Sock Wars

It's a cross between pre-k story time at the library and WWW Smackdown, and the kids loved it.

Here are the rules.   

1. Everyone has to start with at least 1 sock on.  One of our leaders brought in his dirty laundry that kids without socks could dig through to find some.  This was a great idea & pretty gross.  Some of the socks were still wet from his sweaty feet.
   
2. Everyone must stay on their butts.
   
3. No kicking or hitting.
   
4. When the music starts, it's a free for all to get everyone else's socks of while your's stay on.
   
5. You can still pull other people's socks off even if both of your's are pulled off.

When we got to 4 or 5 people, we stopped the game and just put them in the middle to play by themselves.  Everyone had a blast except the girl who got the black eye.  But, then again, that's when you know you've got a winner of a game.

2 Nemos & Thanksgiving Dinner

Nemo, the little guy/girl with one person being the face & legs and someone else being the hands has been a huge hit since I was in high school.  Around Thanksgiving time we brought out 2 of them acting as children and had them eating Thanksgiving Dinner with their parents.  We actually did it right at the beginning of Club since it had all the leaders participating and we didn't want to have excess set-up time during Club.


We prayed as a family & started eating.  The 2 children were pretty obnoxious and woudn 't eat their food.  Apparently it was too hard (even the stuffing).  So the mom decided to chew it up for them and spit it in their mouths straight out of Ace Ventura.  Right before she spit the stuff, the dad yells "No, that's disgusting.  We're not from Oviedo. (our rival high school).  I think I've got some old jars of baby food."

Dad pulls out the baby food (Thanksgiving stuff like sweet potatoes, turkey, etc.) and the kids go at it.  To be honest with you, I didn't know how funny the skit would be, but the over-exagerated eating of the baby food was absolutely hysterical.

The skit ends when the two children get into a fight over who gets the one jar of dessert, prunes.  The fight was a great ending, because food was flying everywhere.

Remembering Names

I am terrible at remembering names.  Actually, I think I'm probably pretty good at remembering names, its the faces I have a problem with.  There are tons of names in my head, I just have a difficult time matching those names to each particular face, which is really the most important part of remembering the names.

I can't tell you how many times I've either called a kid the wrong name, forgotten that I've met the kid, or worse yet, been called out by a kid I call "Hey Dude" when he asks me if I know his name.  That's a terrible feeling - for both of us.

Just came across a post by Donald Miller - Why it Hurts When Somebody Forgets Your Name. A Christian Perspective.  He points out that the real reason it hurts when someone forgets our name is because it reminds us of our broken relationship with our creator.

You and I were designed to be friends with God, to be close to Him, to know Him and be known by Him. God gave mankind freedom to walk away, and man did. So now there is a separation. We are separated from the Deity we were supposed to be in relationship with. Without that love, we trade on each others live, which pales in comparison. When my friend saw that I called him by another name, he was reminded of the relationship he was supposed to be in, and reminded how impotent human love can be. He forgave me, but it’s a sad reminder. It’s even sadder because my friend is one of the most loving, other-person centered people I know, and as an introvert, I’m terrible in comparison.

My Club team uses Facebook as an extremely useful tool for many things, but one of the most helpful features is the picture tagging.  There are tons of pictures posted of our Club & Camp trips and most of those pictures have been tagged by our kids.  We encourage our leaders to take some time to use those pictures as a name quiz.

What do you do to help yourself remember names?

Happy Meals in a Blender with a Twist

We've all blended up gross stuff and drank it (or made the new leaders drink it) at club.  I've heard of skits/games where McDonald's Happy Meals are blended up and swallowed, but I just came across a post by Liz where she describes a game that's a little more detailed than that.

There was a nugget meal, cheese burger and the unfortunate fish filet. A student was assigned to each of us and if they correctly guessed the ingredients to the shake, the leader had to chug it. Oh, that Cindy!!! Why did she have to guess nuggets. The fact that the shake smelled exactly like chicken nuggets may have been a dead giveaway. After the successful guessing, we had to chug the contents of our glasses. In case you were wondering fries, chicken nuggets and Sprite don't taste nearly as good as one. It was sick. I was mainly grossed out by the chicken scent. Luckily I didn't have to chug it all. I think I won since the burger guy and fish guy weren't drinking near as much.

That got me thinking.  What about doing food from different restaurants?  Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Burger King, Bob's Sushi Bar.

Successfully Leading Games & Mixers

Jonathan McKee gives the 7 Deadly Sins of Game Leading over at the Source for Youth Ministry. They are extremely helpful reminders of how important the little things are when you're trying to be excellent.

I prefer to be a little more positive, sort of like Paula Abdul. I've translated these into an optimist's language.

1. Come up with some creative transitions to lead into games. Avoid telling the kids you're gonna play a game.
2. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Stop and think through exactly how the game will go. Anticipate problems.
3. Play along with the kids.
4. Explain how to play in less than 30 seconds. Practice doing this before hand. Try explaining it to the other leaders to see if it makes sense. Control the room. If the kids are talking, make them sit down so you only have to explain it once.
5. Split up teams quickly. Again, think through this ahead of time.
6. Have a personality & have fun. If you don't, get someone else to lead the game.
7. Make sure everyone can be involved either by playing or by seeing what's going on. If you're doing an up front game, try to elevate the people if they're doing something on the floor. Try using a table.

Something to Sign

A few years ago I had the opportunity to shake nearly every hand in my school's 2007 graduating class, just before they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas.  I love that position.  I'm the guy who tells them to watch their step and to not trip or puke on the principal, as they - many for the first time - get a chance to be the center of attention for one brief moment in time, in front of thousands of people.

I try to say something to each kid, shake hands, and occasionally give a hug to those kids I've come to know the best and know I will miss the most.

As the kids slowly moved past me, I noticed one of my campaigner guys inching his way closer. When he reached me, I threw my arm around his shoulder and told him I was going to miss him. That's when he told me he had decided to stay in town and go to our local university. Last thing I knew he was headed out of state, so I was pleasantly surprised and mentioned that I'd like to talk to him soon about getting into our new leader training.

The ceremony ended and I headed for the doors with the rest of our faculty. As I walked down the street back to my car, I ran into this kid again. I told him how excited I was he was going to be in town, and that I really wanted him to get involved in our new leader training in September.

Then, I saw an uncomfortable look come to his face and he said, "Uh, I don't know. I don't think I want to do that. Don't you have to sign something?"

"Sign something?" I said.  I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yeah.  Don't you have to sign something that says you're not going to drink?"

"Are you serious?" I said.  I couldn't believe it.  Here he is walking away from his high school graduation, his Young Life leader is giving him an opportunity to stay involved and help others, and all he can think about is having to sign something that says he's not going to drink.  How sad!

Wow, I thought.  I respected him for being honest.  The more I thought about it, I thought he was just articulating something that some of our young leaders might think.  But, my gosh.

Part of me felt like such a failure.  Had I not been an example of what it's like to live an exciting life with Christ?  What would make this kid feel the need to, not even give in to temptation, but "plan ahead" to give in to temptation?  It just struck me as so sad.

The Marriage Show

I few months ago my wife & I attended "The Marriage Show" at Summit Church in Orlando with some friends.  A mix between the Tonight Show & Dr. Phil, "The Marriage Show" uses music, a special guest, scripture, audience games, and a butt load of humor to give couples a night of fun in addition to tools to make their marriage more fulfilling.  And, since it's at Summit, you get to eat & drink in the sanctuary.  How cool is that?

The show is based upon 7 Fundamentals for a Healthy Marriage and the host of the show, James Raffenaud stresses them throughout.

1. God is in charge.
2. Make it a priority ("it" is your marriage).
3. Communication matters.
4. It's not about you.
5. Sex and romance, both are important.
6. Never quit.
7. Adapt to change.

How great is this show?  I cry (for happy reasons) through most of it and when he issued the 7 Day Challenge - 7 straight day of having sex - I about wet my pants. Now I'm Pavlov's dog.  I can't stop going to this deal.

The Original Marriage Show promo. from James Raffenaud on Vimeo.

Now the website is up.  It includes some video, a blog, and rumor has it, a podcast soon will be available.  In addition, you can follow James on Twitter and get marriage tips straight to your cell phone.

If you're in Orlando, you'll definitely want to check it out in person.  For those of you elsewhere, bookmark the website & check back often.

Wordless Wednesday - Florida Snowball Fight

 

We willed each napkin with 1/4 cup of flour, pulled the four corners together and twisted the top.  After making about 500 of these, we were ready to throw them at people for a 70 degree snow ball fight.

Check out more Wordless Wednesday pictures at 5 Minutes of Mom, Sunny Day Today Mama, Seven Clown Circus, Experimental Mommy, & Mom Knows It All.

Throw A Baby If You Have One

A few years ago, a married couple on my team had a baby boy. One week the dad, Mike, was holding his son in Club and walked out of the room. Once he got out, he removed the blankets from the baby and wrapped them around a doll.

When it was time for announcements, Mike came back in the room holding the doll the same way he had been holding his son. As he moved across the front of the room he purposely tripped over a girl's legs and tossed the fake baby about 10 feet across the room, while simultaneously acting as any new dad would act had it been a real child. The reaction of the crowd was hysterical, especially the girl he tripped over.

That's why I loved it when I read this post by Chad Swanzy titled "I dropped a newborn baby last night" complete with pictures. Good stuff if you've got a baby around.

My wife is pregnant, and I'm already getting excited about being able to do this again.

Gotta A Good Thing Going

Last night after Young Life Club, I remembered that I wasn't going to be able to be at Campaigners on Wednesday morning as usual.  We have 8 - 15 guys who show up for a our weekly Campaigner Bible Study at 6:00am at a local coffee shop just around the corner from the high school.  Anyway, I wasn't going to be able to lead on Wednesday and when I checked with the other leader who usually comes he told me he wasn't going to be able to be there either.

So, I started to walk around the room and let the guys know we wouldn't be having Campaigners this week.

That's when Mitch & Vinnie decided they didn't need no stinkin' leader.

Vinnie's voice boomed over the music on our sound system.  "Hey everyone!  Guys campaigners, Wednesday morning at Barnie's.  Mitch & I will be leading it."

What a blessing for me to hear for 2 reasons.  First, it's obvious these guys love coming to Campaigners.  It amazes me that they all get up so early every week to hang out with us and read God's word.  And, number 2, that these guys are willing to take the initiative to read scripture with their friends and discuss it on their own blows me away.  That's just super cool.

I can't wait to hear how it goes.

You can't take the car out of the parking lot until you pay for it.

So it can be done!

This is a refreshing story from the Chicago Tribune - Practicing abstinence, bride and groom have never kissed.

When the officiant tells Claudaniel Fabien he can kiss his bride at the altar Saturday, no one will fault the couple for a little "should I tilt my head this way, or that way?" awkwardness.

It will be the couple's very first kiss.

In his Song of Solomon series, Tommy Nelson answers the question, "How far can we go?" by using an analogy of a cliff.  We don't want our kids to ask how close they can get to the edge.  Let's just stay away from the edge.

Of course there are the folks who think this is crazy, those who ask how you know he/she's right for you unless you try her out, the live together before you get married just so you know crowd.

To them, Melody responds, "You can't take the car out of the parking lot until you pay for it."

Read the whole story.

Human Pinata

Wrap a leader up in duct tape with the sicky side out. Stick candy all over the tape.

Then using ropes strung around his arms & legs (or a harness if you have one, which every good leader does) hang him from a tree.

One by one, let the kids beat the candy from the leader with a pool noodle.

If you want to do it inside a building, you could do something similar to this picture I got in an e-mail titled "Redneck Timeout".

Ellen & Me - We Have Something In Common

Check this out...Ellen & I are following 17 of the same people on Twitter. I thought for sure we wouldn't have anyone in common, but turns out we both like Dave Ramsey, Chick Fil A, & the Drudge Report. How 'bout that?

Where'd I get this info? From Twiangulate. It's a Twitter cross referencing tool that lets you compare your friends & followers with those of other Twitter users.

You can even use it to see connections between two or three other people. This might be useful if you use Twitter for professional learning community purposes. You know a few key players in your particular industry and want to know who they both follow commonly. Chances are, that'd be a good person for you to check out, too.

ABCya! - Interactive Educational Games

My kids have used Starfall for years.  It's one of the most simple & helpful reading websites we've found. I've just come across something comparable.

ABCya! is has what looks like hundreds of interactive educational games.  It's split into grade level & categories.  Here's the 2nd grade list.

Here's one game that helps kids with sequencing. It's a train track.  The object is to add the next block in the sequence in order to build the track for the train to go.  Finish one track and a new one appears.

My oldest daughter is still having a hard time with money.  What's more confusing than a dime being worth more than a penny and a nickle less than a dime?  This application gives kids a number of cents; (practicing my semicolon use - did I do it right?) they have to drag the right number of coins into the box and then check to see if they're right.

 

And what's more fun than Bingo?  Am I the only one who spells that word out every time I read it? ABCya! has a math Bingo game that's simple, but effective.  It times the player and for strategy purposes repeats several numbers on the same card, so you can decide which one you want to use to get Bingo as quickly as possible.

Follow ABCya! on Twitter, for the latest interactive games.

My Semicolon Confession

I have a confession to make.  I'm 37 years old and I still don't quite grasp; when I'm supposed to; use a semicolon.  Thankfully the folks at theoatmeal.com have a little cartoon to help; us all out.

Aloha Friday - Kidney Stone edition

It's Aloha Friday & that means it's question time.

So I have kidney stones, but the pain hasn't set in yet.  The anticipation is driving me nuts, but the time is giving me a chance to find something...anything...to make sure it doesn't happen.  Last night a friend messaged me on Facebook with a post from eHow.com - How to Dissolve Kidney Stones With Coke.  I Coke & I hate pain, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  So far so good.

That got me thinking about home remedies.  If something like that really works, why didn't my doctor tell me about it?  Here's my Aloha Friday question for you.

What is a home remedy you swear by that a doctor would never prescribe?

John Stossel In The Classroom & More

I just got my copy of John Stossel in the Classroom & viewed it.  Good stuff.  He addresses the following topics and more:

Should everyone really vote?
Should farmers really get subsidies?
Is it really impossible to achieve the American Dream?
Who can make better more efficient roads, government or private companies?
Why do so many people want to be famous?

In addition to the DVD, his website has all kinds of resources including teacher guides and a video of the month that you can stream straight from your computer.

This is a great tool for parents, too.  Make sure your kids really understand capitalism, government, and their relationship to them both.

If you haven't got your copy yet, you can do so at his website, http://stosselintheclassroom.org/.

Candid Camera Club

A friend of mine shared an awesome idea with me recently.

A few years ago, he got some administrators and a coach to help pull one over on some kids. He set up a camera in one of their offices and had them call a kid in and basically scare the crap out of them. You can use your imagination, but one kid was told that all of her college applications had been stolen and another kid was cut from the basketball team.

At just the right time, the administrator/coach points to the camera and says, "You're on Young Life Candid Camera".

Then you show the videos at club that night.

Note: All of it has to be done in one day, or word will spread & the kids will get suspicious.

Rindercella and the Prandsome Hince Skit

If you've ever wanted to learn this, here it is. It's a great way to break the ice before a talk.

Once upon a time in a coreign fountry there was a geautiful birl, whose name was Rindercella. And Rindercella had a mugly other and two sigly usters. Also in this coreign fountry there was a prandsome hince, and the prandsome hince was going to have a bancy fall. Rindercella’s mugly other and her two sigly usters went out and bought dancy fresses for the bancy fall, but poor Rindercella couldn’t go because she had nothing but rirty dags. So on the night of the bancy fall, Rindercella’s mugly other and her two sigly usters put on their dancy fresses and went to the bancy fall. And since poor Rindercella couldn’t go, she cat down and sried. Suddenly, her gairy fodmother appeared before her and touched her with her wagic mond and turned her into a peautiful brincess. Her gairy fodmother gave her a kig boach and hix sorces so Rindercella could go to the bancy fall. So off went Rindercella. When she got to the bancy fall, the prandsome hince met her at the door. He had watched her come up in her kig boach and hix sorses from a widden hindow. Rindercella and the prandsome hince danced all night long, and the prandsome hince lell in fove with Rindercella. When the prandsome hince was just about to quop the prestion, Rindercella heard the moke of stridnight, so she turned, straced down the rairs and when she got to the stottom blep she slopped her dripper. The next day the prandsome hince went all over his coreign fountry looking for the geautiful birl who had slopped her dripper. When he got to Rindercella’s house, he tried it on her mugly other, but it fidn't dit! He tried it on her two sigly usters, but it fidn't dit. And he tried it on Rindercella, and it fid dit! So they were mappily harried and lived appily ever hafter. Ehe Thend!

Our Heart Toward Them Matters

This cartoon is from the Naked Pastor.