If you don’t get things moving well in advance,
instead of enjoying the Christmas Vacation with the youth, you could end up being totally stressed and miss valuable opportunities to impact their lives and those of their friends and families.
So here’s a Youth Christmas Planning Checklist…
Form a Christmas Party planning committee
- Who needs to be involved in the planning for the Christmas Party? (i.e. parents, youth workers, youth, pastoral staff, others?)
- What are the roles in the planning and preparation for the Christmas Party and who will be responsible for each role?
Coordinate your Youth Christmas Party with the church as a whole
- How will the Christmas Party fit into the over all schedule of Church activities? Does it complement the Church Christmas theme or focus?
- Will there be duplication? Should some parts of the Christmas party be jointly organised?
- Will there be conflicts of manpower and facilities?
- Is your planned date for the Christmas Party on the overall church calendar?
- Who will you need to coordinate with? Will it be part of the overall church Christmas plan or separate?
Decide the Christmas Activities Schedule
- List the individual activities that will be part of your Youth Christmas program.
- What are the times and dates of each event?
- What is the venue or location for each event?
- How will the Christmas Party fit into the schedule?
Decide your Goal for the Christmas Party
- Purpose: What is the purpose for the Christmas party? Is it evangelistic? In appreciation? A simple celebration? To reach out to the community? To help the needy?
- Target group: Who is the target group for the Christmas Party? Who do you want to attend the Christmas Party? (age group, Christians / seekers, friends of youth, parents, youth workers, community, etc.)
- Brief Description: Write a clear description of the Christmas Party and its goals.
- Theme: What is the theme for the Christmas Party?
Plan the Details for the Christmas Party
- What is the official name party themes of for the Christmas Party? Does the name clearly communicate the purpose
- and content?
- You should have already written down the date and time and venue for the Party. In addition you will want to add directions to the venue? Is there a map available? About how long will it
- take travel there? Is it difficult to find?
Tentative Christmas Party Program
- What activities will fill the time during the Christmas Party? OVER PLAN and have ALTERNATIVES. (e.g. Icebreakers, gift exchange, Bible study, Movies, Large Group Games, etc.) If you are using another venue, doing an on site inspection in advance will help you better prepare for Christmas games and activities. If there is a gift exchange, how will the exchange be coordinated? A great resource for planning your Christmas Party is the Creative Youth Ideas Christmas Collection found at http://www.CreativeChristmasIdeas.com