Wow. My first all nighter at Brandywine Valley Baptist is a wrap … and I survived! What a night! It was our annual middle school all night long event, and it was packed with activity. I had two different inflateables set up on one end of our gym (joust & boxing) and floor hockey on the other half. We also had a movie room, a board game room, a video game room (complete with a new XBox 360!), a lounge/eating area, our loft (with a couple pool tables, foozball, air hockey, ping pong, etc.), as well as the pool next door at the YMCA. We also had a couple rooms set up for later in the night if kids wanted to sleep in them (no one actually did … they all ended up crashing on the floor in the halls, in front of video games, the movie room, gym floor … you name it, there was some twelve year old kid sleeping on it around six in the morning.
About five or six of the twelve hours was actually spent on the road; we booked out three busses and spent some time first at roller skating rink, and then at a bowling alley. Before that, though, we had a rally in the gym! We gave away a bunch of great prizes (iPod nano, cds, gift certificates, High School Musical 3 cardboard cutouts and more), had a gospel message and played some crazy group games. I actually scrapped my game plans partway through last week because I downloaded a new resource, Game On Volume 4. It’s a resource put together by Kurt Johnston of Saddleback Church. It includes instructions, materials lists, and even media resources for 24 different games. I used about half a dozen of them and they were a HUGE hit. I went with a few whole group games (nothing like seeing a 100+ jr high kids freaking out!) as well as some where I picked out three or four to come compete on the stage. My personal favorite left four kids with pumpkin pie and whip cream all over their faces! I’m looking forward to using the rest of the games in the coming months – every single one of them is a keeper!
Anyway, all told it was a great night! Although … I’m still a little tired … I must be getting older …
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