Planning youth group activities can be challenging, but when it comes to planning COVID-safe youth group activities, the bar gets raised even higher. Activities for church youth groups should be fun, first and foremost. Not only will this help to improve the children’s engagement, but it will also aid in the children’s development, as play has been proven to improve children’s emotional wellbeing and development.
That said, traditional activities likely won’t cut it for your church group. Or, at least, they will have to be modified to ensure that they allow members to practice social distancing and wear masks when appropriate. You’ll likely have to reconsider where youth group activities take place, as well. To safely accommodate youth group members, each member must be able to maintain a minimum six-foot distance from one another.
As places of worship usually boast high ceilings and ample seating for members, they can easily be repurposed for safe gatherings in limited numbers. Additionally, if your church has outdoor space on its grounds, make use of the area for as long as the weather permits. Outdoor gatherings are considered significantly less likely to result in virus transmission than indoor gatherings.
The following list will explore some fun COVID-safe youth group activities to engage your church’s youth group members.
Virtual Meetings
If your church is in an area with a high rate of community transmission, it might be safest to hold virtual meetings rather than to suspend group activities altogether. Virtual youth group lessons allow children to maintain their connections with one another, instead of losing them completely. Additionally, virtual meetings are more flexible, so you can meet on everyone’s schedule without having to worry about transportation or other logistical issues.
Outdoor Volunteering
Staying outdoors in uncrowded spaces is an excellent way to perform youth group activities without facilitating the spread of the virus. As a bonus, volunteering presents youth with the opportunity to give back to the community, meet their neighbors, and spend some time outdoors. Simple outdoor volunteering activities that you can do with a youth group includes yard work for the elderly or disabled, picking up litter, and organizing recycling drives.
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are fun and mentally engaging activities that you can do with your church’s youth group. Start by breaking the group up into smaller groups or singles. Each group will start with a clue that will take them all around the church’s interior and its grounds. Within small groups children can wear masks and can easily maintain a distance of six feet. You can strategically place hints and clues in locations that will reduce the proximity of each group to one another. Whichever group solves all their clues first wins!
Talent Show
A youth group talent show allows each child to bring forth some entertaining or interesting skill they have learned. Children can remain socially distanced as each one gets up to perform a quick routine in front of their peers. Whether it’s singing their favorite hymn or solving a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute, each child has a talent that they will be eager to share. For those who suffer from stage fright, this will be a good opportunity to practice speaking in front of a trusted group of friends.
Group Yoga
YouTube for the win! Simply search YouTube for children’s yoga and get a session in with the children. Yoga promotes good physical health and the practice’s meditation aspect can introduce children to mindfulness. Although mats are preferred, standing yoga practices are available and won’t require children to lay on the floor to get into position. Just make sure you have ample floor space for this activity as children may stumble and they’ll need to maintain distance from one another.
Senior Pen Pals
Does your community have any senior living facilities within its borders? Having your youth group write to senior pen pals can help them practice their writing skills. However, the best part of this activity is how much it can brighten a senior’s day to receive a letter. In some cases, the elderly may not be visited often or may not have many family members and friends left. These individuals may feel disconnected from the world, so having a pen pal can provide them with a much-needed external connection.
Can Drive
With many individuals who are food insecure, food donations can mean a world of difference for some families. Youth groups can collect cans within their neighborhood. Start by drawing up flyers to let neighbors know when cans will be collected and how to get their donations in. Have children collect the cans when the day comes. You may choose to donate the cans to a local charity, or your church can distribute them to those who are less fortunate in the community.
Bible Trivia Night
Organize children into small groups in a space that can accommodate those children maintaining a six-foot distance from one another. Play Bible Trivia, a game in which you ask the youth questions about the Bible and its passages. You’ll award points to those teams that get the answers right. It may make the game more competitive if you put up a simple prize for the winning team, such as paper awards or sweets.
Church Youth Group Activities Need Support
Creating a safe and organized space for children to gather during their youth group sessions requires resources that churches may find challenging to provide. Unfortunately, the expenses related to PPE, food, gas, utilities, cleaning supplies, and play materials can add up quickly.
Many churches turn to fundraising to generate much-needed revenue. Luckily, there are many fundraising ideas from which to choose. Just be sure to choose an idea that reflects your church’s current resources and involves your church members. Fundraising helps to raise money, but its benefits for a church congregation go even deeper. Working together to help the church fulfill its mission can help to facilitate stronger connections within your church.
That said, implementing youth group fundraisers will take time and careful planning, but their success will more than make up for the effort. With funds generated from fundraising, your church can create a budget for your church’s youth group. This includes planning the purchase of masks and cleaning supplies to help ensure that you are providing a clean, safe space for children to gather.
This information is courtesy of Vanco, which provides online payment processing solutions, as well as software that enables educational and nonprofit organizations to operate more efficiently, www.vancopayments.com/egiving.
