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Forum Guru
 
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Last Login: 9/6/2009 10:38:33 AM
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 We're looking to redecorate our youth and children's areas. They are the old sanctuary (think Little House on the Prairie size and shape) and fellowship hall. The sanctuary is used for youth group on Wednesdays and elementary school aged kids on Sunday mornings. The fellowship hall is used for preschoolers. I would love to see any pictures of things you've done or ideas you have for turning this boring space into a cool place for kids to want to be. Thanks!
Kelsy in Kansas
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 11/17/2009 12:20:03 PM
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| Our Church burned in the summer of 2007 and we have been rebuilding since then. we are back in the sanctuary and have our nurseries up and running but our classrooms have not yet been finished. My youth group has been meeting at my home on Wed. nights ever since the fire. We have talked about how we want to decorate our room when we get back into it and the youth have said they want it to have couches and end tables to make it look like my living room. They feel so comfortable at my home and our group has just about tripled since the fire. (We squeeze into every corner we have in the living room) LOL. We are talking about painting the walss in different colors and splatter painting them on top. We will buy used couches from Goodwill or a thrift store and throw bright colored covers over them. I am having photos of the group enlarged into posters and we will hang them on the walls all over the room. I feel this will make it seem even more like "their" room. I take pictures of all the activities we do, worship meetings and class room games, these are the pictures that I will enlarge. I'm not sure what else we will do to the room but I'm sure it will be designed as to what teenagers like ! I hope this might give you an idea or inspiration as to what you can do with your rooms. God Bless
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Forum Guru
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 8:57:42 PM
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Yeah, we are in the process of decorating our youth room as well. We were going to go with poster pictures but as some of the youth leaders pointed out if some people get their pictures on posters on the walls then those who don't are going to be a bit disappointed. We ended up deciding to instead print almost 150 regular sized pictures and post them all on one wall. It worked out great except that we have painted block walls and they are so cold due to the weather that we can't quite figure out a way to put them up where they don't fall off within a week or two. We initially used scrapbooking sticky tabs, but they obviously didn't work.
We also put up a big wall clock kit that we got from Hobby Lobby. Here's the review i did of the clock so you can see how it looks.
We are also planning on painting our youth group logo on one of the walls, as well as part of one wall for youth to put up their artwork from school. We are wanting to put up a section of wall for senior profiles so they can put up their pictures and little bios about their plans for the future. So we will see how it all comes together.
Masterpiece in Progress - Building masterpieces one person at a time.
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Forum Expert
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Last Login: 7/30/2009 2:43:00 PM
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One thing I can suggest is photos! We have a wall dedicated to them and the youth LOVE it. They look each week to see if new ones are posted.
 ~Misty from Indiana
Non-conformist!! Romans 12:2  Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth!
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 5/1/2009 3:44:46 PM
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| I'm in need of material for Children's Ministry. From Decorating to new ideas. Anyone know where I could get anything would be greatly apprciated. God Bless,
God Bless, JoAnn
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Forum Guru
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Last Login: 11/18/2009 7:13:05 PM
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Use lots of color. Paint the walls many different colors. "Color can affect a person in a positive, neutral or negative manner." Edward Tufte . Stark white...well, you might as well just jab their souls with a fork. Make one wall the guest book. Supply markers so they can sign their names and create artwork.
Comfortable furnishings: Old sofas, bean bag chairs, stereo, TV, and games. Make it look more like their bedroom or living room than a class room. A stage for music and skit performances is fun. Refrigerator, microwave oven, and kitchen cabinets are a must for snacks. A table and some chairs always come in handy. Keep a supply of jackets and sweatshirts, blankets, and pillows. Get some posters and lots of enlarged pictures of the kids. I also like stringing Christmas lights just for fun.
Games and activities: Make the room inviting by providing many activities choices. Ping-pong and foosball are perennial favorites. I also make sure there is a big TV with a video game that has four controllers (Note: Strictly monitor and games you allow to be played). An assortment of costumes and wigs is great for role playing or skits. Stock the cabinets with colored construction paper, markers, and of course duct tape. Each time they come in let them play for a set amount of time. This not only takes the heat off you to come up with games for every meeting, it lets them congregate in the groups they are most comfortable in with an activity that relaxes them.
Upon arriving, every kid is celebrated into the youth room. That means that the leaders usually shouted out their names and added a big cheer. Within the first few minutes each teen is included into a conversation and presented with a snack or a warm drink (on a cold day).
Youth room signing wall:
One of the best things we did was to let the kids write on the wall. We painted it bright yellow then supplied lots of colored markers. Everyone signed their name. The wall became known as the guest book. When a new person came they were warmly greeted then asked if they'd sign our guest book. They were delighted when they found out the book was actually the wall. A regular attender would proudly walk them over, get the makers. The newcomer was immediately involved.
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 6/13/2009 10:15:06 PM
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We have those cinderblock type walls too... but we painted them VERY bright (aqua, neon green, blues, orange...) and are about to have each person in the youth group dip their hand in paint and put their handprint on one of the walls... then they can sign their name and the year under it! We'll do that each year!
I love the idea of the guest wall! Definitely will be implementing that one!!!
I also want to hang a golf ball from the center of the ceiling... if we can figure out how we will - because they love the Louie Giglio movies... "so if the earth was a golf ball..." HAhahahaha 
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Forum Expert
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Last Login: 9/30/2009 7:53:38 PM
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| I am helping start a Youth Group started at my parish. We have a room with white walls and nice carpet...neither we are allowed to change to ruin (so no paint!). We are trying to come up with some creative ideas. One idea we have is to take plywood (4' by 8' sheets) and paint them with chalkboard paint and hang them on the wall and let people draw and doodle on them and really make it a personal space. We have nothing for the room, so we are putting a donation list into the bulletin. We are asking for everything from a digital projector (costing upwards of $450), to old couches! One thing that would be a good idea to do is to get a group of 4 or 5 kids and have a meeting about what they would like to see.
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