Tips for Hosting Club in Homes

Hosting club in a home is no easy task. Below are some helpful tips.

Move ALL Furniture

If you don’t want to break anything, take it out of the room. If you can’t get it out of the room, turn it around and push it up against the wall. If you don’t, people will sit on it. A lot more people than it will hold, and it will break. Trust me, I learned this the hard way when my couch broke in two from too much weight.

Take EVERYTHING Off The Walls

If it’s not physically screwed to the walls, it will likely fall down. All those kids packed in will knock something off the walls or break something hanging up, so just take it down.

Protect Your Carpets

If you have a rug, roll it up and move it. If you have carpet floors, try to get kids to take off their shoes. You’d be amazed at what kids have on their shoes so it’s best to just have them take them off. If a game is going to be messy bring a sheet, or a tarp or anything to put on the floor to protect the carpets.

Carefully Pick The Front

You want to make the front of the room, the stage, be where something valuable or dangerous is. We always put a screen up in front of my TV because we didn’t want anyone to hit it or somehow find a way to break it.

Set Up For Clean-up 

Put a trashcan by the entrance, more people will throw stuff away if they can easily find a trashcan. Have a roll of paper towels on standby. You will use them.

Make It Comfy

The kids will thank you and you will thank you. Go ahead and crank the AC way down before club, you want it to be really cold so that way when everyone gets there it won’t be as hot. Also, set up fans around the room before club so you can turn them on if needed. Invest in some crazy creek camping chairs to make it more comfortable to sit on the floor.

Parking

Figure out ahead of time where the best place is for everyone to park. If the ground is wet, use some orange cones to keep folks from tearing up the grass in the yard. Think through traffic flow for after club is over and for parent drop-off and pick-up.

The After-Club “Uh-ohs“

Once everyone leaves you will likely find something is wrong:

• Gum in the carpet: I’ve found that if you put ice on it for a minute, it will kind of freeze. That’s when you slide a comb or a for under it and scoop it up. It’s not just going to slide out, but you can get it.
• White ring on wood: When someone leaves their cup with condensation on something wood a white ring will appear. No need to fear though, why? Mayonnaise. Yes, mayo will get that ring out. As weird as this sounds, if you just rub a good layer of mayo on the ring, let it sit for a good 10 minutes or so, then wipe it off that ring should be either gone or barely able to see.
• Stain on carpet: If it’s really recent, water and a paper towel will probably work. But, if it’s too late for that get some club soda. The stuff does wonders on stains. Remember dab the paper towels don’t rub or wipe.

Make sure to remember to write a THANK YOU note to your host home. Throwing in a YL camp shirt or bringing a $7 arrangement of flowers from the grocery store is also a nice touch!

Written by Andrew Crockett, WyldLife leader in Hendersonville, TN.