around each activity. I am telling you, this book is a jackpot when it comes to service ideas. It would be great for YW/YM leaders, primary leaders, and even RS presidencies who are looking to pump up their service activities for the year.

So if it is one of your New Year's resolutions to become a more service-orientated family, this book is an excellent place to get some fun and original ideas. You can get it here or here.