* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES AND VIDEOS MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

We spend a lot of time creating programs, planning activities, preparing messages, and leading meetings. We meet with our leaders, we meet with parents, we meet with our students. One of my favorite ideas has been student meet ups. Check out today's vlog post.

* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES AND VIDEOS MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

I recently spend a couple hours sitting in the service department of a car dealership as one of our vehicles received some work for our annual state inspection. I took the time as an opportunity to go over my calendar, do a little planning, and to schedule out some appointments. We were already one busy week into the new year, so before the whole month spun out of control with the unexpected, I chose to take control of my weekly schedule.

I started by included time for my goals and plans for self-health. These would be things like personal quiet times, work out times, person study and development, and times for family nights and date nights with my wife. I also blocked out the weekends that my wife and I are setting aside for family adventures. Then I started filling in the regular appointments such as worship, staff meetings, monthly directors meeting with one of our pastors, weekly bible studies, youth group gatherings; the things that happen weekly or monthly. Then I went back and filled in time for planning, message study and prep, brainstorm sessions and trainings with our adult leaders, and meetings with some of my team coordinators. Next I block in time to plan and get ready for events and gatherings that are not regular student gatherings.

In about 45 minutes I had filled about 60% of my calendar. I looked at what I had just completed, noting how much the calendar had been filled. As I looked at my calendar, I thought to myself, 'there's not much time left for being with people.' I said to myself, "this is a problem."

But as I looked at my January projections, I didn't like that I had set aside 60% of my time to "work in the office" and only 40% to be with my students or with people. Now, let me also note that part of the 60% does include time I am setting aside for me as I work to keep myself healthy, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And yes, some of the 60% is reserved for family time. But even in that, together those two things might equal about 15%, leaving 45% of my time for work.

Instead of spending the majority of my time sitting at my desk, I want to make sure that I am spending time connecting with my students, leaders, parents, and people from our community. That will require me flipping how I build out my weekly and monthly calendars. 

I'll begin the scheduling by blocking out time to be with people; students, leaders, parents, and people from the church and community. I want to re-establish the habit of putting people first. I want to make sure I am taking time to be available to my students and leaders. And I want to make sure relationships are a priority.

This is all the more important as we get back to ministry post-covid. Having spent the last 20-something months, mostly disconnected, working from home or from the office has becoming the norm. It's easy to fill up your schedule with busy work when you can't be with people. No doubt, covid has left us with some bad habits. But after two years of not always being able to meet up with students and leader, I want to make sure this years a year of connected with people.

How about you? How are you planning to reconnect with your students, leaders, parents, and the people from your church and community? What priority are you placing on the idea of spending time, one-on-one time with the people around you? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below!

​- jay

But in shortly after starting the year, my wife and I were rocked by the diagnosis of breast cancer. This news reshaped all of 2022. We also faced the deaths of both of our fathers, only weeks a part. By the end of the year, we found ourselves in desperate need of a break. We decided to step away from ministry for a bit. We needed to put our attention on our own health as we worked through all we had experienced in 2022. 

2023 was a year of pursuing new opportunities as we navigated our way through the griefing and healing process. Thanks to the support of family and friends, we made through the year and started 2024 with a renewed hope. We started asking God, "What's Next?" Little did we know that God's 'Next' was still a year away. We committed to prayer, trusting that God had a plan for us. We just needed to wait to see what that plan would be.

God is faithful. At the start of 2025, we moved from our West Virginia home to a lakeside community in Ohio. God had opened the doors to a new ministry role working with students. He also provided an opportunity to work with youth leaders through the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM). I'll talk more about that later. Now here we are, about 5 month in, and man, it's been amazing.

All this is to say, it's time. We are back in full-time student ministry. I am working more closely with youth worker than I ever have. I feel like I have been renewed. I am thinking student ministry, dreaming student ministry, talking youth ministry, living youth ministry. (All in healthy ways...) 

But post covid, the world is changed. Student ministry is changed. Students are changed. As youth workers we are facing new complexities and challenges as we looking to reach a generation with the Gospel of Jesus. It's an isolated, anxious generation. A generation worth reaching. So what better time than now to come back and begin sharing tools, tips, and resources that might help youth workers thrive in their ministry.

Welcome back to, THE YOUTH WORKER DAILY! We're so glad you're here!

- jay

* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

Here's a Christmas-themed game I remember playing when I was a kid. Santa Beards!

I've played this game with both high school and middle school student. When I originally post the idea, I had just played Santa Beards with my high school students and it was a blast! I'm always wondering how our students will take to games that involve a little bit of a mess, this one went over huge! Let me share Santa Beards with you.

This is another simple game to play. With two teams, a guy team and a girl team (or whatever you want to set for teams), the object is to create a Santa beard out of the shaving cream. The bigger, longer, fuller, fluffier; the better! With the plastic table cloth, the possibilities are quite large. Students can create as long and as big a beard as they can! Set your time limit and go!

I was super excited that our student had fun with this one! The laughter that filled the room was pretty cool! And surprisingly, the aftermath wasn't too bad. The shaving cream stayed in our area and not throughout the church! That's a bonus.

You will want to have a few items on hand to help with the clean up. Paper towels, hand towels, and a bathroom in close proximity are things to think about.

One more thought. This is not a game to play with whipped cream. Most whipped creams are oil based and might stain certain fabrics or even irritate skin. And no one wants to send students home with stains on their cloths or rashes on their faces. Stick to shaving cream because it is a water based product and washes out well, even if you get on the carpet.

There you are, another simple, low cost game to add to your Christmas Game Collection!  Thanks for reading!

​Merry Christmas!

​- jay

* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

A couple of years ago, when decorating our youth room for Christmas, I wanted to create something special as a backdrop for what we used as our "stage".  We don't have a lot of space in our youth room for a large set up, but we did pretty well with a make-shift stage. The area includes speakers, TV monitors for media, some simple lighting, and a table or music stand which I teach from.

As a student ministry, we decided that we would decorate our youth room with an Elf theme. Students cut out snowflakes from white paper, constructed a huge paper chain, and set out to recreate the apartment and store scene. As the centerpiece, I thought it would look cool to have a couple triangular Christmas trees on our stage area.

Not long ago I watched a DIY video by Paul Turner, a fellow youth worker and creator of TheDiscipleProject.net. Paul posted a video that showed how he created some styrofoam letters for the stage/background. It was easy, inexpensive and a great way to add to the atmosphere.
You can see Paul's video, How to Make Styrofoam Letters, by clicking here. 

Paul's video, along with a pin I saw on  Pinterest.com, became the inspiration to my colored trees!

Here's what you need for the styrofoam Christmas Trees...

• 2 sheets of GreenGuard XPS (4'x8'x1"), Purchased at Lowe's for $19.98.
• DesignMaster Spray Paint, Purchased at Michael's Crafts for $8.99.
• 4 1/2" Screws, Purchased at Lowe's for $.88 a piece.
• 3"x1" strip of wood, Purchased at Lowe's for $6.00 each.
• something to cut the wood. I used my compound miter saw.
• utility knife or an electric knife to cut the styrofoam

I chose the colors red, green, and blue because I already had colored lightbulbs in red, green and blue. The up lights I already had because it's what we use as part of our simple stage lighting. The colored bulbs help to accent the colored styrofoam.

Constructing the trees was super easy. Total, it took me about 6 hours to construct seven trees. Our students decorated the youth room for Christmas as another student and I set up the trees and all the wiring to create our stage area. Watch the video below to see how I created my styrofoam trees!

Thanks so much for check in for today's blog and DIY video! I hope that you have found the video to helpful and inspiring. I'd love to hear about your Christmas staging ideas and construction tips and tricks! Feel free to leave a comment below. If you have any questions about what I created, hit me up below.

Merry Christmas!
​
​- jay

​Tis the season for colored lights, pine trees, candy canes, and so good fun Christmas-themed ice breakers! That's right, youth worker, Christmas is here, and that means we have a chance to bring out some of our favorite Christmas-themed games!

This month I am reposting a few of my most favorite Christmas-themed games for students. So if you're looking for some last minute holiday game ideas, here you go!

During the holiday season, one of my favorite places to shop is my local dollar stores. I visit these stores and wander through the holiday aisles looking for ideas, particularly game ideas. A couple of years ago, while shopping, I found everything I needed for three of my favorite Christmas Ice Breakers! So let me refresh these old posts and let's share with you a few Christmas Games.

I call them my Reindeer Games, and I spin as a games Rudolph and his buddies might play way up north! I'll share the game and the directions, and provide a materials list along with any other tips or tricks to make the game successful. Let's kick off our Reindeer Games with our first game, Rudolph's Wreath Toss!

I love Rudolph's Wreath Toss. I've played this game a number of times and it is always a huge success! Based on the tradition Ring Toss game we've all played as kids at our birthday parties. This is a super easy, super low cost game to play.

Materials List:

• At least 6 - 6" Christmas wreath's with wire frame to hold its shape. The wire frame is important as students will throw these wreaths like frisbees.
• A set of of headband reindeer antlers. The antlers pictured here have thin metal inserts to help the antlers keep their shape. These antlers are also wide enough for opening of the wreath. I have seen antlers in various designs, so just make sure you have a set that work with the wreaths you use. 
• In your game space, marked a distance where the actual game will be played.  This distance should be no more than 6' to 8' between tosser and receiver. I set up 2 chairs, 1 the tosser had to stand behind, and 1 the receiver sat in. You can see that in the pictures below.

​Back when I purchased these items, I was able to get all of them at our local Dollar Tree. Total cost: $7.00 plus tax. That was about 6 or 7 years ago, so I expect similar items today are going to cost you a little more.

So the game itself is pretty simple. Like the party game, the object is to toss the ring wreaths and land them on the antler or antlers atop the receivers head. Here's what I did.

The night we played this came we ended up with a tie. In our challenge, the girls were ahead in the points. So since both teams landed 5 rings we had an "all or nothing" tie-breaker. Each team was given 3, and only 3, rings which they were to toss one at a time. After they tossed their rings, it was over. No re-do's or second chances. If a ring hit it's mark, a point was given. If all three missed, that meant the end of their game.

The girl's went first. Three rings. Three tosses. Three misses.

Then it was the guys turn. The first toss was a miss. The second almost landed...but fell off. The third...A RINGER!!!! The guys went nuts!!

Simple. Easy. Low cost. And, Rudolph's Wreath Toss was a huge hit!

Looking for more Christmas-Themed games, visit the TOOLSHED, and look for the Reindeer Games link.

Thanks for reading. 

​​Merry Christmas, friends!

​- jay

* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES AND VIDEOS MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

It's one of my favorite games for the Halloween/Fall season. It's a little messy, a little gross, and a whole lot of fun! Pumpkin Puzzles! Easy to prep. Easy to play. And so much fun to watch.

​The Halloween season can be a fun time with Halloween and Fall themed games. This month of October, we are bringing in the seasonal fun with games that use some of the items we think about when we think Fall.

One of the first games is one that I came up with a number of years ago. I was planning a pumpkin themed costume party for our students. I wanted every game to utilize a pumpkin ins some way. I surfed the internet for ideas, but I could find enough game ideas that would fill our time or involved more than simply smashing, rolling, or pitching. So I cleared my desk and just started thinking.

You're going to need a number of large, jack-o-lantern style pumpkins that are approximately all the similar sizes. In the Fall, pumpkins are in ample supply. Just run to your grocer or local farm. I purchased my pumpkins at Aldi's for about $3.00 each. Since this game is best played with teams, be sure to have one pumpkin per team.

Before the students arrive, cut the pumpkins up into puzzle-like pieces with unique angle or Tetris-like features. Don't make the cuts too small or intricate. You might find the pumpkin difficult to take a part and reassemble. keep track of how many pieces you cut so that each pumpkin has the same number of pieces to reassemble with. Don't worry about the contents, they can stay adding a gross, slimy aspect to the game.

Note: to help with set up and clean up, I covered the tables with plastic table clothes and used hard plastic trays for the pumpkins. If you are on carpet, you might want to put down drop clothe to keep the deacons happy.

Set up for this game is pretty easy. I think it took me 15-20 minutes to cut up four large pumpkins into 11 piece each. Just have a sharp knife on hand to cut through the pumpkin skin. to give your students an incentive to complete the task, award the winning team with a prize like Reese's Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter pumpkins, or Bach's Pumpkin Candies!

Clean up is fairly easy as well. If you cover the tables with plastic, simply roll everything up in the plastic and put it into a trash bag. But don't leave the trash in your building. Make sure it reaches a dumpster. You don't want the pumpkins rotting and smelling up the church or your youth room.

​Here's a short video our my students playing Pumpkin Puzzles!

If you decide to play the game, let me know what you think! How did it go? What did you learn? Any fun variation you created? Share in the comments below! And thanks for reading the blog! There are plenty more ideas, games, resources, and content coming in the future! And, subscribe to the YouTube channel for more videos and content for your youth ministry!

- jay

* THIS POST CONTAINS BOTH AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS,
​ALONG WITH LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES MENTIONED IN THE POST.*

Since 1999, this week has been a special week. It would begin on Sunday evening. I would lead our Sunday night student ministry gathering, which was also our last youth gathering until Advent Sunday, and wish our students a 'Happy Thanksgiving.' I'd go home, rest and celebrate what God was doing with our students. Monday I would wake, head into the office, run through my To Do List, and clean things up in the office. Mid afternoon I would head home top finish packing and getting ready to go away.

It was the highlight of my year. I looked forward to it every year. It was a staple on my personal and ministry calendar. It was the same week every year. And I couldn't wait for it to arrive. It was the National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC).

From 1999 to 2007, I was an attendee. For 8 years I sat through workshops, seminars, general session speakers, intensives, breakouts, and roundtables. I walked the exhibit hall countless times.  I enjoyed the concerts and special activities provided. And I shopped the Convention store, browsing the abundance of resources made available.

Thousands of youth workers filled the various convention centers, hotels, coffee shops, and restaurants of the host city. There was a familiarity; a sense of homecoming as like-minded men and women gathered for a weekend of training, inspiration, challenge, worship, and fellowship. It was one of the greatest weeks of the year.

NYWC shaped so much of how I thought about ministry, family, and life. It taught me vital skills, practical helps, and important habits. I learned the importance of balance, connecting with other youth workers, and healthy spiritual discipleship. I learned how to connect with students, how to share the gospel with students, and how to show up when they needed it most. I learned youth ministry from youth workers. 

While on staff I was fortunate to meet and get to know some amazing youth workers. Through interactions with attendees I have hundreds of amazing stories. And I hope that my story and my ministry helped to encourage others I met. ​

My wife and I were talking last week, and we noted how sad we are that we're not heading to NYWC this year. We really looked forward to that time away. 

Will NYWC ever return? I don't know. I would like to think that maybe, someday, we might have the opportunity to serve youth workers in that way again. But, I just don't know.

What I do know is that NYWC will forever be a special memory for the both of us. And we will always be grateful for our time attending and volunteering. As for the friendships that were made while serving, I know that they will continue to develop and grow for years to come. ​

What has been your experience? Have you attended the larger conferences? What did you take away from your time of learning? Have you attended a smaller, more local conference? What were some of the major differences? What did you learn? And which will attend most like attend in the future? Share in the comments below.

​- jay