As a young parent, I remember reading a lot of parenting magazines and articles. One I have never forgotten was written by someone trying to get their kids to eat vegetables by hiding them in other foods. She had lots of suggestions about places to sneak in vegetables, but the one I always remember was how she hid spinach in her kids' brownies. She claimed the kids didn't notice, but I never tried it.
There are times that I try that same approach in youth ministry. In days gone by when the church youth group was a significant part of a young person's social life, youth ministry included lots of activities that were just for fun and fellowship and very light on faith formation. Think bowling trips and roller skating. While there is nothing wrong with doing these sorts of things with a youth group, I find today that most of my youth are scheduled within an inch of their lives. They have lots of chances for social activities and don't look to the church to provide those things. So I feel strongly that what we do with our young people needs to have some sort of faith formation goal in the mix. For me, this is good stewardship of our time and theirs. But that doesn't mean it can't be lots of fun at the same time.
A recent example of this for me was an escape room I created for a youth lock-in. There was a long tradition at the church where I was serving at the time of sardines and movies and up all night fun, but I wanted to fold in something with faith formation. Since escape rooms have been popular in recent days, I decided to create one with a Biblical theme. I centered it around the book of Acts which has lots of stories of apostles being arrested and spending time locked up. As usual, pinterest and internet resources game me some tools and ideas. It was a lot of work to put together and cost about $100 in supplies, but I felt it was very worth it. The groups had a great time solving the puzzles and escaping and maybe they learned something about Acts, as well. (A little spinach in the brownie!)
I am going to post it on my education tab for others to borrow and adapt. I love to share such programs and hope others find them useful either as is or significantly adapted for their settings.
