Bookmarked Ideas
At least once per month, if not more often, go somewhere after your latest Sunday church service. Vary the location among restaurants, outdoor activities, home fellowships, etc. Encourage youth to bring their friends to the service beforehand.
Many highways invite groups to adopt a stretch of road and come out to pick up litter. Make this a quarterly event at least. Give prizes away to those who collect the most trash. Recycle what you can.
Ask each of your young people to identify someone at school who doesn't attend any church. For the 12 weeks have kids each commit to becoming that person's "undercover angel." Weekly, have kids each slip a card into their person's locker at school, leave a gift for him or her in the office, write a note of encouragement after a poor grade, or offer some other kind of secret encouragement. Each week in the youth group meeting, have kids each report on what they did and what their person's reaction has been. Weekly reports will help keep the motivation and interest high. After 12 weeks, kids can choose a new person to reach out to. Encourage kids not to reveal themselves to their secret person, even after they've moved on to a new person.
Gather all kinds of really horrible foods - ones that are quick to open and eat. For instance, baby food, fresh produce, chips, crackers(small box), etc. Everybody is behind a line, 10 ft. One member/leader is holding the garbage bag with these items in it. The member behind line has to go up to the bag, pick something out, by feeling, not seeing what it is, eat it there, then run back to end of line. Race to the finish. If you don't like something, you still have to eat it since you picked it. (Be aware of food allergies).
More cruel choices are onions, salami, warm ginger beer (remember, you have to chug it!), a whole pack of gum/candy. This works well if you are a hungry bunch!! 🙂
Give everyone a banana. Everyone puts a mark on their banana to be able to identify their's. All the bananas are put in the middle of the room in a big pile. Everyone is in chairs in a square around the room around the pile. Be sure to be in a square shape because each side of the square is a team...4 sides--4 groups.
When a signal is given, everyone rushes to find their banana. The team that has their bananas and is sitting down first wins. [Doing this game several times is likely to get a few squished bananas out of it so make sure you have quite a few extras.]
Everyone has a banana in good enough condition to eat. 2 teams face each other in parallel lines. The people have to put their banana in a pocket. When the signal is given, the people must draw their bananas like guns and instantly peel it and eat it as fast as they can. Whoever has their banana eaten first wins.
Divide up into two teams. Sit in parallel lines across from each other. Make sure the 2 lines are about 15 feet apart. Put a banana in the middle. Number the people off.
One line: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9...
Other line: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1...
So that the same numbered people are diagonal from each other.
The leader will call out a number. The two people with that number run up to the banana. The object is for one of the people to get the banana and get back to his/her seat without being tagged by the other person. [This is very hard, since both people are standing right next to each other.]
Once one of the players picks up the banana the other player can tag him/her. If a person is tagged, the banana must be put down and another number called. Whoever tags earns a point for the team. Whoever gets to his/her seat without being tagged earns a point for his/her team.
The New Year is typically characterized by the exit of Father Time and the entrance of Baby New Year. This event is based on babies. Everyone should come dressed like a baby. The following games can be played. 1.) Best Dressed Baby 2.) Baby Picture Guess: pictures are brought and put on a wall and people are a piece of paper with the corresponding numbers and must match them up for points. 3.) Baby Buggy Race: get an old buggy or stroller for each team and have a race, relay style with each person pushing the carriage around a goal and back with a teammate riding on it. 4.) Bottle Drinking Race: fill a bottle with juice and have races.
Try at a retrea. Pass paper cups half-filled with Bisquick during breakfast. Get everyone to mix some liquid with the Bisquick to form a dough (milk, orange juice, coffee, maple syrup, whatever). Get each person to place their lump of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Then the dough is pressed together lightly to form a loaf but not enough to mix the individual lumps together. After the dough is allowed to rise, bake the loaf. At the communion service, the loaf is broken and passed around. Perhaps you can discuss how communion symbolizes that we are all individuals but we become one "mixed up" loaf through Jesus Christ.
*** Good for an evening at winter retreats or camps when the weather won't allow outdoor events. Gather popular games such as Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scattergories, and Taboo. Set up game stations around the room with a game and necessary items (such as paper and pencils) at each station. Have kids form pairs and joining pairs at each station. Allow 5 mins for setting up and going over the rules. For team games such as Pictionary have the 2 person team play together. If it's an individual game such as Monopoly, have kids play for themselves - but keep in mind that they'll be adding their scores to their partners' at the end of the game to determine the winning pair. When teams are ready, allow them to play the game for 15-30 mins. Kids should complete as much of the game as possible in this time. When time is up everyone stops and determine who wins. Record scores and go on to the next station.
Form groups of 4-6. On separate 3x5 cards write different body parts, such as "hand", "eye", "mouth," etc. Give each group a different card and tell them to prepare to act out what's on their cards for everyone else. Each person in the group must play a role in acting out the body part. For example, one person can curl up to form the palm of a hand while the others pretend to be fingers. When ready, the groups act them out while the others guess what they are. Questions to ask: How did it feel to work together in this activity? What can we learn from this activity about how we should work together in service to Christ? Ask... Why do you think God chose to compare the church to a body? What was the hardest thing about working together to create your body part? What's the hardest thing about working together as the body of Christ? How can we discover our roles in the body of Christ?
At our church we have a monthly meeting with all of our Sunday School classes (youth & adults alike--in different places). On the first Sunday afternoon of every month the youth prepares for a time of fellowship where they can invite all of their friends to hang out.... Sometimes we go out to eat, play capture the flag, invite other churches to fellowship, have a youth choir performance, have a contemporary worship performance, and sometimes we just hang out around our youth building and get to know each other better!!!
Divide players into two teams. Mark the Start and Finish lines about 30 feet apart. Teams line up with one person behind the other, facing the finish line. Next, players sit down and wrap their legs around the person in front to form the body of the centipede. Players' arms become the legs. When the leader says "Go," players lift with their arms and begin to push the centipede toward the finish line. If players become separated, they must try and reconnect. The winning centipede must completely cross the finish line with all its players connected.
Great game for groups of 6-10. Place a chocolate bar in the centre of the table. The candy should stay in its wrapper and, to make the game last longer, you could wrap the candy in gift-wrapping paper as well. Each person sitting around the table takes a turn at rolling the dice. The 1st person who rolls a six gets to start eating the candy bar -- but only after he puts on a pair of mittens, a cap, a scarf; only after he runs once around the table; and only with a knife and fork. While he is getting ready (according to the instructions above) to eat the candy bar, the group keeps taking turns rolling the dice. If someone rolls a six, then the person who rolled the six before him relinquishes his right to the candy bar, and the 2nd person must try to eat the candy before someone else rolls six. The game is over when the candy bar is finished.
Encourage church members to drop off cards for other church members at the church building. For a nickel or dime per card, sort the cards and deliver them to staff members' mail slots, church members' after Sunday services or by car to shut-ins. Set up a table in your church foyer for church members to drop off more cards or stop by to pick up any mail. Advertise this activity in November and encourage church members to mail their cards early. Charge an extra nickel for each card "mailed" after December 20th. *** I think it might be a good idea to offer Christmas cards to be purchased at the table as well to help make extra money.
During the Christmas season this year, have your youth group sponsor a Christmas gift list for young children in a nearby hospital, orphanage, detention centre, or disadvantaged apartment complex or neighbourhood. On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, 5 weeks before Christmas, have the youth group canvas one of these groups of children and learn what -personal- gifts they'd appreciate. If your focus is on children in a hospital or orphanage, have the kids ask the staff for suggestions for each child. Have kids set up a Christmas tree in the entry area of the church building. Place tags on the tree that describe each gift the group needs. Church members can review the the tags, choose a gift they will bring and place it with the tag under the tree. Encourage church members to purchase the suggested gifts so members of your group can experience giving something meaningful to another person.
Conducted during a retreat. The participants came from many different places. The goal was to try to respect their uniqueness while moving them into community during a call to worship. With masking tape, a circle is formed on the floor for each person. Lights are dimmed and quiet music is played. Group members are called into the room and remain silent... then say "Let's worship God." Each worshipper sits in a circle facing different directions. They close their eyes and reflect on what they left behind. Ask: "What person's face do you most vividly see? What are this person's problems? What things have been left undone?" Then ask youth to focus on a nearby person. Ask them to think about that person's world, leave their circles and sit in pairs. Encourage pairs to share their earlier reflections. Then you can lead the pairs to join up with a new pair. Continue until a new community has been created.
A unique way to get your kids to share their opinion s. Hang a clothesline across the meeting room. On one end have a sign that says, "Strongly Agree" and the other end says "Strongly Disagree." Mark the centre of the clothesline for reference. Get wooden clothespins and allow the youth to decorate them as they wish so they'll know which are theirs. Each week at the close of your youth meeting, read a strong statement to the group. Ask your youth members to think about, talk about and research the statement during the week. At the beginning of the next meeting, have each member clip a clothespin on the line where it best reflects his or her opinion. Spend the first few minutes of the meeting discussing the results. The topic can be independent of the meeting's main lesson or it may be used as a great intro to a relaxed subject.
If your church has a coffee hour before or after worship, and uses styrofoam cups, then try this out. Have your youth group members use coloured markers to write messages on the cups. The messages can have phrases such as "Jesus Loves You," or "You're Special", or you can advertise upcoming church or youth activities. Just be careful not to get any marker on the rim or the inside of the cups. Also good for church fellowships get-togethers and picnics, etc.
Good activity for the final night at a camp/retreat is to have a coffee house program. At the beginning of the camp, divide the kids into groups of about 7 each. Ask each group to develop a coffee house presentation such as drama, singing, reading, etc. During the coffee house, each group will have the opportunity to make its presentation. Set up for the coffee house by covering the tables with white paper. If the tables can be folded, place them on the floor in the shape of a circle. Have the campers bring their sleeping bags, and blankets to sit or lie upon in front of the tables. Use candles on the tables for light. Have juice and donuts, and popcorn for refreshment. Begin with singing and guitar music. Let each group make its presentation. Close with a time of sharing and prayer.
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