I have really come to love the Station model for tween and teen programs. Teens need the flexibility and autonomy when it comes to activity choices. Some teens will appreciate the option to drift from group to group when they start to feel uncomfortable. This was the first in a new Teen Night series I’m running at our library. Every month there will be a video game tournament (projected onto the wall), Minute To Win It challenges, board games, and a crafty DIY station. OH and free pizza. That’s important.

Prize Table

I bought 9 prizes from the Dollar Store and wrapped them up. Teens could win a prize by completing one of the tasks in the posted list. They loved it! Even though the prizes were just Mike & Ikes, gum, glow-sticks, woopie cushion, etc.

Video Game Tournament

This was easy peasy. We hooked up the library’s Xbox One to the projector and threw in NHL 16. Teens could sign up for the tournament on the white board, and were then placed into the bracket. After the bracket was filled out, the tournament ran itself. It got pretty intense. One teen brought his own Wii to run a Smash Bros tournament, and I put the library’s virtual reality headsets out too.

Minute To Win It

I ran two Minute To Win It challenges. Basically, I waited until a few teens started gathering around the Minute to Win It signs I had put on 2 tables, about 40 minutes into the program. They were already full of pizza and feeling comfortable and goofy with each other by that point.

Skittle Blitz

• Put 2 big bowls of Skittles on the table.
• Every competitor gets one small bowl and a plastic spoon.
• Everyone puts the handle of the plastic spoon in their mouths.
• They have one minute to transfer green skittles into their bowl, using only the spoons in their mouths
• They get one point for every green skittle, and negative 1 point for every other skittle

Cookie Face

• Everyone starts with a cookie on their forehead
• They have one minute to inch the cookie down their face and into their mouths
• If the cookie falls off, they’re out
• I ran this as a multiple round tournament, until only one cookie face master was left

Board Games

I purchased Exploding Kittens, Codenames, Adventure Time Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, and Anomia for library programs. Other games I’d like to add are Ticket To Ride and Telestrations (although I often just play Telephone Pictionary using paper and markers, which is just as fun). These are all relatively easy to learn games with some teen appeal, but Exploding Kittens was by far the most popular game at this event.

Perler Beads

This was a fun one! None of the teens had seen this craft before, and some assumed it was a “new thing.” At the beginning one boy hesitantly asked “So…are these here in case little kids come?” I said, “Nope! They’re here in case anyone here wants to try them. They’re kinda cool.” And he sat down right away and spent half an hour making a creation. I found it helped to have printed photos of perler patterns and finished creations. I left the iron off until the end, and ironed them all at once. Five teens made Perler creations – one girl and four boys.

All in all it was a fun night! I had 11 teens – mostly high school boys, and am hoping for more next month for the Anti- Valentines Party!

What stations do you love to include at your Teen Nights?