Theme nights are a fun way to get kids and adults excited about a particular night or program. Whether you choose to have one theme night a year or go a little crazy and have one each week there are a lot of things to consider.
So what makes a great theme night? How should theme nights work? What themes should your church do? These are all great questions! We have put together six keys to hosting a great theme night and provided 10 awesome theme night ideas!
Six Keys to Hosting Great Theme Nights
- Communicate – Nothing is more frustrating than showing up to a theme night and not know the theme! Well, that may be an overstatement…but it is frustrating! Make sure that your parents, kids, workers, and office staff know when and what your theme nights are. It is also a good idea to explain what items won’t be allowed. Nobody wants to smell carl’s unwashed lucky socks on crazy foot night!
- Provide – Theme nights can be difficult for parents and this could suck the joy right out of the evening. Time and economic constraints often limit a family’s ability to participate in these nights. Therefore, always provide a way for kids to be able to participate even if they forgot it was a theme night. If it is “Crazy Sock Night: then provide some inexpensive socks for kids to pick from when they arrive. “Crazy hair Night”, provide someone with some supplies to style away before class begins! Also, consider themes that require no advanced preparation such as “Bad Joke Night”.
- Participate – Kids love it when their teachers participate in the theme nights alongside them. Go all out and try and find the most over the top hat you can find or ugliest sweater etc. Research some extremely bad jokes it is also a good idea to advertise the night beforehand by showing off your bad mustache on social media, church website, or even your church bulletin! Don’t be a Debbie downer and enjoy the night with your kids!
- Don’t Embarrass – Remember that every home is unique and has its own set of circumstances. Don’t ever point out any child’s shortcomings. Most of us are probably thinking and saying to ourselves “obviously” (and if you weren’t then we need to talk) however keep this in mind when hosting any type of competition. Never give a “reward” to the worst costume or unfunniest joke etc.
- Document – take lots of pictures and post them on the walls or online (get permission first). This helps build excitement for your ministry and kids love to see themselves on publications and around the church. It also helps show any guests how much fun your ministry is!
- Capitalize – always take advantage of current themes and happenings in the world. If there is a big football game happening, consider using a football theme for that night. A great way to do this is to find some wild and wacky “holidays”. For example every year, usually in January, there is a National Pie Day! Consider having some of your best pie makers bake a pie and submit it for an award voted on by the kids in your ministry!
Now that we have discussed some best practices for hosting theme nights, how about some suggestions! Here are 10 ideas that we have used and have proven successful.
10 Proven Theme Night Ideas
- Mustache Night
Provide some cheap stick-on mustaches for the kids to put on as they enter. These can be found in numerous places and are really inexpensive. We used these! These are basically stickers and as you know, kids like to stick them in strange places so be on the lookout so your check-in station doesn’t suddenly grow facial hair.
Pair this theme night with the pun “I mustache you a question” and you have the makings of a great night that will allow kids to ask any questions they may have about the Bible, Jesus, or anything else! One word of caution, kids can ask some really great questions and then some that come out of Left Field. Have kids write down their questions beforehand and then use this night as the answer time. Then you will have time to prepare answers as well as weed out any of the “what’s a virgin” type questions if need be.
- Crazy Hat Night
Providing real hats for everyone is not very budget-friendly, especially if you are considering novelty ones. We will opt for a few cheaper alternatives. One idea is to buy a package of DIY visors or headbands from your local craft store. Allow the kids to create the hat during the night and maybe give them a vision for their creation. For example, if you are studying Jonah, have the kids make the hats with a fish/underwater theme in mind. Telling the story of David and Goliath? Have the kids make them look like helmets.
Another idea is to simply take some ordinary objects and then them into hats. Bowls, old t-shirts, boxes, even some paper and tape can all be made into some crazy hats at a very low cost.
- Crazy Hair Night
Gather a few supplies such as hairspray, combs, brushes, gel, spray color, and enlist a “stylist” and you have got yourself a pop-up crazy hair salon! The stylist doesn’t even need to know what they are doing! Don’t skip on the hair color as you will need it for those boys with the crew cuts!
It is a good idea to have a lice check before any child sees a stylist, Lice are no fun, and an outbreak in your children’s area would require lots of extra cleaning, and letters, and phone calls, and absent children and maybe even an itchy scalp.
Use this theme night for when the story of Samson comes up or anytime someone does something “crazy” like Peter denying Jesus three times etc.
- Weird Sock Night
This is perhaps the most expensive night on our list but it is still pretty budget-friendly. We buy a package of socks similar to these and then mix them all up. Kids then reach in and grab two socks and that becomes their pair of weird socks.
A cost-free alternative is to simply have kids turn their own socks inside out or wear them as gloves or a tail etc. Either way, you implement this idea, have a pair of gloves ready as there will most certainly be a used pair or two hanging around after the night is over.
This is also a great night to show your volunteers you are thinking about them and appreciate all their hard work. We buy a pair of novelty socks for each of our workers based on their personality, hobbies, or interests. This helps show that you appreciate them as individuals.
Use this theme anytime a story or main point is emphasizing “going”. Go tell others about Jesus, Go and make disciples, Go and do good works, etc.
- Mismatch Night
Another cost-free night! For this theme, kids can come wearing mittens and shorts, or Christmas pants and a Valentine shirt! We emphasize and work hard to make sure that these nights are not a burden on parents or an embarrassment to the kids so for those who are not prepared have them simply place their shoes on the wrong feet or roll up one sleeve etc.
Another alternative is to mix up the classes. Have your game leader teach the Bible lesson or your 2nd-grade teacher lead the 5th graders. If you can’t get the leaders to agree to this, (sometimes you can’t and it is far better to come up with an alternative than to have to replace a teacher!) Mix up your classes, instead of a class of all 2nd graders have a class with a mixed age group. Finally, you could simply change your meeting areas, instead of games in the gym, have the Bible study there, and games in the hall. Meet outside instead of in the classroom. Anything out of the ordinary will work for this theme.
Jesus eating with sinners, Jesus being placed in a manger, God choosing Moses, or Saul chosen as king of Israel are all great stories to use this theme with.
- Bad Joke Night
Ahh, my favorite night of the year, in fact, I love it so much that we do it twice a year! Who doesn’t love a great bad joke?
Don’t run with bagpipes, you could put an eye out…or even worse get kilt!
Why couldn’t the green pepper practice archery? Because he didn’t habanero!
I could go on and on! One of the best parts about this night is that it does not cost one penny! Be prepared to hear some great and some not so great jokes. Laugh at them all regardless.
This theme night fits really well into any story involving a bad king or bad decision. Pharaoh in the exodus story, Judas betraying Jesus, or Old Testament Joseph’s struggles are all great ways to implement this theme into your teaching time.
- Backward Night
Orez srallod is how much this night will cost you (those first words are “zero dollars” spelled backward in case you were wondering)! There are so many possibilities with this theme idea. Having kids walk backward everywhere they go, spell things backward, or talk in backward sentences are just a few examples.
Consider using palindromes as an object lesson for this night. A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward. Madam, nurses, mom, dad, and race car are a few examples.
“Was it a car or a cat I saw” is a palindrome sentence!
This makes for an easy tie into the concept of God being the same throughout history or the same regardless of how you look at Him.
- Emoji Night
I don’t know about you but I didn’t grow up with emojis, I’m not even sure the word was invented yet. However, today’s kids know all about them! Use this night to discuss topics such as emotions or simply use emojis to tell the Bible story! We found some emoji bobbleheads to hand out for our night. The internet is littered with some great novelty toys and candies that can be given out for the evening.
This night could also be used with being made in God’s own image. Have the children make their own emoji as part of the night’s festivities!
- Pastor Appreciation Night
Our pastors have a lot on their plates. Sure, they stand up front and make bad jokes while turning them into profound spiritual truths, but the fact is they see and hear a lot of things we know nothing about. They are often the first person people call when something goes wrong and they take calls in the middle of the night. Far too often they are overlooked when it comes to appreciation and thanks.
Have the kids make cards to all the pastors on staff. You may need to explain what each staff members do, which means you may need to find out yourself what the music guy does all week. Hand them out all at once or send them over a series of weeks to prolong the encouragement.
This night can be used when subjects that involve church or even Biblical church leaders.
- Popcorn Night
Who doesn’t love popcorn?!? In my experience, the smell of fresh popcorns brings church members out of the woodwork! If you have a popcorn maker get it out for a great theme night! If you do not have a machine, no worries microwave bags work just as well. Consider providing some flavorings to spice things up a bit!
Popcorn makes a great object lesson. Grab an un-popped kernel and display it next to a popped one and you got a great visual of how things change even though they are still the same. In the same way, God changes us!
As always these are just suggestions. God has given everyone the gift of creativity. Use these ideas as a starting point and make them your own!
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