the Monday Morning Debrief: Theme Nights
Every year the movie industry gets together for their huge Awards ceremony honoring the years best. Well, in case you missed it, last night was that moment. The 86th Annual Oscars. All of the big movies, actors, actresses and directors were celebrated in a great evening hosted by Ellen DeGeneres who was quite funny.
In preparation for Oscars, our Student Ministry spent a decent amount of the night recognizing the Oscars with a little theme night of our own. We did an Oscars Ballot Giveaway (filled out Sunday morning but the prize will be given next week), movie trivia and some other movie games. It was a great night overall.
“So what’s the point, Tom? The Oscars were last night, what can I possibly do about that now?”
You’re right, the Oscars were last night and there is nothing we can do about that. However, there are two things we can glean from this:
- You can still do an Oscars Night. Sure, it’s a week late but students are still be thinking about it and you can play a variety of games. You can even come up with some funny or serious “Oscars” to give away to students in recognition of what they have done recently. You could still do some movie trivia or pictionary (that never gets old) or even do a “Name that Movie” using images from movies shown up on a projector and have students shout out the movie. There is still plenty you could do, even if it is a week late.
- Constantly be looking for current and cultural events to make theme nights out of it. Theme nights have been some of our biggest attended events throughout the year. This is because the students get excited about themes and are very aware/involved with what is happening in the world. It also gives us leaders an opportunity to wow students with some cool games, different props and contests (“Best Dressed Super Hero” gets a prize). Therefore, whether it is the Olympics, the Grammy’s, Super Bowl, the upcoming St. Patty’s Day or some other event out there, there are plenty of themes we could do to make a normal “youth group” night into something special.
I have found that Theme Nights for students are definitely “wins” for students and leaders alike. They spruce up typical “youth group” and make it extra special in hopes that it may help a student come to know Christ in a different way.
So, TAKE A MINUTE right now and share your favorite Theme Night you have done with your group below! There are so many great ones out there that it’d be great to hear all that others do so we might be able to try them out with our groups as well.
