WARD ACTIVITY IDEAS

Christmas in Bethlehem

2011-07-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

This was an activity that was in the very early stages of planning when I got released. (Sorry it has taken me over 6 months to post!) While I do not have all of the details I will post what I do know as it was a huge success.

First of all, I will tell you that my Ward had done "Christmas in Bethlehem" about 5 years ago (Before I was called) and it was far too unorganized and far too much work. The feedback wasn't necessarily positive after that, so when I suggested it as a possibility to my committee, you can imagine the looks I received. If you have never heard of the concept of Christmas in Bethlehem, you may want to first read about it {{HERE}}.

I promised my committee that we would not be too elaborate and that keeping it simple would help to make it a success. They all agreed, especially because our budget was small.

Who: Everyone!

Objective: Fellowship, Build Testimony of Christ, Celebrate Christ's Birth

Budget: (I am not sure what their budget was as I was release nearly 11 months earlier.)

Flyer: We pretty much used the same verbiage as was found at the link above. Invitations were rolled up into scrolls and tied with small twine.

Set-Up: The Relief Society Activity Committee helped the Ward Activity Chairperson in getting all of the assignments made. Starting the 1st Sunday in November, the sign-up sheets were circulated through. Unlike many wards, we did not ask classes or quorums to run a booth. (The downfall of the prior attempt 5 years earlier.) We wanted families to be able to enjoy the evening together and didn't want unattended children running all over the place. There were sign-up sheets asking families to run a booth (I think we had about 8-9 booth). We had sign-up sheets for those who could donate canopies for booths. And there were sign-up sheets to ask people to bring the following food items: Breads/rolls. Cookies. Cheese Cubes. Black Olives. Cut-Up fruit.

Special Instructions: As each family arrived, they were asked to sign the Census. (Husbands of the Activity Committee were dressed like roman soldiers.) The soldiers gave each member a small bag containing coins. (12 pennies per bag. This was enough to get their food and then a few more items.) We were then all guided to the chapel. There we sang a Christmas Carol and the activity chairperson explained how the marketplace worked. The overflow area was set up with a little pathway (cardboard "walls" and battery operated candles in paper sacks) leading to the gym. They gave about 30 minutes for people to "shop" and eat before they were invited to be seated and watch the reenactment of the nativity.

We have a lady in our ward who has all of the props and costumes for the nativity. She created these years ago for her children and extended family. Every other year we ask her to run that part of our Christmas program. She loves it. She gets all of the actors organized and rehearses with them. There are places in the nativity program for the rest of us to sing a verse of a Carol. We love it too, as it takes added pressure from the committee!

Turn-Out: We had several people attend (I counted close to 100) and everyone had a wonderful time. I think the pictures tell the best story, so without further adieu...

The committee basically flattened a ton of cardboard boxes and using really fat black permanent markers turned them into "buildings". They were cut, shaped and then taped together and set along the outskirts of the room.

Here is the Water "Well". The Base is actually a plastic tub (Sitting on a step to make it taller), filled with ice and then water bottles, then covered with thick brown paper and the rim is a spray painted pool noodle. The wooden frame helped to keep everything in place and was cute. 1 Bench was brought from home, while the other three were confiscated from the Primary, YW, & Relief Society rooms.
Booths were created out of modern-day canopies. Sheets were hung in between to create "walls". The insides were lined with Christmas White Lights and other things such as baskets. Poster boards were used for the sign shops.
At David's Toy Shop we were "selling" little dreidels. The Committee purchased these online in bulk. There were other toys and trinkets that were in the activity closet from activities past, so we thought it would be a good idea to "sell" those too.
The Bishop's winery had sparkling Grape Juice. (Grape Juice & 7-Up in punch bowls)
The fruit market contained grapes, orange slices, banana halves, pineapple slices and apple slices, all donated by members (via the sign-up sheets).
Ruth's Bakery contained rolls & honey along with several types of cookies and bars brought by the members (via the sign-up sheets).
The Gift of the Magi was selling Gold (chocolate gold coin), Frankincense, and Myrrh. I don't remember was the Frankincense was, but 1 token got you all 3 and the Myrrh meant you got to use some of the lotion.
Potiphar's Pita hut "sold" pita wedges and toppings such as Hummus, Cream Cheese and Honey. The Activity Committee supplied the food items for this hut.
Benjamin's Meat & Deli was offering grilled chicken strips (provided by the committee) and "Deli Kabobs" of cheese cubes and black olives (provided by members via the sign-up sheet).
Rachel's Rentals contained a basket full of blankets for those who did not bring one to sit on.
One of the members brought these benches from home. The "actors" for the Nativity program sat here until it was their turn to go on stage.
The back corner of the gym was set up with tables. It was announced ahead of time that these were for the elderly or for those who could not sit of the floor.
The tables were decorated with simple burlap cloths and mini lanterns.
This was taken after it the marketplace opened for business.
During the Nativity.

The lady who organizes this for us uses all Primary Children and no adults for this. When most of the kids are playing a part, it's easier to keep them from running around. :)

That is a brief overview from our night in Bethlehem. I hope it inspires something for you! Good Luck!

Outdoor Movie Night

2010-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Who: Everyone!

Objective: Mingle, Fellowship, entertainment, good low-pressure activity to invite non-member friends too!

Budget: $10 for popcorn

Flyer:

Set-Up: A neighbor has a huge backyard with some out buildings and granted us the request to host our activity. The new activity chairperson donated the popcorn from her food storage as she had quite a bit of it.

A white sheet was hung in front of a garage door to one of the out-buildings and that became the "movie screen". A member of the ward had an LCD projector that was then hooked up to a laptop. A large speaker was also hooked up to the laptop and the DVD was played from the laptop.

Popcorn was popped ahead of time and placed in large bowls with little scoops. Brown paper lunch sacks were set out so movie-goers could fill up their own popcorn. Ice water was also provided.

Special Instructions: We were invited to arrive no earlier than 8pm to set up our chairs and blankets while we could still see :) It was announced the movie would start at dusk, around 9pm. The popcorn would be provided, but we could bring other treats from home if we wanted.

The selected movie was one that had been previewed at another local outdoor movie night. It was a local independent film and therefore we were able to obtain permission ahead of time to show the movie to a non-profit church group. Many places are not particular with this, so long as you are not making money off of the event. It also helped that the movie was being shown at someone's residence as it then fell into the category of "home viewing".

Crayons were set out along with the popcorn bags, so before dusk the kids colored on their bags and wrote their names on them. This helped to keep them entertained. The adults enjoyed sitting and visiting with each other.

Also, in the activity closet were found some 3-legged-race bands from a ward camp-out several years ago. So, while waiting for the sun to set, several joined in the 3-legged-race. They had a lot of fun.

Turn-Out: There were 46 people in attendance. And because the popcorn was donated and we already had a supply of paper sacks in the closet, we ended up spending $0 on the activity.

Mom & Me night

2010-05-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Who: All of the ladies and girls of the Ward

Objective: Mingle, fellowship, fun

Budget: $0, everyone brought treats, and I donated about $5 worth of craft supplies

Flyer:

Set-Up: We set up chairs for the women to sit and talk. We also set up the TV/DVD player and played The Princess Frog. We had 2 tables for snacks and water, as well as 2 tables for crafts.

Special Instructions: The crafts were simple. For the first craft we made paper flowers. I bought 3 packages of cupcake liners (.96 each), and donated some brads from my scrapbook supplies. We had plenty of straws in our supply closet, left over from an activity about 3 years ago in which they had rootbeer floats. I brought my tiny scrapbook hole punch, and the girls punched 1 hole near the top of the straw, and then a hole in the middle of each cupcake liner they wanted to use, and used the brad to secure them. We also had child scissors and crayons so they could fashion the liners to look like flower petals. Here was my inspiration:

We also made Tissue Paper butterflies. I donated tissue paper and I bought a pack of white chenille stems (50 for .89).
The best thing about the crafts is I only had to make one of each ahead of time, and set them out as an example. They were so self explanatory, that I didn't need to oversee them. Big sisters helped little sisters, and they all seem to have fun!

Turn-Out: Counting all moms and girls, we had a total of 38 come. It was perfect.

Game Show Night & Dessert Auction

2010-04-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Who: All. Family
Objective:Mix, Mingle, Raise Money for YW Camp
Budget: $75, actual spent: $65
Flyer:

Set-Up: We had the stage set up for the game show and borrowed buzzers from a lady in the ward who uses them for school competitions.

Special Instructions: We served a simple dinner of Sloppy Joe's and chips with water to drink. I also set up a PB & J station with a couple loaves of bread, as the bread was on sale for .98/loaf. I grabbed the PB & J from my food storage and voila! We didn't want to serve up a big meal, because we knew that "full" people wouldn't feel like bidding on dessert items.

The Young Women brought in single portions for the "Buy It Now" Bake Sale Table. Items were either 25 or 50 cents. This kept making change a simple task. They brought cupcakes, rice krispy treats, brownies, bars, etc. Some of the YW and many members of the Ward brought in other yummy desserts to be auctioned off.

First we started with the dinner at 6:30pm.

At 7pm, the bishopric was ushered on staged. We played 3 rounds of "Stump the Bishopric". We had a panel of judges and a score keeper as well. 10 audience members came up for each round. They held up an item they had brought from home and the challenge to the bishopric was to see which one of them could be the first to somehow relate that item to the gospel. i.e., a light bulb is like the gospel because it sheds light on a lot of topics and can help light our way, etc. If the panel was pleased with the answer, they got the point, etc.

At 7:15pm, we ended the game and started the dessert auction. We had a member of the ward who is known for his un-shy antics and off-the-cuff humor be our auctioneer. He had the audience laughing. Our ward has gotten much smaller over the past two years, so I was really worried that we wouldn't raise very much money. I have heard of huge family wards raising in excess of $1,000 at their dessert auctions. We had about 30 dessert items to auction and brought in, with the bake sale table, $622.25. For our first year doing this (in over 5 years) I think this was a success. We plan to make it an annual event, although I think we will do just the dinner and auction next time and keep it simple.

We were finished with the entire activity by 8pm.

Turn-Out: We had about 65 people in attendance.

I was so busy with the auction items that I forgot to take any pictures. However, we had some really awesome cakes, including "The Golden Plates" and some fun dessert ideas, like caramel corn in a cute Americana Tin.

Halloween Ball

2010-03-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Who: All Adults
Objective: Mingle, have fun, fellowship, missionary
Budget: $25

Flyer:

Set-Up: We basically had each member of the committee bring whatever Halloween decorations they had, and we made the room look really cute.

Special Instructions: We had an area on the stage for picture taking. A member of our bishopric is in a band, and he was able to talk his band in coming to play for free, so always a plus! So that we wouldn't end up with all sugary treats, I asked the committee members to bring items such as fruit/veggie trays, cheeses, cocktail meatballs, etc. It worked out great, and they were happy to do it. One of the gals on our committee made some "certificate" awards on her computer, and she and her hubby nominated people at the end of the night for best costumes. She also had found some little Halloween trinkets at the dollar store to give away for the prizes.

Turn-Out: After the wards split and were realigned, our number of elderly increased while our number of younger couples decreased. So, we invited the 6th ward to join us. We had a great time and about 60 people came.

We came in under budget, as the cost for the root beer extract, sugar and dry ice was $10; the printing of the pictures were $7, and the prizes were $5.

Here are a few pics of some of the costumes...

Hillbilly Harvest Hoedown & Chili Cookoff!

2010-03-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Who: All ages
Objective: Mingle, Fellowship, cooking skills, etc.
Budget: $20, for oyster crackers ("chicken feed") and butter
Flyer:

Set-Up: We decorated the tables with mason jars and old soup cans that were filled with sunflowers. We had some country style decor set up on the stage as well. (Tasteful) Redneck jokes were blown up onto poster boards and tacked up to the walls around the room.

Special Instructions: We had sign-ups ahead of time. People could either sign up to enter chili in the cook-off, bring rolls, or something for the "Roadkill Dessert Bar".

Turn-Out: We had about 65 people come.

We had little 3 oz cups set out so people could sample the chili as they went through the line. Then they could fill their bowl up with the one they wanted to eat. There were plenty of rolls, and our Roadkill dessert bar was a hoot. I had little place cards and pens so they could write down the name of their "roadkill dessert". We had "tire tread", "runned-over raccoon", "squashed frogs", and I can't remember all of them.

We had each crockpot of soup labeled with numbers, and there were empty mason jars lined up across the stage, that had corresponding numbers. When they came through the line to get their chili, they were also given a black bean. Then, they cast their vote for the best chili by placing their black bean in the corresponding jar. It was a quick and easy way to "visually" judge who had the best chili. It also was cute as it went along with our theme.

We had ice water in a metal tub that was labeled "waterin hole" and people could help themselves to water. The oyster crackers were served in a cardboard box (lined with plastic) and marked "Chicken Feed" in Hillbilly Handwriting.

Once everyone got through the line, we had a girl in our ward do some fiddling for us. She was excited to do it and had been practising for weeks. She played about 4 or 5 numbers and the audience loved it. Then we had a girl from the activity committee teach an easy line dance and practically everyone joined in.

Finally, we awarded a few prizes for the chili as well as for the best roadkill dessert, and we also gave an award for the best-dressed hillbilly.

We had "redneck" teeth from walmart for the outfit, and for the food winners we had a dish towel with chili peppers on them.

Everyone loved it and seemed to have a great time! Here are a few pics from my camera phone...

Ward Campout

2009-12-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

Who: All Ages
Objective: Enjoy Nature, friendshipping, fellowshipping, fun!
Budget: $200
Flyer:
Set-Up: Because of the increase in cost of food, we ended up going to a much cheaper campground this year. The bishop & his wife made his famous "Mountain Man Breakfast", which is basically a skillet type breakfast made in a dutch oven. We also arranged for someone to bring firewood, as we had some members with a tree they cut down in their back yard. Free fire wood is always a plus. Basically, the activity committee members got up there before everyone else so they could put up directional signs, etc.

Special Instructions: In years past we had organized games for the kids, etc. But this year, since it was a new campground for us, we weren't sure what to expect. I found a few tubes of glow sticks so I got those for really cheap. and of course, we had s'mores. Many chose to go on a "hike" (nature walk) on a nearby small trail. When they got back we gave the kids their glow stick and made s'mores. The glow sticks were probably the best investment, as it provided hours of entertainment for them. we found a tube of glow sticks 100 for $8.

Turn-Out: we had about 50 people come, which about typical for our ward. We usually have between 50 and 75.

Pool Party

2009-12-01T23:38:00.000-08:00

Who: All Ages! Bring Your Friends!
Objective: Missionary, fellowshipping, friendshipping, fun!
Budget: $260 (the cost fot the Layton Surf & Swim is $500, which we split by inviting another ward to join us...(we've been doing this now for about 5 years). Each ward also provides about $10 worth of freezer pops.

Flyer:
Set-Up: EASY!!! Call the surf & swim like in January for your summer party. They will hold the reservation for 24 hours. Bring deposit check to them for $100. The rest is paid on the night of.

Special Instructions: Get plenty of flyers with the directions printed and handed out in time.

Turn-Out: We always fill the place full... Probably about 500 people...cuz it is free to them, which is why it is perfect to invite our friends to as well.

Progressive Picnic Potluck

2009-12-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

Who: All Adults 18+
Objective: Mingle, Fellowship, Missionary efforts, Fun! etc.
Budget: $40 for paper products
Flyer:
Set-Up: I had arranged for a few houses to host a dinner course in their backyard. "Appetizers/Salads", "Casseroles/Main Dish/Rolls" and "Dessert". (If you don't have enough homes with a big backyard, you can always meet back at the church for dessert.) I had sign up sheets for potluck items circulating 2-3 weeks ahead of time.

Special Instructions:The plan was to meet at the church and then to go together to the various homes for each meal course. However....

Turn-Out:...It ended up raining. So, we had everyone bring their dishes to the church, and we had an indoor picnic. We did not set up tables. We set up chairs for those that did not bring blankets or camp chairs. The rain kept people away, as there was some confusion as to whether or not we were still going to have it. But it was fun to have a small group. It felt like a dinner group and we were able to have some great conversation.

Hawaiian Dinner Cruise (Or Not)?

2009-12-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

Who: Adults, 18+
Objective: FriendSHIPping, fellowSHIPping, missionary efforts, unity, etc.
Budget: $125
Flyer: (I don't have the original flyer, but here is what it said)

Ahoy all adults!

Come aboard the S.S. Fellow-Ship and join us for a

Hawaiian Dinner Cruise.

May 9th,

Board at 6:30pm, from the East Dock

Feel free to wear your Aloha! attire

It'd be a shame to miss this one on "porpoise"!

*brought to you by Save Our Souls (S.O.S.) Cruiselines

Set-Up: The cultural hall was set up and decorated for a Mexican Fiesta. Doors were kept closed. The chapel overflow area was set up to resemble the inside of a river boat. I had arranged ahead of time for a few of the YW to dress in Hawaiian wear to welcome each guest with a lei. I had arranged for one man with a nice "radio voice" to be our "captain" and had given him a script ahead of time, and I also had some Hawaiian music on CD to play on the overhead speakers.

Special Instructions: Prior to and during the welcome of the "passengers", no one that is in on the secret is to let on that this is anything but a "Hawaiian Dinner Cruise". Have the Hawaiian music playing on the speakers until you have enough "passengers" arrive to get started. After the opening prayer, Our “captain” gives his on-board announcements, welcoming them aboard the SS Fellowship, and tells them to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, and that soon we will be docking for a wonderful Hawaiian Dinner. The “stewardesses” (YW) brought a cart through with Tahitian Treat drinks (aka Ginger ale & Fruit Punch). After the drinks were passed out, the captain then made the announcement that due to a tropical storm, we'd have to reroute and he advised them that we'd be docking on the Mexican Riviera. But not to fear, he had radioed ahead and our Mexican Fiesta will be ready! Then we had everyone exit through the “emergency exit” – which was the curtain/partition. We had a taco bar set up along with fruit salad. We already had Hawaiian and Mexican decorations from previous activities, so we just used those to decorate the various areas accordingly.

Turn-Out:We had about 65 people sign up, so I planned for 100 tacos, cuz I figured some would eat two. We still had foil and foil pans left over from Christmas, so I didn’t have to buy any of those. We used them to heat up the tortilla shells and pulled them from the oven as needed.

We bought 10 pkgs small flour tortilla shells (“taco” size, not “burrito” size), 12 lbs ground beef, 12 packets dry “taco seasoning” mix, 6 small cans refried beans, 3 heads lettuce – shredded, 3 medium/large onions, 4 cans dice tomatoes drained, 5 cans sliced black olives, 1 lg tub of sour cream, 7 bags (14 C) shredded cheese, 1 bottle of red hot chili pepper sauce, 1 large thing of salsa, 2 bags tortilla chips. For the fruit salad I bought 7 big cans of fruit cocktail, 3 boxes instant vanilla pudding. I just emptied all of the fruit juice into a big salad bowl and then added the instant pudding mix in with a wire whisk. I let the pudding sit in the fridge about 10 minutes, the folded the fruit in, covered it tightly with plastic wrap and let chill until dinner.

Total in attendance: about 55

Because of Cinco De Mayo being so close I got all of the food on sale, and ended up spending $112. We already had plenty of paper products in our storage closet, so I did not have to get any of that stuff.

Country 5-H Fair

2009-11-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

Who: Everyone, all ages!
Objective: Mingle, Display Talents, Learn about Preparedness and Home Storage
Budget: $125

Flyer:

Set-Up: We had sign up sheets on the bulletin board for about 3 weeks and had all sorts of categories. In the gym we set up tables with signs for each category. We had a ticket booth when they entered. The “food tent” was set up in the YW room and the bishopric and their wives were assigned the task of grilling the hot dogs and manning the food booth. Each ticket was redeemed for one hot dog. This was purely to help people only take one hot dog until we knew everyone had been served. The tickets also added to the ambiance of the fair. The food tickets were actually from a roll of over 1000 tickets I bought over a year ago at the D.I. (thrift store) for 25 cents.

Categories: Butter-Scuplting (they brought their finished product, and 1 person even did the Bountiful Temple), Cake decorating, Artwork, Handi-crafts (sewing, crocheting, needlework, etc), canned goods, baked goods, and anything else you could think of. Kids could sign up for leap frog contests and ice cream eating contests. We also had a "booth" for our emergency preparedness person and our RS Food Storage specialist.

Turn-Out:The entries were not compared against each other, but rather scored based on skills, talents and creativity. We printed off blue ribbons and red ribbons for Excellent Work and Good Work. Everyone who entered received a ribbon. The judges also nominated a “Best in Show” for each category and awarded that with a purple ribbon. The kids loved the Ice Cream Eating Contests and the Leap Frog Competition. In the food tent we had a bins filled with plain potato chips and another filled with cookies. We also served 10 gallons of homemade rootbeer, and included water pitchers on the tables. The chips, cookies and rootbeer were a “serve-yourself” style. It was nice to have the “food tent” as people could eat when they were ready and it kept the food away from the art entries. Everyone who came said they absolutely loved it. Some of the most creative entries came out the butter sculpting and cake decorating competitions. We also had our Emergency Preparedness Specialists set up a booth with a sample 72 hr kit and handouts on food storage and natural disasters.

We ended up buying 13 pkgs of hot dogs (104), 13 pkgs of buns (104), 5 lg bags of plain potato chips, 6 pkgs cookies, 10 lbs sugar, 10 lbs dry ice, 2 bottles root beer extract, 1.5 gal ice cream (should have doubled it), 1 Hershey syrup. Because I found the hot dogs and buns on sale, I was able to also buy 2 cans whipped topping and 2 large bags of buttered popped corn, which we served in paper sacks. The kids loved having their own popcorn bags.

We had about 90 people show up.

Sock Hockey

2009-11-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Who: Adults
Objective: Sportsmanship, mingle,
Budget: $20 for chips, salsa and nacho cheese.
Flyer:

Set-Up: Outlined goals with duct tape on the floors and walls of opposite ends of gym.

Special Instructions: Split up into teams, and using a balled up pair of white socks, played Hockey. We used very simple rules. Try to get the sock into your team's goal. We played until everyone was tired. We had a non-player keep score, while another was "referee" (basically, dropped the "puck" and then told us if it went out of bounds, etc.)

Turn-Out: The weather wasn't so great, and there ended up being a big community event that night in which we had to compete, so there was only a handful of people (15 or so) that came. Nonetheless, it was still fun.

King of Hearts UN-Pageant

2009-11-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Who: Everyone, All Ages
Objective: Promote camaraderie & family fun.
Budget: $100 (for dipping chocolate)
Flyer:

Set-Up: Starting 2-3 weeks ahead of time, we put nomination boxes in the foyer. We told everyone to nominate their favorite "King" ages 16+. We had a good number of nominations. I also sent around a sign-up sheet in RS for the chocolate dipping bar. We had people sign up to bring: cake bits, pretzels, marshmallows, orange slices, strawberries, pineapple chunks, apples slices, bananas, graham crackers, gummi bears, wafers, shortbread cookies, macaroons, and anything else you could think of to dip in chocolate.

Activity: On the night of the activity, we drew names from the nomination box and called up 6 contestants. The contestants competed in various (see below), and in between segments we had “messages from our sponsors”. These were little 30 second “commercials” put on by some of the youth. They were hilarious. Following the competitions we allowed voting. There were paper sacks which were numbered 1-6 that corresponded with the numbers we had pinned to the contestants. As each person came to the activity, they were given a small tab of paper. These were their voting tabs. So, they simply put their tab into the bag of the person they voted for. But we told them instead of voting for the BEST king, they were to vote for the WORST king, since it was an UN-Pageant. This made it even more fun. We had 2 members of the committee tally the votes.

The winner was “crowned” with a crown, which was made and donated by a committee member. They were also given a trophy that was found at a thrift store for about 50 cents. The little kids enjoyed the coloring table (set up in the back with photocopied "Valentine Coloring Pages") which kept them busy. Everyone loved the chocolate fountain. We had left over chocolate which we will use as chocolate sauce for next months activity.

Events/Competition: I was the "pageant host" and asked another member of the ward to provide the "pageant music". He played some on the piano and some on CD, and made it apropos to the competition event. Ahead of time I wrote out a script of what I would be saying and gave the music person a copy so he could coordinate. I also recruited 3-4 YW who came dressed in formal gowns to be the "Vanna Whites" and assist on stage.

Areas of competition were:

Sportsmanship - Jousting (skateboards & pool noodles)
Physical Fitness - Hymnbook Weights Challenge
Coordination - Dance Competition (30 second moves)
Intellect & Quick-Thinking - Interview Question

Turn-Out: We had about 100 people come and everyone said it was a lot of fun.

Here are the contestants right after being called up on stage.

Jigsaw Jamboree

2009-08-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

Who: All adults, 18+
Objective: To mingle and get to know one another
Budget: $0 (used plates and napkins we already had on hand)
Flyer:
Set-Up: There were 5 round tables set up, each containing 1-500 piece puzzle.

How-To-Play: Players are invited to sit at a table, and told not to begin their puzzle until the sound of the bell (which I held in my hand). Players are also instructed that it is a competition and the first table to complete their puzzle wins. However, there is a catch. Anytime the bell is sounded, players must get up from the table and switch to a new table. It does not matter which table they move to, as long as they move. The bell is sounded at random intervals.

We did this in January as our kick-off activity. Everyone loved it and it was fun because you never knew when you would have to get up. I was worried that 500 pieces would be too overwhelming. Surprisingly enough, it was not. Once the first table finished, the other tables did not want to quit. They wanted to continue until all of the puzzles were finished. We have a good mix of young couples and elderly, so this was something that all were able to enjoy without trying to explain too many rules (like if we would have played Scattergories or something).

Turn-Out: We had about 25 people come, which was actually perfect. It would have probably gotten a little too crowded with more than 5 or 6 bustling around each puzzle.