I’ve had many meetings that I am sure you also have had. We looked together at schedules full of fun activities, events, and even traditions and had to make the really hard decision that we just could not do this as planned. As I talked with my interns preparing for time with our students, we landed together on one heart. As many things as we cannot do in light of COVID-19 precautions and wisdom, let us be activity starters for what we CAN do! Naturally, as creative college students, they blew this out of the water. Here are a couple fun ideas we came up with together, but mostly fun ideas they created for our students.
1. Red Carpet Night
This can be really simple to create and make fun while each person feels celebrated and connected. We created a red carpet night that felt a little like they were at the Oscars. Students walked in on red butcher paper taped to the ground where we had a staff member stationed (masked) to interview them about what they were wearing. Other staff members (in latex free gloves and masks) popped popcorn and placed it in individual bowls and made some fun drinks like Shirley Temples and Coke with cherries in it. Once students walked in and had their picture taken being interviewed, they were directed to their seats. All seats were spread six feet apart facing a movie screen. We came by and served them their popcorn and drinks and began a movie once everyone was seated. (I have also seen a number of churches present outdoor movies which can be fun if your church still does not allow the use of facilities.)
Here is a supplies list along with Amazon links to save you some time:
2. Western Party/Square Dance
I’ll let you come up with the fun name for this, but if you have to have the bottom half of your face covered, it might as well be with a bandana to look like you’re in the wild wild west. This event can go a lot of ways depending on your space, budget, and what you think your students would enjoy. Some ideas include watching square dance videos on YouTube to learn a couple and have students spread out. You can also host carnival type games (with fun prizes) like learning to lasso, throwing horseshoes, ring toss on a cactus, etc.
Here is a quick shopping list to make this event happen:
3. Note Writing for the Senior Community and Shut-Ins
This population regularly fights the difficulty of loneliness and has only felt its sting more and more due to social distancing this year. Gather a list of names from the church or write generic notes and deliver them to a local nursing home to let those people know someone is thinking of them. You might could even throw in some pretty fall leaves or other decorations your girls could use on their cards.
Here’s your shopping list:
4. 80s Dance Party
Let’s be honest- TikTok would not be what it is if our girls did not love to dance. Look through YouTube for some appropriate Just Dance videos and have your girls dress in their best 80s attire with huge hair, neon, metallic, and endless leg warmers. Have them spread out and dance their hearts out to these videos for a blast!
Here’s a shopping list for some fun costumes or giveaways:
Metallic Scrunchies—Great Giveaway Idea
I hope this helped get your creative wheels spinning to move from the “we can’t do anything” rut to see just how much fun can be had.
Emily Katherine Johnson lives in Rome, GA serving as the Coordinator of Discipleship Programming with the WinShape College Program and just married her best friend, Emery! EmK fell in love with girls ministry in her own student ministry in Spartanburg, SC and still enjoys mentoring middle and high school girls. Emily Katherine has a Masters of Divinity in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and she recently released a book on authenticity and grief entitled, Let’s Be Real! Connect with Emily Katherine: Website // Instagram