In our part of the world, asking someone to a school dance is often more fun than the dance itself. Our kids spend lots of time dreaming up the next great ask. In the beginning, they start with cleverly worded posters stealthily dropped on front porches. As their confidence increases, they engineer progressively braver and more creative activities and performances for their would-be dates. Our focus for this post: BIG, CRAZY, SUPER FUN “promposals” for the bold and the brave.
We are really excited to share these with you. A huge shout out to our son and his friends in the Class of 2024. They took asking to a whole new level. These are their ideas. Please forgive the dark photos and videos. These asks were usually done late at night. They are still worth watching, and super funny.
You’ll see that these examples are all with boys asking girls, but there’s no reason the roles can’t be switched.
Epic Date Asks and Promposals that will leave them laughing for days…
I Would Fight a Thousand Men!
This Promposal begins with a sweet little scene of a boy holding a rose, singing a love song to the girl he’s asking to the dance. Then, surprise! Another boy comes running in and tackles the singer. He rips the rose out of the singer’s hand, walks up to the door and says to the girl, “I would fight 1000 men to go to the dance with you.” See the 35-second video: I Would Fight 1000 Men.
Ten Things I Hate About You Knock-Off
This epic dance ask is a recreation of the scene in “10 Things I Hate About You” when Patrick sings “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”. In our case, it was done during a school assembly. The boy enlisted the help of the school policeman and used a recording of the music over the loudspeaker. He wanted the marching band, but sometimes you have to make do with what you can get. Everybody loved it. Here’s the video: Greatest Dance Ask in a School Assembly
On My Honor, I Will Be a Great Date
This promposal gives me the giggles every time I see it. A whole group of my son’s friends dressed up as Boy Scouts and stood with flags outside the girl’s house. They all saluted as a bugle and drum played “Taps”. Then the boy recited a new version of the Scout Oath– basically “On my honor, I will do my best to be a good date…” I hope it makes you smile too: On My Honor Dance Ask
Parting the Red Sea for a Date
This date ask took a lot of people. The boy asked all his friends to show up dressed in red so they could play the part of the Red Sea. He dressed as Moses with two tablets made our of cardboard. The tablets had the 10 commandments on the front and an extra commandment on the back: Thou Shalt Go to the Dance with Me. Wilt thou? The Red Sea exited the area singing “Follow the Prophet”. See the video here: Thou Shalt Go with Me to the Dance
I’m Dying to Go to the Dance with You
This ask is bordering on poor taste. Actually, it has crossed the line. But, I still have to include it as these kids went all out. They created a funeral with a clergyman, casket, and mourners. The boy lay in the cardboard coffin as if he were dead. The catch line, “He was literally dying to go with you” to the dance. See the video here: Dying to Go With You. Please don’t get mad at me if it makes you squirm. They should have ended it earlier.
A Song Just for You
My son is a good musician and he has a friend with access to a recording studio. They pulled a band together, rewrote the lyrics to a One Direction Song, and asked Olivia to the dance. Olivia thought she was coming to the studio for another reason. She entered, the lights popped on, and there was the band with a personalized version of her song. This is a really fun idea if you can put together a band, and if you want to ask someone who already has a song written about them. See the video: Olivia’s Prom Song
A Dynamite Way to Ask
If you’ve seen Napolean Dynamite, you probably would love to learn the dance he performs at the end of the show to help Pedro in the election assembly. This dance asks reenacts that scene. See the video: Napolean Dynamite Ask
The girl that was asked to this dance answered with her friends performing the Happy Hands dance from the movie and this awesome drawing. She attached a boondoggle with the word YES on it, which was really great. If you know, you know.
And, moving on…
High School Bachelorette Show
My son dreamed about this date ask idea for a long time before they made it happen. He had to recruit ten guys as bachelors and find a girl who he thought would be a good sport. They found a friend with a big house and nice car to stage the show. Her dad even acted as the host. You probably won’t want to watch the whole video, but I’m sure a little bit will give you an idea. The boys compete for the girl’s hand for about an hour, then they have a rose ceremony where she chooses her date for the dance. I’m pretty sure more effort went into this ask than the actual date. Here’s the video if you’d like to take a look: High School Bachelorette
It Would be EGGcellent to Go with You to the Dance
Our teenagers have asked several girls to dances by using the kids in our neighborhood to attack them with sticky or slimy substances. This video shows the kids egging the potential date with a sign that says something like, “Prom would be EGGcellent with you!” See the video: Eggcellent Ask
Ours sons have also enlisted kids to spray girls with silly string, “I’d by SILLY to say no” or whipping cream and ice cream syrups, “Homecoming would be SWEET with you.” I’m sure you can think of all kinds of ways to slime your potential date. It’s fun to get the help of little kids. They really love getting permission to make a mess.
Christmas Caroling for a Date
We’ve done this one twice. We rewrite the words to a Christmas carol and print out several copies. We get our extended family or neighbors to dress in winter hats, gloves, and coats. (This is extra funny if it happens to be warm and sunny.) We visit the girl and carol to her, ending with the big reveal- the carolers part and the boy who is asking steps to the front and sings alone, “It’s me!” Sadly, I don’t have a video, but here are the lyrics from our most recent Christmas Caroling Ask. This is a really fun one.
Homecoming Carol to the Tune of “Sleigh Ride”
Just hear your doorbell ringing with carolers singing to you…
Come on, it’s lovely weather for a dance and a dinner for two.
Outside the sun is shining and friends are calling yoo-hoo.
Come on, it’s lovely weather for a Homecoming rendezvous.
Can you guess? Can you guess? Can you guess who it is?
Who’s asking you out?
He could be thin.
He could be stout.
Get a dress, comb your hair, do your fingernails, aaaaand brush your teeth.
Here’s a hint: Drives a van, not in a band, and his father’s name is Keith.
He likes his classic movies, bowties and smoothies, it’s true.
But still, he lacks a gal with a snappy handshake like you.
So, now you’re worried, flustered, and wondering who it might be.
So here’s your answer baby, please don’t say maybe, it’s me!
And now that you’ve got a date, you can go to the dance! We hope you have a great time!
Looking for ideas for a Mission Impossible Party for adults or teens? Well, you have come to the right place! Our son wanted a party for his 18th birthday that would be unique and challenging. So, we came up with this spy-themed Mission Impossible party. It was fun to plan and everyone had a great time. They especially loved all the training missions.
Mission Impossible Party
Invitation
We made a simple invitation on Canva telling people to meet at our house at a specific time and to come in disguise. We emphasized that this was not an open house (like many parties). They actually needed to be on time or they would get left behind. It looked something like this:
Welcome
Once the guests arrived, we divided them into teams. Each team needed to be able to fit in one vehicle, so our teams had 5-6 people in each. We explained the rules to the entire group before we began. Whenever they accomplished a task throughout the night, they were to leave the scene exactly as they found it, only taking envelopes with their team marker on them. We gave them the time they should return and a phone number they could call if they got stumped. Then, we gave them each a letter and a bag of supplies, and the race began!
Opening Letter
The TV show of “Mission Impossible” always began with a recording that would then self destruct. That would be fun if you can manage it, but we just gave our groups this letter.
Good evening, Mr. Hunt. I hope you’re feeling well-rested because tonight’s assignment is quite arduous. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to collect six pieces of a puzzle that will lead to the identity of an incredibly dangerous double-agent.
Because of the severity of this threat, we have several IMF teams working on the case tonight. In addition to solving the case, you also need to complete as many training missions as possible. Success in these tasks will distinguish your team as the best and brightest. (See list on the reverse side of this sheet.)
As every spy knows, good spy work takes time. There are no bonus points for finishing early. However, there is a deadline. You must return to home base in 90 minutes.
As always, should any member of your team be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of your actions.
Good luck.
——————-
Our letter included a scorecard for keeping track of the team’s points. On the reverse side, we printed all the training missions. Click here for a PDF of our documents: Mission Impossible Clues. The goal was two-fold:
Find six puzzle pieces by following the clues and collecting the envelopes marked with your team’s color.
Get as many bonus points as you can by completing training missions (listed on the reverse side of the letter).
Training Missions
I’m going to start by listing the training missions we used. These were really fun and you could add more if you want your event to last longer. You could even simplify the party by only using these challenges and not doing the treasure hunt for puzzle pieces at all.
Video of a 30-second chase scene on foot.
Video of a stranger humming or singing the “Mission Impossible” theme song.
Go to the home of a person on another team and steal a framed photo of them from their house. Bring photo back to headquarters after mission. (This was especially hilarious.)
Photo of your team in an elevator
Secretly take a photo of another team. They cannot know you took the photo.
Video of your team all doing a handstand at the same time. (One person can be the photographer.)
Photos of Motorcycles (2 points for each one)
Photo/Video of a member of your team with any kind of fire or explosion.
Leave ransom in brown paper bag (re: Fluffy) on doorstep of a friend, ring the doorbell and run.
Film your team frantically running through a parking lot.
Video your team in a 30-second fake fist fight or mixed martial arts battle. No injuries or you lose your points!
Photo of team in front of a police department or patrol car.
Kidnap the mom, dad, or grandparent of someone on another team. Drive them around the block and return them to their home. Make sure you take a photo or video with them.
Detonate a Mentos bomb in a safe place. Video it.
Photo of team in front of graffiti art
I assigned points to each training mission based on difficulty. If they needed supplies to complete a mission, we included all those things in a bag we gave them at the beginning of the event.
We gave each team supplies to detonate a Mentos bomb. You need a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke and half a tube of Mentos for a fantastic soda explosion.We also included little brown bags full of candy for them to leave with ransom notes. So so funny! I’m sure there were a lot of confused people that day.
Treasure Hunt
The other part of our Mission Impossible challenge is a treasure hunt. This involves figuring out a clue which leads you to another clue and then to another until you find the treasure. At each location, teams would find a package with an envelope marked for each team. The envelopes contained clues for the treasure hunt and puzzle pieces that they would combine with other pieces at the end of the night to solve the case. Our clues took our Mission Impossible agents to a cemetery, park, bookstore, bike shop, statue in the park, and our backyard. Here are the different clues and challenges we used.
Target Practice
We taped several boxes to a board that, when hit with a rock, fell backward and revealed a letter. Our spies had to use sling shots to knock enough boxes over to decipher the clue. Our boxes spelled WHEELBARROW. They then looked around the yard for a wheelbarrow where they found a box that contained the envelopes with the next clue.
Digging for Treasure
One envelope contained a map of a nearby forest/field. The spies had to followed the map and found a shovel and a pile of dirt. They dug until they hit a box. Everyone thought this was pretty funny. They pulled their envelope out of the box and then reburied the box. Here’s our map: Mission Impossible Map
Quiz
We put a quiz in one of the envelopes. Once completed, the next clue was revealed. Here’s our quiz: Movie and Book Quiz
You’ll see that the answer to our quiz was “Chief Wasatch”. This is a statue in one of our city parks. If a team didn’t know the name of the statue, I knew that it was easily searchable online.
Photo of a Landmark
One of your clues can be a simple photo of a landmark in your city. If you can, make it obscure enough to be a challenge but searchable online with the right description. We used this photo of a grave shaped like a bed in our local cemetery.
Book Cipher
Have you heard of an Arnold Cipher? To write one, you only need a book. This is a fun cipher to hide in a library or a book store. You then list the page number, line number, word number, and letter number. Here is the clue we gave:
The Giver
Lois Lowry
B&N
Arnold Cipher
33.8.7.1
33.2.2.2
33.4.2.2
33.4.8.4
33.1.1.5
33.1.10
With this information, the teams went to Barnes and Noble, found a copy of “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, deciphered the letters spelling JERKS and BICYCLE. This led them to a local bike shop.
Hidden Message
At the bike shop, we wrote a phone number in chalk on the sidewalk. It took a bit of searching to find it. We probably made ours too hard, so make sure it’s possible to find. They called this number for their next clue, which was the address of our home (location of the backyard shooting range.) This completed the circle of clues. Each team started with a different clue so they weren’t all traveling the same route.
Final Notes
A huge thank you to Janssen for her post with Mission Impossible party ideas on everyday-reading.com. We got some great ideas, including the ransom note for Fluffy, from her post.
I apologize for not having more photos. We were having too much fun to take pictures. And I forgot to ask the teams to share them with me after they returned to the house. Oh, well! Hopefully I’ve given you enough information to create a great event with your family or friends. Good luck completing your own impossible mission!
Looking for great Pioneer Trek activities? We have participated in many Pioneer Treks as Trail Bosses, Ma & Pa, and family members. Here are some helpful ideas to make your Pioneer Trek a fun and uplifting event.
Morning Round-Up
Begin each morning on the trail by gathering everyone together. (This will take place after breakfast, family devotionals, and loading trailers. ) Start with a roll call, draw lots for pull position, family handcart song, announcements, and a company hug. All of this will take less than 15 minutes. It’s a great way to start the day!
Roll Call
The trail boss will call out the family colors or names and each family will respond with a cheer.
Draw Lots for Pull Position
Our favorite way to do this is by putting a handful of Legos in the Trail Boss Ma’s apron pocket. There is a Lego for each family. The Trail Boss calls a youth up to pick from the pocket. She stacks the Legos as they are pulled and that is the order for the day. The order can be drawn again after lunch.
Family Handcart Song
Ask every family to make up a verse to “The Handcart Song”. They can do this as they’re trekking or before Trek. The Stake leaders share their song on the first day before the first pull. Three or four families share their songs each morning at Morning Round-Up. Here’s the song and an example. Handcart Song Music
Share the agenda and any announcements for the day.
Company Hug
A morning “company hug” is a great pioneer trek activity to promote unity. Our treks have been four day events, so we needed four company hugs. Here are some ideas.
First Day/Practice Hug: Everyone forms a big circle, trying to stand side-by-side as close as they can, with arms around shoulders. Then everyone moves one step forward to add an extra squeeze.
Sit Hug: Everyone forms a big circle. Everyone turns so their stomachs are close to the back of the person in front of them. Tighten the circle so everyone is close together. Then, on the count of three, sit down. Everyone should be sitting on each other, so no one should fall!
Magnet Hug: Once again, everyone forms a big circle. The Trail Boss yells for everyone with a birthday in January to run to the center of the circle and make a big group hug. Then he yells “February!” and the February birthdays run to the center and join in the hug. He continues with all the months as everyone gets sucked into the magnet hug.
Cinnamon Roll Hug: Save this one for your last morning. Everyone holds hands, making a big circle. The trail boss lets go of one hand and begins to walk to the center, pulling everyone behind him. The group then goes round and round, forming a tight cinnamon roll. I wish I had a video of our trek kids doing this. They loved it! Here’s an example from YouTube. https://youtu.be/inD620ss3Uc
Trail of Hope
In Nauvoo, during pageant weeks, actors stand along the trail to the river and tell their stories to the visitors as they walk the Trail of Hope. We recreated this powerful experience on our Pioneer Trek. It’s one of our favorite pioneer trek activities. We held our Trail of Hope on our first night, after dinner and a variety show. We staggered the families to begin the trail every five minutes. They needed to be spaced enough to listen to a story, then move to the next one before the following family arrived. We asked 12 adult leaders and youth to learn the parts. (Most don’t need to be memorized, but the actors should know the stories very well.) We gave each actor a lantern. They stood alone on the trail and told their story to each family as they passed. Here is our script: Trail of Hope Script
Variety Show
On the first night, after camp has been set-up and everyone has eaten dinner, it’s good to gather and have some fun. It’s important for the kids to know that even though trek is going to be physically hard, it’s also going to be tons of fun. You want them to know this from the start. Our variety show consisted of several youth sharing their talents, plus a skit from our Pa’s, a song from our Ma’s, and some entertainment from our Trail Boss. This can be really fun. Tap into the talent in your group and make it happen! I’ll attach copies of our Ma and Pa numbers to get you thinking. You’re welcome to use our scripts if they suit your needs. We asked a quartet of young women to end the night by singing “Happy Trails”. It was great!
Note: On our most recent trek, we had to postpone our Variety Show to the last night. I felt bad about this, but it ended up being really special. By the last night, we felt like a big family. Everyone was more confident performing because they knew their audience. We had a short break after the Variety Show for everyone to change into warmer clothes and have dessert. Then we gathered again for our testimony meeting at twilight. It was a really beautiful gathering that night. One of the boys in my ward shared his testimony the following Sunday. He told about the two events that last night. He shared that he thought the testimony meeting was so powerful because it followed a gathering of joy and fun. Somehow the combination of fun, joy, and faith brings out the very best in all of us. So, if you want to put your Variety Show at the end of your trek, that works great too!
Pioneer Rendezvous
On Friday afternoon, we always gather for games and competition at our Pioneer Rendezvous. We usually have several stations set up including axe throwing, stilt races, tug-of-war, potato sack races, three-legged races, sling shots, stick pull competitions, and stick and hoop throwing/catching. After all the families have rotated through the stations, we have a Rabbit Race. (I have no idea why we call it that.) Each family assigns their individuals to compete in specific events during a relay race against the other families. So, let’s assume the family has 8 people competing. The first two people have to catch a ring on a hoop, then tag their next family member who runs to the sling shot range. They hit the target, then tag their next family member to run to the potato sacks. That person hops to the finish line and tags two teammates who three-legged race across the field to their teammate at the axe throwing range. When they hit the log with their axe, they tag their family member who gets on stilts and walks to the final finish line. Any order will work, and you can add or remove events. Do what works for your group. It’s a great way to end the pioneer games for the afternoon. Make sure you have lots of water and set up some shade. Otherwise, folks won’t want to play for long.
Team Building/Get-To-Know You Activities
Here are a few ideas to help build unity within families.
Make up nicknames for family members.
Have a family yell or cheer.
Assign jobs (Load/unload cart, place rocks under wheels when stopped, set-up/take-down shelter, fill water jugs, retrieve bedding from trailer, etc.)
Seven Questions on the Trail: Choose one person at a time. The family gets to ask them 7 questions about themselves.
The BIG Question: Ask a big question and everyone has to answer it. (What super power would you have? Do you have a phobia? Share an embarrassing moment. Who’s your hero?)
Whomp! Memory Game: Sit in a circle. Person in the middle has a pair of socks in their hand. They run to someone. That person has to yell out the name of another person before he gets whomped with the socks.
Pioneer Trek Activities: Let’s Trek!
Games on the Trail
You Don’t Say: Game played in two teams- right side of cart vs. left side of cart. Here are the rules: You Don’t Say
Encore: Call out a category. Each team takes turns singing the first few lines of a song until one team can’t think of a song. Examples: Songs from Mary Poppins or Songs with the word “Night”.
Ghost Speller: Take turns saying a letter to form a word. When opponent thinks it isn’t a word, they challenge previous player. Point goes to person with a true word or the challenger if no true word.
Line Up: Challenge another family or two on the trail. Caller yells category and the teams try to line up in order before the other teams. Category ideas: Age, length of hair, shoe size, # of visits to Disneyland, highest bowling score, alphabetically by middle name, height of favorite Star Wars character, alphabetically by first name of favorite Harry Potter character…More detailed rules: Line Up
Family Feud: Stick a little stack of Family Feud cards in Ma’s apron pocket. It’s fun for everyone to play as they walk. (We asked 100 people to name a popular pizza topping. Let’s see if you can name the top 10 answers.)
Games for Down Time
Human Knot: Stand in circle. Put right hands in and grab a hand. Then put left hand in and grab a hand. Try to untangle the knot.
Lucky Stiff: Need lots of people. Everyone takes off their shoes. One person stands in the middle of the circle. Everyone else sits on the ground in a circle with their feet pressed tightly against the person standing in the middle. The person in the center crosses their arms over their chest, stands stiff and falls. The circle passes the person around. Super fun!
Ten Fingers: Everyone holds out 10 fingers. Go around the circle and say something you’ve never done. Anyone in the circle who has done it has to put down a finger. Last player with finger wins.
Ape, Girl, Man: Just like Rock, Paper, Scissors: Ape gets Girl, Girl gets Man, Man gets Ape
Zoom in on this picture to see our handy water bottle pockets.
Family Devotional Ideas
We believe that the experiences the youth have with their pioneer families are the most powerful of a Pioneer Trek. We encourage you to have morning and evening devotionals in your small family groups. These discussions will likely be the most important part of your your trek.
Share pioneer stories, both historic and modern.
Share great stories from Ma & Pa’s life or other people in the group.
Have a talent show (on the spot, silly talents) or Untalented Show.
Book of Mormon/Joseph Smith/Restoration of Priesthood on Earth- Talk about how the pioneers, who were new members of the church, must have felt about finding the restored gospel. Sing “The Spirit of God” and talk about how exciting it would be to find out that God was speaking to His children again through prophets.
Discuss how to gain a testimony and recognize the Spirit.
Teach about the power of asking questions- Talk about the first vision and follow with a discussion about Elder Uchtdorf’s quote, “Inquiry is the birthplace of testimony. Some might feel embarrassed or unworthy because they have searching questions regarding the gospel, but they needn’t feel that way. Asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a precursor of growth.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Reflection in the Water, Nov. 1, 2009)
Ask youth to share their testimony or favorite scriptures. Invite them to pray and lead devotionals. This is not a place for lecturing. It is a place for sharing! The youth learn the most from each other.
Focus on the youth theme for the year and build a devotional around it.
Ask everyone in the morning to prepare a 60-90 second talk throughout the day on the topic “Why I believe.” Then, anyone who wants to share their one-minute talk during the evening family devotional can share it.
Appreciation Game (Really great on last night): Sit in a circle. Explain rules at beginning. The speaker says, “I love and appreciate _____ because_____.” The person being complimented must look at the speaker and may only say, “Thank you.” Then it is that person’s turn to compliment someone else.
It’s always great to sing together and kneel in prayer. This could be the first time some of your youth experience “family prayer”.
Use the adult leaders in your family to help with devotionals.
**Note: Shorter spiritual thoughts more often usually work better than long ones less often. Really try to make devotionals a discussion instead of a lecture.
Plan with a purpose
A pioneer trek fosters appreciation for our pioneer heritage, but it also helps youth overcome challenges, observe healthy family relationships, and strengthen their faith. Make sure your Ma’s and Pa’s know how critical their role is in providing this unique experience for the youth. Here is a list of responsibilities to keep in mind.
Ma and Pa Responsibilities
Love the youth in your family.
Lead and direct by example.
Provide a model of a healthy family relationship.
Ensure that the trek experience is completed safely.
Assemble necessary family equipment.
Prepare and lead family devotionals and activities.
Foster an environment for spiritual experiences.
Know and share pioneer stories to discuss as inspired.
Encourage use of journals.
Prepare physically and spiritually.
Create unity through games, cheers, music, etc.
Have fun!
EXAMPLE AGENDAS
The first time we were asked to plan a trek, I found it very helpful to see past itineraries. It’s just nice to see what other people have done. Here is a sample trek schedule, Ma & Pa training, and equipment list for reference. I hope they’ll help you get started. You can do this. It’s going to be better than you think!
I can’t help but share one comment about the Women’s Pull. Every Pioneer Trek includes a section of trail where the girls and women pull alone. It can be one of the most powerful hours of your trek. When you plan this event, you may be tempted to choose a less difficult section of trail. You may be tempted to make it shorter or less challenging by combining families or taking weight off the carts. I want to encourage you to not do that. If it’s not really hard, it will be a disappointment to your girls. It will not be what they imagined. They will not feel the confidence and power that they will gain if they conquer the toughest part of the trail on their own. And your boys will not experience the overwhelming respect and compassion we want them to experience if they don’t get to watch their sisters do something incredible. I have seen so much growth during hard women’s pulls. I have watched girls drop their own handcarts and run to help other families so they could make it to the top. They will figure out how to get the job done, no matter the difficulty. Please, please let them have this. Don’t underestimate them. Even if your numbers are small and your girls seem tiny, let them have this moment of triumph. It’s going to be extraordinary.
Book Cipher
