Investiture Achievement – Busy Bees

IA or Investiture Achievement is the framework to our Adventurer year. It consists of both required activities that do not earn award patches and required awards. Sometimes we think of this as the boring “schoolwork” part, and it can be very tempting to skip this part to fit in more exciting awards. However, completing (or mostly completing) the investiture achievement requirements is how our Busy Bees earn their class pin. It’s also how we make sure we are focusing on the four focus areas of Adventurers (My God, My Self, My Family, and My World). Although IA did begin as part of school, we can fulfill these requirements with less bookwork and more games and activities. There is no reason investiture achievement can’t be something we all look forward to.

The following is how my club completed our IA requirements. Sometimes we didn’t get to every single requirement, and sometimes you might not too. That’s okay, relationships are more important than requirements. The more time I spend in Adventurers, the more I work to get away from sitting at tables with workbooks and pencils. As we only use a few of the pages from the Activity Book, I print the single pages we need instead of purchasing the books.

Basic

I. Recite and accept the Adventurer Pledge.

We start every meeting reciting the Adventurer Pledge and Law. This will be a very easy requirement for most Adventurers!

II. Complete the Busy Bee Reading award.

I send the Busy Bee Reading Award page (from the Activity Book) home near the beginning of the year. Most of my adventurer parents read the books to their kids through the year.

My God

I. A. Create a story chart or lapbook

As I read the Bible stories to the Busy Bees, they color the corresponding pictures from the Activity Book. I have taken the pictures and shrunk them to trading card size so we can use the cards in a few games over the next four years. You can learn more about the Bible Story Timeline Trading Cards here and download the free printable.

I. B. Use your story chart or lapbook to show someone how much Jesus cares for you.

After a Busy Bee has finished coloring their cards for the year, I ask them to tell me what each picture is about. If there is time, I’ll encourage them to put them in order. We will continue using and reviewing these cards next year.

II. Complete the Bible I award.

I like to break up Bible I over 4-5 meetings. We start with a Bible story and one of the memory verses and fill the rest of the meeting with some of the non-award Investiture Achievement requirements.

III. A. Spend regular quiet time with Jesus

This is another requirement that we introduce during a meeting, but it really has to be done at home. I have a whole post about how I approach this requirement along with a printable resource for your families. Check it out here.

III. B. Ask three people why they pray.

Although you could assign each Busy Bee to go find three people to talk to about prayer, we usually do this as a class. If you have parents sitting in the room, you can find three people pretty easily! If your pastor is around during your meetings, I bet your class would enjoy seeing your pastor and talking to them about prayer. Do you have pathfinders around? Bringing in an older pathfinder to give a three sentence answer about prayer would be awesome. I highly recommend giving anyone you plan to ask a heads up beforehand.

My Self II

I. Participate in an activity or make a craft showing different people who care for you.

I created Who Cares for Me? for a fun Who Am I type game. There are cards for 14 different people who care for us. Many of them are family members, but you’ll also find some members of the community. Tape a card on each person’s back without them seeing the character on their back. Take turns guessing who is on your back by asking the class questions about the person who cares for you. The free printable is at the end of this post.

II. Name four different feelings. Participate in an activity or make a craft showing different feelings.

Kim, over at Life Over C’s, has a great Emotions Board Game. I enjoy using this free printable each year I teach Busy Bees.

III. Complete the Health Specialist award.

The lesson plan for Health Specialist is here. This award took my class one meeting plus one at-home sleep log.

My Family

I. Show or explain what you like about each family member.

Using page 18 in the Activity Book, draw a picture about one thing you like about each member of your family. Or, for a more active “game” option, stand in a circle and toss a light ball/koosh ball around. When the adventurer catches the ball they should say one thing they like about a family member. Continue until everyone has said something about each of their family members. Kids from small families could include extended family members.

II. A. Discover what the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) tells you about families.

Time to pull out your Bibles! Yes, your beginning readers can use their Bibles. Here’s the technique I use.

II. B. Act out three ways you can honor your family.

After brainstorming ways we can honor our family, it’s time to play charades. Larger classes might want to divide up into small teams for this game. If your Adventurers struggle with quick decisions, write the ideas from your brainstorming session on slips of paper. Each kid or team can choose paper and act out the action on the paper.

III. Complete the Safety Award.

The lesson plan for the Safety Award is here. This award took at least a meeting and a half. There is a at-home portion to the Safety Award.

My World

I. Tell how you can be a good friend.

The Cooperation Award fulfills this requirement. You could also complete this requirement with a discussion with your Busy Bees. Or you could read a book about friendship. Peanut Butter and Cupcake by Terry Border is a fun book about making friends that I’e enjoyed reading to Busy Bees.

II. A. Discuss the work people do for your church.

I asked our church secretary if she would be willing to give the Busy Bees a backstage tour of the church. Our church has all sorts of places the kids don’t normally see (like the offices and inside of the baptistry). She eagerly took my request and called in reinforcements!

In addition to getting a full tour with a quick description of a few jobs, we learned about Community Services, counted money with the Treasurer, played with the Sound System and Cameras with one of the Sound System guys, and made a thank you craft for the Pastor in his office. It was so much better than I could have hoped for. If you can, I highly recommend recruiting your church secretary to help you with this requirement. Even if they can’t help, they are likely to know who to call.

II. B. Learn about one job by helping the person do it.

Your activity to fulfill this requirement is likely to be as unique as your church. The church secretary tasked us with straightening up the pew pockets. We removed old bulletins, sharpened pencils and restocked the envelopes and communication cards.

III. Complete the Friend of Animals award.

Friend of Animals is a longer award that took my class quite a few meetings. It’s a fun award full of crafts and games. There is a home component and a recommended field trip.

Printables

Whew! If you made it all the way to the end, would you leave a comment and tell me either your favorite thing about Busy Bees or one of the challenges you have with Busy Bees? Do you do Investiture Achievement in your club?