From Chesleigh Rogers (WyldLife Director, Riverside/Brookfield IL)

This club is a jam-packed one-hour celebration of every kid’s birthday. Decorate your club space with streamers, balloons, and other party favors. Give every kid a birthday hat when they arrive. These can double as nametags. Make sure everything is fun, festive, and high-energy.

Theme:  Birthday Bash

Large Group Game/Mixer Options:

• Birthday Limbo: all students make a giant train, putting hands on the shoulders of person in front of them. Leaders spread throughout room with limbo sticks. When music starts, the “train” starts. Kids duck under limbo sticks as they come to them. Anyone who touches the stick moves to the edge of room.
• Protect Your Balloon: split the room into 4 teams. Give each team a different colored set of 5 balloons that are theirs to protect. On “go,” teams must protect their own balloons but also try to pop the other teams’ balloons.
• Balloon Stomp: attach a balloon to each person’s ankle(s). These can be pre-inflated or have each person blow up their own to a designated size. String is the old school way to attach the balloons –  many kids struggle to tie the strong securely. You can substitute rubber-bands. Slip-knot rubber-bands around the balloon stems before club; then kids only need to slip their foot through the rubber-band.

Up Front Game Options:

• Balloon Shaving: cover a balloon with shaving cream. First one to “shave” the balloon without popping it wins.
• Beard Painting: on a white board draw different beard/sideburn/mustache combos. Students race to duplicate the drawing on their leader’s face using frosting.
• Cake Eating Contest: in pairs, students stand across from each other and race to see who can finish the cake fastest. Partners feed each other the cake.
• Mummy Wrap: the traditional wrap-a-partner game, but this time use birthday streamers instead of toilet paper. First team to use up entire streamer roll wins.
• What’s On My Head?: use items related to babies and birthdays

Club Talk Themes:

• The healing of Jairus’ daughter. (Her age is given so we know she’s had her 12th birthday – that can be a lead-in for the story.)
• We are created, designed and known by God, even before we are born.
• People who follow Jesus have a “new birth” day that is the start of Real Life.
• The Incarnation story – God came to earth as a human being and had a human birthday. He knows what it’s like to grow up from a kid to a teenager.
• Jesus going to the temple at age 12 – a trip only open to people after that age. Here are some thoughts about the importance of that story.

Misc:

• Any balloon game works for Birthday Bash Club.
• Have a Birthday Photo Booth with a birthday banner, kazoos, fake presents, and anything else that screams IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!
• BE SURE to have cupcakes or cake for everyone at the end of club.
• Have a cake-decorating competition. Kids can bring their decorated cakes to be judged, or they can bring plain cakes and decorating stuff to compete at club. At the end of club, everyone gets to enjoy the goodness without breaking your club budget.
• Have kids bring a $1 white elephant gift (be sure to have extras on hand for those who forget). Everyone grabs one at the end of club. If your group is small, you can do a traditional white elephant exchange.