If your group is like most groups, you may not know all of the parents as well as you would like. Here is an idea to change that!
Have everybody invite their mom or other significant female in their life (grandma, aunt, etc.). You can give door prizes to the oldest moms, the moms with the most kids, the newest moms, the moms who traveled the farthest, etc. Take pictures of everyone with their mom for your website or ministry Facebook page. Get everybody’s emails so you can forward copies to them.
So what do you do with all those moms when you get them there? Here is a compilation of some fun activities that is sure to connect your kids and their moms to you.
I Love You Belly Much
Get some large balloons, inflate them, and let the boys put them under their shirts like they’re pregnant. Then have some of the moms ham it up by telling them “you are glowing” or “are your ankles swelling?” and so on. This is always good for a laugh!
Next, have them try to touch their toes, give a hug to another pregnant guy, or whatever you think would be fun just to show them how hard it would be if they were pregnant. Ask them how it would feel if that balloon weighed at least eight pounds and they had to carry it around all day, every day for nine months.
Then, give them two or three minutes to try and pop the other guy’s balloons without letting theirs get popped. The last one left standing wins. Be sure to take pictures!
Baby Food Roulette
Get several jars of the nastiest baby food ever. Have volunteers stand in a circle and play a song while they pass the baby food jar around. Make sure everybody has their own baby spoon! When the music stops, whoever has the jar has to take a big bite, and then theyÕre out. Continue until all the baby food has been eaten, or there is a winner!
Baby Bottle Burp
Have three moms race to put a diaper (use a white bath towel) around their own children (their teen). Then have the students sit on their momsÕ laps. The moms ÒfeedÓ them a baby bottle of soda (no more than half full), then make them burp. The first kid to burp, after draining the bottle AND wearing his diaper, wins.
NOTE: Make sure a big enough hole is cut in the bottle top, or else this game could go on forever and be very frustrating for the participants!
Baby Bottle Burp Extra
If you want to spice up Baby Bottle Burp a little, hereÕs how. Before they are given their bottle of soda, have their moms feed them a jar of baby food. (Make sure it is disgusting!)
Plastic bags from the grocery store split in half make excellent bibs (thus, one bag makes two bibs). Then go on to the bottle of soda.
Another great photo op!
The MAIN EVENT: Mom-O-Rama
Challenge moms, game show style, by asking them questions about their kids and their kids’ generation.
Here are a couple examples:
-
- Describe your childÕs current Facebook profile picture/s?
- Which store in the mall is your childÕs favorite?
- What musical group/artist is your childÕs favorite?
- What is your childÕs best friendÕs name?
- What is their favorite subject in school?
- What is their favorite movie?
If you want a game show already made up for you, go to our Games Page – Up Front Games and then scroll down to THE BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS.
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.
Recommended To You
isaac
March 27, 2015 at 12:00 ami love this few example of activities! a great help for me as outreach coordinator in our school 🙂
Cynthia
January 15, 2021 at 9:31 amWhy These Pornhub Comments About Depression Matter
Juliette Virzi
October 13, 2017, 2:25 pm
pornhub depression comment
pornhub depression comment
Sometimes the news isn’t as straightforward as it’s made to seem. Juliette Virzi, The Mighty’s Associate Mental Health Editor, explains what to keep in mind if you see this topic or similar stories in your newsfeed. This is The Mighty Takeaway.
On Wednesday, Twitter user @kxthleen tweeted screenshots of a Pornhub user who was struggling with depression reaching out for help, along with the compassionate way other Pornhub users replied. In her caption, @kxthleen wrote, “tfw pornhub is more wholesome about mental health than twitter.”
Related: When Robin Williams Comforted Me in the Airport After My Husband’s Suicide
In the tweeted screenshots, the initial comment, made by Pornhub user dddasss, said:
Guys, I have no idea why but recently, I’ve been feeling really depressed. But I have absolutely no reason to be depressed. I am actually not joking. I really need help. I have a loving family, great friends, good grades, but I’m fucking depressed for some reason.
The thread was commented on by other users, who offered him (or her) support:
You have a loving family and friends dont be afraid to ask them for help. You’re not alone <3
Don’t be afraid to seek professional help man. I’ve been there and asking for help was the hardest damn thing I’ve ever done but it saved my life. Good luck (:
I’ve been feeling the same way, man. Like WalkerTexasNutter (great name by the way) said, find someone to talk to. The brain is a funny thing, and sometimes shit gets imbalanced up there. Don’t let it cut your life short. It’s not worth it. It’s never is.
Related: I Have OCD. This Is What It’s Like to Be in My Mind for 3 Minutes.
If you’re like me, you may have seen this tweet and initially dismissed it because it involved porn — an industry that has long-been been linked to objectification of women and sexual aggression.
But this conversation isn’t about whether or not you agree with porn usage — in fact, it’s actually irrelevant. And while it may seem like a trivial thing to focus on this tweet when there are wider issues with internet porn, the reality is, these comments bring up an important point about where people look for help. This isn’t really about porn at all — it’s about getting people the help they need.
In a study on men and depression, it was found that not only do men seek help less often than women do, it usually takes them longer to realize something is wrong. While we cannot say definitively whether or not the Pornhub commenter struggling with depression is a man, it’s no secret the primary consumers of porn are male — studies put porn consumption rate in males between 50 and 99 percent. This trend is echoed in the demographic breakdown of Pornhub users (pictured below). According to the chart, 76 to 83 percent of the site’s users are male and the average age of male users is 36 years old.
Related: To the Couple in Line at CVS Who Saved My Life Without Knowing It
via Pornhub insights
While we typically see a lot of suicide prevention campaigns aimed at a younger demographic, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the rate of suicide is highest in middle age — white men in particular.
So why aren’t men getting the help they need?
This is a multi-faceted issue, but part of the reason could be that many men aren’t exposed to mental health resources, and don’t know where to go for help.
Pornhub has a predominately male audience, and as evidenced by the conversation above, some of its users are clearly struggling and looking for help. Perhaps mental health nonprofits can take this tweet as an invitation to consider some creative initiatives for meeting men right where they are — instead of hoping they’ll come to them.
If that means paying for mental health advertising on websites like Pornhub, so be it. If that means video game companies creating mental health campaigns, let’s get on board. If that means getting gun shops as partners in suicide prevention, let’s do it.
We can’t wait for men to seek out help for themselves, because the consequences of continuing to do so are very real. Men die by suicide 3.5 times more often than women do.
Let’s meet men where they are (without judging them) and normalize getting help before they’ve gotten to a hopeless point. It just might save a life.
If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources page.
If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text “START” to 741-741.
Screenshot via Twitter
Read more stories like this on The Mighty:
The Two Words I Would Have Said to My Friend Who Died By Suicide
What It's Like to Have 'High-Functioning' Anxiety
The Difference Between Wanting to Die and Wanting the Pain to Stop
View more on Yahoo Life
Update privacy choices
Reactions