This week’s Freebie Friday idea comes from Ben Kraker, a youth pastor in Elmira, Oregon. Thanks for submitting your idea, Ben!

In March and April I did an event called “First Four Lunch” with my kids. I picked a day in both months that the kids were free from school. Our school district out here seems to give students at least one Friday off each month — kinda crazy. I chose one of those Fridays and set that as the date. On the events calendar, I listed the event along with the following description:

FIRST FOUR LUNCH
Be one of the first four people to call Ben’s cell phone on Thursday night between 5 and 9pm and say the words “HOKEY PICKLE BREATH.” The first four will need to show up at 12:30 on Friday and as a group decide on a restaurant to eat lunch at. Lunch is free, and we’ll even head to Putter’s for mini-golf after lunch!

It was a good event all around. It gave me the opportunity to hang out with some students that I usually don’t get to take out. It was also a good way to measure whether or not the kids actually read the calendar. It also mixed students together a little bit, outside of their various cliques. And it makes the kids feel like “winners,” which is always a boost to their spirits. You can make up any phrase or password that they have to say when they call.

Just thought I’d share the idea. It worked quite well for our group.

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Posted on April 20, 2007