It’s time to get back to school! Summer camp and vacations are over. Students are excited—and maybe a little nervous—about their new classes. Your youth group likely has more than a few fresh faces and everyone is probably ready to get back to a regular schedule.
What’s better than kicking the new year with a back-to-school party? Here are five back-to-school party ideas for your church youth group:
Back-to-School Party Idea #1: Capture the Flag & Pizza
Looking for a simple evening with very little preparation? This is it! Order pizza from a local pizzeria and split your group into two teams. Assign each team a flag then have them place them somewhere visible around the church or a local park. The first team to capture the other team’s flag wins.
Back-to-School Party Idea #2: Scavenger Hunt
Plan a scavenger hunt at your church, a mall or even a local park. Break the group into teams. Have members work together to find the items on your list. Need a list? Choose from one of many on ScavengerHunt.org.
Back-to-School Party Idea #3: Progressive Dinner
Ask four families in your church to host the students for a progressive dinner. One home prepares the appetizer. Another the salad. The third takes care of the main course. The final house serves dessert. If your church owns vans, shuttle the kids from one house to the next so they have plenty of time to bond.
Back-to-School Party Idea #4: Field Day
Hamburgers, hot dogs or barbeque and a whole lot of field day games will make a fun day at a park. Classics like a three-legged race, potato sack race, hula hoop competition, egg spoon race, and jump rope race can fill an entire afternoon. You could even add in a dodge ball, basketball, volleyball, or softball game.
Back-to-School Party Idea #5: Carnival Games
Similar to Field Day, this option uses carnival games instead—like shaving a balloon, water balloon wars, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, a pie-eating contest, and biting an apple on a string. You can even include face painting, a costume contest, and a piñata.
To ensure your success, remember to give your students and their parents plenty of notice. Sending regular email and text updates makes it easy—and a good Church Management Software system like FellowshipOne makes it an automated process. FellowshipOne even allows you to segment your church members by interests and ministries so you can send targeted messages to the families in your youth group, volunteer workers, and even visitors.
Click here to see how FellowshipOne can improve your communication throughout your ministry.
The options are endless with pre-teens and teens. Simply getting them together will result in a party. But by planning a fun event with back-to-school party ideas like these, you’re sure to start your year with a bang!
