Every Week
It’s that night again. Every week, you have to find some sort of activity for your YSA group and you don’t know what else to do. You’ve watched a movie about 6 times, played volleyball 3 times, went on a few hikes, played nerf tag, went rock climbing, gone swimming, and done pretty much everything else. You want to make the perfect YSA activity.
In this article we’ll show you what you need to make the perfect YSA activity. We’ll talk about what you need for each person involved, but the tips will be given for the activity planners. I’m going to try and give you as many tips and resources as possible.
Before we get into it, check out the classes we have available. We have classes for everyone. Come check us out.
Perfect for the Planners
Cheap
For the activity planners, the first thing you want is an activity that fits in the budget. If you are the activity planner then one of your main jobs is to keep the activities going the whole year round. That means a budget that you keep month after month. To help with this, here are some tips to try and keep things “economic”:
Group Inventory
Get an idea for what kinds of free things you can do by conducting an inventory of your group. Perhaps you could get one of your group members to teach you all how to cook a specific dish or perform a specific activity. Maybe one of your group members has special access to a locale or equipment that could make for a fun activity. Ask around in the group and see what each person might be able to contribute.
Banish Fear
Get creative and don’t be afraid to try new things. So what if a specific activity flops? You’ll learn and grow from it. Don’t let your fear of doing something fun and original stop you from finding a hidden gem.
Check What’s Been Done
While you’ll want to vary things, you can repeat some of the more popular activities your group has done in the past. Ask around and see what has already been done. Maybe you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Local Inventory
Sometimes the hidden gems are places to visit in your local community. Check sites like TripAdvisor or AirBnB. AirBnb now has options for local experiences and, while they may not always be cheap, they will help you brainstorm ideas for new activities.
Local Coupons
Websites like Groupon can make your job easier because you can look for awesome activities that you can even get a great discount on. There’s a great discount on groupon for the Ninja Playground. Things like that are awesome options for large groups.
Simple
Make your activity simple. If it is too expensive, it’s likely too complex. In business there is the term minimum viable product. With activities, find your minimum viable activity, the simplest activity that will attract the most people and provide the most fun to those people.
Lots of Room
Because you want lots of room, make sure that for whatever activity you plan, there is enough room. While having a closed space with a lot of people makes it seem like there are more people present, most of the time it just messes up the activity.
Perfect for your Bishopric
You want your Bishopric to be happy with the activity. This does the double duty of getting buy-in from the Bishopric, but it also assures that they will attend. Both of those things lead to better activities. Here are the two key elements you want to make sure happen in order for you Bishopric to sign off on the activity.
Involvement
You want the females and the males to commingle. Design your activity to forces the genders to interact. You also want to create an activity that naturally helps people feel included. Make it a place where even new-comers can come and feel part of the group.
Clean
Your Bishopric will want the activity to be clean. I don’t mean literally clean, but morally clean. G-rated is another way of saying it. You can get PG, but your Bishopric will likely want your activity to stay right in the center of what is considered upbeat and moral fun.
Perfect for the Guys
Luckily, it’s fairly easy to make an activity perfect for the guys. You’ll want to make sure there is food there. Easy. Give them a chance to move and be active. No problem. Give them a chance to hand with the ladies. Done. Let them show off to the ladies. No sweat.
Ok, it might take a little more than that, but not much. Guys are somewhat easy to please when it comes to activities. Just make sure there is pizza there…. (I’m kidding).
Perfect for the Gals
The gals can be a bit more tricky. Sometimes all they want is an opportunity to see the guys do stupid things. Seriously though, they mostly want connection with other people.
In your activity, make sure there is ample opportunity for the guys to get to know the gals. Let there be chit chat and talking. They’ll also want to have fun and move around, but most of the time they’ll enjoy far less intensity than the guys will.
Best YSA Activity Ever
Here are some easy principles to use to make the perfect YSA activity. You’ll likely find some other principles as well as concrete practices, however using these ideas should help you improve your activities a ton.
If you’re looking for a new activity, we’d love to host your activity here at the Ninja Playground. We have special pricing for YSA groups and we also have a professional DJ sound system to make it an even better activity. Give us a call for questions.