How to Plan a Lock-In for a Small Youth Group

In case you're new to the youth group scene, a lock-in is a group event where the kids are "locked in" the church or other building over night. Just because a church is small and has a small youth group doesn't mean they can't enjoy the same fun and meaningful activities that kids from larger churches enjoy. If your experience is with bigger youth groups, or you have no youth experience at all, the following article will instruct you on how to plan a lock-in for the teens in your church.

Things You'll Need

• Church building, parish hall, fellowship hall, or community center
• Teens--10 or fewer
• Two adults
• Snacks
• Permission slips/rule sheets

Instructions

Before the Lock-In: The Planning Stage

1. Save the date. You should fix the date of your lock-in at least a month in advance. With a small youth group, you can probably check with parents about conflicts when you see them at church in Sunday. Avoid dates of graduations, federal holidays, or sports tournaments.

2. Decide who will be allowed to attend. What will the age restrictions be? Will youth be allowed to invite friends? If so, how many? Does your budget cover the cost of food and materials, or will you ask for a fee from the kids?

3. Make sure that there are at least two adult volunteers. Most churches require their youth leaders to undergo training to prevent sexual misconduct, so if yours does, make sure that all adults have had that training.

4. Adult leaders should meet ahead of time to determine what the rules will be and what the penalties should be for breaking them. Youth and their parents should receive a copy of the rules and expectations before the lock-in. Consider having the teen and the parent sign the guidelines and submit that along with the signed permission slip.
   I strongly suggest that you do not allow teens to bring any electronics. No cell phones, laptops, CD players or games. This will help them keep their focus on each other.

5. Go shopping for snacks, craft materials and breakfast supplies.

During the Lock-in: Enjoying the Moment

1. Designate a room each for girls to sleep in and boys to sleep in. The door to this room should remain open at all times. Youth can change clothes in the bathrooms. If your space doesn't have separate rooms, you can put boys at one end of the main room and girls at the other.

2. Incorporate prayer into the event. A midnight prayer gathering inside the church appeals to kids' sense of mystery as well as their knack for staying up late.

3. Incorporate fun activities into the event as well. A church event doesn't mean sitting around talking about Jesus all night. Plan a few activities that are nothing but fun. These could be crafts, games, outdoor activities if the weather's nice, a scavenger hunt, movies, music or whatever you think of. Remember, teens will enjoy these things differently than adults do, so let them be themselves.

4. Keep the snacks flowing freely. This is a giant slumber party and these are teenagers. It's no time for health food.

5. Clean as you go. Every couple of hours, stop the activities and announce a general picking up of snack wrappers, soda cans, craft detritus or scattered clothing.

6. Be prepared to stay up late. Kids stay up all night less often than they claim they do, but it will still be very late. And the adults should try not to fall asleep first. That leaves the kids effectively unsupervised. Don't expect to get much sleep.

The Morning After: Wrapping it Up

1. Set a limit on how late the kids can sleep. Then make sure you are up well before it!

2. Get breakfast started or ready before waking up the youth.

3. Serve breakfast first, then immediately have the youth get dressed. This will take them a while. Have them pack up their sleeping bags, luggage, etc, and pile it near the door for easy access when their parents arrive.

4. Present a final activity, whether a game or craft. The best kind of morning activities at a lock-in are those that get kids up and moving.

5. Conclude with prayers done by the whole group. Allow each teen to give thanks for the weekend. The adult leaders should try to include a special prayer or blessing for each teen.

6. Once it's "officially" over, everyone helps to clean up. Hopefully you've been cleaning as you go, but the kitchen should be cleaned, trash taken out, and the floor swept. Teens are perfectly capable of helping with those things.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to have all parents' contact numbers in your cell phone in case you have any problems. Adults should arrive early enough to claim any couches or other comfortable furniture for sleeping.

• Scavenger hunts should have a very limited range of searching. Do not let the kids persuade you to let them play "Sardines." This game involved wandering darkened halls and squeezing into closets with other teens. It's a teen-horror movie meets spin-the-bottle.