Dances
Somewhere Out There
I saw a dance where they made a "sky" above the dance floor using the plasic table cloths. They strung clear fishing line and then hung the table cloths from the line. They didn't just hang them over one line, but spread them out on the fishing line. After the sky is made you could hang stars, etc.
We just went to a banquet at the school that was decorated with black plastic completely covering one wall and then glitter edged cardboard stars taped all over it. Was beautiful. They had also written the names of the athletes (it was sports banquet) on the stars in glitter. Had some thin silver streamers curling around here and there. Balloons (clear ones and silver ones) were just scattered all over the floor.
We just did a dance with a similar theme for Youth Conference. We strung up heavy fishing line straight down the gym - from one basketball rim to the other. Then, we strung up white lights from the sidewalls to the other side - supported by the fishing line. Also, we made clusters of white balloons (clouds) and tied them around the lights in the "sky." It looked sooooo cool! It was a bit of work, but it created a really cool atmosphere. We also cut out stars and put glitter on them and then pinned them all over the walls. ~Amy
Isn't It Romantic?
Heart shaped cookies, Christmas lights in netting draped across walls or over doorways, have a paper tree cutout where people can "carve" their initials using a marker, give prizes for couples who dance, serve Delicious Punch (recipe under Fun Foods to Make). Have benches and trees with white lights. Learn ballroom steps. Have hearts on the floor. When the music stops, whoever is standing on them gets a prize. Mixer--sweetheart dance: make hearts with a pair of names of a famous couple, then cut the hearts in two and give the male half to the girls and the female half to the boys. They have to try to find their sweetheart and dance with them by the end of the dance. When they find them, each person gets a prize.
Famous couples:
George and Martha Washington
Adam and Eve
Gordon and Marjorie Hinckley
George and Barbara Bush
Lehi and Sariah
Abraham and Sarah
Isaac and Rebekkah
Jacob and Rachel/Leah
Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Smith
Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith
Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln
Thomas S. Monson and Frances
L. Tom Perry and Elise
(Use stake and ward leaders names too)
Take a beach ball and challenge the youth to keep the ball up in the air for the duration of a song. We did that once before at a youth leadership retreat and the kids really loved it. ~Amy
I know we can do the usual "girl's choice" and the "throwing the shoes in the center and dancing with the person whose shoe you pick", but I was hoping for some more unusual and "lively" type games. ~Amy
Scatter circles or hearts on the floor. Whoever is dancing on them at the end of a certain song gets a prize. ~Jenny
Pick a few young women and young men, but don't tell anyone who they are. Then tell everyone that if they dance part of the song with one of the chosen people, they get a prize. The people who were picked could discretely put a sticker on the person's back that has danced with them, so even if they danced with an "IT" they wouldn't know. The DJ chould yell, "Switch" a few times during the song. After the song, everyone with a sticker on them from the chosen people get a prize. ~Jenny
Snow Ball--pick a couple to start off the dance. The DJ periodically yells, "Snow Ball" and then each half of the couple goes to find another partner. One you're dancing, you also get to snow ball. The rule is, if you ask someone to dance, they have to say yes. ~Jenny
We did the banana split dance mixer idea where each youth is part of a banana split.
They have to dance with someone who is another topping, or flavor of ice cream in
order to "earn" that for their own personal dessert. This went over
amazingly well - we actually had ever youth in our ward dancing. We had someone come
teach some basic swing steps and had them rotate partners every few minutes. The
secret is having the dessert cards and punching them while they are dancing - and making
sure
the youth don't get a hold of a hole puncher themselves. ~Laura
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