As the only youth services librarian at my library for birth-18, I do all kinds of programs! Currently I provide about one special teen event a month, and January’s was a pizza and game night.

Program Rundown: Teen Pizza and Game Night

• Cost (not including existing supplies): $40 (pizza, fruit punch, supplies for connect four game)
• Age: Advertised for grades 6-10, 6th & 7th graders came
• Length: 1.5 hours
• Attendance: 12

I took registrations, since I needed to order pizza, and 12 registered. And also 12 came! Unheard of. The first half hour or so was arrivals and pizza, and a few games that I had in the meeting room as they were coming in. Like the giant Connect Four game pictured above! It’s really the only thing that I needed time and supplies for, and even then all I had to buy was plastic plates and sticky velcro. It took about two hours to make. It was fun having one big, impressive game. I did have to remind them that in the normal game, gravity is at work, so they had to start at the bottom.

Next we did our opening game, Telephone Pictionary (also known as Telestrations). See the results that I posted on the Teen Services Underground Facebook page. 

After that was pretty much a free-for-all. I pulled out the board games our library has, but they pretty much just wanted to play hide and seek and sardines, which is all they ever want to do when I have an after hours event! We gave them flashlights, turned off the lights, and let them run around and be loud.