TheSource4YM.com
	Jonathan's Resource Ezine

• PIANO SMASH: The Day the Music Died
  
  
• DEALING WITH DISCIPLINE: How Should I Handle This One?
  
  
• FREE YOUTH CULTURE NEWSLETTER: Weekly Update and Discussion Starter. ADDRESS CORRECTION
  
  
• NATIONAL YOUTH WORKERS CONVENTION: A Great Resource- Catch me there!
  
  

I am constantly amazed at the variety of activities that people send in. I think I might catagorize this one under the same class as FIREBALL SOCCER (if you missed that one years back, you gotta check it out: LINK ). I know many of you might not like this idea . . . but I gotta give Pastor Kevin McIlhany credit for thinking "outside the box" on this one. I bring it to you to simply report what someone else did- not to recommend it to you. DISCLAIMER:

This ideas may not be for you. You need to use your own discernment and judgement as to the applicability of this event. This is not for everyone, and those who choose to use the idea, do so at their own risk. Please use caution and discernment, thinking through all safety issues and all future implications.

Pastor Kevin McIlhany submits: If you need a good attendance builder, try the piano smash. We have a hayride followed with the piano smash on a local farm. The object is to have team members use sledge hammers to crush a piano and get all the pieces of the piano through a 18" hole into and area where you have a bon fire. Get 4 worthless pianos (Put an add in the paper, "Looking for old pianos, will haul away." I have always gotten more than I wanted Cut the strings of the sounding board so the strings cannot injure someone

Spread the pianos out equal distance from a middle bon fire location. Give lots of room. Place one sheet of plywood with an 18" hole in between the piano and the bonfire area. From the Fire department we get fire helmets and fire jackets and use them with gloves and safety glasses for

protection on each of the students swinging the hammer and one other student who takes the smashed pieces of piano and shoves it through the 18" hole. The person putting the pieces through the hole only when the sledge hammer person is getting safety gear on. You do not want someone picking up pieces when the sledge hammer person is swinging. We have done this with 2 to 4 teams competing at a time. The ideal is to have about 10 people on a team. The plywood needs bracing with 2 x 4 braces, so the plywood stands up solid as the students put the wood through. Oh yeah,

Piano fires are very hot. Next year we are shifting to the bowling ball catapult for a variety of outreaches. I have seen this draw big crowds.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR AN
EVENT YOU CAN USE,
CHECK OUT JONATHAN’S EVENT PAGE:

We’ve all been there. Something happens . . . we make a decision . . . and now we’re getting flack from everyone. What do you do?

Cathy wrote in to our ASK JONATHAN section on the web site with the following question:

QUESTION:

On our summer trip, we pulled into the parking lot and right before we got out, a couple boys mooned the other van. We told the kids that was yuck and don't show your shiney hinny again. Gross! The kids know I mean business and even with just that short conversation, I am sure it will not happen again. One mom of a child that was disciplined for refusing to wear his seatbelt was upset that these kids were not punished as was her son for his action. I see the difference as we had told the parents ahead of time that we had no tolerance for noncompliance with the seatbelt rule and to me, that is a safety issue. The mooning thing_ I am not sure how many trips over the years throughout the country this has not occurred! I feel confident that these boys won't do it again. The sponsors addressed the issue at the time and now one of the mothers of the mooning boys is upset we did not report this to her. So, that is the big issue, should we have come home and reported this to the parents? I say no, what is your opinion please?

Cathy from Shreveport, Louisiana

ANSWER:

Cathy,

Wow. That goes to show you- once the moon comes out, everybody starts howling! Seriously though . . .

(Click on the link below for Jonathan’s answer to this question as well as other discipline issues.)

FIND JONATHAN’S ANSWERS
TO THIS QUESTION AND MANY OTHERS
ON HIS "ASK JONATHAN" PAGE

SUMMER FUN!

Most of us are now ankle deep in our Summer Program. Looking for some great resources for Summer games and ideas? Check out our POOL GAMES page: and our OUTDOOR GAMES page:

Many of you read Walt Muellar’s article that he wrote in our last issue of our EZINE. At the end of the article there was a BAD ADDRESS to sign up for his FREE weekly "E-UPDATE."

This "E-UPDATE" gives you cutting edge youth culture info, along with media quotes, and a weekly "Current Culture Image" that shows a magazine advertizement that you can use as a discussion starter for your students.

CORRECT ADDRESS:

To sign up for this great FREE resource, visits Walt’s resource page and scroll down to the section called "E-UPDATE" and follow the instructions.

If you’ve been to a Youth Specialties convention, you know how good it is. If you haven’t . . . you gotta experience it. Those on the west coast will see me there teaching a seminar or might catch me at my booth. So don’t miss it . . . the convention is well worth the dollars paid!

NATIONAL YOUTH WORKERS CONVENTION 2002: Mark your calendar to attend in Sacramento Oct. 3-7, Pittsburgh Nov. 7-11 or Nashville Nov. 21-25.

http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/convention?h022

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

If you have any other youth ministry ideas you want to share, please email me at jon@thesource4ym.com

God Bless!
Jonathan R. McKee