Miscellaneous

This game is so quick and can be hilarious…

Ok, everybody that has internet access uses the Google search engine. That is the only tool needed…

This game is very funny and easy to prep. It can be played in various ways and involves the most popular web-search tool.

Version #1:

Have contestants give you a word that you enter into Google. Whoever has the highest hit rate wins.

You can go for lowest hit rate, or limit the possible words by asking for words in a particular group, such as color, food…etc.

Version #2:

You enter a word of your choice. Record the number of hits it returned. Make a multiple-choice selection for the contestants to try and guess which word it was.

This is my fav because you can put the multiple choice answers on powerpointand use some pretty funny or disgusting words!!!

Version #3:

Put in 4 or 5 words and record the number of hits for each. Have the students see which group or person can put them in the correct order according to number of hits.

Cookout for city sanitation workers. Have you ever noticed those guys who ride around and pick up the trash on your curb? Have you ever thought they may not feel appreciated? In most cities the sanitation workers meet a couple of times a week for lunch in the area they’re working. Call the city and ask where the sanitation workers in your area meet and on what days. Once you have this information, get your group together and plan a cookout for the workers. Make invitations and deliver them a week in advance. Go ahead and ask if they will come. Chances are good they won’t turn down a free meal. When they arrive at the cookout, seat them, serve them, and clean up after them. The only thing they have to do is show up, eat, and be honored.

In your church’s main fellowship hall or gymnasium. Have all the young people bring dome tents (the kind that stand without having to be staked into the ground, most new tents are of this sort). They’ll also need all their camping things like sleeping bags, pillows etc. Set it all up in the gym, with a fake campfire in the center, those fake fire logs that plug in, or red cellophane placed amongst a stack of firewood, with a light bulb under it shining through the cellophane.
Have all the usual camping type fun, in a simulated way, we got all the campers to bring flashlights and turned out all the lights and got them to use their flashlights to see if they could find all the little plastic insects that we had scattered around the gym. Having songs and devotionals around the campfire. We cooked on barbecues just outside the doors. We did pearl diving using a kids swimming pool and marbles, that they had to see how many they could grab with their toes.

We just asked each of the kids to “Make Their Own Italian Dish.” They may have a parent help but we really encouraged them to do it themselves. Then everyone brings their dish to youth. I supplied all the other things. I figured that we’d get a bunch of different spaghetti dishes, but these kids got creative! They really seemed to enjoy it so we even did a taste of Mexico Night! Another big hit!

Earlier this summer, my youth leader and I came up with the idea for a newsletter for the youth group…yet it’s so much more than a newsletter. He named it The Fire Escape, and I went right to work on it. In one section, we write about issues that we as teens face in our everyday lives. In another we list events the youth group will be participating in and/or attending (such as this year’s Acquire the Fire tour). We have a “Salvation Corner,” where I leave a short salvation message for those readers who may not have accepted Jesus, and we have a prayer list. My email address and phone number are always included so the other kids can let me know if they have any prayer requests or suggestions for the next issue. For fun, we schemed up a character we call “The Snipe.” What The Snipe does is good things for people, to reflect the love of Christ….but what The Snipe REALLY loves to do is pull practical jokes on people.

***Just this past Friday the thirteenth, a woman who works with the youth group named Darlene and a friend of mine named Taryn and I went out after midnight to the house of a couple from church (whom we KNEW had a good sense of humor) and COVERED their mailbox with silly-string. We then left a big cardboard sign that read “The Snipe.” For the next week, The Snipe was the talk of the youth group!! lol***

NOTE: In order to keep from getting in trouble, The Snipe ONLY pulls pranks on people within the church, and ONLY on people who have good senses of humor.

We also include a page (or two, if needed) of pictures of things the youth group has done within the month – I find that the pictures are a hit with the youth group.

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Recently I wrote an article that was too big to fit the format for the Fire Escape, so I’ve included it as a letter instead. It’s called “The Challenge,” and it’s pretty much just that- a challenge to Christian teens to become bolder in our faith, to speak out for Jesus, to not be afraid to reflect Jesus in everything that we say and do.

If you’d like a copy of “The Challenge,” email me at the address provided above.

Each year I like to surprise the kids in my youth group with a Valentine’s treat. For each student in the program, I deliver a rose to their school with a card that reads…
I Love You today and every day of the year!
Love, GOD
(and his team at GFC- our youth group’s name)
I call all the schools ahead of time and make sure I can bring the roses to their main offices. I ask the schools to call down the students to the office to pick up their rose at the end of the day. And I always bring some roses for the secretaries who make all those announcements for me! The kids love feeling special and sometimes this even serves as a great witness in the school. Once, an unchurched student remarked to one of our youth grouppers, ‘Oh you go to that youth group where God loves you!’ 😉 Just a few more tips: call the florist one day in advance so they can wrap enough single roses with ribbon, etc. Also, I find that parents are happy to take some roses to the schools for you, as long as the card to the students are already written out, and as long as you call the school ahead of time. Good luck with this one!

Great for lighting night time events. Cut out the front of a #10 tin can; nail the can to the top of an 8-foot pole. Place a roll of toilet paper in the can and soak it with kerosene. The lighted torch will burn for about 15-20 minutes.

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.