Fun

6 Ways We Can Make Church Dances Cool Again

A recent article in the New Era encourages youths to get out on the dance floor, but for many young people, this can be terrifying.

With youths texting and spending time on social media, it’s difficult for them to interact face-to-face. How do we get youths to start dancing? A few youths and leaders have found some creative solutions.

1. Get teens involved with the planning.

Shauna Ogden, a stake Young Women president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, feels that getting teenagers involved in the planning is paramount. “They have to own it," she said. "This day and age, they won’t come to something that we (the adults) have planned.”

Teens should do most of the talking at their planning meetings while the adults offer guiding questions such as “What’s the purpose of this activity?” and “What do we want to accomplish?” The leaders can also help youths work through the logistics of the dances, asking, “Who would do this?” and “How should we facilitate rotations?”

The youths should not only help plan the dances but also decorate for the dance, blow up balloons, hang lighting, take turns running activities at the dance and help clean up afterward.

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