Running an all nighter event will be a massive withdrawal on your team so before you make your mind up on running this event weigh up the benefits vs costs. Really this night is worth doing when you need some momentum to refresh the vibe in your ministry.
A great format for one of these nights is to run your normal program with games, praise, worship & preaching and then at the end of your normal program roll out the all night party.
To run a kicking all nighter event you need to have a lot of things happening throughout the night. Here are a few ideas to help fill your night up with activities:
1. Jumping castles
2. Movie rooms
3. Run a midnight Bbq
4. Have an area for the boys to muck around in
5. Setup a video gaming area
6. Run a Pool tournament
7. Air hokey
8. Girls nail / pampering area
9. Boys wrestling tournament
10. Have sleeping zones for kids who are tired. Just throw a bunch of beanbags in these areas
11. Pull in a guest rapper to do a late night set (around 11pm)
12. Free Hot Chocolate station.
13. Pull out a bunch of popcorn bags during the movies.
Logistical things to be thinking about:
1. Times:
When planning your run sheet for this event keep in mind that the later on in the night it gets the more the teens will fade. Put your epic stuff at the start of the night while teens have heaps of energy and then run movies towards the end. A bunch of teens will fall asleep during the movies which is great for you because it means it’s easier to supervise. If you run 2 movies during the night you have just covered the time between 3am – 7am. It makes your night a lot easier to pull off.
2. Child protection:
Nothing good happens late at night…. If you keep the guys and girls hanging out all night together you’re opening yourself up to some big risks. We recommend splitting the boys and girls into different rooms / areas at a certain point during your night, e.g. 1:30am onwards. If you separate them there is less risk of dodgy stuff going down.
3. Budget:
If you charge around $5 to $10 per teen you should be able to achieve a fair bit if you are resourceful. Also, get the parents to pick the teens up at 7am so you don’t need to provide breakfast. This will make it cheaper for you to put this event on.
