How do you plan for events?
This past weekend we took 2,000 kids bowling with their small group. And YES! They were all returned safely to their parents at the end of the day. It was a great event!
The purpose of KidVenture is to help kids build stronger relationships with each other and with their small group leader by getting them together to have fun outside of Sunday morning. The key to success for this event is FUN TOGETHER! Many small group leaders have told us that this event accelerates their relational connection with their kids. You can read more about our last KidVenture here.
Here are a few things that we’ve learned when planning events for kids:
1. Over Plan.
The best way to do this is to think through every step of the event through the eyes of the kids, parents, and volunteers. And then plan for every scenario. Then revisit evaluation notes from past events, and use what worked well before and improve what didn’t.
An example would be: If you have 300 - 5th graders showing up to one location to check in for the event, then ask yourself what does your Sunday morning experience tell you about how long it takes to check in this number of kids. Can you really get 300 kids registered in a timely manner? Does this mean you need more people? Does this mean you need a larger check in location?
What needs to change if in the past volunteers were frustrated because they had a hard time keeping up with their kids in an unstructured environment? Do kids need to wear colored wristbands so they are easily recognizable? Do you need to structure the traveling process from one activity to another?
One word to the wise…if you are not good with details, get someone on your team who is good with details to be a part of this planning process. Failure to plan can ruin a perfectly great event!
2. Over Communicate.
When you are planning a large event, the more people who understand the details, the better. Communicate in advance through email. Have your volunteers arrive early and communicate details in person. Also, give them a printed schedule or important “need to knows” for the day to carry with them.
The more people who understand the plan, the better your event will run. Information empowers your volunteers to make good decisions on their own. It also allows them to lead well with minimal input from you. This frees you up to do your job!
3. Over Recruit
Always have more help than you need. If there is a glitch in the planning, it can almost always be fixed with the help of a well placed volunteer. Having more people to help you lead will alleviate much of the stress on individual leaders.
Extra leaders will also fill in those spots where there are gaps, helping to lighten the burden of those last minute cancellations. The higher your ratio of adults to kids, the more safe and smooth your event will run. Always have MORE people than you need!
Did I mention fun? For these events to be successful, our kids and leaders have to have fun together. It’s really tough to have fun if you are stressed out because you have a faulty plan or you’ve failed to give your leaders good information. If you want to have fun together, you have to PLAN to have fun together!
Here’s a highlight video that we showed to our kids in UpStreet the following Sunday morning!
February 10, 2010
UpStreet (K-5th grade)