Plan a fishing trip. Check to see if everyone has a fishing pole and borrow extras for the fishing trip.

Plan a camping trip. Make sure you have enough sleeping bags, tents, food, etc.

Plan a basketball tournament (or game if you have a small group). For the tournament, try to make up 4 or more teams. Have two teams play then the other two teams play and the winners of each game play each other. This will take a while to complete so plan for a long evening or starting early.

Plan a game of baseball.  Boys love to play baseball and it can be fun for running out the extra energy teenage boys have.

Hiking is another great activity for guys. If you have a place you can hike, this is an inexpensive and fun way to get your guys together to build lasting friendships.

O.k., your guys don’t like the outdoors, there’s still plenty for you to do:

Take them bowling. This activity is inexpensive and fun. For $10 each, your guys can bowl a game, get a drink, rent shoes and maybe even get a snack.

If you have a Play Station or Wii game console, plan an evening of video games and pizza. You can turn this into a tournament and have playoff games.

Just remember to plan things they enjoy doing. This is a great way to build a lasting relationship with your teen boys while you disciple them.

Another great idea is to have a spa night. Get a few 6 inch (or bigger) deep pans of hot water. Let each girl soak their feet for 5 minutes. Gently towel dry their feet. Provide lotion and nail polish to finish the pedicure.  There are a lot of great products at Walmart you can also use. Don’t forget to have things for their fingernails and hands as well (Satin hands by Mary Kay works great on feet also). Remember to provide as many different colors as possible for their fingernails and toenails. If you know someone who does Mary Kay or another skin care consultant, see if they would come teach the girls about taking care of their skin.  You can add other fun things as well. If you know someone who is a chiropractor, see if they would come and give the girls a neck and shoulder massage. Make it as elaborate or as simple as you want. It’s your spa night so tailor it to your teens.

Maybe your girl’s night out could be a shopping trip with a nice meal out. Make it possible for everyone to be a part of the trip. If you have a few teens who can’t afford a nice dinner out, hold a fundraiser to pay for the meal. If you have a large range of financial difference between your teens (some with a lot of money and some with no money), you should set a limit on how much they can spend. This will help everyone feel at ease and they will be more comfortable.

Have your youth group “adopt” a family. If there isn’t a family in need at your church, then go to a school and get information on a family (just ages of the children, sizes, etc. ~ never more than their first name) and gather Christmas gifts for them. If you know the family, the whole family can receive gifts. Have the gifts dropped off unwrapped at your church and have the teens wrap them. This is so you can be sure the gifts are new and appropriate. The last thing you want a small child to open on Christmas morning is a bottle of wine or something equally inappropriate. Then on Christmas Eve (or a day close to Christmas Eve) go Christmas Caroling and deliver the gifts. Hold back a few gifts and give them to the parents to have something from “Santa” for Christmas morning. If you don’t put your names on the gifts (leave “from” blank) then the parents can give the gifts to their children. Getting patted on the back isn’t the goal. Giving a great Christmas to someone who might not have a Christmas is the goal. The gifts themselves were not as important as the giving. Bibles make great gifts, just keep in mind that children may prefer a “Veggie Tale” video or a Child’s Bible to a King James Bible. Teens might prefer a Christian CD (in their style of music: Rap, Rock, etc.) or a Christian T-shirt to socks. Be creative and thoughtful to what the receiver of the gift might want or like.

For Thanksgiving,  “adopt” a family and provide a dinner for them (with all the food you normally have for Thanksgiving). Again, get donations and have the teens deliver it. You can prepare the food and deliver it on Thanksgiving (check with the family to make sure this would be convenient) or take the food to the family a few days before Thanksgiving (again checking to see what the family would prefer). You may find you end up with enough food for the family to have many meals after Thanksgiving as well. Limit food donations to non-parishable food and take money donations for the Turkey and other parishable foods (keep in mind that the family may not have the staples we take for granted like eggs, milk, butter, etc.). Once you have purchased all of the food for that day (don’t forget dessert), use the rest of the food to buy things the family can use later like crackers, bread, cheese, sugar, salt, peanut butter, etc.

For other holidays, keep it simple but think of how you can helpothers in need. For Valentine’s Day, give a food love offering to a family in need. For Halloween, host a Harvest party as an alternative and invite kid’s who are less fortunate or those who maybe won’t do anything that night. If you have the funds, open to the whole community. For Easter, host a Spring Fling. Have games and prizes, food and rides (blow-up bouncy rides). Face painting and egg hunts are fun as well. New Years Eve is a fun time to have a great meal for the less fortunate or have a Teen Lock-in so they have something safe to do and do’t get into trouble.

* Whatever you do to celebrate the holidays, incorporate giving and serving your community. Remember, we can’t out-give God but we can be generous with what God gives us.

* Use your talents to give and serve. Be creative and try to do something at least once a quarter for someone else. If your youth group is large enough or they really get into giving, try to do something every month.

This event is a great way for your youth group to give back to those who give so much through the year. What could be more fitting for a mission event?

We started this tradition by  inviting the whole police force (Town, County, Deputy, Forestry Service and the State Police that worked our area) to come to our church for an appreciation dinner. The following year we invited the fire and rescue workers for our area and did the same for them. We continued to take turns year after year.

Your teens should take care of all of the details with guidance from the adults. Let them help cook, set up and wait on everyone who comes. Get food donations from your church members and have a few adults help (one adult help in the parking lot with 2 teens to direct parking, one adult keep the tea and water pitchers full so the teens can keep the glasses filled, one adult fill the food bowls so the teens can keep the food coming to the tables, etc.). Give the departments a framed certificate of thanks and appreciation from your youth group (or a plaque if you can afford it) and, if you can afford it, buy a small gift for the department or something small for each person who comes.

* Keep in mind that certain times and days of the year may be busier for law officers and rescue workers. Winter may be a time when weather keeps them busy. Summer may have more travelers keeping them busy. Check with the Departments you are hosting to see what day of the week and time of the year works for them.

* If you have the volunteers, a large enough youth group, and the money/donations, you might want to consider giving them a choice of meat or have a vegetable plate available. We always served family style (put bowls and platters of food on the table and they serve themselves passing the bowls/platters around the table) but you can serve plated meals (your servers have plates with a serving on them and one plate is all the get) or you can set up a buffet if you have the room.

Things You’ll Need:
A place to hold the talent show.
Teens
1 adult per 10 teens participating
Poster Board
Sign-up sheets, Bulletin Inserts
Enthusiastic attitude
A love for teens
Ribbons and/or certificates

Be sure to ask your youth group if they want to have a Talent Show.  Would they enjoy showcasing their talents? If they grumble and say – I don’t have any talents – then tell them this is no ordinary talent show. Make it a talent show where everyone can participate. Not everyone sings like Celine Dion or plays the sax like Kenny G, but everyone does something well. Some may cook or bake. Others might do crafts or sew. You might have an ballet dancer and a film maker among your group. Put them together and have your film maker video tape your dancer during a performance, at practice or just dancing for fun. During the talent show, play the video and you have two talents at one time being displayed. Be sure both get credit for their part. I have listed other categories at the end of this post.

Once you have the teens on board, your volunteers will assist you however you need them. Your teens should help make posters to put up around your church and community. Make sure you have a confirmed date from where ever you are hosting the space from (Pastor, Rec. Center, Etc.). Have your volunteers help distribute the posters around town.

There are NO try-outs. Everyone who wants to showcase their talent should be allowed. Arrange for practice times. It is best if the practices can be done where the talent show is being held but this is not a must. During practices, your volunteers should be helping you keep the teens quiet when they are not performing. If costumes need to be made, see if you can find a volunteer to make them (or maybe one of the other teens can do it for their talent).

Now that you have a confirmed list of teens in your talent show and practices have begun, you or one of your volunteers should begin the ribbons and/or certificates (filling out the names, talent, date etc.). These can be done on most computers and don’t have to be fancy. A certificate simply should state the date, group hosting, talent displayed and teens name (you can make it look official by having your pastor and you sign it for fun). The ribbons should say – Participant, – Well Done,- You’re a Star, – or something generic like that (NO 1st place, 2nd place, etc.). You do not want to pit them against each other. Your goal is to  showcase their individual talents. On the back of the ribbons should be room for their name, the date, their talent and hopefully where the talent show took place. When finished, these should be placed in a safe spot where they will be easy to get to the night of the talent show. If you have a teen who likes to do this, let them help (again giving them the credit)

Setting up for a talent show is pretty easy. Make sure you have plenty of seats for the guests and a section marked off for the performers. If you have a teen or volunteer who is good with a camera ask them to video tape the talent show and take still shots. As a way to make a little money for your youth group, you can make copies of the video or photos and sell them.

It’s time to get the evenings schedule together. You’ve hopefully seen all of the performing talent. You can have the performers chose a number and that is where they perform or you can try to schedule the acts yourself but this can be time consuming and some might feel you are playing favorites. Once you’ve figure this out, it is time to put together the talent show program (bulletin, agenda or whatever you call it). If you have a teen who loves to create thing on a computer, let them help with this and be sure to give them credit.

The night of the talent show, you should have some volunteers with the teens keeping them quiet when not performing and keeping the flow onto and off of the stage going smoothly. If you have a fellowship Hall for where the refreshments are being served, set the artwork, photos, sculptures, sewing, etc. around the area. Make sure people can easily view the items while others are getting food. Also make sure the tables and/or chairs are away from the items so nothing gets damaged.

As the night begins, you may have a teen who likes to talk and socialize. Let them hand out the programs and greet people. Have the teens set up their own viewable submissions with help from you volunteers. Make sure everyone gets recognition for their submissions (viewable and performance).

When the last act is over, you can do one of two things. If you had a smaller group hand out the ribbons and certificates then invite everyone back to enjoy the refreshment and see the viewable submissions (make sure someone gets pictures of the food submissions before anyone digs into the food). If you have a larger group, take an intermission and serve the refreshments. This gives everyone a chance to see the viewable submissions before the certificates and ribbons are handed out.

Finally, Relax and enjoy knowing fun, fellowship and good food was had by all who attended.

Talent categories:
1. Singing (solo or group)
2. Musical instrument (solo or band)
3. Art (Painting, sketching, chalk, animation, sculptures, etc.)
4. Writing (Poetry, short story ~ set a word limit, song lyrics ~ original work only)
5. Comedian (Should be appropriate material for all ages)
6. Sports (Include them all but make sure they understand this has to be a film submission due to space and time ~ limit it to about 2 or 3 minutes)
7. Film Making (Make sure the film is 2 or 3 minutes long and is an appropriate film for all ages)
8. Acting (skits or a scene from a movie ~ make sure the scene/skit is 2 or 3 minutes long and is an appropriate film for all ages)
9. Cooking/Baking (those choosing this category will be in charge of refreshments that evening). Remember to take a picture of each item submitted for talent to give to the teen submitting.
10. Hospitality ~ If your teen loves to mingle or talk, they can be the greeter for the evening.
11. If they are good with “paperwork” have them help make the programs (be sure to give them credit).
13. Magician ~ again put a time limit on this.
14. Photography ~ have them display their photographs and then have them take photos of the talent show.
15. Crafts ~ anything handmade by the teen.
16. Sound effects ~ if you have someone interested in sound boards, let them run the sound board. You may need someone to show them how to run the sound board.
17. Health and Beauty ~ If a teen is interested in fixing hair, applying make-up, or doing a four minute talk on health.  They can assist with hair and make-up the night of the Talent Show if needed.
18. Debate ~ Maybe two or more of your teens enjoy arguing. Give them a topic (or let them choose one together) and give them each 2 minutes to debate it (again no one should be declared the “winner”).

* You can add any talent that your teens have that doesn’t fall in the above categories. The most important thing is to make every teen feel welcome to share their talent.

Planning a Youth Group Scavenger Hunt can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. You can let your imagination go wild. Try to get a count of how many teens will be there before you plan your Hunt so you can know how big it needs to be. Knowing the number of teens that will be participating will help you determine how many teams you’ll have. The number of teams will determine the number of chaperons you need, how many Kodak disposable cameras you need, how many prizes, etc. If you can’t know a head of time how many teens you will have, make an educated guess and then plan for one extra team if possible.

Now that you have the number of teams figured out and some chaperons in place, it’s time to figure out what kind of Scavenger Hunt to have (yes there is more than one type).

The first type is a Riddle Scavenger Hunt. This is where you give every team a list of riddles. The riddles can lead you to a place, an object, a person or another riddle (much like the “Wild Goose Chase” described in one of my other posts). If you decide on a Riddle Scavenger Hunt, you must then decide if the teams need to go to different places or people to get the next clue or if they are collecting the objects described in the riddle. If you don’t have one volunteer chaperon per team, this may not be the best type of Scavenger Hunt and you should choose one of the other hunts.

The next type of Scavenger Hunt is an item hunt. This is where you have a list of things with their point value (this is determined by how difficult the item is to find). Basically, you give the list of items to your teams (like Colgate toothpaste, Dial Soap, Green Giant can of corn, etc.) and they find the items. Your chaperon for each team drives your teams to their destinations. Your teams can then find the items and bring them back to where you are waiting (if you are collecting things for missions or for a needy family) or they can use Kodak disposable cameras to take pictures of the items. Using the cameras then gives you photos for a church photo album or for a gift to the parents for allowing their youth to join you.

A Store Scavenger Hunt is also fun. You must get permission before doing this type of Scavenger Hunt. You can check with Wal-mart, K-mart, Target, Kroger, etc. Ask them if your youth group can search for things from your list (show them the list if it helps) and take pictures for a Scavenger Hunt. If they say no, still thank them for their time. If they say yes, make sure your teams know to clean up behind themselves and not just dump the items where ever and move on. The day of the hunt, send your teams in different directions with a chaperon and a disposable camera. Let them take their pictures and turn in the cameras where you drop them at a 1 hour photo to finish your prints. While you wait, treat the teens to pizza or burgers.

If you use the photo method of collecting items, you can have the teams look through the photos and calculate, on a big board or paper, their points. Have one youth keep track of the points while one or two find the items in the pictures. Another teen can find the point value for each item. Have the chaperon working with that group, to keep order with their group. Have a prize for the team that has the most points or take them all to the batting cages or putt-putt and the winning team gets to go first. Treat them to Pizza Hut Pizza if it’s in the budget.

If you don’t have enough chaperons, you can make up packets and have them fill out the packet of riddles. The first team to finish the packet wins. This works well for Bible Studies. You can have them use their Bibles to figure out the riddles and take them through a story in the Bible (you will not need cameras for this type). You can also use the Bible verses to come up with clues to the next riddle or clue.

Tips & Warnings
Make some of the items seem impossible (like the river, a dragon or heaven) and give high points to those items. Give a bonus 10 points (or more) to the team who was the most creative in finding items (a cloud formation of a dragon, a jar with river water, etc.).

Be flexible. A Scavenger Hunt is meant to be fun so don’t quibble over an item. If it’s questionable, award 1/2 of the points.

You will need a chaperon for each team who is at least 21 years old (our church requires them to be at least 25 years old).

First, a Wild Goose Chase is when you give your teens clues (riddles work to add some fun) to get them from the starting point to the next place. You have another clue waiting there that takes them somewhere else. You continue sending them on the “wild goose chase” until they reach the destination where you have something special planned. This can be as simple as ending up at the local pizza joint, to ending back where they started and having a picnic, special dinner, Pizza Hut pizza, etc. waiting for them.

A Wild Goose Chase needs a plan. For this, you need an imagination (ability to write riddles will be helpful but you may be able to find something online). What you need to do is plan out a path. If you have a large group, you can use the same places just in a different order. You should plan out at least three (3) destinations before finally reaching the end. The riddle can be something easy like “Go to the Golden Arches” which everyone knows to be the McDonalds to something harder like “I’m Top Cow” which could be Burger King.

Now that you have the idea down, your next step is to plan a surprise to be waiting for them. This is where you have them end at a pizza place or plan a big party back where they started. Their final destination is up to you.

If you have a small group then you can keep them together in one group but more than 5 or 6 teens should be divided into smaller groups. You should have a special gift for each teen who participates and a special gift for each chaperon. If you want you can give the first team to reach the final destination a bigger prize or let them go through the food/treat line first.

Tips & Warnings
Make sure your chaperons have been approved by your church.
Make sure your drivers are careful and approved by your church.

TREASURE HUNT:

A Treasure Hunt is fun for all ages.The more active the Treasure Hunt the better teens respond.

1. Hide the treasure. Find a place that they would never think to look (this leaves out any place that has food). If it’s a CD they are looking for, think of safe places where the CD won’t be damaged in the process of the hunt or while waiting to be found (you probably should not hide it on top of the refrigerator where the heat could damage the CD).

2. Write clues on Index cards. Riddles work well for teens. If you can make your clues hidden in Bible verses, it’s a great way to help your teens get familiar with their Bibles. An example would be if you hide an index card behind a map of under a globe, the verse could be John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…” Leaving off at “world” is the clue. Place an index card in a garden and write a line of rhyme about the Garden of Eden like “Roses are red, violets are blue, if you plant here, you can grow too.”

3. Have the teens read the clues from the index cards and figure out where the next clue(index card) is. Let them continue until they find the treasure.

4. Once the treasure is found, celebrate with food (pizza or ice-cream sundeas work great).

5. For a twist on this, make the treasure verses in the Bible. You can call out  a Bible verse, and the first teen to stand and read it out loud wins a point. At the end of the hunt, the teen with the most points wins a prize. A variation of this would be giving them a list of ten clues. Each clue leads to a certain Bible verse. They write the verse they believe to be the right verse beside the clue. At the end, the person with the most right verses wins something (this can be as simple as they get to be the first to go throught the pizza line or again a CD or gift card).

* The most important thing to remember is make it fun and active. The more active the hunt the more likely your teens will be to invite a friend to come next time. Using the Bible is a really great way to get teens searching their Bible.

WHO DONE IT?:

This is played similar to Twenty Questions.

1. As your teens arrive, give them a character. On an index card, they should have a name, description of character, how they know the others in the group and any other important information.

2. Explain that one of them ate all of the snacks that was prepared for today. If they can figure out who, they can get a better snack for the group (you can tell them the first snack was cookies but they can have ice-cream sundaes if the person is caught.

3. They have to ask yes or no questions (to you) but the questions can not ask anything that gives the answer away (ex. Did Billy eat all of the cookies). Their questions can be – Is the person here today? Does the person have brown hair? etc.

4. Once they figure out the person, reward the group by letting them make their own ice-cream sundaes. Let the person who figured it out go first. If it goes too fast, have a second mystery ready to provide the toppings for the ice-cream.

PUZZLE MYSTERIES:

Have several different Brain Teasers for the teens to figure out. You can find some great ones online or if you are creative, you can come up with some great ones on your own.

1. Do the picture mysteries ~ Cup+rake-up+n-e= Crank (use pictures if you can – “Crank” would be the correct answer). Give them a time-limit and the one with the most done correctly wins points.

2. Play small parts of songs and have them write down what they think the song is. The one to get the most songs correct would earn points.

3. Have a picture covered. Ask them questions. With every correct answer, unveil a small part of the picture. The first person to guess the picture correctly gets points.

4. Have riddles. The one who gets the most riddles correct in a certain amount of time, wins points.

5. The person with the most points wins a prize.

* You can award points to everyone who participates, just give different points depending on how they did (5 correct=5 points; 3 correct=3 points; etc)

MURDER MYSTERY:

You need a victim. It’s fun to get someone other than a teen to do this so all the teens are involved with solving the mystery. A teen can be used if no adult is willing.

1. As your teens arrive, give them a character. On an index card, they should have a name, description of character, how they know the others in the group and any other important information. They need to wear something (name tag, special clothes, etc.) that tells the group who they are in the story.

2. Once they are all familiar with their character, a chaperon should begin by starting the story (why are they all gathered? Is it a birthday party for one of the guests? Are they on a train or staying at an Inn and  complete strangers? What is the first part of the mystery?)

3. When the scene (or story) has been set, have your victim stumble into the room and fall to the floor (pretending to be dead). They can be one of the chaperons, a key player or someone dressed as someone famous.

4. The teens need to figure out what killed them (was it poison, stabbing, a shooting). Give your teens paper to take notes (I give my teens a small note pad because they come in packs of 3 for a dollar). They can work together or alone. Remember, one of them is GUILTY of the crime but none of them know who (you can tell the guilty person if you think they can play along without giving anything away).

5. About every 15 minutes, something else needs to happen. If it’s a stabbing, the knife can be discovered, blood in the sink can be found, a bloody shirt can be found. All of these things need to be spaced out so the teens have time to do some thinking. Each clue needs to lead them in different possible directions (if possible). Don’t make it too easy to figure out.

6. Throughout the evening, have someone read more of the story if necessary to move the story along. Also have some Brain Teasers to help them along if necessary.

7. When they solve the Murder Mystery, reward them with something small.

* This can be over in an hour or take several hours. We did one that took all night during a lock-in.

Messy Game Day Fun!

1. You need to choose games.

2. Try to get enough chaperons to have one for every five teens.

3. Plan it outside. Things might get really messy (if you’re lucky) and in a big yard or field, it’s easier to clean up by just spraying off.

4. Tell everyone attending to wear their oldest clothes (something they don’t mind ruining).

Favorite Games:

1.  The Egg Toss. Have everyone pair off and each pair gets an egg. The teams (pairs) stand across from their partners in two straight lines. They start about 4 feet apart. Someone says “Toss” and they toss the egg to their partner. If the egg doesn’t break, one side takes a step backwards and someone says “toss” again. This continues until one team (pair) has an uncracked egg and all other teams are out (their eggs cracked). The fun part is when the egg bursts in someone’s hands and the splatter is all over them.

2. Messy Muscle Man. Again you need to divide into 2 or more teams. This time, they choose someone to make into a “Muscle Man” (it works best if you can have the smallest person but we’ve used all sizes). The person chosen puts Fruit of the Loom long johns on over their clothes. Everyone else will be filling the long johns with messy water balloons. Half the fun is when the balloons pop but the goal is to have more unpopped balloons in the long johns than any other team. This can also be done with regular balloons.

Peanut Butter Facial

4. Messy Dodge Ball. You play the game the same only the “balls” are actually water balloons filled with water and condiments. Before filling them, squeeze some Hunt’s ketchup, French’s mustard & Hershey choc. syrup in each balloon. Then add the water (this can get messy so be careful when filling the balloons). Put two or more kiddy pools where the line would be dividing the two teams. Fill the pools with the balloons. Put one team on either side of the pools. Blow a whistle or yell “Go” and let them run to the pools and grab balloons. As they throw the balloons, the balloons will either pop causing squeals of joy or bounce off. In this case, they can pick the unpopped balloons up and toss them back at the other team. Everyone wins!

5. Food Fight. Your momma always told you not to throw food but in “Food Fight” all bets are off. If you use two kiddy pools, set them up like the Dodge Ball field. This time, instead of filling balloons, you fill the tubs. Make the instant Idaho potatoes with water only (it’s cheaper and no one cares about the flavor). Make them as thick or creamy as you want. Jell-O is another great food for your fight. It takes at least 2 large boxes of instant potatoes per kiddy pool. Once the potatoes have cooled, so no one gets burned, add prepared Jell-O Instant pudding, Hunt’s ketchup, French’s mustard, Hershey chocolate syrup, Hershey strawberry syrup, Hershey caramel syrup, Maraschino cherries, Cool Whip whipped topping, and any other soft food you want to add. The teams each get a pool. Someone yells “GO” and the kid’s start throwing the food at each other. Every minute or so, someone should blow a whistle signaling the teens to change pools.  Keep them running to add to the fun. The fuller the pools the better. Again there isn’t a “winner” because it’s more for fun than for competition.

Pie In The Face

Tips & Warnings
1. Suggest to all of your guests that they bring a change of clothes. The ride home will be better if everyone is in clean clothes.

2. All of the messy water balloon games can be done with just water in them if you want to have a Water Game Day.

3. You don’t have to use the marshmallow cream in the pie pans. It works great because it is sticky but you can use just cool whip or make choc. pudding and cool whip on top for an even messier game.
Think of fun games your group enjoys and see if there’s a way to make it messy.

4. For the Peanut butter facial, the cheese puff balls can hurt if they get rough in their throwing. If you are working with younger children, you may want to use the marshmallows.

5. Make sure your participants keep their eyes closed when sticking their face in the pie pans.

6. Where ever you chose to host your Messy Game Day, make sure it’s o.k. if something gets messy and/or stained. Things explode and you never know where you might find splatter.

Look around for old birthday cards, greeting cards, etc. to make your invitations. * See my Youth Group – Inexpensive Party Tips post for a easy recycled cards for any occasion.

Serve sodas from cans or plastic bottles and have clean trash can or bag clearly marked for the recycled cans and plastic bottles.  * See my Youth Group – Inexpensive Party Tips post for a quick and easy punch recipe for any occasion.

For the children attending, have a recycling craft there for them to make. Young girls really enjoy making a Genie Bottle Bank. Teens may prefer a set of Bookends. You can ask the adults to bring the items you will need for these projects.

I’m not going to suggest recycled food. Instead, plan your food to be green in color or healthy and natural.
1. Celery sticks, broccoli and green peppers with ranch dip with green food coloring added.
2. Easy Holiday Parfaits (just make them green).
3. Ice-Cream Sandwiches (stay in theme or go green).
4. Green Jello squares.
5. Honeydew, white grapes, kiwi and lime slices are all good fruit choices.
* The possibilities are endless so be creative.

Do some research.
1. Find or make some fun puzzle sheets that give them information on Recycling, Reducing, Recovering and Reusing.
2. Send home with the teens a flier of simple ways they can go green at home. There are tons of ways we can Recycle, Reduce, Recover and Reuse at home. Make the paper eye-catching.
3. If you’re really crafty, make a small gift they can take home with them. Maybe you can make a bumper sticker for their car that says something about going green. Maybe you can make a refrigerator magnet out of recycled material as a memento from your party. Be creative.
4. You can give them a t-shirt and let them decorate it. Buy packs of white t-shirts and dye them green or if you know how to tie-dye that’s even better. You can also leave them white. Either way, the teens can decorate with paint markers to put a going green message on them.

* This is a great party to have for a youth group. It teaches them about recycling, reducing, recovering and reusing. It’s different enough that they might invite their friends. The t-shirts are a big hit at a party for just teens.
* You may be asked to host a yearly green party.
* Adults, teens and children everywhere might learn something new about going green.