I have very fond memories of my youth group years. We did a lot of really fun things. We also did hardcore "spiritual" stuff. I had an amazing youth pastor with great anointing. Here's a list of things we used to do and how we used to do them.
1) Our youth group night was called Cafe Cristo. We met in a reception hall every Wed. It was set-up like a cafe with round tables. Each table had snacks... pop corn, red vines, etc. We had a youth band which I was a part of. We always had an ice breaker. And there was a short message. Having it off the church campus made it less threatening for non-church goers to attend.
2) Random acts of kindness--every once in a while we would just got out to bless people. We would walk downtown and pray. As the Lord led, we would ask to pray for people.
3) We played music on street corners.
4) We had a prayer tent at the local farmer's market.
5) We had games nights, movie nights, girls nights, boys nights, etc.
6) We had tping parties.
Now this doesn't always work. But my youth pastor and youth leaders were up for a little fun. The youth pastor lived in the middle of an orchard which made tping a blast. And if there was an issue, there were always kids that would come back to clean it up if they were asked. It was all in fun, and there was never destruction.
7) We used to do something called blatting. If I told you what it really was, I would have to kill you.
But just imagine something like snipe hunting. Just make it up.
8) We had ministry retreats. Many churches do retreats just to retreat and minister to each other which isn't bad unless it's unbalanced. Youth need to learn to minister to others outside of their peer group. We took a trip to an Indian reservation. We ministered at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz.
9) We held an annual event called Night at the Oscars. One time we went to a poor community nearby and did it for them. All the youth group girls donated their old prom dresses and we dressed up the girls. We did their makeup and hair... gave them shoes, and dresses. We made them princesses. It was a blast for all of us. And it was miraculous! My youth group was packed with very skinny girls. I'm talking like all but 3 of us were size two or smaller. The girls we ministered to were not. They were more in the 8-12 range... and somehow EVERY girl found a dress that fit them like a glove. It was amazing.
10) We had a "serious" bible study that met at 6am on Friday mornings where the youth pastor took a small group of seriously committed students and taught them how to study the bible. It was like a seminary class. But we learned a lot.
11) Lock ins were fun...
12) Play romans and christians... more info if needed.
13) My youth pastor had a saying. "Instead of being a Here I am person, be a there you are person." It's profound, and it will change the way you enjoy your time.
14) I also went to Young Life and a group called TOSA (Tired of Sitting Around). We did sports and we ate ice cream after the group.
15) Lastly, I went on my senior grad trip with my youth group. We camped for a few days at Sunset Beach in Monterrey. Then we drove to Concordia and stayed. We ate dessert at the Bonaventure in LA--a rotating restaurant on the 40-somethingth story of a building in downtown LA. We slept in a Christian preschool, and went to Magic Mountain. Then we had hot chocolate on the balcony of a beach front property.
It's really about connecting with people. It's about getting outside yourself, but also learning to be transparent with your core group.