Club Idea: "Man Panel"

The following club idea comes from our friends in Henderson, Kentucky. They used the idea of a "Man Panel" at their Valentine's Club... but I think it would well at any club throughout the year! 

"For our Valentine’s Club we serve the girls a nice meal with candlelight; we escort them into the dining room, give them a rose, “take them on a date”. We don’t really do a craft or very many games because panel is so long. Once we’re done with the meal, we go into club and have some singing and introduce our 4 men (all different ages, race, vocation...even a high school guy!). During dinner we encouraged the girls to use the blank notecards around the table to write down questions they would ask a man about love, sex, feelings, spirituality, relationships...anything they want to know but feel like they don’t get the straight answers about in their lives. We also have some pre-designed questions that we feel like need to be spoken to the girls that we already have in the bucket. So after introducing the panel guests, our MC (one of the leaders) will begin by some brief introductions and then asking questions. It has been sooooo amazing what the girls have asked! Innocent and revealing.

Some of our sample questions are:

1.       How will you/or did you “know” when you were in love?

2.       Do you think having sex shows that you love someone?

3.       What do you “look for” in a woman? (this one got some laughter from the audience because the girls always think this question means legs, booty, smile, etc…)

4.       Does the way a girl/woman looks affect how you feel about her?

5.       Did you abstain before marriage/are you planning to?

6.       Define beautiful.

7.       How do you define sex?

And the list goes on and on, but you get the idea. The girls always amaze us at their insight and intelligent questions. And yes, there are the inevitable inappropriate questions. First year we were 10 shades of red after reading one of the girls’ questions, and we did not ask it.

We like to end by thanking the men, praying over them and the girls. There is not much in the way of open discussion, that way we keep it under control. That’s why we went with cards."

Thank you Jen Gardner for sharing this! Have a club (or otherwise) idea that you want to share? Email Amy at greatergryounglives@gmail.com to submit your idea. It could appear on the blog!

Theme Club: Dr. Seuss Club

Check out this great idea from Carol Magelssen, Belton YoungLives:

March Club was Dr Seuss Club.  We thought since March is the Anniversary for Dr Seuss, how appropriate!  We went with the Green Eggs and Ham book because of St. Patricks Day.

   Our reader was dressed in a tall hat like Dr. Seuss (complete with green colors and pretty green bow.) We had a handout for the girls on the importance of reading to your child, even in the womb.  It went over great!  The reader read the book to them as if they were a little baby.  She used the examples that we gave them in the handout. (Contact Carol for the handout.)

Our Mixer was based on the same theme. We had team quizzes with questions based on Dr. Seuss (using a team member as the buzzer.) Another game we played was Tangled: stand in a circle in two teams. Everyone holds hands with someone ( it cannot be the hand of the person next to them.) Then you get untangled without letting go of hands!  It was a lot of fun.

Our club talk was formed around the reading theme.  It was about us reading the word of God.  We used the same bonding reasons we taught the girls about reading to their babies, but with a special spin. Using Matt. 14: 22-29 we discussed how in our storms we need Christ just like Peter.  We get closer to God by spending time in His word.  So when the storms happen in our lives we will hopefully look at Christ in His word for answers not out into the waves of the world.

        Our Meal was two 6ft. long Ham sandwich's and green jello, green punch and, of course, green cup cakes. Since it is Dr Seuss month we found baby Dr. Seuss books on sale for $2.50 and gave each girl a book and a small kite to take home.

Thanks for sharing, Carol!

Wii Dance Party Club

We recently had a Wii Dance Party club. We set up a Wii with a projector and sound in a large room in the church we have club at and used the Just Dance 2 game. We had 4 remotes and lined up the girls in rows of 4 so each time a dance finished they could hand off their remote to the girl behind them. The girls [and mentors] loved dancing with the game.

We sold the dance party by having a silly dance instructor character who got the girls excited about it. We also did raffles in between songs. This would work for a small club or a big club. We all just danced behind the girls with the remotes. Fun for all!

Shared by Tallahassee YoungLives

Pajama Club

For the past 3 years, we've hosted a "Pajama Club." We've had a local teacher commit to collecting new kid's pjs every year as her class' Christmas project. Each January, we give these to the girls and their babies. The temperature dips pretty low in Michigan, so it's great to see all of these kids with new, warm, & clean pjs.

A few years ago, we decided to make a whole club out of this. We have husbands/committee members/area directors come and make us "breakfast for dinner." The girls, babies, and mentors all show up in their pajamas (or a decent "PG" version of them.) We offer door prizes for warmest pjs, most colorful, etc. (All categories are announced a previous club and listed on posters hanging up at the schools.) We have eggs, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc. The club talk centers around finding peace and rest in Christ. At the end of club, we hand out the pajamas to the moms! It's a fun way to provide the girls something many of them need.

( Submitted by Amy de Jonge, Grand Rapids YoungLives)

Ooh... Scary!

For our October club we played a mixer where we all created scary stories together. 5x7 cards were passed out, each with a scary first line of a story already written on it. Each girl was given a pen and asked to add one sentence to the card and pass it on to the next girl. The girls added lines to each story that they recieved until their card had gone all the way around the circle and returned to them. To finish we each read our finished story out loud. It was so much fun as girls incorporated mentors and their children into the stories! Here's a sample of our finished product...

"From the open grave rose a... smelly diaper... filled with baby poop and... the graveyard worker threw up in his mouth... the diaper smelled so bad that... Diamonds eyes popped out the back of her head, then ran down the street... They've never been able to find the culprit or her eyes since!"

Hahaha... then we all died of laughter!

Shared by Renee McKim- Chicago,IL

Hawaiian Theme Club

When the girls arrived for our Hawaiian-themed club, they were tired and beat down by another week of being a teen mom. They were happy to be there and see the other girls, but they were showing definite signs of a long hard week. We had Hawaiian pizza and fruit kabobs, which certainly helped, along with music from 'the islands'. When I broke out the grass skirts and flowered tops, a few smiles were seen. Soon, the grass skirts and tops were in place, flowers were in their hair, and moods definitely changed. During a silly relay race with a hula hoop, I stopped for a moment and took in what I saw. . . a roomful of teen moms, mentors and volunteers just having a great time together.
That was a moment which I hope I never forget - our teen moms letting go, having simple fun, giggling and laughing - so relaxed and so carefree!

Shared by Judy Pytlik--Pittsburgh North Hills, PA

Mother's Day Theme Club

We just began club last December in the Bronx, and the team really wanted to do something special and different for Mother's Day. So the mentors transformed the club room into a restaurant with a long table decorated with flowers, candles (flameless) and cute menus prepared to highlight the special meal prepared by one of our mentors. The girls were really caught by surprise and we just spent the time laughing and catching up with them. We asked a few girls in advance to read poems they wrote about being a mother. That night a few of the leaders did a funny skit based on the old school poets café to just break the ice and get them warmed up to share.



This was our largest group yet. Girls invited friends and moms we haven’t seen in a while came by. It was almost surreal when we realized that we had not set out enough seats for the girls around the table and had to bring down more. They were so appreciative of everything. The moms went home with a gift bag of gifts donated by AVON as well as a devotional. It was a special evening.

Shared by Karil Greaves--Bronx, NY

Where's Waldo the Wonder Bra?

One of the funniest thing's that we do at club is to spot the Wonder Bra! It started out as a joke, when we were launching Easter Eggs from an old beat up bra, but then my mentor team had the great idea to have the bra make an "appearance" at every club. Sometimes it shows up as part of a game, a skit, or sometimes a mentor is actually wearing it and every now and then goes to adjust her strap. The girls love it! The are always on the look out for it and when they find it they scream "There it is!"

Shared by... Amy Schmeideskamp - Quincy, IL

St. Patricks Club

Yes, the most exciting theme club of the year, St. Patricks! Here are a few ideas to make your club fun...

1. Play irish jig music. Have a irish jig "dance off" contest as a mixer. Leprechaun judges.

2. Have a leprechaun visit club for a walk on or announcements.

3. Have a "cutest leprechaun" contest with the kids. Have a fun prize, like a pot of gold full of candy coins.

4. Kids Craft ideas : make green no-cook playdough or shamrock wands.

6. Have a mentor "river dance" entertainment skit. No skill required! Costumes and serious faces make this funny.

7. All green food. Breakfast foods are easy to make green...set up a pancake & waffle station with green batter, omelette stations with all green ingredients, add food coloring to milk or juice.

Color Theme Club

Add a little COLOR to your club!!!

In Griffin, GA, Linda Norman has clubs that are themed around a color.

Here from her: "Our girls love to have a color theme club. In October instead of concentrating on Halloween which many people do not celebrate, we had an Orange Club. Person wearing the most Orange one a prize. We also did Green club last March. Something so simple, but they were so excited!" SO...maybe it is red for Valentines Day, green for St. Patrick's Day, purple for Spring time...the point is that is adds something extra in, builds unity, and the girls love it! (make sure they know to dress their babies up, too!)

Mock Prom Club

One of our most popular clubs every year is the May club when we have a Mock Prom. We decorate our venue with balloons, streamers, and posters and have substantial finger food for dinner and dessert (good ones, including chocolate covered strawberries, yum yum!). We have a dance off, crown a Prom queen (selected from the drawing of club cards that girls fill out), have a professional photographer take every family's photo, and play a game or two before the message. We also gather as many Prom dresses as possible, waiting for girls who show up early and want to try on dresses (as many girls don't have one and can't afford one). One year, I had a girl write me a note thanking me for recreating Prom since she could never go to her own. We even had the school horticulture class make and donate a corsage for every girl who came.

Snow Club

For those of us that don't get snow on a regular basis, but might have a mountain within driving distance... this club is for you! Every winter I have girls tell me that they wish there was snow nearby to play in. So, for a theme club, we bring the snow to them! On the day of club have two or three men drive to a nearby snow covered hill and shovel a truck bed full with snow. While the girls are still in club, the guys are outside dropping the snow off in the parking lot. Then, a mentor comes in with a snowball in hand and says "It's snowing!" Our girls ran outside, so excited to play in the snow!

Make sure to okay snow in the parking lot with the facility that you use, ahead of time!

Summer Club Ideas

Summer is a tough time of year for contact work - and for club! So how do you keep the ball rolling? Here are a few tried-and-true ideas!

1) Graduation Club
Held at the end of June, right before or after all high school graduations. This club not only celebrates the high school graduates and is an appropriate theme for the end of the school-year, but it also shows girls that we value their education and them moving on in life. It's easy to decoration for this with graduation balloons and a "Congrats Grad" cake. For a craft each girl gets to decorate and fill photo albums with graduation, summer or camp pics. There are plenty of graduation/education-themed games to choose from - think Jeopardy, graduation word searches, etc.

We even do a graduation skit: Play the graduation song (Pomp & Circumstance) and have a mentor come out dressed in a graduation cap and gown. As the music plays she asks all of the recent graduates to stand up and hands them a YoungLives "diploma" (the diploma is rolled up and tied, it is really a $5 gift certificate to the store at whatever camp you are going to that summer)

For a club talk, we focus on "Graduating in our walk with Christ" (talk about girls taking the next step in their faith- like the next step in life after high school- when they choose not to turn back to the old ways of their life and choose to allow God to give them new life (2 Cor. 5:17)) You could also have a one of the girls who is graduating give her testimony if appropriate.

2) Planned Playdates
We always seemed to be hit and miss with our clubs for the summer, so this year a mentor "team" picked a month and they hosted two events each month - one daytime group playdate, and one themed evening club. We could use the playdate as intentional contact work time - and as a face-to-face time when we could invite girls back to club! We were able to get free passes to "PlayWorld" and a huge discount to "JumpZone" with just a few phone calls. 


3) Cookout 
We also invited all our girls, their parents and their significant others for an outdoor cookout. It was the biggest hit ever!!! We had a small fireworks display at the end, but mostly just a lot of fun with bubbles, with blankets on the ground to keep it kid friendly. We all brought our lawn chairs and the mentors signed up for food to bring so we had plenty.

Thanks to Dusty Linn-Conway and Anneke Brown for these summer-y ideas!