These days, both boys and girls are into gaming. HereÕs an event idea that will help you reach a ton of new kidsÉif you publicize it well.
Start by making hundreds of flyers that your students can pass out. (NOTE: If they do it at school, make sure they have the administrationÕs permission!) The flyers should invite students to a Video Game Tourney complete with food and prizes.
Before the event, line up a few students who are willing to ÒloanÓ the youth ministry their gaming system (Xbox, Wii, Playstation 2 & 3, etc). You can also ask those same students to provide a few ÒapprovedÓ games.
The final piece of preparation is to gather a few gift cards from area businesses. See if Old Navy, Starbucks, DQ, video game stores, or anybody else is willing to donate a few gift cards or products. You just need to have some cool prizes on hand to give away to the various winners.
Now for the event:
Have as many tournaments as you want on as many different games as you want. Dance Dance Revolution is a sure hit, as well as Guitar Hero. Halo is a popular game also, but you will have to make the call about content.
There will be plenty of students who just come for fun. Make sure to have something for them to do, as well. Having the ÒclassicsÓ around is always a good idea (think Pac Man, Mario, etc). These games need not be a part of the entertainment; they are just fillers.
No event is complete without food, so have plenty of snacks, pizza, and drinks for the masses.
When the ÒtournamentÓ is over, shut down all the games, and award prizes to the winners.
Have fun.
Idea by Brett S.
