Teenage Youth Group Ideas & Games
When the members of your youth group reach their teen years, you will need to be both current and creative to keep their attention. Youth groups keep teens out of trouble, provide a place for teens to socialize safely and give teens another opportunity outside of school to learn skills. Educational and physical activities can be used to keep teens busy while instilling healthy and useful habits and behaviors.
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Band
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In elementary and middle school, band is often seen as socially unacceptable. In high school, however, musical talent becomes a coveted skill that can lead to collaboration and even the building of a real band. Employ staff teachers for several instruments, such as guitar, drums and clarinet. If you can only get one type of teacher, have a group lesson with your youth group using a single instrument. The members of your youth group will eventually be able to play together, arrange into groups for practice and even perform at local establishments. Used instruments can be purchased cheaply online or at thrift stores, or rented if purchase is not within the youth group's budget. A local school may also allow the members of your youth group to borrow school instruments for a few hours after school.
Theater
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Theater is a way to get your youth group to explore a creative talent while providing a therapeutic outlet. Theater activities can begin with something as small as role plays where you provide a prompt and have students act out what they believe is the best possible outcome to the prompt. For example, give a prompt that lays out a scenario where two kids are bullying a kid who is smaller than them. A fourth character has to decide how to handle the situation. Students then act out the scene after discussing the scenario. Eventually, you can act out scenes of a play by casting characters in your youth group and using the play as an afterschool event. If students take to this activity, they can eventually write, direct and act in their own plays.
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Spoken Word
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Spoken word is a performance form of poetry. While spoken word poems must initially be written out, they are created to be memorized and then performed in a musical and rhythmic fashion. Chances are, members of your youth group have grown up with an awareness of spoken word poetry as youth often use it in cafes, schools and community centers as a creative outlet and popular performance art. Organize "open mic" days where members of your youth group can bring an original piece of spoken word poetry. Emphasize that this poem can be about anything, and can carry a serious, lighthearted or meditative tone -- that there are, essentially, no limits to what can be shared. While students may be shy to participate at first, this activity is likely to become popular with your youth group teens if they are made to feel comfortable enough to participate. Encourage them by requiring each member of the student audience to provide one piece of positive feedback when the reading is over.
Murals
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Murals are an art form similar to graffiti, but the goal with a mural is group participation and sending a positive message. Come together with members of your youth group to prepare for this project. Ask members what they believe to be an urgent need in their community. Examples of an urgent need in a community include fighting poverty, curbing littering or stopping violence. Provide a long, wide strip of butcher paper and art supplies and allow students to draw and paint a sketch of the mural. Next, choose a wall on the exterior of the youth center and allow your youth group to recreate that mural where the community can see it.
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References
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