I survived! It really wasn't so bad being up all night. The other chaperon, K, and I took some 300 minute energy (disgusting) around 2ish. We never felt an energy boost, but we didn't crash, until after 7. Then both of us kind of went blah. Anyway, we had 17 kids, which was awesome, especially considering we only have about that many in our church total. We had 7 member kids and 10 of their friends, grades 8-12.
We did a Survivor themed lock-in. I divided the kids up into 4 teams. I wasn't sure how to divide them up, so I let them pick partners and then the partners picked another pair. It worked out that we had 8 boys and 9 girls and the girl that was the odd girl out is one with special needs. I let her pick which group she wanted to be a part of. She really preferred to watch than participate which worked out really well.
We started the night out by explaining the rules and how the whole thing was going to work. We gave them the off limits areas and explained that they were expected to be up for every activity, which was held every 2 hours. We did a get-to-know you type game first. We did Behind Your Back which involved the kids writing their name on a blank sheet of paper (we used cardstock). Then we taped the sheet to their back, facing inward. Then they went around and wrote something nice or funny about that person on their card. After everyone was done, they had to find the card which was theirs. They seemed to have a lot of fun with it.
After the intro we sent the kids on a scavenger hunt. Each clue was a Bible verse that they had to look up for the next clue. We did 7 clues per team. It worked out pretty well except I think our custodian came in after I hid the clues and threw away a few that were a little more obvious. It worked out ok though. I'll do a separate post with the Bible verses later.
At 11 PM we did Bible Trivia. I didn't have a box game so I had to come up with the clues on my own. Thank you internet! I'll post those separately too.
At 1 AM we did a relay. The first person had to shave a balloon. The second person had to hula hoop 10 times, or 30 seconds, which ever was shortest. The third person had to volley a ball 10 times and the 4th person had to skip up and down the main church aisle. I think there was a little confusion on this one. The kids were still hyped up on caffeine at this point and had a hard time following directions. We got a lot of "they cheated!" comments, but I don't think anyone cheated intentionally.
At 3AM I had the teams put together a 150 piece puzzle I picked up at the dollar store. It was a lot harder than I anticipated. One option would be to do a simpler puzzle but have them do it brown side up. The kids were about shot at this point, so we needed to keep them moving. After this they played hide and seek in the dark church. That really weirded some of them out, so we left on the kitchen lights and stairway lights. By the time they were finished with that it was 5 AM.
At 5 we played marshmallow dodge ball, which did not count toward team points for the overall Survivor game. They had fun and at the end just ended up chucking marshmallows at each other. After this almost all of them crashed.
At 7 AM we did our final relay. The first person had to run to the table and drink a glass of juice. They then had to run back and tag the second person who had to dress up in our Christmas program costumes. The third person was blindfolded and had to toss 10 marshmallows into a basket held by the second player. The fourth player handed marshmallows and gave direction. After 10 marshmallows, the fourth person then had to lick clean a pie plate or whipped cream.
We awarded points for the 5 survivor activities, 5,4,3, and 2 points as placed. We ended up with 2 teams tied for first and 2 teams tied for 3rd. We could have done a tie-breaker, like the human pretzel or something, but our prize was just candy, so I split up the bags and all 8 players got something. The kids then voted on the ultimate survivor, or the person that was the most encouraging, etc. to everyone. That prize was a $15 itunes card. We honestly could have done without that part. By that time all the kids were exhausted and didn't really care. We had 3 of the 17 kids receive votes, which means they put some thought into it, but they were all just ready to vote for anyone or everyone or Bob the Builder, who also received one vote.
After the voting we had the kids pack up and some parents came in to make pancakes and bacon. Most of the kids left after breakfast. Next time I think we need to make church required for participation. It's a little embarrassing when only 3 kids stayed for church and only 1 of them was a member of our congregation.
During the down time we had games, movies, and Wii for the kids to do. They honestly had the most fun kicking the $1 balls I had picked up and played capture the flag and some other games I think they invented.
The whole night worked out very well. I was really nervous going into it, but the kids all seemed to have a really good time. One of the parents reported that their kid thought it was better than the lock-in at the local Y because we had activities for them to do. They weren't just given free time and told to go play. There was a point to the whole night. I would do it again, but not for another year!
I really just wanted to do this post since I searched and searched the internet for these ideas. So feel free to use any or parts of this if you are here searching. I'm not a professional, just a member of our congregation who saw a need and opportunity. K and I did this just for the fun of it!
I will post some video, the clues, and Bible trivia separately and try to remember to link them here.
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