Youth Bingo

On my first day of fifth grade, we played bingo with our classmates. It was fun but only recently did I understand the point. The point was to get us to socialize. I probably would have never spoken to some of my classmates otherwise or it would have taken me a lot longer. It opened a door of friendship between us. My class got to be close... Or at least that’s how I remember it.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN BINGO BORED.

1. Create a 6X6 (at least) grouping of squares.
2. Fill in the squares with things like:
1. Find someone who’s been skiing before
2. Find someone who’s read the entire bible
3. Find someone who loves to sing
4. Find someone who dyes their hair
5. Find someone with an older sibling
6. Find someone with a pet (something other than a cat or dog)
3. They have to find someone in the room who fits the description in each square and then have that person sign the square. (One person can’t sign more than one square.)
4. They have to have each square signed before they’re done.

Reasons to play this game:

1. You’re a new leader, trying to get to know the youth
2. You are a growing church with a lot of new members
3. You’re trying to encourage friendship among your youth
4. You’ve noticed some people being left out
5. You have shy kids that you're trying to help out of their shell
6. You think it sounds like fun :)

Girls' Night In, Guys' Night Out

Needed:

• Two leaders (One male, One female)
• Basketball
• Facial scrub, nail polish, etc.

The idea behind this is to have a time of fellowship, specifically conversation. If you haven’t already guessed the guys are off to play basketball, while the girls’ get their beauty on. Try to encourage a time to talk about guy things with the guys and girls things with the girls. If you're use to not gender separating this is a relaxed setting where you can talk about anything.

Another benefit of doing this is forming a memory with your youth that will stick with them. Imagine you're a young man without a father figure in your life. Imagine you’re a young woman without a mother figure in your life. Here is a way you can be a mother/father figure.

Try and keep the conversation light but feel free to talk about the tough stuff if the moment allows. If both groups are meeting on the church property, have them meet up and do a group activity. This way the groups can fellowship together.

You’ll probably encounter students who don’t wish to break apart like this. Maybe there’s a guy who dislikes sports. Maybe the entire girls’ basketball team is in your youth group. There are ways you can deal with this.

For the guys:

• Invent your own version of basketball because it can be intimidating when you don’t know the rules
• Have a basics clinic at the beginning of the evening
• Have a group of students who sit on the sidelines/bleachers and cheer their peers on. (Swap out students, this allows for breaks for people who may need them and fellowship for students who’d rather hang out with friends or aren’t basketball players)

For the ladies:

• Encourage the girls to come even if a spa/makeover night isn’t their thing. Encourage them to give it a try. They don’t have to like it, but they may find they like it if they just try it.
• You can talk about makeup and fashion. This will help girls who would like to learn about these things but feel clueless.

I’ve suggested these things because basketball has been a popular activity at many churches I’ve been too and many girls would enjoy a spa day. But feel free to substitute these activities to suit your group better.