5 Impactful Youth Group Activities To Get Your Kids Engaged

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Pizza parties, ski trips, and the occasional lock-in, for many years, were some of the most dependable youth group activities in the youth leaders’ toolbox for growing the youth group. Four and five decades ago (yes, I am looking at you 1970s and 1980s), churches tended to think of youth groups as the “church of tomorrow”, and in a manner of thinking, that was true. The youth group typically included the age groups anywhere from completed eighth graders through graduated high school seniors, and very often they were children of active church members.

There was good reason for us as youth leaders to think the students would continue to grow in their Christian walks and be adult members of our churches in the coming years. As a result, we often viewed youth ministry as an older version of children’s ministry with just a little deeper discipleship and great activities to hold the student’s interest.

As I prepared to write this article, my research led me to interview Jeff Glenn. Jeff served for 30 years in full-time youth/student ministry and accepted the position of Georgia Coordinator for the National Network of Youth Ministries this year. In recent years, we as a society have seen great change. As Jeff shared, “We are progressively more post-modern and post-Christian in our values. More and more of the parents of the students we serve are not affiliated with any church.” In the past, we as the church expected that parents were primarily responsible for sharing the Gospel and leading their children to the Lord. 

There is a need for deep discipleship that ministers to both the students and their families.

Deuteronomy 6:7

Students today struggle because the foundations of faith and biblical knowledge we as leaders take for granted are no longer the norm in families. How do we as youth leaders and ministers come alongside and minister to the students, the parents, and other family members? Building relationships is key to earning the right to speak into the lives of those we minister to. 

Why Youth Group Activities Are Perfect For The Entire Group 

Activities are important tools for connecting meaningfully with students and their parents for focused discipleship. Jeff views student activities as: 

• A safe place for “fun,” but also as a way to encourage and facilitate deep discipleship. 
• Ways to help build a worldview that is Christian. Students with a Christian worldview have behavior changes, not because of external rules, but because of their own beliefs. 
• Opportunities to build a missional/service mindset. 

Students need to be engaged in ways that teach Biblical truth, encourage spiritual growth, and build mentoring relationships. Our students are, as Jeff points out, “the church of today.” This means activities are no longer primarily a “fun hook” to promote attendance. Student activities are keys to building up believers and supporting their spiritual growth as the church body.

5 Engaging Ideas For Youth Group Activities 

1. Mission Trips 

Mission Trips, especially those to foreign countries impact our students. In the July issue of Missions Mosaic (2024), one of the featured missionaries is Alli McCarty. On her first mission trip with a church group, Alli was not Christian. However, the experience of working alongside men and women living out their authentic Christian faith on the mission field had an eternity-changing impact. Soon after returning from the mission trip, Alli put her faith in Christ as the Lord of her life. Alli now living in Hungary, is preparing to minister to students and young adults by teaching business skills in a collegiate setting. She also ministers to Ukrainian refugees who now live in Hungary. 

Mission trips need not include travel outside of your country to be impactful. Often there is a great need and opportunity to share the Gospel within our borders. For example, Appalachian Mountain communities, Native American Reservations, or unreached people groups who have immigrated to the US, have needs that can be met by a mission team. These needs might be medical or educational such as English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. In communities that have suffered a natural disaster, a mission team might assist with clean-up or help provide a hot meal to community members.

All of these provide an opportunity for students to learn new skills, to build their confidence in God to meet the needs of daily life for themselves and others, and to build relationships that have life-altering impact with Christian mentors. Students may come face-to-face with the Great Commission and, like Alli, find a calling to the mission field.

2. Serving In The Church At Home 

If we view students as the church of today, we are called to mentor them as they find their place within the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12, is Paul’s teaching on how each of us has been gifted to serve each other as a whole. Ephesians 2:10 assures us that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, for the good works He prepared in advance for us to do. There is no qualification of age, only the qualification that we have surrendered to Jesus as Lord and obediently follow His direction for our lives. 

Tweens and teens need hands-on experience as they explore the different gifts and talents that can be used for God’s kingdom. As student leaders of a small church, we can help them find ways to be an integral part of the Body of Christ. We can offer a safe environment for them to try new skills, experience helping in different areas of church life, and see what sparks their interest and joy in serving. But, this requires that we serve as mentors and not limit the opportunities to the annual “Youth Day” service. 

As we build relationships, learning the individual strengths and interests of each student, we can offer opportunities to serve that demonstrate their ability to contribute. Students who view themselves as capable contributors to a church become invested in the life and ministry of that church. Members who are invested in the life and ministry of the church (whatever their age) are more likely to be committed members who contribute to the work and mission of the church.

Older students can “apprentice” with the audio/visual/sound team. Younger students can help welcome visitors and distribute the weekly order of service. Some students may find their niche in helping with the food trains for members experiencing illness or death in their family. Some will thrive with the opportunity to pray aloud or share the scripture verse in service. Others will find joy in activities that do not require being in the spotlight.

Discipling each student, helping to develop their innate talents, and providing a place of service are crucial activities as we minister to students.

3. Meeting Needs In Our Communities 

Tweens and teens are in the stage of life where they are beginning to establish themselves as individuals, assert their independence, and think of themselves as separate from their parents. This is part of the process of becoming adults. Activities that offer ways to serve others in our community, helping to meet perceived needs, and shifting from an ego-centered focus to a more others-centered focus fit well into this stage of development. We can offer activities that encourage growth in these areas. Opportunities to help pack backpacks full of food that provide meals for students in need over the weekend or school holidays help build awareness of and empathy for the needs of others.

Helping to deliver the backpacks to a local elementary school each week, makes it real for the students. Other activities that support age-appropriate growth emotionally and spiritually may include mowing the lawn for some of the congregation who are physically unable, and helping once a month at the church for a “Mom’s Saturday Morning Out” for single moms so they can have a few hours to run errands. Perhaps you could assist the deacons or elders as they serve the widows of the church by providing a free oil change. Adults modeling behavior and mentoring our students as they strive to grow into adulthood is both an effective and Biblically-based method for engaging students and including them in ministry. 

One of the gifts of a smaller church is that adults and students already know each other and the groundwork for building a mentoring relationship is present. As student leaders in a small church, we don’t spend the first half of the year building relationships, they already exist!

But what about fun? Yes, it is important to provide times when students can relax, enjoy, and be willing to invite their peers. They are still maturing and haven’t reached adulthood (though they may disagree with that statement in this 13–going-on -50- world). I am not suggesting that we completely abandon the concept of fun for the sake of fun. We simply do not have the luxury of treating our tweens and teens as “bigger kids,” only creating bigger and better games for their entertainment.

If we fill our valuable face-to-face time with entertaining fun, losing amazing opportunities to disciple. We miss the opportunity to teach students to persevere in faith and hope when experiencing pain, loss, or disappointment. We must wisely invest our time with them to help them grow in their relationship with Christ. Deep discipleship, mentoring relationships, and fun are all important ingredients to help our youth engage and thrive in student ministries. 

4. Escape Rooms

Escape rooms are fun, immersive activities that can be tailored to fit different group sizes, various lesson plans, and different budgets. This makes escape rooms especially perfect for a small church activity. The only limit will be your imagination as the creator. If you aren’t familiar with the concept of an escape room activity, Pinterest has a plethora of examples of escape rooms. Some of the resources provided are free and some are low cost. Use these templates and examples to create an escape room based on your lesson plan.

5. Mystery Menu Dinners 

A mystery menu dinner is a student favorite in my experience. The basic premise is that a meal menu is planned and each item is given a code name. For example, Farmer’s Friend would be the code name for water, Roman Mix-up would be the code name for Caesar salad, Rolling Stones for meatballs, Degreaser for a napkin, etc. The fun of trying to pick your meal and even your utensils from a coded menu creates uproarious results. I even found a Mystery Menu that uses Scripture references for code names on Pinterest. The menu can be as simple or complex as your budget allows.

Small churches can use existing resources such as tablecloths, candlesticks, and decorations to create a more formal atmosphere and heighten expectations without great expenditure. Many years later, students who attended a Mystery Menu Dinner still start conversations with sentences like: “Do you remember that time you ordered a chicken breast, but didn’t order a fork or knife?” or “I ordered the “all eyes on me” and got a plate full of stuffed green olives!” This activity helped new leaders and students bond over laughter and fun. The dinner sets the stage for relationship building that led to deeper discipleship. So, fun activities are valuable additions to our student ministry toolbox! 

You Can Make An Impact

I encourage you to check out this article by Cheri Kulhawick. We as student ministry leaders in small churches are well-positioned to make a great impact in the lives of both our students and their families. Cheri reminds us of our strengths and the things that make small churches special in the lives of our students. She also has great wisdom that she graciously shares throughout the article.

Student ministry has grown and matured in the last 3-4 decades. We have found ways to provide fun and engaging activities that set the stage for spiritual growth for our students. As our society has become more post-modern and post-Christian in its values, student ministry has prayerfully moved to meet the needs of students and their families from all walks of life.

We have the opportunity to provide deep discipleship to students who come from unchurched homes. We strive to create a safe place for students to learn, contribute, and participate in the ministry work of the congregation. As leaders, we mentor students following a Biblical model and help them grow in their giftings, and service to the Lord and the Body of Christ. 

As a student leader or minister, you can make an impact. Come alongside parents and help fulfill the Biblical mandate to teach children to know scripture, grow spiritually, and form a Christian worldview (Deuteronomy 6:7). Your time, efforts, and attention matter deeply to the students you lead. I pray you are encouraged as you work tirelessly to lead and minister to students and their families. 

And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

Matthew 10:42

The work of student ministry is important. Student ministry can be time-consuming, heartbreaking, and sometimes frustrating. But the difference you make can not be calculated! Thank you for your dedication to the students, the church of today.

Read More: 

5 Steps To A Perfect Lock-In For A Small Youth Group

7 Events For Children’s Or Youth Ministry 

Keeping Kids Safe In Church Youth Group