Handmade and hand-delivered invitations are one of the meeting host's responsibilities and can be a very real sources of fun, creativity and shared enthusiasm for a father and his child. Invitations' practical purposes in the Y Guides program are:
- To announce the location and time of a crew meeting.
- To give dad and child intentional time together. Invitations are made and hand-delivered to each member of the crew.
- Another benefit is that these invitations help stimulate warmth and friendliness within the crew as families open their homes to other crew members. Each family will have two or three chances annually to make an invitation. Please remember that it is very important to draw a map to your home somewhere on the first invitation you make. Please try to avoid e-mails or texts.
There are many possibilities for interesting invitations. Ingenuity by father and child is encouraged, along with the suggestion of keeping the projects simple. A variety of materials may be used, including aluminum foil, balsa wood, boxes, cans, cardboard, cork, leather, paper, pipe cleaners, plastic and rubber. Natural materials such as nuts, shells, stones and wood also lend themselves to creative projects.
Helpful Hints
Choose an invitation idea that relates to nature or the present holiday season. Keep the project simple so that the task is feasible for father and child to make one invitation for each father/child pair in the crew.
Plan thoughtfully! Allow sufficient time for both father and child to gain satisfaction from the project. Be as creative as possible. Consult additional resources for new ideas. Experiment with multiple materials. Apply ingenuity.
Together, father and child deliver the invitations to each home. This does not include little brother or sister, mother or Fido. You would be amazed at how special this "alone with Dad" time is to your child. Talk about what it means to be a host and the fun you had in making the invitations.
Design a map giving directions to hosts' home on your first invitation. Use imagination in decorating map.