Mock Date Night

In order to help prepare our laurels for dating, I set up a mock date night for them. I called the bishop of our local singles ward for suggestions of young men who would be appropriate and have a fun time. We aimed to get mostly young men pre-mission, but had to fill in with a couple RMs. I decided not to use the young men in our ward b/c our girls already knew them wouldn’t take it as seriously.

The girls were told we were having an activity on dating and to dress appropriately for a date. I set up a small classroom as “home”, a room as the “movie theater” and a room as the “ice cream parlor”. I talked with the girls just beforehand and explained that their dates would be picking them up and taking them to a “movie” and dessert. This is a great format for a first date because if all else fails you can talk about the movie you both just watched.

The young men took them to the “movie”, which was a 15-20min video I had put together with different fun things from the internet. Our bishop was the usher/chaperone. After the movie, they walked the girls down the hall to the “ice cream parlor” where another member of the bishopric dished out sundaes. I set up the room with the small classroom tables, so there were two at a table. When time was up (about 15 minutes) I cleared plates and reminded the dates where “home” was. They wrapped it up and took their dates “home.”

The girls enjoyed a positive dating experience. We then talked about the guidelines the prophets have set up for dating and how important it is to follow them. Even though we as women don’t do the asking, we can still be influential in the direction our dating goes.

Tips: I tried to keep the date short, 30-40min. Also, the emphasis wasn’t on the actual person they were paired up with, but the date experience.