Archives by: Amanda McCain

Girls’ Night Out

Once a month, we have a Girls’ Night Out. Sometimes we do a “Dinner and a Movie” night – we feed the girls and then watch chick flicks. Sometimes we take them out shopping, or to a nice restaurant. The girls love the attention – and my husband, the youth minister, gets lots of funny looks for being the only guy in a huge group of girls!

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Grape Spitting

This game sounds gross, but it is a blast!! Give each kid a grape (make sure everyone gets the same type of grape – green ones roll different than red ones). Line them up and see who can spit a grape the furthest. (We let rolling count). This can be done indoors or out, but if you do it outside, make sure it’s on pavement – it’s too easy to lose a grape in the grass. You will be amazed at how far some of your kids can launch a grape!

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Scrapbooking

A wonderful thing to do for your group is to keep a scrapbook for them. I take a camera to even the smallest youth events, and take LOTS of pictures. I do one album for each school year. In the front are all the kids school pictures, with a brief bio on each kid. This doesn’t have to be expensive, and it can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Even the boys love looking through the albums, and looking for pics of themselves. Plus, it’s a great way to preserve and journal those special memories.

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Kiddie Maze

On a Friday night, get your teens together at the church building. You will need lots and lots of tape, staple guns, paint, and boxes of all sizes (from banana boxes to refrigerator boxes). You may want to make an announcement for members to donate boxes. Have them build a maze from the boxes. Depending on how big you make your maze, you may need two nights to do this. You can make any kind of structure(s) you want, such as a castle, village, etc. Have the teens decorate it any way they choose.

On Saturday, invite all the elementary and preschool kids to the building for a play day. Have the teens act as tour guides through the maze. Once all the kids have gotten to go through it, just let them play. This is a great event because it doubles as a play day for the little kids and a service project for the older ones.

Note: Make sure your structure is reinforced well – little kids can rough it up pretty quick!

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