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Lock-In Ideas
TIPS
- Some of the things we did right:
We took the kids bowling at 11:00 PM and through prior arrangements with the owner, we had special music and lighting and the bowling alley to ourselves.
We came back to church and decorated 36 bags that we would use for the Christmas shut-in baskets. (Hint: under no circumstances should you ever use glitter for this or any other project in church)
We went on an exploration trip of the church and showed the kids where the pipes for the organ where at and all the secret storage places and what we have stored in them. This came in very handy a month later, when we helped decorate the church for Christmas, the kids knew where things were at.
We made homemade pizzas and had a lot of junk food.
We had a number of silly high energy games to play and some equally silly prizes.
We charged $3.00 plus the bowling charge and also asked the kids to bring some kind of chips or treats.
We had too much food, which is better than not enough.
- Some of the things that we did wrong.
21 is too many to try and teach at one time at 3:00 AM. I was well prepared and had three really interesting topics that just did not work out well that night, but I used those same topics in a Sunday AM bible study and they went over very well.
We needed more help from adults. It was Pastor, my wife and myself and two adults that only helped with driving to and from bowling. Pastor had a busy Sat. planned and so he went home at around 1:30 and so it was just my wife and myself. We had one group of kids that wanted to sleep, imagine that at a lock-in, unheard of, and we had some of the kids that wanted to play flashlight tag.
We have a large Sunday school building attached to our church with many rooms and a large church basement with a lot of hiding places, so this game worked well. No one got hurt and they had a little rest time while they were hiding.
We timed our lock in to run from 8pm till 8am. The start time was good, but they were more than ready to leave between 6 and 7 am, and so were we.
We didn't have any videos or movies as I didn't want to have any time for the kids to get too relaxed or put anyone into an uncomfortable situation with the boy/girl thing and blankets and a darken room.
I really do wish that we would have had more adults to play cards or games or something with smaller groups.
We will do this again cause we and the
teens
had a lot of fun, even with some of the rough spots, but I would do it
in the fall or spring, so we could have a bonfire or at least roast
some
marshmallows over a grill or go for a walk or something outdoors.
I also would insist on at least 1 adult
for every 5 or six teens.
I hope that I helped to prepare you for
your lock in and did not scare you off. Experience is a great
teacher
and until you try it, you won't know how to do it. I will change some
things
for next time, but there will be a next time.
Tips when working with Youth.
I've been teaching Sunday School for 15 years and have been active in Lutheran Pioneers for over 30 years.Golden Rule Number One when teaching - ESPECIALLY YOUNG ADULTS - is "Be Prepared!". The kids will only get out of a subject what you put in. And if you, as a teacher, realize you are as much a student as the rest of the class when it comes to learning God's Word, you'll never want for lack of preparation.
I forget where they originated from, but they are cool for large groups of fun-seeking folks, such as would be gathering at your next lock in...
Ice Chest
Get some guys (3-4) that think they're pretty tough. Tell them that you're going to have a contest to see who is the "coolest!" Have them change into some x-large shirts that you have for them and have them tuck the shirts in. Then have a team mate (or team mates) run with cups of ice to fill up the shirts. You'll need a lot of Ice, shirts, cups, and buckets or actual ice chests to hold the ice in. Also have towels for them when the game is over. You can judge the winners by how much ice they got in the shirt in a given amount of time or by how long the guys could stand having the ice in their shirts.
Big Balloon Bop
This is a simple game. Go to your local art supply or party supply store and buy the biggest balloons they carry. (16" are cool, 3' are better). Divide the crowd in two. Have numerous staff throw the balloons in the crowd and have the crowd try to hit the balloons to the other side of the crowd.
A fun twist to the game is, when done, tell the kids to pop the balloons and have #'s in a few of the balloons. Bring the kids with the #'s up front to use in an up-front game or to give a prize to.
Cell Phone Challenge
This is a cool little modern game idea. Have someone hidden in the crowd with a cell phone on. You have another phone up front with the number for the other one programmed in it. Bring up a kid from the audience, dial the other phone, hand him the phone and tell him to find the other one as fast as he can.
Hints: Test the room to make sure that cell phones work. Also, most cell phones will only ring four times and then will go to voice mail . . . so tell the kid to hit end and send again every four rings!
Cell Phone Pizza Challenge
Find two local pizza places that deliver. During the beginning of the evening, divide the crowd in two and bring up a representative from each side. Hand each representative a cell phone and phone # of two competing pizza places. Have them each order a large pizza, tell the delivery person the situation, and that there's a $20 tip for the one that arrives first. Clearly announce to the crowd which pizza place is coming for each team.
As you are continuing your program, one side of the room will erupt into applause when a pizza driver comes in representing their side of the room. Interview the deliverer and give him the $20 tip in front of the crowd. (You can then have up front games lined up where winners get a piece of pizza.)
The Duct Tape Challenge
Divide into even teams and have each team select a volunteer- preferably a small, light one. Give each team a roll of duct tape. The object is to tape a team member up on to the wall, using no more than the provided role of tape. The one who stays up the longest is the winner. (anyone beat 30 minutes yet?) Hint: Make sure you use the tape that doesn't leave sticky stuff on the wall or tear off paint (especially in rented or borrowed facilities!) Provide a soft landing for youth as they drop off the wall!
I Need....
This game can be played with small or huge groups. Select teams. Select someone from each team to stand up front. A caller then calls out for somewhat common items that people might have on them or that might be in the room they are in (lists can vary). The first team to bring up that item wins that round. Have each team elect ONE runner to run the item up to the person up front.
OR
For a variation we had a hat on the person up front and had the kids tape the items to the hat (have your cameras ready!) . Teams must stick the items called for to the hat and they had to remain there till the end of the game (if the time falls off no credit). The first team to get their item stuck got to keep that item on the hat. At the end the team with the most items stuck to the hat wins.
Some suggestions are:
I need...
| .....something w/ wire | ...something metal |
...a piece of material |
,,,3 strands of different
colored hair |
| ...a comb |
...a shoelace |
...a cup |
...a piece of tape |
| ...a spoon |
...a glove |
...a pen/pencil |
...something brown |
| ...paper |
... a sock |
...a plate |
...a shoe |
In your particular forum you may have more items you can use than we did in a rustic cabin.
Move Right if...
Just like it sounds. Tell the people in the crowd to "move right if . . ." (e.g. they are wearing green, if they're in eighth grade, if their birthday is this month, etc.) Be creative! (move two seats to the left if . . . ) Kids will end up on multiple layers of laps or under others.
Row Organizer
The reason that this game is good is because it takes no props! Just tell the crowd that each individual row is a team (make sure all rows have at least 7 or 8 people in them). Then you tell everyone to organize themselves in their row by . . . (height, birthday, shoe size, age, # of speeding tickets, etc.) First row to do it gets a point. Keep score and give the winning row a prize.
Have great fun with these saints who'll be jogging side by side with you on streets of gold one day. You'll have a lot to praise God about, particularly about the gift of His Son whose life's work gives us unending joy and gladness!
2. (2 participants) Pick a person that is potty trained, and one who enjoys quilted softness while enjoying a rides that spin in circles. One of the chosen people will have to stand still while the other runs around him/her and wrapped him/her with a roll of toilet paper. Whose ever TP ran out first wins.
3. Pick a person who loves to build. With the members of his group coaching him build a "church" out of LEGO's, No one else can touch the lego’s. Don’t forget the cross! (we sorted lego's out to give each team the same amount and same shaped legos to be fair)
4. Pick a person that has great handwriting. Now blindfold that person. Each member of this group tell him/her 2 books of the Bible to write on a piece of paper. No repeats, and judges MUST be able to read them.
5. Pick a person who loves to dress fashionable. Now bring out a set of winter apparel for each group and the person who gets dressed the fastest and properly wins.
6. (3 participants) Pick a person that loves to eat leftovers with a friend. That person picks a helper and the two of them stand back to back. They pick a group member to make them into a leftover by wrapping them in cellophane. (DO NOT COVER ABOVE THE NECK). First team to have their left over completely covered, no skin or clothing or shoes uncovered, wins.
7. Pick a person who loves soft things. Blindfold that person and place cotton balls in front of them and who ever picks up the most cotton balls with a spoon, NO HANDS OR BODY PARTS USED in 30 seconds wins.
8. Pick a person that loves to act. This person will have to act out a famous movie. Group with the fastest time wins.
Overall winner is
the group that won the most tasks.
Prizes can include,
being served breakfast in bed (or sleeping bag),
being omitted for
clean-up duties, getting in line first for a meal, etc...
I have a couple of mixers I have used, that have been successful, especially when you have public school kids and Lutheran high school kids that don't know each other well.
Idea #1:
Take a 30 gallon garbage can half
filled with ice water. Dump in 4-5 different flavors of
pop;
cases of them. Everyone lines around the room with the garbage
can
in the middle. (hint: make sure it is set there before filled,
because
you will not be able to move it until it is empty, also plenty of
towels)
On the whistle all race and grab a two cans,
any cans. Then hustle back to their spot around the room. Place
one
on their spot. Then they have to trade one can with someone in
the
room that is carrying a different can. But they need to fill in two
blanks
on a cardstock paper with questions you choose (ex. NAME
always....how many brothers/sisters in the family? How long have
they lived in that city? Favorite bands? Favorite colors?
Favorite
foods....) Then race back to their spot. They continue to do this until
all the blanks on the cardstock are filled with no more than two names
that are the same. 25 questions works well with a group of 15-30.
Idea #2: Simple one..
Play spoons with tables in a circle of 6
players on each table. After a certain amount of time. (15
minutes/
3 or 4 rounds) Three players with the less amount of letters SPOON move
right. Three other players move left. always 6 new players at
each
table. Moderator tells everyone introduce themselves and give
instructions
to tell each at the table: brothers/sisters, bands, etc.
Only
give them two things and have them do it quickly which is easier for
teens.
Then blow a whistle to begin the next round.
Keep giving teens an opportunity to share
in the Love of the Savior.
2006-01-23 12:09 PM
2008 Synod Convention
May Newsletter Available
