Help for Young Life Leaders NOW

Yes, we did Thug club Monday. The kids came dressed krunk and all. We played lots of hip-hop music. Ironically it was the first week we had Rock Band out to play before club so there was a little contrast between the two. It was funny to see a thug-ed out kid playing the Rock Band drums to Nirvana.

The funniest part was "pimp my ride". Foil was everywhere. The skit is a tricky one, it can come off rude way too easily. The rap challenge was fun. I’ve included the rhyming words sheet below.

We decided to celebrate everyone’s birthday this week at club. We convinced everyone that Monday was their birthday. I was on campus and kids were saying, "Happy Birthday Sean!" I even heard kids saying it to each other. It definitely created some hype around campus.

You can see the attached club for the details. The highlight was probably the leader piñata. Here is a picture to give you an idea…

Last Monday we did Toilet Paper Club. It was a shorter club, then we Tee-pee-ed our rival high school.

We asked each student to come with one or two rolls of toilet paper and camo gear.

The other club let us get them for a few minutes and then ran out with pillows and squirt guns. Pretty fun. Make sure you have rides all lined-up and parents in the loop.

Check the target

Did you hit your mark? Ask for feedback. Ask key kids too.

It is wise before your talk to to ask an experienced leader to listen carefully, and time the talk also. Ask for constructive feedback. You will get a bunch of "great job" and "way to go". Those help and are nice to hear. But it really helps to hear from one or two people:

What should I do again?

What should I tweak next time?

My senior leader always gave me a letter grade (It was always B-, B, B+, A- or A+), one thing to change and 3 things that I did well.

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Plato’s order of perception

1. Credibility (who are you?)
2. Compassion (do you care about me?)
3. Content (what do you have to say?)

Use at least 2 of these: Something…

1. Personal
2. Visual
3. Interactive
4. Surprising
5. Tangible

Review your notes and write at least two or three key “feelings” that should be obvious (anger, excitement, frustration).

Give them the “real deal” not what it is “supposed” to be like, but how real is this for you?

Ask: Why should they listen to you?

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• Jesus is the answer. Find scripture from the gospels that show what Christ has to say about this topic. Ask for help if this is hard.
• Apply it to your life and theirs. Give them a challenge.
• How does this fit everyday life?
• What does this look like when it is implemented?
• Get their attention. Find a personal or interesting story to illustrate the target issue. Most spend too much time on this part.
• Plan your last sentence, what is the last thing you want to say?

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• Identify: Hurts, Needs, Interests. Current Events, Individual Events, What they value
• Address a problem they perceive
• Help them identify the meaning of life and the purpose of life
• Tools: Team brainstorm, ask kids, read some blogs, post a survey. Also use a series of talks. Bold and brash topics will gather interest.
• For a talk identify one person (ex: Jim)
• Aim for one main point.

Club Talk Project Part 1 of 4:

Situation: Jim’s parents don’t really know him and he came to club for the social scene.
Club Talk Title: What if your parents knew EVERYTHING you do?
Main Point: Jesus knows everything you do, and it doesn’t phase him. He cares for you.

Brain Freeze Race

Basically this is a race to see who can finish a 16 liter bucket of 7-11 Slurpee the fastest. You need 2 big buckets of Slurpee (7-11 will generally give you a good deal on the stuff) and however many straws you need for the team members. Two teams race against each other to drink their bucket first.

Car Stuff

Explain inside before going outside to driveway. Competition between sexes and classes. 30 seconds to get as many into, (not on) a small car. Then  pull them out and count. Remover rear-view mirror before. So fast it doesn’t hurt the car, honest!

Cow Milking Contest

Two guys sit facing the audience. Give each a pail to hold between their knees. Hold above them a broomstick to which you’ve tied two playtex rubber gloves filled with water. Punch a small hole in each finger tip. The guys milk the gloves.

  Frozen T Shirt Contest

A day before you meet, take several t-shirts, wet them, fold them and then stick them into a freezer overnight. Immediately before the contest, remove the t-shirts from the freezer. The object of this contest is to be the first person to unfold the frozen t-shirt and put it on. This will take a couple minutes because the frozen t-shirts will not open right away. This game is especially fun if done outside during the summer, but you can do it anytime and anywhere.

Girls Sign Guy’s Feet

Five guys have three minuets to see how many girls they can get to sign their bare feet.

It might be too late for this, but last night we did the dating game club. It went over great.

It helps it you blindfold the guy and put a divider between him and the girls. It also helps if the girls use fake voices to avoid being recognized.

Here is the plan and a sheet to help with the games.

Here are 5 new games for club that might be new to you:

1. Fly Swatter Fencing
Not sure if this is on the site, but it should be. Buy two fly swatters from the dollar store. Two people. Stand facing each other with swatters extended. The goal is to hit the other person with the fly swatter, and after each hit you line up again. First one with three hits win. This game can be greatly enhanced with football helmets, hockey gloves, fencing uniforms (?), and a strobe light.

2. “Cotton Ball and Bad Breath” (you’ll see why)
Like the cotton ball competition everyone has vaseline on their nose and then a cotton ball sticking to the vaseline. The object of the game is to blow everyone else’s cotton ball off thier nose (without using any limbs or body parts) while keeping your cotton ball on your own nose. It’s really fun, try it out!

3. Ice Weight Gain
As part of an Olympics series this year, we played a new game we called “Ice Weight Gain” that turned out to be quite hysterical. people. One person on each team puts on a large pair of sweat pants and then you have a ‘”weigh-in.” Each team has 1 or 2 minutes to see how many pounds of ice they can drop into the sweat pants using only bare hands, one hand at a time.

4. Egg Blow
Use a funnel to put egg into half-inch clear plastic tubing. Two kids standing five feet apart try to blow into opponent’s mouth. Leader must hold tube so kids don’t blow egg into crowd.

5. Gummi Fish

Show guys two cups with live goldfish and two with just water. Blindfold them and replace the goldfish with cups that have gummi fish in the water. Have the guys choose a cup and then drink. They’ll think they are drinking a real fish. ** You should coat the cups with a little oil or Pam so the gummi fish don’t stick to the cup (Tip from Hugh – thanks!)