I got my start in the Movement at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Smoky Mountains, famously home to one of the most-loved Americans ever, Dolly Parton. It’s hard to overstate what she meant to so many people, across every generation, background, and corner of the country. She was a once-in-a-lifetime songwriter and performer, sure, but she was also one of the most generous, big-hearted people to ever become a household name. Through the Imagination Library alone, she’s put millions of free books into the hands of kids who might not have had them otherwise, and she’s quoted as saying that being the “Book Lady” is what she’s most proud of.
I will always love her and will never stop missing her, and since I have the power to pick blog themes, we are hosting a tribute roundup. Here are a few activities you can bring into your Club to celebrate Dolly’s life, her creativity, and the joy she brought into so many people’s childhoods, including maybe your own. Turn on the Dolly playlist and dig in!
Start with a little glitz. The Rhinestone Design Challenge hands teams a plain item (poster board, a paper crown, an old sash from the costume bin) and a pile of craft supplies, and lets them go as sparkly and over the top as they want. Judge on creativity, not neatness. It’s a small, joyful nod to a woman who always said more rhinestones was the answer. You can bedazzle basically anything (and find TONS of ideas on Pinterest), but this rock idea feels feasible for a larger group.
And of course I had to share this Dolly perler bead pattern as a bonus!
Dolly was one of the greatest storytellers of all time, so a Storyteller Circle felt like a fitting tribute. Kids sit in a group and build one story together, one line at a time. No planning, no wrong answers, just imagination passed hand to hand, the same way she passed down stories in her own songs. This sticky note version is also fun.
And these games for purchase also encourage storytelling and are nice to have on hand for small groups or centers.
Her signature symbol gets its own quiet, reflective activity with the Butterfly Wall. Every kid decorates a paper butterfly, then the whole batch goes up together as a mural or hallway display, a small and lasting tribute your Club can keep up for a while. This list has a range of difficulty levels.
One of Dolly’s most famous songs is “Coat of Many Colors“, which is also a children’s book written by her. There’s even a Girl Scout badge! The Imagination Library website has a coloring sheet to go along with the book, or you can get crafty and make collages from scrap paper, then overlay them with quotes about kindness or other representations of each person in the group, echoing the story behind one of her most personal songs about family, resourcefulness, and love.
If you’ve got more time, older youth could try a Dollywood Theme Park Design project. Small groups dream up their own imaginary theme park, complete with rides, food stands, and a mascot, a nod to the park she built and poured so much of herself into for over three decades. Bonus for making it related to either your local area or the group’s cultural traditions. And double bonus for a food idea as good as Dollywood’s cinnamon bread!
This is for purchase but is fairly inexpensive, and you could also create your own templates on Canva. I also saw another idea where the groups made posters of their park map.
For a musical idea, the Songwriting Challenge lets kids write simple lyrics about their day, their friends, or the Club itself, set to a tune everyone already knows. Dolly wrote thousands of songs in her lifetime, many of them starting just as simply as this. For a more in-depth songwriting program, Boys & Girls Club staff can check out Lyricism 101 on Club Programs.
And of course, we couldn’t leave out reading. Set up an Imagination Library Reading Corner, a cozy nook stocked with books, and let kids pick a favorite to read aloud in pairs or small groups. You could even start a book swap shelf where kids trade and recommend titles to each other. It felt like the most fitting way to end this list, since her commitment to literacy is one of the biggest parts of her legacy, and one Clubs get to carry forward every day.
If there’s an Imagination Library partner in your local area, be sure to advertise it for families with kids under age 5, and if your community doesn’t participate, petition your local government or nonprofits to start!
Dolly Parton spent her whole life turning her own story into something that made other people feel seen, loved, and a little more hopeful. May we all bring a little sparkle and kindness into everything we do.
What are your favorite ways to bring pop culture and current events into your programming? Comment below, on the BGCA Youth Development Facebook page, or email ClubXBlog@bgca.org.
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