I’m sure at one time or another you have sat in a meeting or an event and thought to yourself, “Man, this is really boring. I wish that I could be doing something more fun right now.” Studies have shown that when people get the opportunity to do something fun, they are WAY more likely to engage. Volkswagen decided to test this theory and you can see the result by watching this video.
I don’t know about you, but I would have taken the piano stairs over the escalator any day. I would have been one of the 66%. Volkswagen calls it the fun theory and it makes complete sense.
But sometimes we get so caught up in planning a meeting that will get all the information across that we need to, encourage an intimate experience with God, and challenge people, that we leave out the element of fun. Don’t hear me wrong, all of those things are good to have in your meeting. But adding a fun element will help encourage all of those things too.
Here’s what I mean by that. Having a fun element in your meetings does a couple things.
- It draws in people who walk by and see you having fun.
- It helps new people feel more comfortable.
- It helps build community in your group as people have fun together and build relationships.
- It helps people stay more engaged.
If people feel more connected to one another they are more likely to relax during worship and focus on God instead of how they look to everyone watching. Just look at all the people in that video who were willing to dance on the piano keys without thinking twice about who was watching or how they looked. When people connect with each other over something fun they feel more comfortable and when they feel more comfortable they are more likely to be vulnerable and open up to one another. Fun encourages us to let our guard down. This means when you preach a message that is convicting and challenging people are more engaged and more likely to receive what you said.
Students have been in class all day, so they’re not always ready to just jump into serious worship or a sermon. Often they need to destress a little bit first. This is a big part of why we have incorporated more fun elements into BASICcon as well. When it comes down to it, an experiment in fun is well worth it. Give it a try for a week or two and see how it goes.
Minute to Win It games are perfect for this. If you’re looking for other ideas just search on Google or YouTube for things like ice breakers, party games, indoor games, etc. There are plenty of websites out there with great ideas. Here’s one that I found pretty quickly by searching college ministry games.