Napoleon Dynamite Mutual Activity

When you've been helping plan youth activities for almost five years, sometimes it's hard to come up with new and creative ideas.   We were in charge of the combined activity this month and couldn't come up with any ideas we all liked.  We've done a few meaningful combined activities lately, so wanted to make this a fun one.   We were planning on it being a game night of some kind, but had trouble focusing in on which games to do and how to structure it for the 50-60 youth that would come.    Finally, my counselor mentioned potentially making it a Napoleon Dynamite activity and suddenly it all clicked together.  We planned and pulled it together in a weekend, spent little money, and everyone had a fantastic time.

First off, I sent this email (linked in a google doc) to tell everyone about the activity and invite them to dress the part.      We offered prizes (chapstick) for the best costumes.  :)

We started the night by showing some favorite clips of the movie, then went to the gym and explained each of the stations, then let them go to it. :)   We thought about assigning them groups and making it more structured, but worried that each station would take a different amount of time, so we just let them do it at their own pace.  

You'll want a table and a little sign for each station explaining what it is, along with a leader to instruct what to do (and to garner enthusiasm).    Not every station will need a separate leader, but you'll want some oversight to keep it from getting too crazy, especially if you have a large group like we do.

STATION #1: HELP PEDRO ASK SUMMER TO THE DANCE (CUPCAKE DECORATING)--

They got to design their own "cake" to help Pedro ask Summer to the dance and then eat it or save it for when we served the snacks later. Most people ate it on the spot...hahah!

Materials needed: unfrosted cupcakes, a big bowl of white frosting, sprinkles, red gel decorating frosting, and a picture of the cake Pedro made for Summer.

STATION #2: SKETCH A FRIEND  (based on the sketch Napoleon did for Trisha)--

At the beginning of the activity when we were all still gathered we had everyone put their name in a bowl. Then when you arrive to the station you draw a name, write that person's name on the back of the paper, then sketch them. After the sketches were done, we hung them up, so everyone could guess who was who. This was probably their favorite activity of the night!

Materials needed: blank sheets of paper, pencils, and maybe a picture of the sketch Napoleon did for Trisha

STATION #3: FEED TINA THE CASSEROLE

Essentially instead of "pin the tail on the donkey", people were trying to feed Tina the casserole while blindfolded.

Materials needed: a large picture or drawing of a llama, a proportionately sized picture of a casserole, blindfold, tape

STATION #4: GLAMOUR SHOTS BY DEB

We had one of our leaders dressed like Deb and would take pictures of people with the tablecloth as the backdrop. She talked like Deb and had them do the awkward glamour shot poses. We will show the pictures at a later activity.

Materials needed: tablecloth (hung over a portable chalkboard), camera, props (if desired).

My counselor has all the official glamour shots on her computer, but this shows the general set-up of what we did.   The pictures were HILARIOUS! 

STATION #5: NAPOLEON TRIVIA:

Materials needed: Copies of a fill in the blank Napoleon quote page (HERE IS THE LINK), pens

STATION #6: HAPPY HANDS CLUB:

Materials needed: An enthusiastic leader and a video of the Happy Hands club performing, "Love is a Rose"

OR you could have someone teaching the Napoleon dance

STATION #7:  MAKE A SIGN FOR PRESIDENT WHEATLEY--

This wouldn't work for most wards, but our stake president happens to be President Wheatley, so we had everyone make a sign and write nice notes to President Wheatley (instead of mean ones to Summer Wheatley).

STATION #8:   TETHERBALL

Unsurprisingly, this was a big hit!!!

STATION #9:   SNACKS: tots, quesadillas, and cupcakes served on lunch trays!