Creating an AWESOME Youth Group Event: Black Light Neon Night

If you're brainstorming for a great fun-filled activity for your youth, then we've got a great event for you! You have to try having a BLACK LIGHT NEON NIGHT!

We have to preface this with the fact that the set-up takes a bit of work, but it ends up being a TON of fun! We pumped up the kids with the idea, who eventually invited some friends, who may have started out timidly, but it all exploded with fun once we started!

So are you ready? Here is what you need to do to create your own awesome Black Light Neon Night:

PREP-WORK:

• A couple weeks before the event, you want to make sure to let your kids know so they can get hyped up about it. It takes people to make it fun - encourage them to bring their friends
• Tell them to DRESS in white, neon, or other 80's attire
• Buy all the supplies you need (listed below)
• Set up the room, make sure NO light can get in, the only light you want is from the blackflights and other low light you provide!
• Make sure you have plenty of loud (Christian) music jamming so the kids have a TON of fun when they first get there, to when they leave! 

SUPPLIES:

• a staple gun (or strong tape)
• 5-6 black lights (available at Wal-Mart or Home Depot)
• roll of black plastic (to cover all places where any light might get in)
• small (SOFT) round Nerf balls
• trash cans (55 gallon trash cans)
• glow stick bracelets (15 for $1 at Micheals and many craft stores)
• neon flags
• miscellaneous games and prizes
• optional: strobe lights, colored strobe lights, colored lights that respond to sounds of music

GAMES:

• Black Light Killerball: Play this game in the dark with opposing teams wearing their crazy colored clothes and neon glow bracelets. Play dodgeball just like normal, except use small round SOFT NEON Nerf balls (3 for small groups, 6 for larger ones). When a player is hit, they lay down dead on the spot. Both teams gets to choose a doctor who, upon touching the "dead" player can revive them. Once the doc goes down though, the team dies slowly! Catching the ball does nothing for you, but you're not out if you catch it (niether is the opposing player).
• Black Light Basketball: Divide your group into two teams and play this game in the dark. On each side of the indoor court each team places their OWN player with a trashcan on a chair. The goal is to get the beach ball in the can. You can't run with the ball (played much like Ultimate Frisbee), and you must pass the ball every 3 seconds. Your player with the trash can is allowed to move the can, they MUST stay on the chair however. If the ball hits the ground, the first team to pick it up regains control. 
• Cosmic Bowling: If possible, take your kids cosmic bowling. It is a great way to have a ton of fun, and get them out and about, which teens always love. If you have the time and the kids have the money, it's worth it. 

MESSAGE:

I am a huge fan of object lessons, and this night yields half a dozen awesome object lesson messages, such as: 

• Hidden sin: Break a glow stick on something like a t-shirt and (wth the lights on) show that it is a pretty clean shirt, but as soon as the lights go off, you can see the glow stuff shine through. Many Christians are living this way, hidden, but as soon as they are out from the light of Church, or parents, or teachers, their glowiness goes away. Encourage them to not hide anymore but to continue being a light to those around them.
• Light vs. dark: The darkness never floods in. Have you noticed that? When you open a door into a dark room, the darkness never floods into the room in which you're coming from ... the light always rushes in. Take this metaphor and illustrate the power of light coming into the darkness, and how Christ can come flood into their lives as well.
• Hiding the light: Putting a lamp under a sheet is stupid. The light was meant to shine! 

You could come up with more I am sure! 

This is a great event, and I am a huge fan. Try it out and let me know how it goes for YOUR youth group. You could even make this huge ad invite other churches to participate with your gorup, maybe even add the team championship idea to the games. It could be a huge outreach for you! Try it and let us know how it went for you!

Have you ever done something like the Black Light Neon Night before? What tips would you give to others who are planning a similar event?