Free:
Pickleball– Play pickleball at Hope or outside courts
Board Game Night– it’s a classic for a reason.
Play Night Games– underrated and will make you feel like a kid again.
Movie Night– classic and easy. Or set up a projector outside for extra fun!
Powerpoint Night– everyone creates a 2-5 minute powerpoint presentation on a topic of their choosing. You could have an overarching theme or leave it open!
Ask a Member– Get a member of your small group to lead/plan a community night!
Separate Guys and Gals Night– Have a separate community night where you separate guys and gals for an evening.
Volunteer– Most nonprofit organizations have normal business hours so volunteering becomes really difficult on a weeknight evening, along with not having options for children. You could plan this for a different time of day. You could also look into EveryMeal packing nights (there are a handful over the year) or the classic: Feed my Starving Children which have weeknight options. Another option would be to split costs and pack some little necessities that you could keep in your car to hand out to people experiencing homelessness. Another option would be to find another small group that meets on your night and offer to babysit their kiddos so they can go out and do something.
Hiking
Walking around a Lake– Nokomis is great!
Beach Night– could be as simple as hanging out at the beach, swimming, or boating. Or you could get elaborate by planning water games.
Go to the MIA– walk around and enjoy the art together or get creative by trying to find paintings: that look like members of the small group, describe how you view God then share why you picked it, describe yourself then share why you picked it, or any other prompt you can think of. It’s fun and you get to know more about how people view God and themselves.
Explore the Sculpture Gardens- See above for creative prompts.
Movie in the Parks– Check your local movie in the parks schedule in the summer.
Bags (cornhole) Tournament– pair up and have bags tournament!
Small Group Mash Up– meet up with another group who meets on your same night to meet more people at Hope. Could just hang out or get competitive with kickball, pickleball, or volleyball.
Bonfire– hang around a fire. You could have a sing-along or make smores. You could also get creative with the smores and see what combo is best. For example: dip strawberries in marshmallow fluff and toast the fluff or find a different candy to use as the chocolate.
Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt– Make a scavenger hunt around your meeting location and split up into groups to see who can do it the quickest. You could (or a member) could make clues OR you could use the Goosechase App.
Testimony Night– Have a night where you get to share a 5min testimony with everyone in the small group. Celebrating what God has done!
Worship Night– If someone in your group is musically inclined, set up a night of worship. Announce the song list beforehand so people can get to know the songs and can look up the lyrics on their phones.
Wander Ikea– spend time wandering around Ikea or picking which spaces you’d like most.
Cheap:
Ice Cream Social– (everyone brings an ice cream or topping
Brewery Trivia– Look up Trivia nights at your local breweries. Free to play, just the cost of a beverage to hang out at the brewery.
Pickleball– Sign up to play pickleball at indoor or outdoor public pickleball court like Minneapolis Cider Company courts or Smash Park.
Nachos and Nacho Libre– everyone brings a nacho ingredient and you make personal nachos and watch the movie Nacho Libre together. (thanks Kelly – Lin – Morgan – Plooster small group!)
Karaoke Night– either do it at home with youtube or find a brewery/bar that has a karaoke night.
Theme Night- pick a theme and make a night out of it! Could include themed beverages, food, movies, games, or costumes.
Member Teaching Night– If a member has a certain skill they can teach people for a night (ie: craft or sport )
Guys Plan- get the guys together to plan a night to serve/appreciate the ladies!
Gals Plan– get the gals together to plan a night to serve/appreciate the dudes!
SnowShoeing– just the cost of renting snowshoes.
Have a Picnic– pick a place and split up the groceries!
Take an LDI Class together– some are on week nights.
Cookbook Night- Pick a cookbook that someone owns, everyone picks a different recipe, each person makes that dish and comes together for a big meal with all the different dishes from that cook book. Discuss beforehand so there won’t be any repeats. Each person can take pictures of the recipes they’ll do so you only need one cookbook (and someone probably already owns one! Or the library has lots as well).
Craft Night– Have everyone bring their own craft and spend time being creative together. You could also buy a craft for everyone to do together. This air dry clay is so fun. You could also go to a thrift store and find something to paint then return to the meeting location and spend time painting those items.
Grill out together– divvy up the food items and spend some time grilling outside together.
Eat out- pick a restaurant or go to a food hall like Malcolm Yards or Graze.
Taste Test– Pick a type of item and buy every version of that. Then either taste and guess what’s what OR just rank worst to best. Examples: buy a bunch of different types of root beer, guess which ones which, and vote on the favorite. OR buy all the oreo flavors and rank them.
Wine and Cheese Night– Do a wine pairing with a different type of wine or make your own charcuterie board.
Murder Mystery– Create your own or buy a premade game! Assign characters ahead of time so people can dress up. Have it over dinner or snacks!
HomeTown Tours– Pick a new member each month who grew up in the cities and ask them to show you around where they grew up. Walk around the town, visit favorite restaurants, drive past old schools, etc. (get extra crazy and do a day trip to people who grew up out of town)
Frisbee Golf– the only cost with this could be renting or purchasing the frisbee gear.
Food or Beverage Crawl– pick a few coffee shops, bubble tea places, or restaurants and get a little snack or beverage at each place. You can vote which one is best based on atmosphere, food/beverage, and location.
Bake Off– either set an impossible bake for people beforehand like one of those illusion cakes (cakes that don’t look like cakes but rather look like something else. Ei: a tube of toothpaste). Then when everyone arrives taste test/vote on the best one. OR another version of the night could be to gather ingredients and split into teams. Could get fun and take turns picking certain ingredients from a big pile or make a mystery bag that each team gets at the very end with a crazy item that will maybe mess up their plan. Set a time limit but make it flexible with the sharing of ovens and stoves!
Ultimate Movie Night- Pick a movie and ask everyone to pick a character or theme and have them create something edible that represents that character. Have everyone explain what they brought and why then watch the movie.
Eat What You Watch – Pick a movie and look up everything that they eat in the movie. each member can bring a different food item if that is helpful. As you watch pause each time people in the movie eat and grab that food item. Continue watching while you eat what they eat in the film! Creative dinner and a movie experience.
Cost Money:
Go to a Game or Watch a Game– could be MN Twins, Saints, Lynx, Loons, Timberwolves, Vikings, etc
Movie Theatre Night– either plan on a specific movie OR show up and see whatever has enough tickets for your whole group to go (best on a weeknight). Note: most movie theaters have some type of deal for Tuesdays, ei $5 Tuesdays.
Favorites Night– (everyone brings 3 of their favorite item (all the same). When people arrive they’re given a number which decides the order of choosing. Once everyone has arrived, they’ll give a 1 min pitch on why they love that item. After all the pitches, each person will get 3 opportunities to pick one of the various favorite items. This will be drafting style going up from 1 to how ever many people there are, then back down from last to 1. Each person will then leave with 3 new things to try!
Bowling– create your own lanes outside or go to bowling alley!
Mini golf– Some options are Can Can Wonderland or outside summer option is Mini golf at Como park/Centennial Lakes
Musical or Play – the Orpheum and Ordway are great or find a local community theater or Theater in the Park in the summer.
Concert – First Ave, the Armory, or a summer concert outdoors.
State Fair- obviously seasonal
Renaissance Festival– see above
Rent Swan boats, kayaks, paddle boards, or bike carriages from Nokomis.
Go to a Seasonal Event- This could be an apple orchard, haunted house, Friendsgiving, Christmas market, art festival, or any event in the city. Check this calendar for Minneapolis events.
Rent a Boat– (or if a member owns a boat) Hang out on a boat for an evening on a lake in the cities. Lots of rental places around!
Freezer Meal Night– Have everyone make a freezer meal beforehand and bring it to group along with a bunch of tupperware or freezer bags. Spend the night divvying up the freezer meals. You spend time making one meal but don’t have to eat the exact same meal the whole week. Welcome to variety.
Escape Room– go to a local escape room.
Activate Roseville – https://playactivate.com/roseville
Whirlyball – https://www.whirlyballtwincities.com/
Brewery Tour (cost unknown)- sign up to get shown around your favorite brewery!
Axe Throwing– https://minneapolisaxethrowing.com/
Top Golf – Reserve a space and go play the angry bird game at Top Golf!
Go to an Arcade– Can Can Wonderland, the Up-Down Bar or Dave and Busters.
