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 Anywhere Games Games that don't require a big room Check out our newest anywhere games 
$1000 Bill ExchangeFor this game you need to make your own money on your computer (be sure it's clearly phony or it might be a federal offense). Give each person 10 of the bills. They are to try to win as many as possible from their peers by challenging them one on one doing one of three things: Thumb wrestling Rock, paper, scissors Flipping a coin
You must accept any challenge Sudden death, no two out of three Challenger has to have a coin and is "heads" on the coin toss. *If you are unable or don't want to make play money, see Penny Challenge (Click Here); it's similar but uses a bunch of pennies. Also see Top Dollar (Click Here).
12 Days of ChristmasNote: It is great to have a live band for this game, but it is not completely necessary. A CD and CD player will work. We told the audience to huddle together in 12 different groups. The groups can be of any size, as long as they are relatively the same size. Each group is assigned one gift from the song. For instance, a partridge in a pear tree, 9 lords a leaping, etc. As we played and sang the song “12 days of Christmas” the kids in each group had to act out what was sung in that verse as the leader pointed to them. The group needs to come up with their own actions or routines, etc. The game lasts as long as the music does, of course. You may want to give a prize to the group that comes up with the funniest, best, most original gesture for the “gift” that they are assigned.
A Song For My LeaderThis is a fantastic way to help strengthen the relationships between the teenagers and the adult leaders that serve in your youth ministry. Here’s what you do. Divide the kids into teams of 4-5 (based on how many kids you have, and how many adult leaders you have). Have each group of students write a song of at least 15 lines long about one of the leaders set to the tune of a children's song, like “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” (Any well-known song will work.) Tell the students that the best song will win a prize, and they get extra points for including: 1. Their leader’s middle name 2. The state they were born in 3. The leader’s occupation Give the teams between about 10 minutes to write their song. When they are done, have each team select one person from their group to go up front and sing the song for the rest of the group. NOTE: This is one of those moments you definitely want to videotape. Who knows when this kind of footage could come in really handy. Idea by Micah
A What?Funny game that can be played with 5-50. To start the game, tell everyone to take out a SMALL item (such as a hat, bracelet, shoelace...try not to have anybody pull out a wallet). The game starts with everyone sitting in a circle. They should look to the person on their left and all say to that person, “This is a(n)..._(item)_______.” They then turn to the person on their right and say, "A what?", then turn back to the person on the left and say, "A(n)(item)", turn again to the person on their right and say, "A what", and then say, "Oh, a(n)(item)...” Example: So lets say your item is a pencil, and the person to your right has a hat. This is what you would say: "This is a pencil…a what? A pencil…a what? A pencil…oh, a hat!" And continually pass the items until everyone is laughing their heads off, or completely messing up. Try to have the whole group say, "A what?" at the same time. It should take anywhere from 5-7 seconds to finish a sentence. If someone messes up they are removed and the circle gets smaller. Several people can be removed in one round. If no one messes up, just continue until someone does. Keep playing until the circle works down to a small number. If no one is messing up… speed up the game. And don’t forget a good principle with any game…stop the game before it drags on too long. It’s better to stop a game and have them want more than to keep playing a game after it expired long ago. Added by Kristen Wooster
ABC PopThis game is similar to a fast paced Scrabble using a balloon popping relay. Good for groups of twenty or less. First print off about 90 letters "r s t l n" 5 times , "a e i o u" 5 times, the whole alphabet once, and five lower case p's -five lower case w's and 4 *'s. (The *'s can be used as any letter, p's & w's can be flipped for d's and m's respectively). Get a pack of 100 water balloons (or as many as needed.) Insert a letter into each balloon and blow each one up. Form teams of 5 or less. Have each team compete relay style to get balloons. Each team sends one player who gets one balloon. That player brings the balloon back to the next player in line who has to pop the balloon using only their bottoms then the person who popped the balloon runs and repeats the cycle. Each team stores their letters until the end. After the last balloon is popped each team gets 7 minutes to form their words. Each team needs a roll of tape and some paper. They are trying to assemble the most words Scrabble style. Scoring: words containing 2,3,4 or 5 letters are worth the number of letters they are composed of. (ex. cat=3 good=4.) Words with six or more letters are worth 10 points. Most points wins!
Alphabet Getting to Know YouAs people enter the room, give everyone a pre-typed sheet of paper with each letter of the alphabet (x-optional) on the vertical left side. Example: A____________ B____________ C____________ D____________ Everyone attempts to find out something about others that starts with one of the letters. Examples: Jamal broke his arm in 6th grade. Alana plays basketball. Nissa’s favorite candy is Snickers. Evan’s dad is a dentist. Put the person’s name and info on a line. Cannot use the same person for more than four times. Set a 5-7 minute time limit and see who has the most. Have several (small group, have all) people share interesting discoveries about each other. The Point: Getting to Know You Also see Alphabet Pockets (Click Here).
Alphabet PocketsDivide into teams of 4 or 5. Everyone on the team searches through their own pockets, wallets, purses, etc. The group tries to come up with one possession which begins with each letter of the alphabet. The winning team is the one to have objects representing the most letters. The Point: Teamwork, cooperation, and creativity. Also see Alphabet Getting to Know You (Click Here). Added by Young Life
Alphabet SoupSplit your group into several teams. Give each team a platter and a few cans of alphabet soup, or for a less messy option, a box of Alphabits cereal. Each team must sift through the goo to spell words or make numbers. You can give points a number of ways: - words of three letters - words of four letters - words with five or more letters - Churches can give students high points for spelling spiritual words - the biggest word gets a lot of points - leaders' names get high points as well They are given a time frame to do this (maybe 5 minutes or so). No curse words or body parts. Added by Frank Salvatore
AlphabitsDepending on the size of your group this can be an all play or an upfront game. (If you have a big group, make it a short up front game...if your group is on the smaller side, the dynamics of this game lend themselves to be an all play.) Pick a letter of the alphabet and a topic, i.e. animals, cars, clothes, etc. The kids have to come up with a word that matches the topic and starts with the chosen letter. Example-letter B and the topic is animals; bison, bat, baboon, etc. continue to let everyone play. If someone gives up or takes too long they are now part of the judging team to make sure that words are not reused. Continue the game until you run out of words for the chosen letter. It’s amazing how many things the kids can come up with and how good they are at catching the repeated words.
Ankle Balloon PopGive everyone a balloon and a piece of string or yarn. Have them blow up the balloon and tie it to their ankle. Then announce that they are to try to stomp out other people's balloons while keeping their own safe. Last person with a blown up balloon wins. Note: Be sure to have some guideline regarding the length of the string that the balloon is attached to. You don't want the balloon so tight against someone's ankle that it doesn't touch ground, and you don't want anyone to have a four-foot string either.
Ape, Man, LadyThis is a variation of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Have people pair off. When the signal is given, each person strikes a pose like an ape, man, or lady. Be sure to demonstrate what each looks like ahead of time. The ape beats the lady (because King Kong took the lady), man beats the ape, the lady gets the man. Eliminate the losers and pair the winners until you get a champion. Idea from Youth For Christ Also see Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur (Click Here) and Ninja, Gun, Gorilla (Click Here).
Ask the Pastor - With A TwistAsk the Pastor - with a Twist If you are in a setting where you want to tackle a tough topic in a light and/or fun way, try this one. Give each person a pen and a post-it note (or two). Instruct each person to write down a question they would like the Pastor/Leader to answer or discuss, but might be afraid to ask out loud. After each person has written their question, the leader discreetly collects them and sticks one question on each side of something that can be rolled --such as a large cube. (I use a foam cube from Youth Specialties' "Roll a Roll" game.) The idea is that each person in the group will take a turn rolling the cube and then reading the question that is on top of the cube when it stops rolling. The "twist" is to announce that the Pastor/Leader will speak to the question, but the person who rolled the dice must give their opinion first. Others are also welcome to give their opinion before the leader gives the final response. The activity continues as time allows or until everyone has had a chance to read a question and give an opinion.
AtlasSmall group or travel game. Either in seat order or in a circle, the first person says the name of any city, river, ocean, or mountain that could be found in an atlas. The next person must say another place that starts with the last letter of the place previously said. There is a 10 second limit and no place can be repeated. Examples: Denver Rhode Island Denmark Kenya Also see Travel Alphabet Game (Click Here).
Attack of the FishUpfront or Small Group. Supplies: Two cups of Goldfish crackers and two big scoops of creamy peanut butter. Ask for two volunteers who are not allergic to peanuts. Split up teams around them (Use 3 people for each volunteer if the game is up front, and use everyone if it's being played in a small group). Set the timer and have the teams decorate the volunteers' faces as best they can. Best "attacked" face wins. Our jr. highers created looks like Goldfish glasses, oversized eyebrows, earrings, and a goatee. Very fun, very simple, and very tasty. For ambience, play the Jaws theme or music while the game is played. Added by Jason Schmock For variations of this game, see Whiteheads (Click Here) and Cheeto Face (Click Here).
AutographYou need a lot of washable markers for this one. Each girl is given a washable marker, and when time starts the girls run around autographing as many guys as they can...on the guys’ bodies. Arms, legs, face, feet, ears, neck--all are fair game. Let them run around for about 4 minutes, signing their names to boys, and then call time. The guy with the most autographs wins.
Baby Food: Hot Potato with a TwistYou could play this game with your audience, or play this game just like hot potato, with everyone sitting in a circle. The twist is you use jars of baby food. When the music starts, you begin passing the jar of baby food around the audience or circle. When the music stops, whoever is left holding the jar has to take a spoonful. We use this game for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving, and use flavors such as turkey and gravy, sweet potato, green beans, etc. *You may want to keep a garbage can nearby, just in case someone needs to throw up. Added by Brian Phillips
Back Artist - aka Touch TelephoneThis game is based on the old "telephone game" but involves touch rather than hearing. No talking is allowed. Divide the group into teams of about six each. Each team sits in a line, one behind the other. The last person is shown a simple hand-drawn picture of an object such as a house, a cat, or a Christmas tree, etc. The person who is shown the drawing then tries to draw an exact copy of it, using their fingers, on the back of the person in front of them. The drawing can only be done once. The second person then draws what they felt onto the back of the person in front of them. This continues until it gets to the person at the front of the line, that person then must draw what he or she felt, on a piece of paper. The team whose picture most resembles the original wins that round. Supplies Needed: Pre-drawn pictures for the first person on each team. Added by Young Life
Back to BackThis is the game where you start out with two people sitting back to back and they have to stand straight up without using their hands. Add one person every time they stand up successfully. Our record is ten! The students will be amazed at how it works! The Point: This is a great game for showing students what teamwork can do. It would be nearly impossible to accomplish this by oneself. Added by Greg Cates UPDATE: Ross D. from Clio, MI just let us know that his group made it to 14! The gauntlet has been thrown down. UPDATE #2: Ummm...sorry Ross, but David W. from Fayetteville, NC says his youth team just put up 20 kids at once: "We got 20 people up! It was extremely hard but we made it all the way! It was kinda shaky but we got it up." OK, who's next?
Balance the BucketThis is a fun activity that can also double as a team work exercise as well. Split your group into teams of 5 students each. Give each team an IDENTICAL bucket that is filled to the EXACT SAME LEVEL with water. (ALL half full, or ALL 75% full, etc.) After the buckets have been filled, put them the EXACT SAME distance from a few tables (10 feet works well). Make sure the tables are the same height and that the tables are big enough to have a couple of teams working at them each. (If you have 8 teams, you will want to have 4-5 tables.) Explain to the teams that their objective is to move the bucket of water to the table using THEIR FEET ONLY and then lift it on top of the table using THEIR FEET ONLY. At no point during the exercise are they allowed to use their hands. Students make take off socks and shoes if they want to (recommended for better dexterity). The first group to get the bucket on top of the table, without using their hands, wins! RULES: If the team spills the bucket, the team must start over. If ANY team member uses their hands, the team must start over. No touching the buckets of other teams. NOTE: Obviously, you are going to want to play this game on a floor surface that does not get you fired. Tile, linoleum, wood, concrete/cement, etc works well. Remember to clean up your mess, if any.
Balloon & Elastic TangleForm teams of an even number. Prepare a balloon and a ring of elastic for each team. The elastic needs to form a circle big enough to go over a student’s body, but not so big that it’s too easy. Each teen must then keep the balloon off the ground while putting the elastic over their head, pulling their arms through and passing it down their legs and lastly taking it off from around their feet. The balloon must not touch the ground and if it does they must start again. You can also put the elastic over the feet first and play in reverse. The youth then hands the balloon and elastic to the next player. The first team finished wins. (Use elastic that you might use in pants, not hat elastic). Added by Amanda in Australia
Banana BarfHave two or three volunteers put a whole banana in their mouth, instructing them not to eat it, just hold it in their mouth. Then put a pair of panty-hose over each volunteer's head. Have them squish the banana through the tiny holes in the hose into a trash or grocery bag. This game is hilarious, because when you take the pantyhose off the students' heads, the banana still stuck in the hose is smeared across their face! Added by Elisabeth See Banana Stuff (Click Here).
Banana Splits in the MouthRecruit four hungry volunteers. Two people stand up in chairs while two others lie on the floor at their feet. People in the chairs try to make a banana split in the other persons mouth by dropping ice-cream, syrup, banana, nuts, whipping cream and finally, a cherry into the person's mouth. With larger crowds, you may want to have a live video feed, so everyone can see. Variations: Blindfold the people in the chairs. Alternate people in chairs with people on the floor. Payback time. Added by Tammy Straub Also see Banana Stuff (Click Here) and Marshmallow Drop (Click Here).
BarnyardThis is a good game to divide into teams for the day/evening. Have pre-made cards for more than enough kids. Come up with as many animals as you want teams that night(If you want four teams, have four animals). If you predict 35 kids that night make forty cards, four groups of ten. Each group of ten cards will have a particular animal written on it (so you will have 10 chicken cards, 10 cow cards, 10 donkey cards and 10 pig cards). Hand out cards randomly to the kids and tell them to not tell anyone their animal. When you give the signal, have them make the sound of their animal as loud as possible until they find their entire group. First group to totally find each other wins. This is also a great way to split your group up into teams for more games! Put a twist on the game by putting in only ONE card that says "donkey" and giving it to a very secure student (but don't tell him/her they're the only donkey). After all of the animals have found each other, there will still be one poor kid out there Hee-Hawing his head off to no avail! Also see Banana Stuff (Click Here), Clumps (Click Here), & Your Number Is Up (Click Here).
Baseball Team Quiz (MLB)Like Football Team Quiz (Click Here). For a big group, break up into groups of 4 requiring at least one person on each team to be a little baseball savvy. Pass out one copy of the following list of clues of pro-teams to each team. For small group, provide one sheet per person. (Answers in parentheses; of course you'll copy this list off without the answers.) The first team to bring their completed list to you wins (or as many as they can come up with). Give prizes to each team member (a candy bar, mug, etc.). Name the Major League Baseball Team that is described by the word puzzle. 1. Kings and queens are these_________________(Royals) 2. They’re not cowards ________________(Braves) 3. Short for Metros _________________(Mets) 4. Crimson stockings__________________(Red Sox) 5. Physical activities __________________ (Athletics) 6. Satan’s sun beams __________________ (Devil Rays) 7. Nemo’s dad ____________________ (Marlins) 8. Red birds __________________ (Cardinals) 9. Crimson, burgundy, scarlet, etc. ____________ (Reds) 10. Cheese steak sandwiches ____________________ (Phillies) 11. Striped jungle cats _______________________ (Tigers) 12. David rocks their world __________________ (Giants) 13. Elite southern cops; Walker is one ________________ (Rangers) 14. Hard to hit _______________ (Dodgers) 15. Non-colored coverings for your feet __________________ (White Sox) 16. If you won State then you might go here ________________ (Nationals) 17. They make beer _______________ (Brewers) 18. Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook _______________ (Pirates) 19. A mountain chain _______________ (Rockies) 20. Baby bears _______________ (Cubs) 21. Men of the sea _______________ (Mariners) 22. The Jetson’s dog, NASA’s fave team ____________ (Astros) 23. Black and orange birds ______________ (Orioles) 24. Native Americans ___________________ (Indians) 25. Navy, royal or baby + 10th letter of alphabet ____________ (Blue Jays) 26. Spanish for fathers ________________ (Padres) 27. Heavenly beings _______________ (Angels) 28. The North in the Civil War _____________ (Yankees) 29. A girl’s best friend on your non-front, deadly snakes ____________ (Diamond Backs) 30. They look the same _________________ (Twins) Added by Jason Schmock
Battle of The NutsMessy but simple game for groups under 50. Get a few bags of peanuts in the shell. Give every student one peanut. Have them go around and challenge each other to a BATTLE of the NUTS by simply pressing their peanuts up against each other until one of them breaks the shell. The student with their peanut still intact in their shell is the winner. When there are only two kids left standing, have them come up and battle to the finish! Play energetic music in the background. Added by Jay Kim Also see Counting Game (Click Here).
Bellybutton BasketballEither get two volunteers from the audience or use teams. Using a small fish net (used for a home aquarium) bend the handle so that it fits securely in the front of your pants. With net straight out in front, attach a rubber ball with a rubber band attached to it at the base of the net (remember those old ball and paddle games, those work best, just remove string and ball and use with fish net). Contestant must swing ball and ring net without using their hands. Fun to watch. Two points each basket! Person or team with most points wins! Added by Melanie Velaski
Bible Books Puzzle 1 (20 Hidden Books)(Note there is one abbreviation in this) Someone showed me this story and remarked that there are 20 books of the Bible hidden here. He challenged me to find them. Sure enough they're all here. Still this thing's a lulu; kept me looking so hard for the longest time. Some of you will get bogged down with facts, others are hit by them like they were some kind of revelation or something. You may get in a jam, especially since the names are not capitalized and often leap the spaces between the words. This makes it a real job to find them, but it'll provide a most fascinating few minutes for you. Yes, there are some really easy ones to spot, but don't get the big head, cause truthfully, you'll soon figure that it would take most federal judges and preachers numbers of hours to find them all. I will admit that it usually takes a minister to find one of them and that it is not uncommon for there to be loud lamentations when it is pointed out. One lady says that when she is confronted with puzzles like this, she brews a cup of tea to help her concentrate better, but then, this gal's a real pro! Verbs, nouns, and all that stuff are her thing. See how well you can compete. Relax! There really are twenty names of Bible books in this story. If you fail to find them, there's a penalty. You'll have to fly a kite, sit on a banana, hum the battle hymn of the republic, or hose a dog (a mean one). Get to it! ANSWERS: ACTS AMOS ESTHER Gal. - GALATIONS HEBREWS HOSEA JAMES JOB JUDGES KINGS LAMENTATIONS LUKE MARK NAHUM NUMBERS PETER PROVERBS REVELATION RUTH TITUS Added by Jeff E. Also see Bible Books Puzzle 2 with 25 hidden books (Click Here) & Bible Books Puzzle 3 with 30 hidden books (Click Here).
Bible Books Puzzle 2 (25 Hidden Books)Can you find twenty-five (25) books of the Bible in the paragraph, below? This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked in it while fishing from his john boat. Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job to be so involving that she brews a cup of tea to calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot... that's a fact. Some people will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help. Books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph. ANSWERS: ACTS AMOS ESTHER GENESIS HEBREWS HOSEA JAMES JOB JOEL JOHN JUDGES KINGS LAMENTATIONS LUKE MALACHI MARK MATTHEW NUMBERS PETER REVELATION ROMANS RUTH SAMUEL TIMOTHY TITUS Added by Jeff E. Also see Also see Bible Books Puzzle 1 with 20 hidden books (Click Here) and Bible Books Puzzle 3 with 30 hidden books (Click Here).
Bible Books Puzzle 3 (30 Hidden Books)Can you find thirty (30) books of the Bible hidden in the paragraph below? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much; he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his johnboat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving; she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam; especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, "The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight." Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found. God Bless. ANSWERS: ACTS AMOS CHRONICLES DANIEL ESTHER EXODUS GENESIS HEBREWS HOSEA JAMES JOB JOEL JOHN JUDGES KINGS LAMENTATIONS LUKE MALACHI MARK MATTHEW NAHUM NUMBERS PETER PHILEMON REVELATION ROMANS RUTH SAMUEL TIMOTHY TITUS Added by Jeff E. Also see Bible Books Puzzle 1 with 20 hidden books (Click Here) and Bible Books Puzzle 2 with 25 hidden books (Click Here).
Big Bad WolfDivide students into teams of 4-6. Give each team enough newspaper and tape to build a newspaper shelter of some kind. It must be big enough to get three team members inside. The Big Bad Wolf (youth leader) then attempts to blow the shelter down. Award prize to the best job. Afterward, have a giant paper fight. Idea from Young Life
Big BootieYou can use any size group with this game. Sit in a circle and designate someone to be the "Bootie" (or "Bum" for our cool British friends). Number everyone off (they have to remember their number). In unison everyone must clap their hands once then slap their legs. Do this during the whole game. Now to the game. At the beginning, chant and clap, "Aahhh, big bootie, big bootie, big bootie, big bootie, ohhh yehhh, big bootie” (or, "Big Bum, big bum..."). The designated "Bootie" says, "Bootie to the two!" No. 2 has to respond and say, "2 to the (any number)!" Make sure that you clap only once as you say "2 to the--!" Then slap your leg once as you say a number. Whoever claps or slaps their leg more than once as they call out a number is out! Like Zip Zap, the game may be confusing at first. But once the kids get it they can go really fast. Added by Fire Team Youth FBC Langley, OK Also see Zip Zap (Click Here) and Zip Zap Bop (Click Here).
Big Group TwisterThis game can be played with groups ranging in size from 20 to 100. You play according to the regular Twister rules and use the spinner that comes with the board game (or you can make one yourself). Go out and buy colored paper plates (red, yellow, blue, and green); six plates of each color makes one regular sized Twister playing area (you'll need one playing area for every 10 youth in your group). Use duct tape to tape the paper plates to the ground, placing the plates in the same order as found on the regular Twister playing area -- red, yellow, blue, and then green. Tips: We found that you need to place the plates a little further apart for high school students so that it's more of a challenge. Play the game exactly like the rules of the original game. The last player standing wins!!
Blind DrawGreat game for a small group. Everyone in the group is given a sheet of paper and a pen. They are given 3 minutes or more to draw what they want. But the lights are all turned out during the time of drawing. The pictures are judged and winner gets a prize. Idea from Young Life Also see Blind Shoe Grab (Click Here).
Blind FeedersCall up between 4 and 10 volunteers (depending on the size of your group) to make two-person teams. Have an apron (or garbage bag with a hole cut out for the head) and one chair for each team. The person standing behind the chair puts on a blindfold. The person sitting puts on an apron and places hands on hips. The person standing threads their arms under the seated person’s armpits. Place a bowl in one hand of the blindfolded teen and a spoon in the other. They will feed their partner (ice cream, mousse, Jello, etc.). The first team finished to the best of their ability wins! Or, you may award prizes for the messiest eaters, cleanest eaters, or the one that got the most into their partner’s mouth, etc. Added by Amanda in Australia Also see Banana Splits in the Mouth (Click Here).
Blind Shoe GrabArrange chairs in a circle. All of the Cinderellas (girls) in the group select a chair. The Prince Charmings (boys) each pick a girl and kneel in front of her. He removes her shoes and holds them in his hand. Then the girls blindfold the guys. The leader calls for the shoes and they are thrown into the middle of the circle. On the signal, the guys crawl to the center and attempt to find their Cinderella's shoes. Each girl can only shout out instructions to her prince. After finding the shoes the princes each crawl back to their Cinderella and put her shoes on correctly. Also see Shoe Pile (Click Here), Shoe Stretch (Click Here), and Shoe Tie (Click Here).
Blind Toy MasterGet 3 toddler toys that have all different shapes which have to fit through the right holes in order to get inside. Blindfold 3 volunteers and have them race to see who can finish the quickest. Challenge: Put all the pieces in one big pile. Added by Young Life Also see Blinded by Money (Click Here).
Blinded By MoneyDivide your group into pairs. Issue each pair two pennies. Have everyone form a giant circle. Place a big garbage can or cardboard box in the center. One person tilts head back and places pennies over each closed eye (Contact lens wearers be careful). The object is for each person to drop (dump) their pennies in the container, following the verbal direction of their partner, who may not touch them. The Point: Kickstarter for discussion on money, greed, priorities, friends, or hearing God’s voice. Point out the confusion that may have occurred with all the pairs going at once, crowding around the container, “blinded by money”, trying to hear their partner’s directions. Also see Penny on the Chin Mixer (Click Here).
Blindfolded Sit-UpPretend to try and convince 3 people that they can’t do a blindfolded sit-up. The first 2 are in on it. One at a time, they strain but don’t do a sit-up. The third sits up into a cream pie (his face, that is). Or, you can challenge them to do 10 sit-ups in 10 seconds, five of them with their eyes closed. Added by Young Life Also see Blindfolded Banana Feed (Click Here).
Bloody Pirates!This game is high energy, but you need a big group of kids to play it. Here’s how you do it. Quickly group all of the students into “teams” of at least 4 kids each. Then using a pirate ship captain’s dialect, explain to them that they are all on YOUR pirate ship. You will call out a certain command, and each team will work quickly to “act it out.” The team who does the best acting job, or is the quickest to comply with the “captain’s orders,” gets a point. As quickly as you can, go over the commands. Here they are. When the Captain says: "Starboard" - everyone on the team must touch the wall on the right. "Port" - everyone on the team must touch the wall on the left. "Stern" - everyone on the team must touch the back wall. "Bow" - everyone on the team must touch the front wall. "Swab the Deck" - everyone pretends to mop the floor. "Cap’n's Comin’" - everyone lines up and salutes. “Land Ahoy!" - one person steers the ship, while another on the team stands behind him and looks through a periscope. "Man overboard!" - two people get down on one knee, join hands and make a "rail" while another person pretends to fall over it with the fourth person yelling “man overboard.” "Shark infested waters" - one person in the middle, making a scared face while the other three act like sharks and swim around the person in the middle. “Row Ye Scurvy Scum!" - all 4 people sit in a straight line, one in front of the other and “row” their boat. "Ready the Cannon!" - 2 people join hands and make a circle with their arms to form the mouth of the cannon. Another person stands next to them and pretends to light the cannon. The last person has to pretend to be the cannonball shot from the cannon. "Sea Monster!" - all 4 people join hands in the center and wave their hands outside of the circle like a giant octopus. Here are a few things to keep in mind that will make this game a smash hit for your group. Remember, the faster you call it out, the crazier things will get. Also, have referees walking around to judge who is the fastest or best. And just for kicks, at the Capn’s discretion, any team is subject to have to walk the plank. If a person/team has to walk the plank, simply have a few chairs set up and then have students one-by-one walk to one end and say, “AARRR…me name is [Bob] and I's be a pirate! Keep yer hands off me booty!!" and then jump off. Award the winning pirate team with chocolate coins.
Blow Pop NecklaceBuy enough Blow Pops (Blow Pops, not cheap suckers - students have to LIKE what you use) for three times the amount of students and staff you have. Take string or yarn, cut it at arms' width and tie them to the individual "Blow Pops." You now have enough "Blow Pop" Necklaces for each student and staff to have three. As students and staff arrive, place three Blow Pop necklaces on their necks. Inform them that they can not use the word "I" until a designated time (when you usually bring things together and start). If you use the word "I" and someone catches you, they can have one of your Blow Pop necklaces. This can be quite funny because when someone catches someone else, they usually blow it by saying, "I caught you!" or, "I get one of your necklaces!" At the end of this time, give away a prize (besides Blow Pops) for the person with the most necklaces. You can also use "Ring Pops" instead of "Blow Pops."
Blowdart BasketballWe designed this game for our youth group because it works especially well as an active game that you can play in spaces with obstructions like poles in the way that prevent the space from being used for true gymnasium games. Set-Up: * Split into two equal teams and have them sit with their legs crossed facing each other. * Set up a trash can or bucket on both sides of the "playing field." * Each player will need an empty toilet paper roll which will be their blowgun. * You will also need to create several "blowdarts." We used tightly rolled and taped fabric which has the perfect weight and hardness. (With a 4 inch x 12 inch piece of fabric you can roll it up into a nice 4 inch long dart). Wrap a few pieces of duct tape around the dart on both ends to keep it together. They are simple and cheap to make. Suggestion: make 3 darts per student you anticipate to be in the game. Game Play: * Each team tries to score by blowing darts into the opposing side's trash cans. * Like basketball and soccer, some players may choose to defend their basket and others may try to score. Shooting: * The blowdarts must be blown from your blowgun. * Players who have a dart may not move from their position until they blow the dart away. Defending: * Players may block darts with their bodies and hands, but they may never leave the sitting position and their bums may never leave the ground while blocking with hands. * Other players may not block someone's tube with their hand. We made a rule that hands must stay 3 feet away from player's tubes that are shooting. Moving: Moving may only be done by using your hands to pull you around in the sitting position. Players should keep their legs crossed and locked at all times and push on the ground with their hands to wiggle and whop forward. The arms act much like crutches to move you around, but you must keep your legs crossed and together as your moving around the playing field. Rule-breaking: * Players will inevitably make illegal moves like moving their bum off the grounds to block a dart or block someone’s blowgun too close. * It is recommended that one or two leaders act as referees, and like hockey, pull the offending players out of the game for a minute or so. Scoring and Winning: * Scoring involves getting a dart into the other team's trash basket. The dart may not be thrown in, but must be blown out of the blowgun only. * When a dart goes into a team's basket, someone from that team takes the dart out and blows it back into play. * Play as long as you like. The winning team is the one with the most points. Variations: * Use two colors for the darts so that each team can only score by getting their team's color in the opposing team's basket. * For huge open spaces, implement any other movement scheme that seems suitable.
Body PartsFor this game you only need a boom box (sound system) and a fun, upbeat song. It's kind of like Musical Chairs, only more fun to MC. It works best with an even # of people. Have any "extra" be a judge, who stands on a chair for a better view. Students pair up with one standing in a circle and the other standing next to their partner outside of the circle. When the music starts, have the inner circle walk clockwise and the outer circle walk counter-clockwise. When the music stops the leader yells out two body parts (e.g. "Foot to ear!" "Nose to the inside of the elbow!" "Top of the head to the back of the knee!"). Partners scramble to get to each other and put those designated body parts together. Fun & funny game . . . just think before you yell, (e.g. don't yell "chest to head!"). See also The Big Squeeze (Click Here) and Hug Fest (Click Here).
Books of the Bible HuntThis simple game works great as a teaser or opener to a discussion on The Bible. Here is what you will want to do. Copy the FIRST paragraph to hand out to your students. Keep the SECOND paragraph that contains the answers to yourself. (Answers in the SECOND paragraph are in CAPS.) I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. This lulu kept people looking so hard for facts, and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam especially since the names of the books were not capitalized, but the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help find them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady said she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. Can you compete really well in this test? Relax, for there really are the names of sixteen books of the Bible in these sentences. Happy hunting! I once made a reMARK about the hidden books of the Bible. This luLU KEpt people looKING So hard for fACTS, and for others it was a REVELATION. Some were in a JAM ESpecially since the names of the books were not capitalized, but the tRUTH finally struck home to NUMBERS of readers. To others it was a real JOB. We want it to be A MOSt fascinating few moments for you. yES THERe will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require JUDGES to help find them. I will quickly admiT IT USually takes a minister to find one of them and there will be loud LAMENTATIONS when it is found. A little lady said sHE BREWS a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. Can you comPETE Really well in this test? Relax, for there really are the names of sixteen books of the Bible in these sentences. Happy hunting!
Bubble Gum SculptureMaterials: bubble gum and a towel or two This can be played as an up-front game or, with smaller groups, everyone can play. Divide your group into groups of 4 or 5. Ask for two very brave volunteers out of each group (don't tell them what they're volunteering for). Give them a plate or flat dish (we used cookie sheets). Give the rest of the groups the bubble gum, and tell them to chew as quickly as possible. Have them chew it only until it is soft, and then give it to the volunteers in their group, and start chewing the next piece. As the group is chewing, the volunteers need to be working on their sculpture. Set a time limit, say 10 minutes, and give them creative ideas of what to make- such as pizza, turtle, etc., but it has to be something difficult. When the gum chewers are through, have them step back and watch. Have someone judge the sculptures. We gave a prize (a Christian CD) to each of our winning volunteers, since they were so brave! Note: Instead of regular stick gum- such as Wrigly's, I would suggest using larger gum drops- such as Bazooka. {It's much easier to work with!} Keep it cheap, because you'll want to buy enough! Submitted by Rebecca Sapp aka Zgrrl Also see Blow Pop Challenge (Click Here) and Tootsie Roll Sculpture (Click Here).
Build a WordSmall group or travel game. The object is to spell a word of three or more letters. Each person adds a letter. The person who adds a letter that completes a whole word is out. Be very careful to notice any words. Often the second or third person will be out because they are thinking of a longer word than what they have actually added. For example, if the first person starts with an "A" and the second person is thinking of a long word like "Attribute," they'd be out by adding a "T" since that actually makes a complete word. In fact, depending on how strict you are, the person who begins with "A" may be out. If you are not quite as strict as that, you may want to say that the first two people cannot be out, just to open up the option of having a word begin with an "A" or any other two letter word. If possible, have a dictionary on hand. Also see Mad Sentence Dash (Click Here) and Sentence Game (Click Here).
Butt CharadesCut up slips of paper with words on them and put them into a bag. Break up your audience or group into two teams. Get a volunteer from each team to spell the word he/she took out of the bag by moving their hips (spelling the words with thier butts!). (Make sure they do not say a word to give away clues.) If their team (or their side of the audience) does not figure out the word after two spellings, the other team gets to guess. Make it interesting by the words you choose, try to keep it clean. We don't want any dirty butts!
CaptionsSmall group game. Break up into teams of 3-6. Give each group 5-10 random silly or unusual pictures (photos or from magazines) or project the pictures up on the screen. Each team comes up with a funny caption for each picture. After a designated time, have a representative from each team come up. One by one, hold up or project the pics and have the reps read the captions. Have either judges or the audience as judges determine whose was the most creative/funniest.
Card NinjaAll you need for this game is a deck of playing cards for every 10 students, but the addition of some sort of martial arts music (like The Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon soundtrack) playing in the background really adds to the game. Split the crowd into groups of two players each. The two players will face each other. Each player will draw (or be given) five cards. They can arrange them in any order BUT THEY CAN NOT LOOK AT THEIR CARDS! When the game leader is ready, he asks the groups to pick a number between one and ten. The student in each group that is closest to the chosen number gets to go first. At this point, just for fun, have them bow to each other. Now the game begins. The player who goes first presents his card. Then the other player presents her card. The highest card wins the duel. (5 beats 2, Queen beats Jack, Ace beats King, etc.) The player who wins the most duels out of the 5 card duels, wins the battle. If you play this tournament style, the loser would sit, and the winner would go on to face another winner. This way you can narrow the entire field down to just a couple of champions. This might help if you have a really big group. NOTE: Also, you can have each student do some sort of martial arts move while presenting his/her card for more fun.
Cardboard CamelotThis game is great because it involves everybody, but lets them choose their degree of participation. Here’s how you play it. For several weeks prior to the game, grab heaps and heaps of cardboard boxes and packing tape (not masking tape – it has to be packing tape). On the night of your game, split everybody up into 2 or 4 teams, depending on the size of your group. It’s best to have about 5-8 students on each team. So, the larger your group, the more groups you will need. When you have your groups established, their objective is simple. Using the tape, the cardboard, and some scissors, they must work together to fashion the cardboard into a knight’s armor, shield, sword, etc. Give teams at least 10 minutes to make the armor for their knights. When the “fabrication” time is up, allow the 2 or 4 knights to battle each other. The winner is the last one who has his/her armor intact. Because it is likely that each of the knights will sustain a large amount of damage to their armor, you may want to have a few adult leaders play “judges.” OPTION: You could also put a time limit on each battle. That way, the winner is the person with the least amount of damage done when the bell rings. Have fun! Idea by Dave
Cat TailsYou will need some strips of cloth (approx. 2-3 ft. of fabric, cloth, plastic, cord, etc...) for everyone who plays. The game is simple. Have everyone tuck the strips into the back of their pants or shorts so that approx. 2 feet of excess strip is left hanging. (Note: this works great with young children as well.) The object of the game is to pull all the other players tails off. The last one standing with their tail is the winner. Have everyone run with their hands on their head - except when grabbing a tail. This prevents people from blocking and makes them look pretty funny. Idea by Chris Dunn
Cereal Box PuzzleCut off the front panel of several cereal boxes — one for each group you've formed. Then cut up each panel into puzzle shapes- one for each person in the group. Mix together all the pieces and give one to each person and have them compete to find their cereal. Idea from Young Life Also see Cereal Box Pick Up (Click Here) and Cereal Mania (Click Here).
Charade WarsThe idea of this game is to have multiple teams playing charades at the same time with the same clues, in a race to see who can finish first. That means you will have to have teams with the same number of players on them. Before you begin, come up with a list of action clues that the teams must guess ("Walking the dog", "Eating peanut butter" - it works best to have each one include a verb and a noun that must both be guessed correctly!) Make as many copies of the clues as you'll have teams playing, and have the clues on slips of paper in RANDOM order - that is, each team's clues are in a different order. Don’t tell them that every team has the same clues; just give the clues to the teams. Here are some ideas: 1. Washing the car. 2. Sleeping on the top bed in a bunk. 3. Playing cricket. 4. Taking a geometry test. 5. Picking peas. 6. Writing a love note. After you break up your students into teams, have them create a rotation that they must stay in throughout the game. When the game begins, the first person takes the first clue from their stack and acts it out using normal charades rules. Once their team guesses the clue, the next person in line can get up and do theirs, and so on until one team makes it through all of their clues and wins! Since the clues are in a random order, teams can choose to "cheat" and watch other teams to get an idea of what clues might be coming up...but if they do then they won't be paying attention to their own team so it may end up costing them in the end. Also, if someone gets stuck, they can pass to the next person in line, but that person MUST do that clue and the person who passed MUST do the next one - neither one can pass. It may help to have a leader assigned to each team to verify that each clue is guessed correctly and help direct traffic - especially when someone passes. The first team to successfully guess each charade, wins. Idea by Kyle G.
Chocolate Hopping RaceIn this game there are two teams with an equal number of players. Line up both teams making sure that each person on the team has a partner on the same team. In other words, each team is comprised of multiple “pairs.” Place a bowl of candy bars in a bowl about 30 feet away. Each “pair” must hold hands and hop all the way to the bowl where they tear the wrappers off the chocolates and feed each other the candy. Then they hold hands and hop back to the starting point, where another pair will start hopping. Whichever team’s “pairs” finish first wins.
Christmas Carol Quiz (New Skool)Figure out the Christmas Carol title from the clue. 1. Not here in an animal’s dish 2. Smack the Passageways 3. Move and speak towards the elevated plains 4. Yahweh sleep you happy dudes 5. Hey! The #1 angelic beings belt it out. 6. It showed up on a cloudless 12 at night 7. Shaking Chimes 8. Happiness to the planet 9. 12-25 shrubbery song 10. Get here if you’re reliable 11. Like a strainer + time when the sun is down 12. Small city of Christ’s birth song (O’ Little Town of Bethlehem) 13. Quiet non-day 14. The premier not 12th letter of the alphabet 15. XII 24hrs. of 12-25 16. Not down on the roof of the home 17. Us Trio that’s royalty from China (exist) 18. Us dream not us a happy December 25th 19. Spill the 411 on the baby 20. Small percussionist lad 21. Tim Allen’s movie character will appear in a hood 22. Song about a hoofed animal with a crimson schnozola 23. Chilled the crystallized H20 male 24. Don’t stop the winter precipitation 25. Traversing in a 4th season amazing country ANSWERS to Christmas Carol Quiz 1. Away in a Manger 2. Deck the Halls 3. Go Tell It on the Mountain 4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman 5. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 6. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 7. Jingle Bells 8. Joy to the World 9. O’ Christmas Tree 10. O’ Come all Ye Faithful 11. O’ Holy Night 12. O’ Little Town of Bethlehem 13. Silent Night 14. The First Noel 15. The 12 Days of Christmas 16. Up on the Housetop 17. We 3 Kings of Orient (Are) 18. We Wish You a Merry Christmas 19. What Child is This? 20. Little Drummer Boy 21. Santa Claus is Coming to Town 22. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 23. Frosty the Snowman 24. Let it Snow 25. Walking in a Winter Wonderland Written by Jason Schmock Also see CHristmas Carol Quiz (Old Skool)(Click Here) and Christmas Wish List (Click Here).
Christmas Carol Quiz (Old Skool)Here’s a quiz you can give out at Christmas time to kill time. Name That Christmas Carol! 1. Bleached Yule 2. Castaneous-colored Seed Vesicated in a Conflagration 3. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors 4. Righteous Darkness 5. Arrival Time2400 hrs - WeatherCloudless 6. Loyal Followers Advance 7. Far Off in a Feeder 8. Array the Corridor 9. Bantam Male Percussionist 10. Monarchial Triad 11. Nocturnal Noiselessness 12. Jehovah Deactivate Blithe Chevaliers 13. Red Man En Route to Borough 14. Frozen Precipitation Commence 15. Proceed and Enlighten on the Pinnacle 16. The Quadruped with the Vermillion Probiscis 17. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant 18. Delight for this Planet 19. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings 20. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Intervals Answers: (Don’t include these on the quiz . . . duh!) 1. White Christmas 2. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire 3. All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth 4. O Holy Night 5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 6. O Come, All Ye Faithful 7. Away in a Manger 8. Deck the Hall 9. Little Drummer Boy 10. We Three Kings 11. Silent Night 12. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen 13. Santa Claus is Coming to Town 14. Let it Snow 15. Go, Tell It on the Mountain 16. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer 17. What Child is This? 18. Joy to the World 19. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 20. The Twelve Days of Christmas For a more youthy version of this game, see Christmas Carol Quiz NEW SKOOL (Click Here) Also see Christmas Poem Mad Lib on Audience page.
Christmas: Dueling CarolersDivide into 2-4 groups. Give each group 5 minutes to come up with as many Christmas carols as they can. After time is called, each group takes turns singing part of a Christmas carol on their list. If any other group has the same carol on their list, no points are given. If no other group has the carol on their list, they get 100 points. Keep it fast paced. Groups should mark off carols already sung. Group with the most points at the end wins. Added by John Cook Also see Human Christmas Tree (Click Here).
Church Cell Phone Scavenger HuntAlmost every kid has a cell phone these days, and almost every single one of those kids bring it to youth group with them (and forget to turn it off). Here’s a fun way to incorporate their cell phones into a game you can tailor to your specific church environment. When it comes time for the game at your program, assemble everyone onto a 2-4 person team (depending on the size of your overall group). Give them a print off of the list below and tell them that they have 10 minutes to collect as many pictures of the items as they can on their cell phones. Groups can stay together or split up to save time...but only give ONE copy of the list to each team! (Before you print off the list, make sure your church has every item; if you don’t have an ice making machine, make sure to take it off this list!) The team with the most points wins. Award the first team back in the youth room an extra 40 Points IF AND ONLY IF they have EVERYTHING on your list. Make sure to synchronize everyone’s watches (or clocks on their cell phone) because ALL GROUPS MUST be back in the youth room at the 10 minute buzzer. Deduct 30 points from any team that is not back in time. You may want to have a few adult leaders spread out around the church campus giving 3, 2, and 1 minute warnings. The List 10 Pointers 1. A cross (of any kind) 2. A sound board of any size 3. A painting, or picture, or mural of Jesus 4. An adult leader making a funny face 5. The lost and found box/area 6. Youth Pastor’s office 7. A toilet 20 Pointers 1. A choir robe 2. Church sign by the road 3. An offering plate or bucket or bag 4. The driver side of a church van or bus 5. A pew 6. The baptismal pool or fount or container 30 Pointers 1. A hymnal opened to “Amazing Grace” 2. A stained glass window 3. A janitor’s closet 4. An ice making machine 5. The pulpit or lectern in the sanctuary 40 Pointers 1. An “In Memory Of…” plaque 2. A King James Version Bible 3. A filing cabinet (not in Youth Pastor’s office!!) 4. A baby crib 5. A “visitor’s only” parking sign 50 Pointers 1. An overhead projector (kickin’ it old school, baby!) 2. A set of drums or a set of congas or a set of bongos 3. Any outdoor or indoor recreational equipment (volleyball net, basketball goal, soccer field, etc) 4. A box of animal crackers or goldfish snacks NOTE: Do bear in mind that not every kid has a cell phone. No worries. As long as one team member per team has a camera phone, that's all you need! So divide teams appropriately.
Circle ChaseYou can play this game with any number of people, but if you have a large group, break them up into several groups spread out around the room. Ideally, each group will have 10 students in them, 5 on each “team.” Have one team form a TIGHT circle facing outwards. Then have the second team form a circle around the first team's circle facing inward. Hand a ball to one member of the inner circle. Then give a student at the opposite side of the outer circle a foam sword or pool noodle. The object of this game is for a person on the outer circle team to "tag" the person holding the ball with using the foam noodle. NO ONE CAN MOVE AT ALL…students must PASS the ball and sword from one to another! When you say go, the outer circle tries to "catch" the person holding the ball by tagging them with the foam sword. The inner circle tries to avoid getting tagged by passing the balloon around the circle, and out of reach of the outer circle team. Give the outer circle team one minute to tag the inner circle team. If the outer circle team succeeds, give them a point. If the inner circle team survives for one minute without being tagged, give them a point. After the first round, switch it up making the outer team become the inner team, and vice versa. Set a score to end the game on (5 points), or depending on how long you want the game to go. Enjoy! RULES: 1. You cannot hide the sword or balloon behind your back. 2. You must pass both the sword and balloon to the person immediately next to you. No tossing either object across the circle. 3. You can change direction, or hold the object, but realize you only have one minute. 4. Everyone must keep both feet planted firmly to the ground. No pivoting or leaning. (This avoids taller people from having too big an advantage.) 5. If either the balloon or sword is dropped the person who dropped it must pick it up. However, the game does not stop when someone drops the ball or sword!
ClapThis game is a variation of the old faithful "Hot/Cold" game. One person is chosen to be "it" and asked to leave the room so they can't hear or see what is going on in the room. Take about 1 minute and pick an action as a group for "it" to do when he/she returns. (A Jumping Jack, Pick Their Own Nose, etc). When "it" is given the signal to come back in the room he/she has to guess what he/she is supposed to do by walking around, touching things in the room or performing random actions. The group will clap louder and faster the closer "it" gets to completing the task. Remember there is no talking or other clues, but there will be a considerable amount of laughter, and you will be shocked at the detailed and complicated things you can get a person to do simply by clapping.
Closer To God With BalloonsBlow up about 50 medium sized round balloons in various colors. Write words or phrases that can bring you closer to God on half of the balloons with a black sharpie marker. Write words or phrases that can draw you away from God on the other half. Keep balloons separate in large garbage bags. Divide youth into two teams. Divide room with tape. Put one team on each side. Leaders keep throwing the good and bad balloons equally on each side of the net/line. Youth must pick up and read the balloons to determine if good or bad. If bad, they want to throw them on the other side. If good, they want to hold on to them. After all balloons are tossed out of bags by leaders, give your two teams a couple more minutes to play. The team with the most good after subtracting how many bad they have on the floor wins. The Point: Use with a discussion about things that can bring you closer to God vs. things that pull you away from God. Talk about the differences and how easy or difficult it is to hold on (or maintain) either. Note: Players must be holding on to the good things to count. Good things on the floor don't count. (Don't give them this hint, but we had kids stuffing the good things up their shirts; really funny.) Added by Julie Curtis
Clothespeg CrossAt the beginning of your event pass around 3-5 clothespegs for each person that arrives. During your event there is only one rule and its called the "Cross Over Rule." This rule basically states that anyone who is caught crossing their arms, legs, feet, hands, or anything else, must give up one of their pegs to the person who caught them. At the end of your event the person with the most pegs wins. They have a lot of fun catching each other!
Clothespin Bite RelayThis is set up like any relay with multiple teams, each team with 5 clothespins. Have the first person in line attach the clothespins to their shirt, clothes, or body part, run around a certain designated point and return to have the clothespins removed by the next person in line . . . with their teeth! Also see Clothespin Mixer (Click Here).
Clothespin MixerPass out about 4-5 clothespins per kid in the room and instruct them to pin them on their own sleeves. Explain that when the music begins, the object of the game is to get all clothes pins off themselves and on to someone else. Turn off lights and turn on strobes and music. (You may want to put girls on one side of room and guys on another; guys can get a little frisky sticking clothespins on girls). Explain that when the lights come on, one or two people should have about 100 pins on them - pull them up and parade the winner. At the end you won't want them playing with the pins all night during the talk, so dress a tough kid or leader up front in protective gear (motorcycle helmet with face shield, chest protector or thick jacket, turtleneck, scarf, gloves, shin guards, thick pants, etc.); and put a bulls-eye on their chest. Tell everybody to grab all their clothes pins and bring in your human target and play music as they throw or pin their clothes pins at him. Kids can't believe they are doing this, and when you stop the music, all your pins are gathered up at the front. Added by Young Life See also Clothespin Bite Relay (Click Here).
Clumps and Clumps with a TwistAny size room. Easy game used to divide your group into teams. Simply yell, "Form a group according to . . . (see suggestions below)." If you're looking for a certain number of people per team, just say, "Form a group of 7!" If you end up with a remainder, then have staff go around and divide the leftovers on teams. Variation: Once in their groups, the game leader reads a question from the list below (or write your own) and everyone in the group answers. When the majority in the crowd have answered, leader directs them to mingle again. Clumps: height, hair color, # cavities, # siblings, shirt color, number of people in your immediate family, month of birth, favorite color, grade, middle initial, school you attend. Questions: • What is your favorite cartoon (or cartoon character)? • Who do you most admire? • What animal is most like your personality? • What would you do with $100,000? • What do you hope to be doing in 10 years? Also see Keys (Click Here) & Your Number is Up (Click Here).
Communication ChallengeGive everyone a number. They have to arrange themselves in numerical order by communicating with each other without speaking or holding up fingers. They make up their own sub-language or sign-language and it often is pretty amusing. For Round Two, have people arrange themselves in order of birth or in calendar months (like the game, Mute Organization). Added by Youth For Christ Also see Inversion (Click Here) & Mute Organization (Click Here).
Count It OutGather youth into a tight circle of 5-10. (If you have more than ten,you can make this a competition game with two or three circles participating at once.) While in the circle, everyone must look down at the ground and may not raise their head to make eye contact with others in their group. The goal of this team building and communication game is to count the numbers 1 to 15 in order, with each person in the group saying at least one number. The students are not allowed to count around the circle consecutively. If two people say the same number at the same time, they must start over again at one. This may sound very easy, but it is exteremly hard in reality because you have taken away their ability to see non-verbal cues as to who is going to say the next number. It is a great game for student leadership. Added by Michelle Fessel Variation: Also try having the team go through the alphabet!
Counting GameThis can either be played up front, with everyone watching, or as a group with everyone playing. Have everyone in your group (or the people on stage) pair up and face each other. Each person holds up zero to ten fingers behind their back. On the count of three, have them pull their hands from behind their backs. The first person to yell out the correct sum of all the fingers wins. Do best two of three. Then bring the winners up front to play each other until you have a champion. See also Counting Game Variation: The Math Game (Click Here).
Counting Game Variation: The Math GameCompetitors hold just one hand behind their back, revealing the number of fingers at the signal. Whoever yells out the sum of the fingers wins the first round. For Round 2, multiply the fingers. Round 3 is the difference between the two numbers. Rotate through as many rounds as you want. For the left-brained at heart, the Championship Round has the two survivors (who you'll bring up front) square the total of the two sets of fingers. For example, Person A shows three fingers, Person B shows four, so the winning answer is 3+4 = 7 * 7=49 Added by Youth For Christ See Counting Game (Click Here).
Cricket SpitGo to your local pet store and buy a bunch of live crickets before your event. Ask for volunteers before you reveal the game. Each victim (I mean contestant) reaches in to the container of crickets and pulls out one at a time and pops the live cricket into their mouth. The object is to spit the cricket into their bucket,which is placed several feet away. This is a timed event. When the time runs out, the person with the most crickets in the bucket is the winner. We usually give the winner a prize and all contestants are given mouthwash. Supplies Needed: Two buckets Live crickets in a container Prize for the winner Mouthwash
Curly, Moe, and LarryGroups of 20-30 sit or stand in a circle. One person is in the middle and points to someone in the circle and says either “Curly,” “Mo,” or “Larry”. The person pointed to must respond with a name before the person in the middle can count out loud to ten. The name the person shouts depends on the name the person in the middle says: “Curly”: say the name of the person on your right. “Moe”: say your own name. “Larry”: say the name of the person on your left. If they succeed, the person in the middle stays and repeats the process with someone else in the circle. If they fail, they change places with the person in the middle. After a while, you may want to add a second person to the middle. After five minutes, rotate half of each group to another group, or combine two groups and put a second person in the middle. The Point: Remembering names of people in your group. Also see Newspaper Name Nail (aka Whomp'em) (Click Here).
Defend The BalloonWanna great game that provides plenty of action? This is it! All you need is a lot of balloons (about 50 per team). Make sure each team gets 50 balloons that are all the same color. (For example, if you have three teams, you need 50 yellow, 50 red, and 50 green.) If you can, make the colors represent the local school colors for a little added zeal! Each team must defend its “treasure” (their pile of same-colored balloons) while attempting to steal or destroy the other team's “treasure.” Designate a time period (1-2 minutes) to play the game. When the time ends, each team's un-popped balloons each count 100 points for them. Additionally, balloons that have been stolen from another team that are un-popped, count 200 points each! If a balloon is popped, it counts nothing. Depending on your team’s level of physicality, this can be played as a Capture the Flag style game, or just all-out full contact. Have fun with this game and make it your own, but be safe!
Do You Love Your Neighbor?You need chairs for this game. Have everyone sit in a circle. There should be one less seat than there are people, and the extra person stands in the middle. The person standing approaches someone who is seated and asks him, "Do you love your neighbor?" The seated person can answer two ways. If he says, "No," then the people seated directly next to him have to switch seats as quickly as possible so that the standing person doesn't get one. If he says, "Yes," he must add a qualifying statement such as, "But I don't like people who have blue eyes." Anyone who matches the description must get up and find a different seat. Whoever is left standing is then the "asker." Added by Sheri Blaise Also see Honey, if You Love me You'll Smile (Click Here).
Dodge Ball Variation “Danny Ball”This variation of Dodge Ball is kinda like a “last man standing” version of the hit game. It is every man for himself…or herself! Here’s how to do it. Use 3 balls per 10 kids on the court. The game begins with the dodge balls being thrown into the center of the room/gym. The students then scramble for the balls and try to throw each other out. (Remember, there are NO teams.) If hit, or their throw is caught, students must sit down EXACTLY WHERE they were hit. While sitting IN ONE SPOT, they can still collect stray dodge balls and throw out students who are still standing. If they hit someone standing then that person has to sit down and the student who hit them is up and in the game again. Students who are sitting can also try to physically tag a standing student. If they tag a student who is still up, then that student sits down, and the one who tagged them is up again. The game continues until one player is left alive. He or she is the winner! NOTE: Sitting students are not allowed to move from their sitting position, so they will have to stretch to get free balls or tag standing students. No head shots are allowed either.
Doggy Doo and Kitty DooThis game works best with at least 10 students, but the more the merrier. Break students into two equal teams for this gross relay game. At the opposite end of the room place two kitty litter boxes (one for each team) on the ground, maybe with a tarp under to keep the area clean. Fill the kitty litter boxes with cereal like Grape Nuts (or some type of cereal that looks & feels like kitty litter). Then place slightly melted chocolate bars like Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Kit-Kats, etc. into the trays (enough chocolate bars for each kid on the team). Be sure you cover the chocolates fully in the 'litter' to make it look like the real deal! Now the race can begin. Students from each team must crawl on their hands and knees from the starting point to the litter boxes. Once there, each student must find, with their mouths only – no hands! – 1 piece of “kitty or doggie doo” and eat it fully before returning to the other teammates. (Have two leaders at the litter boxes to verify the complete “doo” eating, and also cheer on the students, like “hurry, eat the doo!” Once they make it back to the group they will tag the next teammate who will race down to the litter tray and continue. The first team to complete the race, eating all the “doo” is the winning team. (Video taping this for future black mail use is highly recommended and encouraged). NOTE: Relay games like these can be fun for the person who is actually competing, but not much fun for the kid who is last in line and must wait…forever. If you have a big group, use more than two teams. For this game, do not have more than 6 kids on the teams. Idea by Tara P.
Dollar SurpriseMingling game. One or two people have a dollar. Everyone goes around shaking hands. Each students with a dollar passes his/her dollar off to the tenth person he/she shakes hands with. Keep going... if you get the dollar, pass off to tenth person. When music stops, person with dollar keeps it. Added by Young Life Also see Hi, My Name Is (Click Here) and Mingle for Money (Click Here).
Egg, Chicken, DinosaurThe goal of this game is to work your way up by beating other players at Rock-Scissors-Paper to the “position” of king or queen. Everyone starts out as an egg. You find another egg and play Rock-Scissors-Paper. The winner "grows" into a chicken who finds another chicken to play against. Whoever wins "grows" into a dinosaur. The loser returns to being an egg. Once a dinosaur you must find another dinosaur to play against. If you lose you step down to a chicken. The next step is becoming a prince or princess, which of course means playing against another prince or princess. If you win you become a King or Queen and stand off to the side. If you lose you return to a dinosaur. The game is played until there is one egg, chicken, dinosaur and prince. All other players will be kings or queens. The fun in all this?: Eggs waddle on the ground in a little ball, chickens walk and squat while flapping their wings and "clicking", dinosaurs "roar" standing up. Princes/princesses "prance" around holding an imaginary scepter while kings and queens stand off to the side victoriously. Added by Brad Williams Also see Ape, Man, Lady (Click Here) and Ninja, Gun, Gorilla (Click Here).
EncoreThis is a simple game that tests kids' ability to think fast. Divide into teams (could be upper vs. lower classmen, girls vs. guys, etc.). For larger groups, you can have more than two teams. Yell out a word that is commonly found in songs (love, road, river, girl, baby, need . . . ). The teams must sing a song in unison (together) using that word. The first team to do it wins a point. Play as long as they like it.
Extreme Makeover: Cardboard Box EditionIf you've ever seen Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and thought those guys had a blast building those incredible houses, then this game is for you! You need to go to a few local appliance centers around town and collect enough refrigerator boxes for your group to use and decorate. (You will need about one big fridge box per 5 students.) Several smaller boxes would not hurt, either. Then collect lots of markers, colored paper, pens, paint, scissors, glue, staplers, poster board, and any other craft supplies you can think of. When the students show up, divide them into teams of 5 and give them these instructions: 1. Your team must build the coolest/most elaborate house possible using the supplies provided. 2. You have 45 minutes to work on your project. 3. You have to be able to give the leader a “tour” of your home when time is up, explaining what everything is. Afterward, great discussion can be had about mission work, and helping others…like the TV show does.
Fact or Fiction?This is a great game for small to medium sized groups that not only offers the prospect of winning a prize, but also provides a "unique" learning experience. Only a few supplies are needed. Objective: Teens will be given an opportunity to exercise their mental faculties by determining whether a story is either Fact or Fiction. The teens who get the most answers correct will win prizes. Supplies: For this game, you will need to have a sheet of paper with "FACT" printed on one side and "FICTION" printed on the other. Then make enough copies for all participants to have one each. You also need to find a number of myths and true (but weird) stories. You can find this kind of stuff on numerous websites. The Discovery Channel Mythbusters site has a number of ready-made quizzes you could use. I'll provide some myths/stories below (enough for a couple of games). Finally, you need to have a few prizes on hand to give away to the first, second, and third place finishers. (Don’t forget about the possibility of a tie!) Optional: One option is to put the myths and answers in a Powerpoint presentation, so that on one slide, the myth is presented, and on the next slide the answer is revealed. Playing The Game: Explain to the teens that they will be presented with myths and true stories and will have to choose whether it is FACT or FICTION. If they think it’s FACT, they hold up that side of their paper toward the youth pastor. If it’s FICTION, they show that side to the youth pastor. (Have an adult volunteer or two on hand to help keep score.) Most correct answers wins. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Round 1: 1. If you are stung by a jellyfish while swimming in the ocean, you should have someone urinate on the sting. (FICTION) 2. Eating bananas will attract mosquitoes, while eating garlic will repel them. (FICTION) 3. Young trick-or-treaters have actually found razor blades in apples and pins in candy bars in their Halloween loot. (FACT) 4. A man was enjoying a lollipop while driving when he got into an accident. The airbag deployed, forcing the lollipop down his throat and choking him to death. (FICTION) 5. Several people have been pronounced dead and buried while still alive. (FACT) 6. There was once a haunted-house attraction in Ohio that claimed to be so frightening that anyone who made it all the way through would get a full refund of the admission fee. No one ever did. (FICTION) 7. Many animal shelters will not allow any black cats to be adopted right before Halloween. (FACT) 8. Play-Doh was originally invented as a wallpaper cleaner. (FACT) 9. Toys placed in a donation bin for needy kids at a Wal-Mart store were returned to the shelves and re-sold. (FACT) 10. In the 80’s, if a child sent a damaged Cabbage Patch Kid back to the manufacturer for repairs, he or she would receive a death certificate in return. (FICTION) 11. Cabbage Patch Kids were designed to resemble what children would look like after a nuclear holocaust. (FICTION) 12. The yo-yo was originally developed as a weapon in the Philippines. (FICTION) Round 2: 1. PROGRAMMER POPS QUESTION IN VIDEO GAME Bernie Peng reprogrammed Tammy Li's favorite video game, "Bejeweled," so a picture of a wedding ring and a marriage proposal would show up on the screen when she reached a certain score. (FACT- It took him over a month to program the game and she said yes.) 2. STAYING UP LATE SAVES MAN'S LIFE Dan Kidder doesn't go to bed early…maybe that's why he's still alive. A .38 caliber bullet went through the wall of his house and through the headboard on his bed about 9pm. (FACT- His neighbor didn't think his gun was loaded.) 3. IN ACT OF REVENGE, CHICKEN POISONS FARMER David Wallace, a farmer with prior charges of animal abuse, was found dead Tuesday morning, slumped over a half-eaten omelette. Forensic analysis revealed the eggs contained toxic levels of fertilizer, resulting from one of Wallace's own chickens that had eaten the fertilizer, tainting its egg production. Marvelously, the chicken was not adversely affected by the poisonous levels of fertilizer. (FICTION! Entirely made up!) 4. DEAD MAN ISSUED TICKET FROM TRAFFIC OFFICER An Australian traffic officer slapped a parking ticket on a car parked outside a shopping mall, which had its dead driver slumped over the steering wheel. (FACT! The officer failed to notice the man inside and issued the parking fine TWO DAYS before the body was discovered.) 5. DAY CARE PUTS KIDS IN 8-HOUR COMA! A government-funded day-care center outside of Washington D.C. has was shut down after discovery that drugs, music and hypnotism were used to keep children in a comatose state for up to eight hours at a time. (FICTION! Entirely made up!) 6. NEW COMPANY RENTS OUT “HUMAN MOSQUITO BAIT” FOR OUTDOOR EVENTS Founded by Denise Frank, MOSQUITO GAL is a new company that rents out people who have been tested and found to attract mosquitoes. Used at parties and other events, these decoys are then preyed upon by the mosquitoes, which leaves the invited guests virtually undisturbed by nuisances. Frank discovered her own attractiveness to mosquitoes as a toddler, when any time outside left her covered with red welts. When friends and family jokingly suggested she hire herself out for outdoor parties as a mosquito magnet, she took the joke seriously. Her first gig brought her $100 for a night's work. Her new business now charges $150 an hour. (FICTION! Entirely made up!) 7. COUPLE MAKE BURGLAR CLEAN THEIR HOME AT GUNPOINT An American couple turned the tables on a burglar they caught ransacking their home by dispensing their own form of justice. Without waiting for the law to arrive, the pair doled out their own punishment to the surprised criminal. "We made this man clean up all the mess he made, piles of stuff, he had thrown out of my drawers and cabinets onto the floor". (FACT! When police arrived, the burglar actually complained to them about being forced to do chores. Officers laughed and told him he was lucky he wasn't shot.) 8. FOREST TURNS PURPLE FROM POLLUTION Botanists in Madrid have discovered that trees growing in polluted areas of the country are becoming ill and turning a sickly purple. The scientists have appealed to the government to cut back on the use of fossil fuels to save what are jokingly referred to as "never-green" trees (FICTION! Entirely made up!) 9. NEIGHBORS COMPLAIN! MAN CAN NO LONGER RAISE LION IN BACKYARD Forget about barking dogs. Police in Romania say they have had to investigate complaints from neighbors about constant roaring from a lion in the man's backyard. The three-year-old lioness, a pet, was found caged in the yard along with two deer, a stag and two peacocks. (FACT! The 28-year old man is being charged with illegal possession of wild animals and could be sentenced to up to a year in jail.) 10. NEW ALARM CLOCK OFFERS PLENTY OF OPTIONS A Springfield, Illinois company called AlaREM has built a new alarm clock to give people greater control over their sleeping habits. The clock is produced with new settings. In addition to five minutes of 'snooze', they allow for 'nod' (only a minute delay), 'doze' (thirty minutes more sleep), and 'nap' (two hours more rest). (FICTION! Entirely made up!) 11. WOMAN BLAMES ALIENS FOR ETERNAL BAD HAIR DAY Just days after claiming to have been abducted by aliens, Lexington, Nevada resident Louise Dalton's hair began changing minute by minute from curly to straight. Doctors are baffled and while most women would die for the ability to change hairstyles so easily, Dalton wants to find a cure to her 'alien disease'. (FICTION! Entirely made up!) Idea by Ben S.
Fall Of FaithA youth ministry classic. Get a person to stand backward on a chair while the rest of the group prepares to catch him or her. Tell the person that they need to fall with their body as straight as possible, and with both hands across their chest, to avoid elbowing someone in the head. The Point: Team building; a good game for a leadership event. Added by Scott Street
Fashion DesignerAs an upfront game, pre-select two teams of 3 for this. For small groups, everyone can participate. Materials needed: - Tissue Paper - Tape - Pictures of high fashion models (needless to say, keep 'em appropriate) Divide up into as many groups as you want (at least 3) and give each group a model (preferably youth workers!). Then give each group a picture of a fashion model, some tissue paper, and tape and ten minutes to replicate the dress on the picture of the fashion model. When they're through, have the 'models' walk the runway for everyone to watch. Have the teams vote on who looks the most like the model they were representing. You can do this by showing what pictures they were trying to mimic on powerpoint. Added by Pollyanna Soares
Flinging Flying Cheese Ball ChallengeThis is a challenge where one side of the room competes against the other. Choose a representative from each side of the room. Have the reps come up front, then give them each a plastic spoon and a can of cheese balls. At “go,” they will have 3 minutes to fling the cheese balls, one at a time, towards the audience on their side of the room. Teams score a point each time a cheese ball is caught by an audience members’ hand. Teams can score 5 points by catching the cheese ball in their mouths! (Each side of the room needs to have a judge keeping official score.) The team with the most points at the end of the three minutes wins. NOTE: If you have a really big group, you might want to bring up 2 or 3 tossers for each side of the room. Added by Dan the Man
Football Team Quiz (NFL)This game is great for either a big or a small group. For a big group, break up into groups of 4 requiring at least one person on each team to be a football fan. Pass out one copy of the following list of clues of pro-teams to each team. For small group, provide one sheet per person. (Answers in parentheses; of course you'll copy this list off without the answers.) The first team to bring their completed list to you wins (or as many as they can come up with). Give prizes to each team member (a candy bar, mug, etc.). What are these pro football teams??? FOOTBALL (NFL) TEAM QUIZ Based on the clues, figure out the names of the NFL teams. 1. A dollar for corn (Buccaneers) 2. Native American epidermis (Redskins) 3. Sun-tanned bodies (Browns) 4. What you pay (Bills) 5. They don't dodge or male goats (Rams) 6. 747, B1B, Concorde, F15... (Jets) 7. 7 Squared (49ers) 8. David could stone them (Giants) 9. Iron workers (Steelers) 10. Black birds of prey (Falcons) 11. Norse warriors (Vikings) 12. Kodiak, black, polar, koala... (Bears) 13. Not sinners but... (Saints) 14. Red birds (Cardinals) 15. Rodeo animals (Broncos) 16. Native American Leaders (Chiefs) 17. Called bald (Eagles) 18. Ocean going birds (Seahawks) 19. Hostile invaders (Raiders) 20. Credit card users (Chargers) 21. Boxers (Packers) 22. King of beasts (Lions) 23. Look like fish, but are mammals (Dolphins) 24. One-time British enemies (Patriots) 25. American gauchos (Cowboys) 26. Certain type of tiger (Bengals) 27. Young and fast horses (Colts) 28. People from the Lone Star State (Texans) 29. Spotted cats or expensive cars (Jaguars) 30. Heavy breathers (play on phonics) (Panthers) 31. Large birds of the crow family (Ravens) 32. Remember them (Titans) Updated (Sep 2004) by Jason Schmock Also see Baseball Team Quiz (MLB) (Click Here).
French CharadesDivide into teams of 5-7 people. Have members of one team leave the room while the others think of a situation which can be acted out without words. Then bring in one person from the team that was sent out. Explain the situation he or she will be acting out. Now bring in the second person from that team. Without saying a word, Person #1 must act out the assigned plot for Person #2. Person #2 may or may not understand the charade, but he or she must subsequently act out the same situation for a third member of the team. Person#3 performs the charade for Person#4, and so on. The last person must guess the original story line. Basically, this is a game of telephone, but using only charades to communicate. Remember, all this is done in complete silence. Even the simplest charade can undergo a thorough metamorphosis after being passed down several times. If the last person cannot guess the charade, person #1 should perform it again and let the last person guess once more. Here are some classic French charade situations to spur your creativity. Charade 1: The original pantomime that you do could include the following: pull the elephant into the room on a rope; tie the rope at a stake; dip a rag in a pail and wash the side of the elephant jumping high to get all the way to the top; crawl underneath, wash his belly and legs; go to the front and wash the trunk inside and out and wash the elephant’s ears as well; and then, wash under his tail (hold your nose). Charade 2: You are a high school beauty pageant contestant, anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winner. Suddenly you hear your name! You now step forward to receive your crown and roses. Then comes you victory walk down the aisle, waving to the crowd, you encounter many misfortunes. First, you are allergic to the roses, so you begin to sneeze, but you keep on going waving and sneezing to the crowd. Then, on the way back up the aisle, your high heel breaks and you finish the walk with one heel missing! Charade 3: You're are a pregnant bird about to give birth. You must fly around the room gathering materials for your nest. Once you make your nest, you lay your egg. Then finish the charade by hatching the egg and finding a worm to feed your new baby. Added by Young Life
Fruit Basket UpsetHave group sit in a circle. You should have one less chair than you do people, so that one student is left standing up. Make sure each seat is clearly marked - use chairs or mark places with tape. Number people off, but instead of saying, "one, two, three, four, five" say "apple, banana, orange, kiwi, peach" or whatever fruit you like. The more people you have, the more groups you may want. The last person is "It" and stands in the center of the circle. "It" yells out a fruit name. Everyone with that name must exchange seats with someone else with that name. "It" tries to take one of the empty chairs before they are all taken. Whoever is left without a chair is "It". Rather than yelling a fruit name, "It" may yell "Fruit Basket Upset." Everyone must change seats. Variation: "It" may yell more than one fruit at a time. This gets more people up and moving.
Fruit SculptureBreak up into teams. Each team makes a sculpture out of the fruit given to it. Award prizes for most creative and most stable. Have hand towels and paper towels handy for clean up. Also see Banana Surgery (Click Here), Bubble Gum Sculpture (Click Here), Tootsie Roll Sculpture (Click Here), and Chocolate Tower (Click Here).
Garbage WarDivide the room into four sections by putting tape on the floor. Have a ton of newspaper and toilet paper and other "dry garbage". The object is to get all of the stuff out of your section and into the other team’s section. The Point: This might be a goofy opener for a talk on how to get "garbage" (sin, bad influences) out of our lives. Added by Young Life
Gargle a TuneBring 3 students up front. Hand them each a glass of water. Then, one at a time, show only the person doing the gargling the name of a familiar song. It could be a nursery rhyme or any other familiar song. Have the person take a drink of water and attempt to gargle the tune you have showed them. The rest of the students in the room should be listening close so they can guess the song. Be ready for water through the nose.
Gender Genius ChallengeBreak out the boxing gloves…this cool game will definitely get your group fired up! It’s called Gender Genius Challenge and here’s how you play it. It’s basically a “battle of the sexes” as the boys compete against the girls to see which gender is more intelligent. You can group guys on one side of the room and girls on the other, or just let them sit where they are – which usually makes this game even MORE interesting. Explain that everyone in the room is playing, and it’s boys vs. girls. After stating how many points a question is worth, you’ll ask a question, and the first boy or girl to run up to the stage gets a chance to answer it. Of course, if the answer is correct, they get the points, if it’s not correct they LOSE that many points. At the end of the game, the gender with the most points is declared the winner and they get to enjoy ice cream while the losers…get to watch! Here are some potential questions: (100 pts) What planet is closest to the Earth (Venus) (100 pts) What do you call a plant that grows and dies in one growing season? (annual) (200 pts) Dana needs 8 eggs to make 2 cakes. How many cakes could she make with 24 eggs? (6) (200 pts) What is the capital of Portugal? (Lisbon) (200 pts) In what NY state mountain range did Rip Van Winkle fall asleep in? (The Catskills) (300 pts) Most fossils are found in what type of rock? (Sedimentary) (400 pts) How many justices are there in the United States Supreme Court? (9) (400 pts) A2 + B2 = C2 is also known as who’s theorem? (Pythagoras) (400 pts) What instrument is used to measure radiation? (Geiger Counter) (400 pts) Who wrote Pride & Prejudice? (Jane Austen) (400 pts) Vertical lines divide a musical score into what? (Measures) (500 pts) In the famous poem, “Casey at the Bat”, what town was Casey playing in when he struck out? (Mudville) Tie Breaker if necessary: Who was the first explorer to sail around the world? (Ferdinand Megellan) Idea by Dan M.
Getting To Know ItSplit the group into girls and guys. (Leader's are excluded, as you will be the panel of judges.) Put teams on opposite sides of the room. Dedicate one person from each group to be "it". Give each group 5 minutes to find out as much about "it" as they can. After 5 minutes, have each person go around and say something about "it". (It may be something they like, something they don't like, something have done, etc.) Once each group has had a chance to speak, the panel of judges (leaders) will ask some questions to each group. If the group can answer them, that is good and looked highly upon. After the judges are done asking questions, they will decide on who had better information about the person. It's up to you if you want to judge strictly by opinion, panel vote (holding up fingers or cards to indicate "Team 1" or "2"), or award points with the higher points winning. Encourage each group to not make all the information physical, such as hair color or eye color. Sample questions: 1. What is your favorite pizza? 2. What is your favorite kind of weather and why? 3. If you could go anywhere on a vacation for a week, where would you go? 4. What would you do with $1,000 dollars cash? 5. Share a moment in your life when you remember being the most happy. 6. Share a moment in your life when you were really mad. 7. Share an embarrassing moment? Added by Nicole The Point: Getting To Know You, Communication Also see Getting To Know You Better (Click Here).
Getting to Know You(You need a wide blanket or canvas to play this game.) Divide the kids into two teams. Put two chairs (one for each team) about 2 meters apart facing each other. Assign two people to hold the blanket up between the two chairs, so the people sitting in them can't see each other. Each team will assign somebody per turn to sit on each chair. At the count of three the 2 people holding the blanket will release it causing it to fall down and reveal who is sitting on the chairs. The two people sitting on the chairs will immediately say the name of the one opposite them. The first between the two who names the person opposite him/her scores a point. This could be played w/o chairs, if you want. The Point: Great for getting a new group of students to know each other's names. Our variation: If you have a smaller group of "regulars" have people come up with nicknames that everyone else has to remember. You can have people make up their own or choose from categories like body parts. I.e. "Twinkle Toes", "Pretty Eyes", etc.; or animal names like, "Ape", "Moose", "Kitten"; or cars; you get the idea. Submitted by Youth for Christ Also see Getting To Know It (Click Here), Getting To Know You Better (Click Here), and Identity Circle (Click Here).
Getting To Know You BetterDivide into 2 even teams. For larger groups, divide into 4 teams and have a play-off with the 2 winning teams and 2 losing teams. Give each person a blank 3x5 card (or piece of paper) and have them write 5 little known facts about themselves and sign their name. Examples: I have a pet snake; my middle name is Hortense; I was born in Mexico City; I hate pizza; the carpet in my bedroom is green. Collect all the cards and keep separate stacks for each team. The game is now ready to play. The object is for students to name the person on the card that the leader draws (from the other team’s stack of cards) in as few clues as possible. Begin by opening up the bidding between the teams, for example: "We can name that person in five clues!" or, "We can name that person in four clues!" etc. The team that wins the bidding has five seconds to guess after the reading of the appropriate number of clues. The Point: Great game for getting to know students after a summer break, an influx of new students, or if you just started leading a group. Added by Young Life Also see Getting To Know It (Click Here).
Give Yourself A Hand!Items Needed: Paper Markers or Ink pens Safety Pins You can either pre-make paper hands or have each participant trace their own hand on paper and pin it on their back. Then the whole group walks around and writes a one word POSITIVE description of the person whose back they are writing on. (ex. Nice, Pretty, Fun, Exciting, Loving, Kindhearted, etc.) Allow enough time, depending on group size, for everyone to circulate. Then have students come up front and read what everyone said about them. The Point: Motivator for positive self esteem. Added by Sylvia Tucker
Gold Fish SnagThis game can be played as an upfront game for big groups, or an all-play for smaller groups. Throw about 50 gold fish into a kiddie or regular pool (If indoors, put plastic down and have towels available). Whoever catches the most fish with their bare hands wins! For added fun, add some other bigger fish or try it in the dark! Use a tarp if indoors. Added by Eben in South Africa
Gossip Tellers (aka Telephone)This game works best in small groups (less than 30). Have everyone get in a circle or line. One person starts by whispering something in their neighbor's ear. Keep it going until everyone has heard the initial statement or information. The last person will share with the group what they've been told; usually, it isn't what the first person said. The point: How easily gossip goes around! Added by Tabby
Grab It!Divide into two teams. Put them into two lines parallel and next to one another (about 3 feet apart) sitting down and holding hands. At the back of the line put a bucket of water with a bar of soap in it between the two lines. If this is on carpet, put a layer of towels down - the water tends to splash, then drip. Stand at the head of the lines with a quarter in your hand. Instruct them that you are going to flip the quarter so only the first person in line can see the results. They are not to yell out how the quarter landed or even look back at their team. If the quarter lands on heads the persons in front are to squeeze their hands. The rest of the line is to squeeze their hands if their other hand is squeezed so that they can communicate to the last person in the line that the quarter is indeed heads not tails. If the last person in line has their hand squeezed then they are to try to grab the soap out of the bucket before the last person on the other team does. The person successful in retrieving the soap gets to go to the front of the line. The problem arrives however when the message is wrongly communicated to the person in back and they grab the soap only to find out that the quarter was actually tails. At that point the person in front must go to the back of the line. The first team to get their entire team forward in line (back person to front- not front to back), wins. Variation: Instead of using a coin, you can also use a deck of cards to flip through. When a face card (Jack, Queen, or King) turns up, that is the signal to squeeze. Optional "Grab" items: squeaky toy, balled up socks, Nerf toy Also see Electric Orange Game (Click Here) and Ice Grab It (Click Here).
Grocery Bag Take OffGet the group seated in chairs in a circle and give each a grocery bag. Say that you are going to have an endurance test to see who can last the longest. Each person is told to place the bag over his or her head to minimize embarrassment. Then tell them to take off something that they didn’t wear to bed the night before. Some will catch on immediately, others will take off an article of clothing or piece of jewelry, etc., but don't allow them to give the trick away. Then they are instructed to take off something else that they didn’t wear to bed the previous evening. Before the slow one takes off too much, yell at them, "Take off the bag, Professor! Or did you wear it to bed last night?!" Added by Young Life
Grocery Bag YogaTake a paper grocery bag and set it in the middle of the floor with the kids all around it in a circle. The object is for each youth to try and pick it up by their teeth while standing on one leg and NOT touching the floor with your hands. (If you touch the floor or fall, you're out!) Once they do it, they tear off the piece that was in their mouth....then the next youth goes. Obviously, after so many go, the bag gets shorter and shorter. Eventually, they realize that they can tear a big piece or small piece! The bag ends up getting so short, kids lose their balance and fall. For that reason, this is best played on soft grass or carpet. The point: This could tie into a discussion using the point, "Don't bite off more than you can chew or you'll lose your balance!" (Balancing priorities, etc.) Added by Rachel Harris, NC
Group CharadesDivide the group up and give each team something that they need to act out for the other groups to guess. Suggestions: poison gas in the room, laughing gas, bad odor in the room, etc. You don't need to make it a contest, but if you want to, have staff judge which group did the best.
Guess AgainEach person chooses to be a famous character, actor, cartoon character, or otherwise famous person. They only tell one leader who makes a note of who everyone is. The leader reads out only the list of characters slowly - twice w/a bigger group. Warn everyone to pay attention as part of the challenge is that the leader doesn't read the list again (especially if they're playing). Choose someone to start by saying to anyone, "I think you are...". If the guesser is right, that person joins their team. If they are wrong, that person becomes the guesser and guesses someone else. Gradually teams form (teams are allowed to share with each other who they are). The winner is either the team with the most people in their team, or if anyone remains unguessed, they win. Variation: Form teams of 3-4 at the beginning and say they cannot tell each other their "identities". Added by Joelle Throp Also see Guess My Name (Click Here).
Guess My NameEach player writes a name on a slip of paper and then passes it to the judge. After the judge receives all the slips, he mixes them up and writes the names on the board. The judge picks a person to start. This person chooses someone in the game and guesses what their name might be. "'Bob', I think you're Cinderella." If they are correct, 'Bob' is now on that person's team. Later, if that person's name is guessed, both they and Bob join the other's team. That person continues to guess people's names until he guesses wrong. The last person he asks now gets to guess. Play continues until all but two players have been guessed. The winner is the player with the most people on his team. If this is a new, unaquainted group, have people write their actual names so everyone can get to know each other. If everyone pretty much knows each other, have people write funny, fake names (just be sure to remember them)! Also see Guess Again (Click Here).
Guess That Toe!Have two rounds (one with 3 boys and the other with 3 girls). In a separate room, have the preselected (secretly choosen) contestants get ready for the game before anyone has a chance to see them. Have each of them remove their shoes and socks and place their barefeet into a garbage bag with two holes cut out on the other end. They carefully place their big toes through the holes and sit next to each other on a table with their covered legs dangling over the side with only their big toes exposed. Cover the rest of them up with a large blanket or sheet. Make sure they don't talk or laugh. Invite the other teens in and have them guess without touching or tickling any toes. Have them either write guesses down on paper or dry erase board. Give out "foot-long" hot dogs out as prizes. Variation(s): Have awards for the longest big toe, the hairiest, the ugliest etc. Added by Kevin Flores
Guess the LeaderEveryone gets in a big circle. Pick a volunteer to leave the room after you explain the game. Once that volunteer is out of hearing range, pick another volunteer who wants to be the leader. Everyone must slyly watch this person and imitate what they do when the other volunteer comes back into the room (cross legs, cross arms, yawn, stick out their tongue, etc.). The person who was out of the room will come back in, stand in the middle of the circle and try to see who is the leader (the one everyone is watching). The leader can get bold and make faces, throw their hands in the air, etc. when the person in the middle's back is turned and before they have a chance to see who started it, everyone is doing it. Give the person in the middle three chances to guess who the leader is. Then choose a new volunteer and a new leader. You can have the leader be the next volunteer if he is guessed or any way you see fit. The Point: Either peer pressure or leadership and influence. Also see Guess the Task (Click Here).
Guess the TaskEveryone gets in a big circle. Pick a volunteer to leave the room after you explain the game. Once that volunteer is out of hearing range, choose a simple task that the volunteer is to do when he or she enters the room (walk in and tie a certain kid's shoe that is untied, take off their own coat, say the pledge of allegiance, etc.) The volunteer must come in the room and try to start doing certain tasks (unaware of the task to be done). The kids in the room help direct this ignorant person by clapping when this person gets even close to doing the task. Louder and faster clapping means the person is getting "hotter" (closer to completing or discovering what the task is) and silence means "you're way off; keep trying stuff." The Point: Either peer pressure or leadership and influence. Also see Guess the Leader (Click Here).
Guess Who?Contact all your students’ parents and have them send in a photo of their child as a toddler. This is HUSH HUSH, and their child cannot know the photos are going to be sent in. (When you start showing the pictures it gets the students all freaked out about which photo their parent might have sent in.) With all your photos on a bulletin board or scanned in to a slide show, gather your students and show the photos to see who can match the toddler on screen with the teenager across the room.
Ha Ha Game, TheGet every one to lay down on the floor next to each other in a line. The first person in the line say's "ha" , the second "ha ha," the third "ha ha ha," and so on. You can never get to the end of the line because every one starts laughing. You can also line up two lines of people and do it as a race. Added Jayda Campbell Variation: You can also have each person place their head on the stomach of the person before them, so that during the "ha"s their head is bounced up and down. It's pretty funny to watch. Just be careful with guy/girl combinations... could be weird.
Hamster KnockoutNo, this doesn’t involve hamsters in boxing gloves…but this is a game that your kids might possibly remember for the rest of their lives! All you need are some brave students…and a couple of hamsters. Get all of your students to sit on the floor in a circle with their legs crossed. Then put the hamster(s) in the middle of the circle of students in their own exercise balls. Now you’re ready to play. The hamsters will run around in the exercise balls and “bump” into kids’ legs. When a student is “bumped into” by the hamster, that student is out. Continue until there are only 5 students remaining. He/she is the winner. NOTE: Make sure you can say at the end of the game: “No hamsters – or teenagers – were harmed during the playing of this game!” Be careful, be responsible, and have fun. Also, if you have more than 20 kids in your group, break the students up into multiple circles and just grab a few more hamsters. Idea by Rob W.
HelicopterYou will need one pair of pantyhose for every two students that will be playing this game. Cut the pantyhose so that only the two legs remain. Place a tennis ball in the bottom of each leg. Pull the leg over your head until it is secure on your face. This becomes your “helicopter rotor.” The students will use their bodies to rotate their rotor in a circular motion like that of a helicopter rotor. They must do this without using their hands! On GO, students will attack each other with their rotors spinning. The goal is to wrap your "rotor" around someone else’s rotor and pull their rotor off of their head. Once a player’s rotor has come off, they are out of the game. Last player standing wins.
Honey, If You Love Me You'll SmileEveryone sits in a circle. One person is "it." He or she must walk over to someone and say, "Honey, if you love me you'll smile." They can make faces and noises, etc., but no touching or tickling. If the targeted person laughs while the person who is "it" says, "Honey, if you love me you'll smile", then they must be "it". If they don't laugh they must say to the "it" person, "Honey, I love you but I just can't smile." Then "it" must find another person to target. Added by Shorty Also see Do You Love Your Neighbor? (Click Here).
Hot Potato and Oven Mitt PassJust like Hot Potato, only you get one potato and two oven mitts. Get everyone in a circle and start passing the potato when the music plays. Here's the catch: you can only touch the potato when the oven mitt is on your hand. Two people next to each other start with the mitts on, one hands the potato to the other, then the "hander" takes off the mitt and hands that to them as well. The "handee" must hold the potato in their mitt, waiting for the other mitt, and when they receive it pass it on to the next person. Once they have the mitt on, they pass it on, etc. When the music stops the 'hander' (the person with the potato) and the 'handee' (the person putting on the mitt) are both out! (This keeps the 'handee' from dillydallying.) For bigger groups, get several of these going at once. (We suggest a pair of mitts and a potato for every 10 or so.) Rules:
Added by Jenn Kernya Also see Hot Potato With a Twist (Click Here).
Hot Potato With a TwistYou need spoons or forks for everyone participating, something gross to eat (baby food, Vienna sausages in a can or something that can be easily passed, yet not gladly eaten). The concept is the same as Hot Potato. When the high energy music starts you pass your object. When the music stops the person(s) with the object(s) must take a spoon/fork full. Try to have them do this as quickly as possible, so you don’t loose the momentum of the game. Start the music back up and go again. The amount of objects you have circulating should correspond with the amount of participants (i.e. 50 - 100 teens to 5 - 10 bottles of baby food circulating). Participants should be either sitting on the floor or in chairs in a circle. Have paper towels on hand for messes. Added by B Also see Hot Potato and Oven Mitt Pass (Click Here).
Hula Hoop HooplaEveryone stands in a circle holding hands. One person has the large Hula Hoop looped over one arm. The goal is to get the Hula Hoop all the way around the circle without "breaking the circle". This means the Hula Hoop has to fit over the players’ bodies. If you have enough players break into 2 or more teams and see which team can get the Hula Hoop around the circle the fastest. This is tricky, but fun!. Just make sure that each team has the same number of players. NOTE: In today's age of ADD kids and short attention spans, it's always a little risky to play an "all play" game where one person is doing something while everyone else watches and waits. Students may grow impatient if they have to wait too long (for example, if the circle is too big). You probably do not want to have your circle more than about 8 people big. So, if you have to break your group up a little, do so! It will make this game a hit for your group! Further, it is always a good idea to end a game while it is still going great. That way, everyone has a great time, and they will be excited to play it again.
Human Christmas TreeYou can play this as an up front game or, if you have a small group, divide into teams. Have as many teams of 4 as you want. Designate one person "the Christmas tree," and the others "decorators". Each decorator has a bag full of ornaments, lights, etc. (any tree decorations will do). Give each team 5 minutes to decorate their "tree". When finished turn off all the lights and plug in Christmas Trees. Take pictures! Added by Blaine Tarnecki Also see Christmas Wish List (Click Here) and Christmas: Dueling Carolers (Click Here).
Human Gift WrappingSeparate students into groups of 4-5 each. Every group will get a pair of safety scissors, tape, wrapping paper, ribbon, and bows. Give each team 4 minutes to “gift wrap” one of the students in the group. The nicest looking gift wrapping job wins.
Human KnotsGreat Small Group game. If you use a big group, separate them into small circles. Everyone squeezes together and grabs the hand of a person not standing next to them. They may not let go of the other person's hands. So in order to untangle they must go over and under people's arms to get untangled. Sometimes you will end up with two circles. The first team to untangle back into a circle wins. The Point: It's a group effort and if one isn't working together, it doesn't work out. Submitted by Young Life & Konrad Parsons
Human SnowballShred a bunch of paper and spread it on the floor in an empty room or corner of your youth room. Split in two teams and give each team a roll of duct tape. Have each team select one member to be the "snowball". Give them 2-3 minutes to wrap that person in duct tape with the sticky side out (this isn't easy; be careful around their head/hair). Once they are wrapped up, let two members of each team take their snowball person into the room full of paper and give them one minute to roll that person around on the floor. The team that makes the biggest "snowball" wins. The Point: The snowball effect of bad choices. Added by Saunnie Also see Snowball Fight (Click Here).
Human TwisterYou will need two dice and about 12 3X5 cards for every six people in your group. Separate into teams of exactly six and give each person in the group a number 1-6 (if one group has less than six people give some people two numbers). The leader will role the dice, the first one will represent a person and the second will represent a body part (1=foot, 2=knee, 3=hip 4=elbow, 5=hand, 6=nose) If your group is brave make 5=armpit. You will role the two dice twice. After the first role you say, "Number 5's nose" and you roll again and say, "number 2's armpit" whatever combination of person and body part is called must then be connected with a 3X5 card in between the two body parts. Each team keeps going until they cannot connect the two parts or one of the earlier cards drops to the floor. The last team standing wins. Added by Scott Sagle
Human TypewritersPin a large card bearing a letter of the alphabet to each person’s arm. Give each person a small card and a pencil. The goal is for letters to get together and spell words. Once they’ve spelled a word, they write it on their card. Then separate everyone and look for new words. Award points for each real word and a prize to the longest list of words. Make sure no one tries to exclude vowels or certain consonants! Added by Young Life Also see Human Scrabble (Click Here) and Human Scrabble For Dummies (Click Here).
Hyper Spy HuntThis game is probably best played off the church campus. This manhunt-sort-of-game puts your group in teams, forces them to work together, and promises a load of fun for all who are involved. Here is how you do it. SET-UP 1. Find a safe location with many stores and a large area. Malls, shopping centers, or even large flea markets work great. 2. Decide upon a super spy name (like Jason Bourne) but James Bond or Ethan Hunt could also be used. 3. Beforehand, secretly commission a handful of folks to be spies. They should dress up so they are not recognizable to the students. Each spy should be assigned specific zones at your chosen location so that they are spread out. Most of the youth group should know the spies in real life so that they have a chance of spotting them in their costumes. 4. Give each spy index cards with a single letter from the super spy's name. For example, Spy 1 would carry several index cards with a "B" on it, Spy 2 would carry the same number of cards with an "O" on them, Spy 3 would have cards with a “U” on them, and so on. 5. Assign an item to each spy that they will request from every team of students that spots them. (In other words, for the team to get the spy’s card, they must go and purchase some trivial item.) The items should be unique and very cheap. Also, they need to be purchased within that area. A guitar pick, a stick of incense, a pack of baseball cards, etc. Scope out the area ahead of time to come up with the items. 6. Send out your “spies” to the appropriate zones and then move on to explain rules to the teens. GAMEPLAY 1. The game is played in teams. Split the teens up into small groups, and explain the boundaries clearly. If you are in a mall, hand them a mall directory with the appropriate markings on them. 2. Let them know that they are looking for spies (that they would actually know in real life) and that they must get a clue from every spy in order to discover the super spy’s identity. (You don't necessarily have to tell them that the spies will require something of them first before they give up their clue.) 3. They must go around staying in their groups and find ALL the spies and get ALL the clues to figure out who the super spy is. Teams MUST find all spies, and not just “fill in the blanks” when they can accurately guess the secret spy’s identity. The first team back to the leader with EVERY spy found and able to provide the name of the super spy, wins. 4. When they find a spy, the spy will say, "I have a clue for you, but first you must bring me a “whatever." Again, assign cheap and unique items that will take the teens some time to find. The spies are allowed to move around within their zone, so it will take that group some time to find the spy again. NOTE: If you play in public areas, make sure you coach your group how to behave. If they are too rambunctious, they will get kicked out. Also, remember to have an agreed upon ending point (the food court, perhaps). Also, decide a playing time limit. This way, all teams are back together at the same time, regardless of whether they finished the game.
I Have, I've NeverLike Identity Circle (Click Here) or Fruit Basket Upset (Click Here). Have everyone sit in a circle except one person who stands in the middle. Everyone in the circle has to be sitting in a chair or on an “x” marked on the ground with tape (there has to be only as many designated seats as there are people sitting in the circle so that the person in the middle has no place to sit). The game begins with the person in the middle saying something that “they have,” or “have never” done (ie: “I have two sisters”, or “I have never worn a dress.”) All the people who can identify with the statement (they “have two sisters” or “haven’t worn a dress”) must get up and find an empty seat other than the one they just vacated. The person stuck without a seat is now in the middle. This game has no time limit and is a favorite among groups —- kids request this game weekly. Also see Getting to Know You (Click Here).
I'm The Best At...Although this game can be played anywhere, it really works well on those long youth ministry trips like summer camp and mission events. All you need to play this one is your group of students. Here’s what you do. Put students in groups of 6. The objective for competitors is to quickly come up with something that they are "the best at" using words that begin with the same letter. For example, “I am the best at Picking Peppers.” The game is played in rounds, and for each round, a different letter is randomly chosen and all the contestants race to spurt out what they are the best at. Round 1 requires two words. (If the letter was “A” then “African Artwork” would qualify.) Round 2 requires three words. Round 3 requires four words. Round 4 requires five words. Round 5 requires six words. In each round, the last person to conjure up a sentence is out. The student who is left sitting at the end of Round 5 is the winner. NOTE: Obviously, if your group is smaller, you can use smaller sized teams. If that’s the case, use fewer rounds as well. Idea by Adam J.
Ibble DibbleThis game sounds confusing, but read it through a couple times. Once you try it, you’ll get it. Students love it because they get marked up. You need a paintbrush and some red poster paint. Everyone stands or sits in a circle. Number everyone off. No.1 starts off by saying, "Ibble Dibble Number 1 with no Ibble Dibbles, calling Ibble Dibble Number (choose a #) with no Ibble Dibbles." That person must respond and choose another person by saying, "Ibble Dibble No. (whatever # they are) with no Ibble Dibbles, calling Ibble Dibble No. (choose a #) with no Ibble Dibbles." If a person makes a mistake, then they receive an Ibble Dibble (a spot of red paint on their cheek). That person then carries on with, "Ibble Dibble No. ? with one Ibble Dibble calling Ibble Dibble No.? with no Ibble Dibbles (or however many they do have). You can choose the winner as the one left with no marks or mulitple winners after a certain time period. Added by Phil Greig Also see Chicken Pox Epidemic (Click Here).
Ice Cube RaceFunny small group game. Split your group in half and line them up. They will pass an ice cube down several peoples' backs. The ice cube is passed out at the bottom of one person’s shirt into the top of the next shirt. If it falls, start over. Whichever line of students finishes passing to the final person wins. Added by Young Life Also see Ice Chest (Click Here) and Ice Grab It! (Click Here).
Identity CircleThe group sits in a circle with one person in the middle. There are the exact number of chairs for everyone sitting down. This way, there is always one person in the middle. Have the person in the middle yell out certain characteristics that they have (hair color, color of clothes, gender, etc.). The people with those characteristics must get up and move. Have the person in the middle yell out "I am" or "I have" then the characteristic (I am blonde, I have a blue shirt on, I play on the soccer team, etc.) Also see Getting To Know It (Click Here), Getting To Know You (Click Here), and I Have, I've Never (Click Here)
ImpromptuThis game works great IF YOU BREAK THE TEAMS UP PROPERLY. The objective of this game is to have teams write a very short skit about something silly, and then act it out LIVE in front of the rest of the group. A huge key to this game is to split up your raging extroverts. A team that consists of nothing but social hermits will probably not work very well. Split up the students in such a way that each team gets a few of the outgoing kids in it. Then simply write up a few scenarios for them to develop and act out. Here are a few examples: Scenario #1: A run-by stoning has just occurred. As the detectives (or other “official” people) the group must explain why this man was stoned and then ran over by bears. Scenario #2: A group of archeologists have just discovered the biggest find in history (something goofy like “Homo Donald Trumpicus”). The group must explain why this find will change human history! Scenario #3: The group is a mob of angry town folk who have reached the limit of their patience with Santa's sleigh flying over their town every year. They try to figure out a way of bringing him down…for good! Rules: Every team member must play/act/participate. Skits need to be kept to a very strict 2 minute maximum.
ImprovDivide group into smaller groups and give them a topic to make a silly skit up about. Suggestions:
Inhale, ExhaleLine students up and have them pass an index card or piece of paper down the line as fast as they can using only their mouths. You need to suck in wind to keep the card on your lips in order to pass it (by blowing out) to the next person in line. The first group to pass the card all the way down (and back if you wish) wins. Classic Campus Life
It's A Numbers ThingThis is a great game for the entire audience. Even though it’s a competition between the boys and girls in your group, you don’t have to divide up your audience. The leader’s task is to just stand up front on the stage and ask questions, one at a time. Each of the questions has to do with numbers. If a student thinks they know the answer, they must run up to the stage. If they arrive behind another student, they must stand behind them (and hope that person misses the question so he/she gets a stab at it). The first person to give the correct answer scores a point for their gender. Students can answer as many times as they like but have to go to the back of the line if they answer incorrectly. This is a race to 7; first gender to answer 7 questions correctly wins a prize for all the boys or girls in the room. Questions: 1. On average, how many million miles away is the sun from the earth? (93) 2. An adult human who hasn’t lost a tooth will have how many in their mouth? (32) 3. How many sides does a dodecagon have? (12) 4. How many feet are in a mile? (5280) 5. How many years old am I (the youth pastor asking the questions)? 6. If you include end zones, how long is a football field in feet? (360) 7. In thousands of feet, how tall is Mt. Everest? (29) 8. How many red and white stripes are there on the US flag? (13) 9. How many amendments to the US constitution are there? (27) 10. Barrack Obama is what number President of the US? (44th) 11. How many legs does an arachnid have? (8) 12. What is the square root of 361? (19) 13. According to the book of Genesis, how many days did it take God to create the world and everything in it? (6 – He rested on the 7th) 14. How many Senators are there in the US congress? (100) 15. How many ounces are in a gallon? (128) Prizes will probably be based on your student size and budget. If you have a small crowd, you can pass out gift cards. If you have a larger group, you might have to go with ice cream bars or something like it. Idea by Dan M.
King ElephantThis game is in addition to the rules of Silent Animal Circle (Click Here). We call it King Elephant because the object is to go around the circle until you get to be King Elephant. The game is the same in that you have animal symbols and as you move a chair you become a new animal. We try to put animals in order of the food chain, ie. after elephant, we have lion, tiger, bear, crocodile etc. down to snake, bird and worm. Worm is just a single finger bent and wiggling. We also include a clapping beat to go with the game that King Elephant controls and can increase in speed. We clap twice, palms down on our knees, and then one clap with hands together. On the last clap is when the participant does their symbol. For example: knee clap, knee clap, hand symbol (ie. worm wiggles finger), knee clap, knee clap, another symbol (i.e. two hands come out like claws for bear), and then the bear person does the same without missing a beat, knee clap, knee clap, bear symbol, knee clap, knee clap, next symbol. Just like the other game, if the participant makes a mistake, they become the worm and everyone else moves up. The object is to try to be king by knocking out anyone in front of you. Examples of animals that we use:
Kisses and MallowsSupplies needed: Large bowls (one for each team/group) Lots of Hershey Kisses Lots of large puff marshmallows Tables Tape on floor 10' from tables Divide your students into teams of equal number and then put them in a straight line, one in front of the other, with all of them facing a table that is positioned about 10 feet away. (Put down tape on the floor to keep all the teams “honest.”) On the table about 10 feet away are two large bowls. One contains wrapped Hershey’s Kisses, and the other contains large puff marshmallows. To play the game, instruct each person to turn and ask the student standing in line behind them which of the two candies they want, a Hershey’s Kiss or large puff marshmallow. Then give the person in the front of the line a very large pair of mittens or gloves. On “go,” the person in the front of the line runs to the table and gets whichever candy the person behind him requested. If it is a Hershey’s Kiss, he must unwrap it (wearing the mittens/gloves) and THEN run it back to the person standing behind the line of tape on the floor. When they eat it, THAT person gets the gloves and runs to the table for the person in line behind them. If that person wanted a puff marshmallow, he will pull one out of the bowl (wearing the mittens/gloves) and, standing 7 feet from the line, toss it back to the person standing behind the line. He/she must catch it in his/her mouth. If the “catcher” misses twice, then the gloved person MUST grab a Hershey’s Kiss and follow the steps outlined above. The team who finishes off all their players first, wins the game. Idea by Greg P.
Kissing in the DarkDivide the kids into five teams. Put five targets on a wall with point values such as that on a dart board and line up each of the teams so they are about ten feet away from one of the targets. Assign a volunteer to each team to help things run smoothly and not get out of hand. Explain that each team needs to choose five volunteers to "kiss in the dark." Make sure they are a mixture of guys and girls. Each team will have two blindfolds and a tube of lipstick. Have the team blindfold the first contestant and put lipstick on his/her lips. On your signal, each of the five contestants will walk toward their target and kiss it. There should be another volunteer at each target tallying the points. After the kiss, the kids can take off the blindfold and see how they did. While the first contestant is going, some of the members of the team should be blindfolding and putting lipstick on the next contestant so he/she is ready to go on your signal. After each of the five contestants has gone, announce the team with the best score and give them some Valentine's candy.
Last StrawMuch like "Toothpicks and Lifesavers." Give everyone a straw to put in their mouth. In rows or pews have them stand up and get ready to pass a small cup (Dixie cups work great) to the next person by using only the straw. The row to do this first, without cheating, wins! You can have a few people in the middle blindfolded for an extra twist. Added by Sterling Lynn
License Plate Find (State Nicknames)Great Travel Game, but can also be played in a group. List on a blackboard, overhead, or handout the following state nick names (and others you may know) from auto license plates. Divide group into teams to identify the correct state for each name. The team that correctly identifies the most states wins the game. You can play the game several times by only using ten states at a time. If the game seems too difficult for your age group, provide the state names as well (out of order) and make it a matching game. Yellowhammer State – Alabama The Last Frontier – Alaska The Grand Canyon State - Arizona Land of Opportunity (The Natural State) - Arkansas The Golden State - California Centennial State - Colorado Constitution State - Connecticut The First State - Delaware Sunshine State – Florida Peach State - Georgia Aloha State - Hawaii Gem State – Idaho Prairie State - Illinois Hoosier State - Indiana Hawkeye State - Iowa Sunflower State - Kansas Bluegrass State - Kentucky Pelican State (Sportsman’s State) - Louisiana Pine Tree State (The Vacation State) - Maine Old Line State – Maryland State Bay State - Massachusetts The Great Lake State (The Wolverine State) - Michigan Land of 10,000 Lakes (North Star State) - Minnesota Magnolia State - Mississippi Show Me State – Missouri Treasure State – Montana The Cornhusker State – Nebraska Silver State (Sagebrush State) - Nevada The Granite State – New Hampshire Garden State – New Jersey The Land of Enchantment - New Mexico The Empire State - New York Old North State (First in Flight) - North Carolina Peace Garden State – North Dakota Buckeye State - Ohio The Sooner State – Oklahoma Beaver State – Oregon Keystone State - Pennsylvania Ocean State – Rhode Island Palmetto State – South Carolina Mount Rushmore State – South Dakota The Volunteer State - Tennessee Lone Star State – Texas Beehive State – Utah Green Mountain State – Vermont Old Dominion State – Virginia The Evergreen State – Washington Mountain State – West Virginia Badger State – Wisconsin Equality State - Wyoming Added by Young Life, updated by The Source Also check out Baseball Team Quiz (Click Here) and Christmas Carol Quiz (Click Here).
Lifesavers & Toothpicks (Sticks and Tires)Simple game with any number of evenly divided teams. Everyone gets a toothpick and places it in their mouth. Get the teams in some sort of single file line, row or circle. Start the front or beginning person with a lifesaver on their toothpick. They must pass the lifesaver from their toothpick to their neighbor's toothpick without any hands. First team to pass it all the way down is the winner. Also see Marshmallow Pass (Click Here).
Light Saber WarsI got this game from someone else so don't give me the credit. You partner up your students. They face each other and hold their hands in the "second phase" of a handshake, where they are basically holding each other's thumbs. They each stick out their index finger from the hands they are holding. Their feet have to stay still. On go, they try to poke each other. It's pretty hard to do if you keep your feet still. It's sort of similar to the game "Mercy", where both are struggling. The winners continue on until there is just one left. Added by Gary Early
Little Debbie Treasure HuntGet all sorts of “Little Debbie” treats and hide them around the church. Split the youth into groups according to the empty “Little Debbie” boxes. The group must then find the treat pictured on their box. The first team to come back with all their “assigned” treats wins a prize. Every other team gets to eat what they've found so everyone wins! Talk about serious motivation! NOTE: Some “Little Debbie” boxes come with 6 treats in their packages and some come with only 5 treats in them. Make sure that every group is looking for THE SAME NUMBER of treats! (5 is a good number.) Also, make sure to count how many snacks/treats you hide so that you know if they are all found at the end of the game.
M & M ScarfSix students on each team (2 teams) must divide out colors of a pound bag of M&M's and eat them in order of color. Example: First person opens the bag and sorts out all the red colors then passes the bag to the next person while scarfing (eating) his color! The team with all the M& M's eaten first is the winner. Also see Jelly Bean Trade (Click Here) and Ketchup Covered M&Ms (Click Here).
MafiaGreat game for limited space or if you're stuck indoors. Also good for smaller groups or over-nighters. The object of the game is to not get killed. It takes a lot of explaining, but once you get it, it will quickly become a favorite. You need at least 8 players to make the game interesting. You need a deck of cards, or slips of paper with the identities on them. For 10 or more, there should be 2 Mafia, 1 Angel, 1 Cop, and the rest townspeople. For less, have only 1 Mafia. Try not to play with more than 30, because it turns into a huge shouting match. Distribute the identities secretly. Everyone should keep their identity a secret, but if they choose to they can reveal it as part of strategy later. Here is an outline of how to play each round: FIRST GET IN A BIG CIRCLE SITTING DOWN.
When someone is "dead" they cannot participate in the accusations. They are not allowed to talk. However, they get to keep their eyes open and find out all the answers to the mystery. Remind students not to cheat, because the temptation is great to do so! The game ends when either both Mafia are killed off (town wins) or are the only ones left (mafia wins). The advantage of being the cop is that they can say "I'm the cop, I know the Mafia is so-and-so." However, they should be careful, as sometimes the town doesn't believe them and the cop ends up getting killed off! Also, you can play that once the Angel is killed off, that's it, or that he/she can continue to save people because they don't technically die. Added by Becky Heffner Also see Gargoyles (Click Here) and Hunters (Click Here).
Mangle TangleThis is a really fun game that everyone can play, and possibly win, because athleticism counts for nothing in Mangle Tangle. Here’s how you do it. You need about 8’ of rope for every 2 students you have. So if you have 20 kids, you need about 160’ of rope total, that’s cut in 8’ lengths. When you get the rope cut into sections, spend a few minutes “tangling” it a bit. Not too much, but not too easy either. Tell all of your students to gather around the pile of tangled mess, and grab one end of one piece of rope. Then have them tie it to their belt loop. After everyone is tied to a rope end, explain that they now have a partner (the other person on the other end of the rope) but they don’t know who it is yet. When you say “go” they are to try and totally untangle themselves from the rest of the group. The first two person team to totally untangle themselves wins. A FEW HINTS These will help you make this great game EXACTLY what you need it to be. 1. Duh. You got to have an even number of players. Sub in adults if need be. 2. Use ¼” twisted nylon and polyester rope. It’s cheap, and it’s fairly soft. 3. You might want to simply buy everyone who is going to play, a carabineer. That way, they can just loop onto the kids’ belt loop much more easily. They are about 1 buck each at hardware stores. 4. If you want the game to last longer, use more tangle than mentioned above. Your call. 5. If your group is big (more than 30 kids) split up your tangle piles and use multiple piles. Otherwise the mess will be way too big and nobody will have any fun.
Mars Bar Dress UpGotta small group and wanna have a lot of laughs? This one is for you! Get your students to sit in chairs in a circle. Hand a pair of dice to someone in the circle. They roll the dice and are hoping for one of the dies to be a 6. If neither of the two dies are a 6, the next person in the circle gathers them up and tries rolling for a 6. The dice continue around the circle in the same fashion until someone rolls a 6 on one or both of them. At that point, he or she rushes to the middle of the circle where there is a plate sitting on a chair. Beside the plate is a pair of gloves, a hat, a scarf, and a pair of milk bottle glasses. On the plate is a PLASTIC knife, a PLASTIC fork, and a Mars Bar. The student must put on ALL of the articles of clothing BEFORE picking up the knife and fork to cut themselves a piece of the chocolate bar. As soon as they are wearing all of the silly clothes AND have themselves a piece cut away, they may eat it. But, if while the first student was dressing himself OR cutting the chocolate bar, another student runs up because she rolled a 6, then he must give way to her and let her have all of the clothes and utensils. She then tries to hurry and dress herself, so she can cut a piece and eat it, before someone else in the circle rolls a 6. The dice NEVER stop being rolled! This must be a fast-paced game to be any fun. Here’s what makes this game so fun: hardly anybody gets a chance to eat anything because there is always a new person who has just rolled a 6! NOTE: This is VERY important. Make sure to use a PLASTIC knife and fork! That way, if someone is running up and trips, there will not be an accident. Also, you may want to make sure to use a candy bar that is free of peanuts because of the potential for allergic reactions. Finally, if you have a large group (25 or more) make two circles. That way, students are not waiting so long to get a chance to roll the dice again.
Marshmallow Dodge BallThe same rules as Dodge ball, but played with the big sized marshmallows. It’s a lot softer to get hit with a marshmallow than a big rubber ball. Plus imagine the fun of seeing and trying to dodge a hailstorm of marshmallows being flung your way! If you make it through without getting hit in this game, you are the man/woman!!! Played with two teams, each on one side of a good size room with a line in the middle evenly dividing the two sides. They have to be touching the wall with their body, foot, butt, or hand. The starter yells out, "One, Two, Three, Dodge ball." At the word 'Dodge ball' the teams run up to get the marshmallows (4-5 max depending on the number of kids, you be the judge) sitting on the center line. Then the fun begins. All players must be in-between the center line and the free throw line/boundary line. The only time a player can go behind their free throw line is to retrieve a marshmallow. When a player is hit (anywhere on the body) he/she is out. The 'hit player' goes to the designated 'Out' sideline. They start lining up from the center line back to their side's wall. They can go back into the game when one of their team members catches a marshmallow. You're Out When: . Someone catches the marshmallow you throw . You hit someone but it bounces off them w/o touching the ground and then another one of their players catch it - you're out and they both stay in (plus, they get an 'out' player back in for them) . The marshmallow hits you or your clothes, even a slight brush of the marshmallow. . The marshmallow hits a fellow team mate then bounces off them and then hits you - you're both out (When the marshmallow hits the ground it's dead - you can't get out from a bounced or grounded marshmallow) Remember to make sure you have at least a couple of adult leaders helping “judge” this one. There is so much to look at and try to observe. Have fun!
Marshmallow PassGive each kid in the room toothpicks. Split into teams and then race. Instruct students to pass the marshmallow to the person behind them, leaving the toothpick on the marshmallow when they let it go. Added by Young Life Also see Lifesavers & Toothpicks (Click Here).
Marshmallow PitchFor this game, have kids get in groups of three and give each trio a sack of miniature marshmallows. Each group should designates one neutral counter, one pitcher, and the other the catcher. On "go", the pitcher tosses a marshmallow into the catcher's mouth, and the catcher must eat the marshmallow. The pitcher and catcher should be about ten feet apart. The counter counts how many successful catches are made, and the couple with the most at the end of a time limit or the first to reach twenty successful catches is the winner. Added by Young Life See also Shmallow Shooters (Click Here).
Mingle for MoneyBegins like the Dollar Surprise (Click Here), but more. Give 5-10 people increments of $1-3 each... secretly instruct them (like when everyone is arriving and just hanging out) to remember the 7th person they mingle with (small group: 4th person), but DO NOT give up their prize money...just keep on mingling. Also, give them a question of the night to ask each person. Like, What is your favorite snack food for Super Bowl, who was the last person that made you laugh, how often do you brush your teeth, does your mom (or older sister) dye her hair, etc. At the end of 2 minutes, the "holders" come up front. They each call their 7th person up with them. That person must recall the answer they were given by the prize holder. If they do, the money is given up to them. But WAIT! There's ONE MORE step...the holder must also recall the answer from this 7th person. (You would think that would be easy...but not if you give PLENTY of time to mingle waaaay beyond the 7th acquaintance). Often times I get the money back because the "holder" couldn't remember. The Point: Getting to know you; Relationships don't go anywhere if you can't even remember what people tell you! Option: If you don't want to use money, use a can of pop or candy. Added by Barb Harrington Also see Hi, My Name Is (Click Here).
Movie GameHave someone give a line from a popular movie. The first person to say the movie title the line is from gets to share a line from a movie. Same thing until you've had enough. Fun once you get going. Just tell students to have a line in mind because it becomes boring when someone takes 5 minutes to come up w/a line. You can pass a bowl of candy and let whoever gets the right answer pick a candy. Also see Name That Clip (Click Here) and Name That Tune (Click Here).
Mr. MumblesThis can be done with any amount of people, but the more the better. Have them sit in a circle. Everyone must suck their lips in, or to act as if they have no teeth so that when they talk and you can’t see their teeth. Then one person starts and asks their neighbor, "have you seen Mr. Mumbles?" then the receiver says, "No I have not, let me ask my neighbor". This continues on around the circle. It gets hard, because it sounds funny but you can't laugh. The point of the game is not to show your teeth. If teeth are shown from anyone, they are out. So keep watch on all the kids. This game is also fun if you have 1 or 2 kids who can elaborate the story with something like "have your seen Mr. Mumbles? He's got gray hair and walks with a cane" etc. This makes it a bit funnier. Students are out of the game if they show their teeth OR if they laugh when their neighbor is asking them if they have seen Mr. Mumbles.
Mummy WrapThis game can be played as either an up-front game or as an audience game. As an Audience game: Throw out 3 rolls of toilet paper to different sections of the crowd and have them do it right there. As an Up-Front: Pick three groups of three people each. Give each a roll or two of toilet paper. Make sure you give each team the same amount. Two people wrap up (like a mummy) the third person in the group. The object of the game is to: See who can wrap up their "mummy" first or who is most creative in their "mummifying". You may wish to add a few other objects into the game (Q-tips, t.p. rolls, etc.) to aid in the "artistic expression possibilities". A youth worker named Nick suggests providing sunglasses and hats, etc. You could have the crowd or the staff vote. You need 3 or 6 rolls of toilet paper. Also see Toilet Paper Bride (Click Here).
Musical BacksSimiliar to musical chairs, students pair up with another student back-to-back while locking arms when the music stops. To make it a little more difficult and to avoid clicks, tell the students they cannot pair up with the same student two consecutive times. They must switch it up. When there is an even number of students, place a chair in a random location and allow students to sit in the chair, taking the place of a student, which will leave someone without a partner. When the number of students is odd, leave the chair out. Submitted by Ryan Espinoza. Also see Musical Chair Squat (Click Here), Musical Guys (Click Here), and Musical Paper Plates (Click Here).
Musical Candy - Feet or Face!This game can be a lot of fun…or gross…or both! You get to decide…and your students are at your mercy! Get all the students to sit in a circle with their shoes & socks off and tell them that they'll be passing around some candies while the music plays, and when it stops, they get to eat the sweets. Simple as that, right? Before you sell the game, prep a large bowl with wrapped-up sweets and cover them with something crazy like baked beans or spaghetti hoops or oatmeal, etc. Bring the bowl out and start the music. Kids pass the bowl to one another (using their hands) and when the music stops, that student must then go after the sweets that are at the bottom of the bowl. They may use either their feet or face to fish a sweet out of the bowl. If the kid chooses “face” they must dip into the bowl and use their mouth to get a sweet out. If they choose “feet” it’s the same deal. Tip #1: It's even funnier if you only give kids the option of using their feet for the first few rounds and then say they must use their face instead: grossed-out faces ensued! Tip 2#: If you have a fairly rowdy crowd, give them a ball to pass around (instead of the bowl) and then when the music stops give them the bowl to get the sweet out of. Tip #3: If you have more than 15 students, make multiple circles of students to ensure that it stays fun and interesting for all. Just make sure you have enough bowls and candy! Idea by Jess B.
Musical chairs of deathBasically it is like musical chairs, but with a twist. First, set up the chairs in a circle with seats facing out then when the music plays, students walk around the chairs. (There needs to be TWO less chairs than students.) When the music stops, students scramble for a seat. Those who find a seat are safe until the next round. The two who cannot find a chair must run to a predetermined “safe zone” (like a door, or a wall) while adult leaders are throwing large Nerf balls at them. If one or both of the students are hit by the balls, they are out. If they are not hit, they are still in the game. Continue until there is only one winner. NOTE: Make sure the balls are truly soft. You may want to have 2 or 3 balls per adult leader to make it even more exciting. If the game begins to wear on, remove another chair from the floor.
Musical Christmas GiftThis game needs a room big enough to allow your students to get into a circle. We had approximately 100 kids at our annual Christmas Party. We wrapped 6 gifts in MULTIPLE layers of wrapping paper, each with a different color/pattern so that it was obvious. Some gifts had 2 “layers,” some had 8. None had the same amount of wrapping paper. The gifts ranged from serious and nice, to silly and weird. We passed the gifts around like “Hot Potato” to music. When the music stopped, the students holding the gifts were instructed to unwrap ONLY the outer layer of the present. It takes a few breaks in the music to get the first gift opened. The student who unwraps the final “layer” of wrapping paper gets to keep the gift. However, he/she must leave the circle so that he/she does not win again. The beauty of this game is that it involves everyone in the room. A great byproduct is that a few of them are going to win some cool gifts.
Musical FoodAudience or Small Group game. Put pieces of dried fruit, jerky, tomato, potato, red onion, etc. in several separate closed lunch bags. Mix them up, throw them out into crowd, start music. When music stops whoever has a bag takes a bite. You may need referees to declare who had it when the music stopped. Idea from Young Life See Musical Baby Food (Click Here).
Musical GuysMusical Chairs with a twist. The guys get on all fours - they are the chairs and the girls play. Remove a guy (just like a chair) each round until finally two girls fight over one guy! See Musical Paper Plates (Click Here).
Musical Paper PlatesHave paper plates scattered throughout the room. When the music stops, everyone must be touching a plate (one person to a plate). If they are not, they're out. Take out more plates every time. Submitted by Young Life See also Musical Hats (Click Here)and Musical Guys (Click Here).
Musical Squirt GunsHave your group sit on chairs in a circle. Play really bad music (like Swiss accordion music). As the music plays, the group is given a loaded squirt gun. They pass the squirt gun around the circle. When the music stops, the person with the squirt gun is out of the game. However, as they leave, they have the privilege of squirting the gun twice. They may squirt the person on their immediate left and their immediate right. (Or they may squirt one of these people two times). They take their chair, and leave the circle and the game continues. A variation that speeds up the game: Use two squirt guns moving in different directions around the circle. Added by Holly Boardman See Musical Chair Squat (Click Here).
Musical StockingEveryone sits in a circle. Put different strips of paper with different things to do in a Christmas stocking (if it isn't Christmastime, you can use any kind of bag or container). Play music while the stocking is passed around the circle. When the music stops the person with the stocking has to do what he/she picked. You can have two stockings or more depending on your group. ex. Sing a nursrey song Opra style. Eat something from the grab bag. Pass the stocking to person on the right or left. Pass stocking to someone you dont know. Say something uplifting to someone in the circle. Tell an embarassing story of yourself. Do the chicken dance. Of course, there are many more ideas you can come up with, but you get the idea! Added by Jennifer Pack Also see Hot Potato and Oven Mitt Pass (Click Here).
Musical WardrobeItems needed: 15-20+ articles of clothing (hats, scarves, blouses, pants, shoes, etc.- more clothes than you'll have players). The bigger the group, the more items you will need. It's more fun if the items are "thrift store" type clothes - goofy, ugly, out of style, etc.; but nothing crude. The game is played like "Hot Potato" in that you turn the music on, and pass the bag(s) of clothes around. When the music stops, the person left "holding the bag" must pick something out of the bag to put on. They must put it on as it would normally be worn, no cheating by setting it in their lap, throwing it over their shoulder, etc. Continue starting and stopping music until all the items are on people's bodies. To end you can do a few different things: Vote on the "Best Dressed" Most clothes wins Least amount of clothes wins See also Musical Hats (Click Here).
Mute OrganizationSimply announce that you want everyone lined up across the room by birth date. Only catch: no talking. Once they are all lined up, ask certain people their birthdays just to be sure. You can have them do the same thing, but by shoe size, height, etc. The Point: Communication Also see Communication Challenge (Click Here), Inversion (Click Here), and Numbers Race (Click Here).
Name BingoNeed to have at least 25+ people. Create a Bingo Card with 25 blank spaces. As they enter, have students put their name on a piece of paper or ticket and place the tickets in a jar. Then have all of the kids go around the room with their blank BINGO cards and gather signatures in the blank spaces. They can only use a person's name once. Once everyone has completed this, start drawing the paper/tickets out of the jar. They check off the box if they have the name that was called out. Play like BINGO. It is lots of fun, and gets everyone mingling! NOTE: If there are two or more people named Chris, make sure the student gets the first name AND last name. Also, it is good to have the students get AT LEAST 2 adult leaders' names. This helps students get to know them.
Name GameYou start with a name (ex. Tom Cruise). The other team must come up with a name starting with the last letter of the name (Edward Scissorhands). We had it going for a long time until we ran out of names for Y's and got into arguments over whether or not people really existed. We did another variation of the same game with songs. Less fights that way. Also see Atlas (Click Here), Name Game 2 (Click Here), and Name Tag Mixer (Click Here).
Name That MovieThis game is great because it allows everyone to participate to whatever degree they want to while providing tons of laughs in the process. Here’s what you do. Divide your group up into teams (say, 5 kids per team) if your group is about 25 big all together. Give each team the title of a movie to work with, or let them choose their own. (If they choose their own, make sure you are comfortable with it.) The gist of the game is to have each team “tell” or “show” the movie in 5 minutes or less. They must work together to write up a script (with or without action scenes) that captures the plot of the movie. After they have written their script, several members of the team (or all, if necessary) go up front to act out their short version of the movie. Have a panel of judges, made up of adult leaders, to pick the best movie rendition. They can base their points off of “most accurate portrayal,” “funniest portrayal,” “most creative portrayal,” etc. Here are a couple of titles to get you going: Shrek Pirates of the Caribbean Finding Nemo The Lion King The Incredibles Toy Story Cars Napoleon Dynamite Ironman Batman Begins (or The Dark Knight) High School Musical (1, 2, or 3) Spiderman (1,2, or 3) NOTE: You definitely want to stay away from flicks like American Pie, SuperBad, Pineapple Express, etc. Have fun with this one!
NBA ChallengeThis game works best when students are allowed to team up (around tables, for instance) and compete in groups. Hand out a copy of the "NBA Challenge" given below. NBA Challenge 1. Fish hate getting caught in these. 2. It doesn't feel good when you do this while shaving. 3. This team loves numbers. 4. A prehistoric meat-eater. 5. Don’t wear red around these guys… 6. This team could possibly be found in the engine of your a car. 7. Birds of Prey 8. You might try to find some shade to avoid this. 9. Pulling a bunny out of a hat. 10. Be careful you don't get put under his spell. 11. Lions, Tigers, and ______, oh my! 12. Old cowboys wore these on their boots. 13. You might find these in chicken or gold. 14. What you might call guys that go into battle. 15. The earths power supply. 16. Arthur, Tut, and Nebuchadnezzar. Give the student teams about 2 minutes to get as many done as possible. When time is up, grade the groups and award prizes to most correct. Answers: 1. Nets 2. Knicks 3. 76ers 4. Raptors 5. Bulls 6. Pistons 7. Hawks 8. Heat 9. Magic 10. Wizards 11. Grizzlies 12. Spurs 13. Nuggets 14. Warriors 15. Suns 16. Kings
Never Have I EverEverybody can play this fun game, plus it helps people learn a little bit about others in a fun way. Here’s how you play. Tell everybody to put up all 10 fingers. Someone in the group says, “Never Have I Ever…and finishes the sentence with some sort of action. If the other players HAVE DONE the action that was called out, they must put a finger down. Players cannot put fingers back up during the game. Players are out of the game when all 10 fingers go down. Actions that finish the sentence cannot be repeated by other players. (For example, skydiving can only be used once in the game.) Rotate around the group, letting everyone call out a “Never Have I Ever…” one at a time. The last person to have his or her finger(s) up wins. NOTE: Tell the students at the beginning of the game to be appropriate and sensitive. In other words, players can’t say, “Never Have I Ever…worn a red shirt to youth group that made me look as fat as Holly’s red shirt does.” Also, if you have a restricted amount of time, just have players use 5 fingers instead of ten. Also see "I Have, I've Never."
Newspaper Name Nail (aka Whomp em')Small Group mixer. Have everyone sit in a circle as close as they can get. Have each person give their name and make sure each name is clearly said so that all others can hear it. After going through the names once or even twice, have someone start in the middle by asking someone to call the name of someone in the room. The person in the middle proceeds to find the person and try to whomp'em with a rolled up newspaper (or pillow) on their knee before that person can say both their name and someone else's name in the room. If they get whomped before they can say their name and someone else's name, they are now "it". Also, if the person whose name is called fails to say both their name and another person's name, they will have to be it. The person who is in the middle takes the place of the person they whomp. This helps people learn each other's names and mixes kids around with each other. Items needed: Rolled up newspaper or pillow (preferable) Also see Getting To Know It (Click Here), Getting To Know You (Click Here), Identity Circle (Click Here), Name Tag Mixer (Click Here), and Who Hit Me? (Click Here).
Newspaper NinjaThis strange sounding game will bring lots of laughter to your group. Here’s how you play it. Put your whole group in teams of 10. For every group of ten students in your youth ministry, pick one person to be that team’s ninja. Give the group some newspaper and tape to work with. Teams must use the newspaper and tape to cover the entire body of their ninja…except their eyes. Also, tape one of their arms to the side of their body, so they cannot use it in the game. (Duct tape works well for this.) After each team’s ninja is “prepared” for battle, have the students form a circle in the room. Put the 2 or 3 or 8 ninjas in the circle and ready them for the scrap of their lives. The ninjas are to use the hand NOT taped to their body to pull the newspaper off of the other ninjas. The last ninja with any newspaper on him or her wins. NOTES: Make sure the players forming the circle do not interfere with the game. Also, have a referee or two handy to help make close calls. Obviously, you want to be safe, so tell the ninjas, “No kicking or hitting.” They can only rip off the newspaper.
Newspaper SearchSplit the group into teams and hand out a newspaper to each. Call out different things that they need to find. Whoever finds their item/word first gets a point. You choose who wins after so many points. Two cautions: Ink from newspapers can be slightly messy and get on students' hands/clothes. Also, you'll want to go through the paper first and remove any questionable ads. Added by Young Life
Ninja, Gun, GorillaSame as “Rock-Scissors-Paper”, only you use your whole body. Play it up huge, having someone demonstrate each: Ninja: guy in karate stance yelling “waaaaa!” Gun: hold finger gun and say “BANG!” Gorilla: arms in air & beating chest, saying “ooo, ooo, ahh, ahh, ahh!” Ninja beats gun. Gun beats gorilla. Gorilla beats ninja. If there's a tie, both are out. Keep going until all are eliminated; fun to find a champ. It helps to have the students who are out to go to the outside and the people still playing in the middle. Added by Young Life Also see Ape, Man, Lady (Click Here) and Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur (Click Here).
Over, Under, Round and RoundThis is much like the normal version of the “Over Under” game. In this version, get students into two teams of no more than 15. Have them form a circle and then give them one large ball. Make sure the balls are the exact same for each grouped circle. The objective is to be the quickest team to pass the ball from the “beginning” of the circle to the “end” of the circle. The first person who passes the large ball must go OVER, the second UNDER, the third AROUND LEFT, and the fourth AROUND RIGHT. 1. Over 2. Under 3. Left 4. Right Then repeat this pattern until the ball makes it all the way around the circle. The first circle to do so, wins! For added fun, use an enormous ball to make it more challenging!
Pantyhose StuffDivide group into teams of 4. Give each team a pair of pantyhose and explain that they will have 2 minutes to place as many personal items as possible into the pantyhose without tearing them. Each item should be inserted through the waist end of the pair of pantyhose. Declare the team with the most items inside the pantyhose the winner. Variation: Same game blindfolded. Added by Young Life
Paper Airplane TossBasically, this game is played like a water-balloon or egg toss, only you use paper airplanes instead. So you'll need plain paper or construction paper for this game. Here’s how you do it. Have every person find a partner, and give each pair a few pieces of paper. Give them 5 minutes to fold their own paper airplane, and you can even let them design it if you want. When the time for designing the planes is up, have the students form two lines that face each other. The throwers are all in one line and the catchers are all in the other line. Now the game continues in a similar fashion to the water-balloon or egg toss. The thrower tosses the paper airplane to his/her partner. If the partner catches it, they stay in; if the partner misses the plane, they are both out. All of the teams who were successful stay in the game for round two. Only now, the thrower is the catcher and vice versa. Plus, they have to both take one step backward (thus making it harder for round two). Keep going like this until one pair emerges as the victor. Idea by Don
Paper, Rock, Whatever!This game is played just like Rock-Paper-Scissors with one exception: participants can call out ANYTHING they want on the final “throw.” For example, students can say “nuclear bomb,” “Luke Skywalker,” “Hurricane,” etc. They aren’t restricted to rock, paper, or scissors. As you can imagine, there will be TONS of debate about who wins. But that’s part of the fun! Have plenty of adult leaders standing around to help make the FINAL call on who wins, and moves on – and who loses, and must sit out the rest of the game. Whatever the adult leader decides is absolutely final! No if, ands, or butts! If the adult leader is a bit confused, they can ask the students to explain why their “weapon” should be declared the victor. This can be hilarious! There are a few things that should be off limits. These include: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Infinity, Time, Black Hole, Armageddon...or anything you can think of that would be an “automatic win.” A few rules: Make sure that students understand that the adults’ decisions are FINAL. No arguing. Also, adult leaders should NOT allow students to use the same “weapon” more than once. Have fun! Idea by Dean
Pass the BrainsHere's a Halloween variation of the 'Pass the Parcel' game we typically play at kid's parties in Australia. Scoop out a pumpkin as you would to make a jack-o-lantern. Carve out a face, but don't make the holes too big otherwise the 'brains' will fall out too quickly. (Alternatively, you could just draw a face on the pumpkin with a black marker pen.) Fill the pumpkin with cold, cooked spaghetti hiding wrapped candy in amongst the 'brains'. There should be one candy for each student playing. Play fun music as the pumpkin head is passed around. When the music stops, the student holding the head feels through its 'brains to find some candy. See Pass the Spam (Click Here), Musical Food (Click Here), and Musical Baby Food (Click Here).
Pass the KeyEveryone gets into 2 even teams and each team stands in a circle. Each team is then given a very long piece of string (25-50 feet) and told to weave it in and out of their arms and legs, around waists, and through one belt loop of every person with belt loops. The person at each end is given a key. The end of the string is threaded through the key. The key is then raced to get to the other end by being weaved in and out of peoples clothes etc. First team done wins! Added by Aaron
Penny ChallengeIt's similar to $1000 Bill Exchange (Click Here). Seat the group in a circle, giving a penny to each person. A jackpot of extra pennies is created before the game. The goal is for students to win as many pennies as possible from their peers by challenging them one on one doing one of three things:
2. Rock, paper, scissors 3. Flipping a coin Rules:
Added by Cory Goode Also see Penny on the Chin Mixer (Click Here).
Penny on the Chin MixerGive each student a penny and have them find a partner. They must hold the penny between their lip and chin without using their hands. Have them stand back to back. On the count of three they turn and face each other. The first one to drop their penny is out and must sit down. The winner then finds a new partner and moves on. Go until someone wins. Find new partners and eliminate to final couple. If there is a tie, both have to sit down. Play fun music, starting and stopping each round. Idea from Young Life Also see Penny Challenge (Click Here).
Phlat BallYou will need a Phlat Ball, which is a ball that pops open randomly. Or, you'll need some sort of timer. Then, you'll need topics which require students to list items. For example: 1. NFL football teams 2. Books of the Bible 3. States that begin with "A" 4. Animals with fur 5. Women in the Bible 6. Names of rivers. 7. School mascots. 8. Names of sitcoms. 9. Reasons people don't go to church. 10. Names of Bible prophets. Each topic should be written on a slip of paper, folded, and put into a bowl. The contestants then sit in a circle. The first contestant reaches into the bowl to grab a topic. They then announce the topic and flatten out the Phlat ball (or start the timer). Then they have to name an item that corresponds to the topic that they drew. Quickly, they pass the ball or timer to another player, who has to come up with another item corresponding to the topic. Like a hot potato, the ball is passed around the circle, with each player adding to the list. Finally, whoever is left holding the ball or timer when it pops or the timer goes off is eliminated. The game continues until only one player remains and is declared the winner!
Pick Your Friend’s NoseUse a huge piece of paper or a sheet and draw three people on it. Cut out the space for their nose. Three people are chosen from the audience to stick their noses through the holes. The paper has to be big enough to hide their bodies. The rest of the kids try to see if they can "pick" (identify) their friend's nose. Added by Young Life
Pictionary TelephoneThis game is similar to the classic “Telephone” game, but also makes use of some of the elements of “Pictionary.” All you need are a few stacks of Post-It Notes and some pens. Here’s what you do. Put your students in a circle. Limit the circles to 9 kids at most. If you have more kids than that, simply make multiple circles. VERY IMPORTANT: The circles MUST have an odd number of kids (3, 5, 7, etc). Now, give every student 1 Post-It Note for every kid in the circle. (If there are 7 kids in the circle, give every kid 7 Post-It Notes.) Also, make sure everyone has a pen or pencil. When you say go, all of the students write a short silly sentence on their Post-It Notes. It can be about whatever they want, so long as it is clean. Give them 30 seconds to do this. When time is up, ask everyone to pass their Post-It Note to the student on their right. When that student gets the note, he/she must read the Post-It Note and then place it at the bottom of their own Post-It Note stack, leaving a blank Post-It Note on top of their stack. Tell them you will give them 90 seconds to draw a picture based on the sentence they just read (from the person on their left). When time is up, tell everyone to tear off THAT Post-It Note and pass it to the person on their right. That person will then look at the drawing, and try to write a sentence that “says” what the picture “shows,” in 30 seconds, of course. You see where this is going, right? Keep doing this, alternating back and forth between drawing and writing. Finally, everyone will get their original “sentence message” back (and in written form if you’ve done it correctly). People usually get a laugh out of seeing what happened to their original message. Idea by Chris P.
Play Doh SnowmanThis works great for groups of 30-40 teens. Great for youth Christmas parties. Divide group into teams of 3-5 people. Give them each a couple cans of Play Doh (or divide cans up between teams). Have each team come up with their best "snow man." Have a couple of judges prepared to judge the finished products. You can have one winner or you can make up a couple of categories, such as, "Biggest", "Most Detailed", "Most Super-hero Like", etc. Our teens were very creative, and we showcased them on Sunday in the foyer. They loved it. Added by Howell Champs See Play Doh Pictionary (Click Here).
Polaroid Picture ChallangeYou can make this a class competition. Mount a Polaroid on a tripod that must be held stationary on the same spot. Explain to each class or team that they must try to fit as many people as possible into the view of the camera. The winner is the team with the most in the picture. Added by Young Life
Popsicle SurpriseTake plastic Popsicle trays you can put in a freezer and fill them with your own type of Popsicle flavors. (Some examples are soda, punch, mayo, ketchup, barbeque sauce, and even chili.) Pull three students up front and blindfold them. Next, hand them each a Popsicle made of the same flavor (3 sodas, 3 mayo’s, etc.) The first one to guess the correct flavor wins. Proceed to the next round using a different flavor. Play as many rounds as you like.
Potato Head MakerBreak group into teams of four. Give each team a potato, toothpicks, and cut up vegetable pieces. The object is for each team to make the funniest, most creative potato person possible. You can turn this into a competition between the teams and give out prizes. Be sure to put the potatoes on display for the rest of the event. Option: Use those little Vienna Weenies instead of potatoes. Added by Young Life Also see Banana Surgery (Click Here), Bubble Gum Sculpture (Click Here), Fruit Sculpture (Click Here).
Prince of ParisFor this game you need at least 10 players, a narrator, and a designated amount of time. Start with a line of chairs - one for each person, with two chairs in front of the line facing all the others. Have one person in each chair that’s in the line. Have the narrator sit in one of the two chairs leaving the one next to him/her empty. The chair at the front of the line is the chair you want to end up in. The narrator numbers off each person then says:
In less then 10 seconds (narrator counts to 10) Number 6 calls out,
And it starts all over again. If someone is sitting by the narrator you can still call out their #. But if someone misses then he sits by the narrator and the person who was their's moves to the very end seat and tries to move down the line of chairs again. As the game goes on the narrator talks faster and faster so the players have to answer faster. Added by Jessica Martinez
PsychiatristThis game is a blast, though it can take a long time. Be prepared to make it your only game for the night! Have your group sit in a circle with one person, "the psychiatrist", questioning them while standing in the middle (it helps if the person playing the psychiatrist has never played before). They are briefed separately on the rules of the game. The psychiatrist's goal is to try and diagnose everyone's problem. He should do this by asking questions and analyzing their answers to discover the true nature of their problem. For the sake of his patient's confidentiality and anonymity, he is not allowed to ask them their names. Nor may he ask them what their symptoms are. If they knew what was wrong with them, they wouldn't be coming to him for help! Be sure to let the Psychiatrist know, that the same problem is shared by all the patients, and that the problem is NOT a clinical one (i.e.: schizophrenia, kleptomania etc.) The patients' goals are to answer questions as truthfully as possible, without revealing the true nature of their problems. Their problem is simple. They believe that they are the person sitting next to them on their left. So when the psychiatrist asks them a question, they must answer as if they were the person on their left. If they answer incorrectly, someone who catches their mistake, must yell "psychiatrist" and then they all must stand up and switch seats with someone else. When this happens they take on the characteristics of the new person they are sitting next to. To win, the psychiatrist must diagnose that everyone believes that they are the person sitting on their left, and then he must diagnose why they are saying Psychiatrist and switching seats. Added by Thomas Dauber
Pumpkin DecoratingDivide into groups of 4 or 5 and give each group a pumpkin on which they need to draw a face with colored markers. Works great around October 31. Option: Award a prize for best artwork, look-a-likes, etc. Added by Young Life See Pumpkin Bowling (Click Here) and Pumpkin Puzzle (Click Here).
Pumpkin DecorationIf you want something fun to do that will involve your entire group, this game is perfect for you. Split your group into teams. Have each team designate one person to be the pumpkin. The other teammates smear peanut butter (or something else that is sticky) on their pumpkin’s face. Then they are given a vast assortment of candies/foods to decorate their pumpkin with (candy corn, small marshmallows, licorice, rice, Twizzlers, etc). Give each team 10 minutes to decorate their pumpkin. At the end of the allotted time, have a panel of adult leaders judge to see which is best. Give prizes to the team that wins. Make sure to be extra generous to the team “pumpkin.”
Pumpkin PuzzleThis is a great competitive team mixer for the fall. Cut up pumpkins into 8-10 pieces. Break your group into teams of 5 or 6. Have a supply of round wooden toothpicks. Give each group two minutes to put its "jig-saw puzzle" pumpkin back together, using the toothpicks to hold the pieces in place. The first team done or the team with the most "together" pumpkin after the time limit is the winner. Pumpkins must be able to stand up alone to be considered a winner. Added by Young Life See Pumpkin Decorating (Click Here).
Puzzle MixerAs students arrive, give them each the piece to a kid’s jigsaw puzzle (minimum 10 pcs, maximum 25). If you have extras left over, place them back into the correct puzzle frames. Put all frames in the center of the room. Have students locate the correct puzzles to which their pieces belong. The first group to completely put a puzzle together wins. (Great mixer which also serves as a tool for dividing teams) Added by Young Life See Pumpkin Puzzle (Click Here).
Q-Tip & Food Coloring War(Use a tarp if indoors). Have a staff person wear a plain white T-shirt. Draw a target on the shirt that is big enough to cover the front of the shirt. Divide into 4 teams, each with a different color. Give each team an equal amount of Q-tips reguardless of the number of players on each team. Also give each person a straw (wide straws work best - McDonald's has them; But make sure you ask instead of just taking). You also need a bowl or cup of water (about 1 cup of water per team) with enough food coloring added to color water well. One by one students dip their Q-Tips in the bowl/cup to color the tip. Then they shoot their five "darts" (Q-Tips) at the target on the staff person's shirt. It does not matter who shoots when as long as each person gets in their five shots. The object is to hit the most points on the target. Staff note: Make the target however you want in terms of points. Add up the total points or # of hits. (You may just put a big (+) across the front making 4 different quadrants, one for each team and score it by how many times a team can "hit" in their quadrant. 2 points if they hit their own quadrant and 1 point for hitting someone else's quadrant.) Items needed:
Also see Q-Tip War (Click Here), which is a simpler and cleaner version.
Real IdentityGreat "getting to know you" and memory game. Everyone is in a circle and each takes a turn saying their name and something about themself (example, "Hi, I'm John and I play football"). The next person needs to say the previous person's name and item of interest before saying their own (example, "He's John, he plays football and I'm Mary and I torture small animals"). As this game moves on, people need to remember more and more information. With bigger groups you can have them only repeat the names to save time. Also see Secret Identity (Click Here), Getting to Know You (Click Here), and Getting to Know You Better (Click Here).
Reindeer Round UpIn this game, all the guys (Reindeers) get on all fours. The girls (Elves) have to get the guys (Reindeer) into a sectioned-off part of the room (The Stable) which is designated by a clearly visible line. The Elves must corner the Reindeer and drag them into the Stable. Once a Reindeer is dragged past the line, they are out of the game. Reindeer are not allowed to get up or run. They must remain on all fours the whole game. But here is the kicker: the Elves must get all the Reindeer in the Stable before the song ends (“Run Run Rudolph” by Chuck Berry).
Rice Crispy RelaySupplies needed: Three flat pans (the large disposable roasting pans work well and you can get them cheap at the dollar store), water, and Rice Krispies. Divide your group into AT LEAST two teams. Give each team a pan filled with water, a pan with Rice Krispies and an empty "collection" pan. Set the pan of water and the pan of cereal next to each other. Set the empty "collection" pan at least 10 feet away from the first two pans. Students will line up in their teams behind their water and cereal pans. When the leader says go, the first person of each team puts his/her face into the water, then dips their wet face into the cereal pan, and then runs 10 feet across the room to the empty "collection" pan and brushes his/her face off. Hands can ONLY be used to brush the cereal off WHILE KNEELING OVER THE COLLECTION PAN. The next team member can go once the previous person has returned to the end of their line. The team with the most cereal in their "collection" pan after 3 minutes wins!!!
Ro-Sham-Bo TrainEveryone grab a partner. Rock paper scissors - if you lose you go follow behind the person that beat you and they will do it again with another pair. Keep this up. A large train will build behind the people that keep winning. Eventually someone will have everyone behind him. He or she wins a prize.
Rubber Chicken RunSet up: Form two teams by lining up the kids in two lines. The students are numbered one to ten with the same number of students on the other side of the line with matching numbers. So the person opposite them will have the same number. Put a rubber chicken (or something silly) in the middle of the two lines. There needs to be a big gap between the lines of kids so that they have to run to get the chicken. Also designate a line that they have to stand behind. Mark it with tape. The Game: The game is easy. The leader stands on the side so he can watch the two teams closely. When the leader is ready, he or she calls out a random number. The two kids with that number run and try to grab the chicken in the middle and take it back the their side without getting tagged by the other person. If they get tagged or the chicken is dropped they must return to their side, and no one gets a point. They only get a point if it is retrieved back to their side. They also cannot throw the chicken to their team members. They have to have it in hand when they cross the line. The Leader’s role: The leader must start out slowly until it is understood how to play. Once that happens, the leader can call out varying combinations of numbers. More than one number can be called or different numbers such as number 2 and 6 only. So the players with the numbers 2 and 6 can get it. (Or Left side 4 and right side 8.) So the kids on the leader’s left side number 4 and right side number 8 try and get it. Also calling the same number over again after just having been called is fun to see how they react. The leader can also call multiple numbers like "2, 5, and 10 GO!" This is a really fun one to watch and it grabs their attention once they start getting good at the game.
Santa Scrooge SnowmanThis is a group version of the “Paper-Rock-Scissors” game, with the elements being replaced with Santa, Scrooge, and Snowman. Here’s how you do it. Explain that the game is a lot like Paper – Rock – Scissors and that everyone should get a partner to compete against. Have the students stand back –to – back. Inform them that their options are Santa, Scrooge, or Snowman. If they choose to be Santa, they must grab their belly and jiggle it while saying, “Ho ho ho!” If they choose to be Scrooge, they must shake their fist in the air and shout “Ba Humbug!” Finally, if they choose to be a Snowman, they must bow, and tip/remove an imaginary hat, and say, “Merry Christmas.” When the game leader finishes saying the rhyme, “Santa beats Scrooge; Scrooge beats Snowman; Snowman beats Santa. If you tie you die. One, two, three, TURN!” the students turn around, do their move and say their line at the same time. Whoever wins, stays in the game. Whoever loses, must sit down. The winners pick a new partner and go again. Play until you have one winner and give them a cool prize.
Scrabble ScrambleIf you are looking for a fun game that EVERYBODY can play, this is it! Before the game begins… Use a computer and printer to print letters onto sheets of paper (approximately 6 per sheet.) Then cut out each letter and put them in a plastic bag (like a Ziploc). Every bag needs to have the EXACT same letters. You can put 6-10 letters in each bag. Here is what I recommend. 3 Vowels (E, A, O) 6 Frequently-Used Consonants (R, S, T, L, K, B) 4 Moderately-Used Consonants (M, D, P, N) 3 Infrequently-Used Consonants (X, Q, Z) You can use different letters! Just make sure that every team gets 1 bag each…with the exact same letters in them. Otherwise, it’s unfair. Teams need to be 4-5 people big. The game leader needs to be on the stage calling the shots. The game leader will say stuff like, “The first team to make up a word that might appear on a McDonald’s menu wins 100 points.” Teams them scramble to come up with that word, arrange their letters accordingly, and then shout out “Scrabble!” If the game leader agrees with the word, they get 100 points. The team with the most points at the end, wins! Here are a few cool phrases that will get you going. You can add your own to my list. 250 Points The team to come up with the longest word in 30 seconds. The team to come up with the most words 4 letters long (or more) in 1 minute. The first team to come up with the name of an animal. The first team to come up with the name of a city, state or country. The first team to come up with the name of a professional sports team. 500 Points The first team to come up with the name of a food. The first team to come up with the COMPLETE name of a movie. The first team to come up with the name of a household appliance. The first team to come up with the name of a vehicle. The first team to come up with the name of a plant. 750 Points The first team to come up with the last name of a movie star or musical artist. The first team to come up with a word that deals with outer space. 1000 Points The first team to come up with the name of a person in the Bible. The first team to come up with a 2-syllable word Idea by Dan
Sentence GameGreat game for Jr. Highers, travel, or creative kids. Can be played with just two people or up to 50. The game is simple, but can get crazy and fun. The first person says a word...for example, "The." The second person says the first word and ADDS a word... "The clown." And so on. At the end you might have a complete sentence, something like, "The clown was in the pool when an ant bit his toe and made chocolate pudding squirt from his eye." It has to make sense, but not GOOD sense. The really fun thing is putting twists in the sentence on your turn so that other people have a hard time coming up with a word that fits. The Point: It really shows that everyone thinks differently and uniquely. Added by Jessica Robinson Also see Build a Word (Click Here) and Mad Sentence Dash (Click Here).
Shoe PileHave everyone take off one of their shoes and throw it into a big pile. You might even designate someone as the "Shoe Salad Tosser," instructing them to mess up the pile so that people can't remember where certain shoes landed in the pile. Then everyone needs to pick out a shoe from the pile and proceed to find the person who belongs to that shoe. This works well for a large group. Option II: The other option is to put everyone's shoes in the pile and instruct them that they each need to get their own shoe, put it on, tie it, and stand back up. First one standing is the winner. Idea from Youth For Christ Also see Blind Shoe Grab (Click Here).
Sneaky TEXT Message GameOne of the BEST ways to communicate to kids today is by using the TEXT feature on your cell phone. It’s like an Instant Message…but you don’t have to be sitting in front of a computer. Most kids have cell phones these days, and the TEXT feature is the MOST USED feature on cell phones! Here’s a great way to have some fun AND gain your kids’ cell phone numbers for future use. During any of your programs, tell kids to whip out their cell phones. (That will get their attention!) Then, post your cell phone number on the screen…or simply call it out to the crowd (slowly). Tell them to enter it into their phone and save it under your name. Now, tell them that you want to see which service provider in your area has the fastest service. Have them pull up a “blank text message” on their phones, select your name or number, and then for the “message” of the TEXT message, have them enter their first and last name. Tell them to STOP at that point. When everybody has reached that point, tell them that you want everybody to hit SEND at the same time. Say “go” and let them send away. Within seconds, your phone will have EVERY kid’s cell phone number! Randomly choose a person (for instance, the 4th TEXT message you received) to give a prize to. When your game is over, kindly ask them to put their cell phones away because you are moving into a more important time (Bible study, prayer, whatever you have planned). Kids typically obey this request. When you get home later that night, use the SAVE feature on your cell phone to log their cell phone info onto your cell phone. Now you can send updates, hello’s, and encouragement to your students in an instant! Also see Jonathan's blog for more on texting/cell phones and youth ministry. Idea by Sam
Snowball FightFor this game you need toilet paper and garbage bags. Now, split your group down the middle...half go to one side, half to the other. Have leaders hand out the "snowballs" (rolls of tp). The object of the game is to have the least toilet paper on your side at the end of the game. Count down and let them fly. Give teams 30-60 seconds to play. Make a judgment call when you yell, "Time!" Game Two: First team to have their side entirely cleaned up wins the second part of the game. Added by Thomas Miller/Zou Also see Toilet Paper Blow & Toilet Paper Bowling, both on Upfront page.
Snowball TagThis is a fun game that allows everyone to be a part of the action. Here’s how you do it. Clear the room, a little - just enough where your students can run around some. Then make a big pile of aluminum balls in the middle of the floor. (Make sure to ball them up prior to the game, about the size of an actual snowball, and if you want to make it even better, spray paint them white!) The number of “snowballs” you need depends on the number of students you have. Try to have at least one “snowball” for every 4 students. As you go to play the game, choose 3 students to be “it.” Their job is to run around flinging “snowballs” at the other kids who are trying to keep from getting hit. If a student is hit with a “snowball,” they must freeze in their tracks and not move at all. The only way they can be unfrozen is to be tagged by someone who has not been hit. The game is over when/if the 3 “its” freeze all of the players, and thus win, or when the time limit, of your choosing, comes to an end. NOTE: This is a high energy game that’s a lot of fun, but can be a little dangerous if you don’t use your head. Speaking of heads, you need to outlaw “head shots.” Simply say that if an “it” hits a player in the head, the player is still safe. That’s a warning to “it” though. If the “it” does it again, he/she is out of the game.
Sock ManiaTwo students at a time play in the middle of a circle while the others cheer them on. Have two students seated on the floor with their shoes off and a pile of socks between them (can be their size or larger, but not smaller). Give them one minute to see who can put the most socks on one foot blindfolded! There will be grabbling and pulling for socks. It can get pretty hysterical to watch. After one minute, have the two stop & count how many socks each one has on their foot. Then have the next two students play. There can be a play-off until you have one winner & a prize. Added by PGC Also see Sock Wars on the Anywhere games page.
Song EnduranceThis game is very simple and can be played with two or more teams. Can do guys against girls. Pick a song theme - at Christmas choose Christmas songs; with a younger group you don't even need a theme, any song can be open game - and let the singing begin. The object of this game is to keep coming up with songs longer than the other team or teams. One team starts and sings a line of one song. Then the other team has 5 seconds to start singing a line of another song. Then the other team has 5 seconds to sing a line from yet another song. Teams may discuss and plan out which song to sing while the other teams are singing. The first team to repeat a song, sing a song that doesn't fit that category or just not sing within 5 seconds is the loser. If more than two teams play, sit losing teams out until one team finally prevails. Also see Song Making on Anywhere page.
Song MakingSplit the room up into groups and give each group five words on a card. They need to make up a song with those words. This works well on theme nights - for example, holiday or western. Added by Young Life Also see Song Endurance on Anywhere page.
Sound EffectsSupplies Needed: blank tape and tape recorder. Instructions: Your group has 15 minutes to record the sounds listed below. The sounds must last at least 10 sec. but not more than 15. All members of the group must contribute. It's up to you whether they go out and get these sounds from the actual sources (like a scavenger hunt), teams go into different rooms and "create" the sounds, or a combination of both. Award prizes (bag of candy or litre of pop) for most sounds recorded and to the group that adds the most creative sound selection not on the list.
Sponge PassOutdoor or Indoor (need more towels if indoor). Simple but fun, especially on a hot day! You divide your group in rows. In front of each row place a bucket with water and a sponge. At the back place an empty bucket to collect water. When time starts running the person in the front dips the sponge and passes it to the back and the last person squeezes the water into the bucket. The row that manages to collect the most water wins. Added by Elizabeth Oliveras Also see Spongebob Squarefort on Upfront page.
Squirt GameHave everyone sit in a circle. Designate one person as the "squirter" and one person as the "moderator." For the first round give your squirter a spray bottle of water. This student names a topic, such as "Rides at an amusement park," or "NFL teams" and whispers one item in that category to the moderator. Squirter goes around the inside of the circle, pointing the spray bottle right in the face of each person, who must quickly name an item fitting the topic. Squirter lets them have it if they don't name one right away, OR duplicate something already said, OR if they name the item whispered to the Moderator by Squirter. The person who got squirted becomes the new Squirter and selects a new topic, whispering a specific item from that topic to the moderator. Topics are endless: "Running" (running shoes, tank top, water bottle, treadmill), "NBA teams" (San Antonio Spurs, LA Lakers, Detroit Pistons), "G-Rated Movies" (you and I both know they still enjoy them ? ) You get the idea. Note: If you have a big group, you may need to have a couple of circles going at the same time. Added by Youth For Christ Also see Alka-Seltzer on the Head Duel & Soda Shoot-out, both on Upfront page.
Stand on the BucketOutdoor or indoor. Quick game that can be used in many different ways. Get as many white, 5 gallon buckets as you have teams. Turn the bucket upside-down. The object is to see how many of their team they can get to stand on the bucket for more than 3 seconds. The team with the most people off the ground wins.
Starburst TossGood small group outdoor game. Draw a target on the ground w/sidewalk. Have 3 or 4 packs or bags of Starburst candy divided evenly amongst everyone. Each person throws one Starburst into the target and closest to the middle can retrieve all of them. Continue as long as you'd like. Added by Nic Bade Also see Candy Hunt on Audience page.
Stepping StonesThis exercise is for groups with at least 10 kids. (For larger groups you probably will want to divide into several teams.) Split the group into two teams, both having the same number of kids. Line up two rows of chairs with the same number of kids PLUS ONE EMPTY CHAIR per line. Finally, place a line of tape about 10 feet from the ends of the chairs. Each kid stands on a chair. When the leader says go, the student on the end by the empty chair picks it up and passes it to the next person. The chair goes all the way to the end of the line of students. The last student puts it down and then stands on it. Everyone moves down a chair and the process repeats itself. The first team to cross the tape line wins. SAFETY NOTE THAT WE PROBABLY HAVE TO SAY: Obviously only use chairs that are sturdy and won’t fall underneath kids. Folding chairs are NOT a good idea. Old chairs from the 1940’s also would not be a good idea. As always, please use your own discernment.
Story BookThis game can be played anywhere. It can take as much or as little time as you would like. There is significant prep time involved though. Find some old children's books at a garage sale or used bookstore. Choose books with lots of colorful, weird pictures. Cut out paper to cover the captions that make up the story in the book and tape them in place. Split your youth group into groups of two or more, depending on how many books you have. Make sure that each group has a book with relatively the same amount of pages. Hand out pens and instruct each group to write their own story according to what they think the pictures are saying. They can make it as weird and as funny as they want. After they're done, have everyone gather around and read their stories to each other. This would be a great camp activity at the end of the evening around the campfire. The stories end up being a lot of fun. If you want you can even have judges to decide which book is more creative. One thing to remember is make sure that the books you choose aren't too long; even a thin book will take a while to rewrite. You'll probably need at least a 30 minutes for this game.
Story TimeTravel or Small Group. One person starts a story – any kind of story (i.e. “Once upon a time there was a bear named Horatio…”). The person in the next seat continues the story (i.e. “Horatio was a dumb, but friendly bear with zits all over his fur-face…”). Each person adds a statement to the story. This time-filler ends whenever there’s an agreed upon conclusion to the story. Also see Story, Story, Die on Upfront page & Story, The on Anywhere page.
Story, TheTravel or small group game. Stand or sit in a circle. Go around the room assigning the name of a person, place or thing to each person. The first person in the group begins to tell a story that they make up. Within 10 seconds that person must mention the person, place or thing assigned to them. When the timer goes off (you can use a kitchen timer or just a stop watch) the story is picked up by the next person and they must mention their assigned person, place or thing within 10 seconds. This continues around the circle until everyone has had a turn. The stories can get pretty strange but that's the fun of it. Submitted by Youth for Christ Also see Story Time on Anywhere page & Story, Story, Die, on upfront page.
String Toss GameGet a spool of string or yarn. Have each person answer a question of some sort when they have the string in their possession. They then hold onto the string and throw the ball/spool to another so they can answer the question. You eventually create a web of some sort. In the end, describe how the web is analogous to the group in that we all play a part in creating the web, and that if one person was gone it would look different. Likewise, it is important that we all take part to make the group what it is, unique and special. Type up predetermined questions ahead of time. You can find some great ideas for questions or discussion starting statements on this page or this page. Also see String Tie Mystery on our Upfront page. The Point: Getting to know you
Sundae FeedGet enough for your group to make sundaes and any toppings that sound good. Also have lots of plastic trash bags to cover the floor. Tell the kids to get into groups of two to share a sundae. They can get as much ice cream as they want but they have to share it and eat everything they make. Once everything is made, tell them the trick is that they will be laying down on their backs head to head. And this is a race to feed each other like this and eat their ice cream before any other twosome. The Gross Point: Working together to accomplish a goal. Added by Chris Lyon Also see Banana Night on our Events page.
Super SundaeDivide group into teams of 4 to 6 kids. In a giant bowl, see which team can construct the most original ice cream concoction using equal amounts of ice cream products supplied by the staff. Afterwards, award a prize to the team with the coolest sundae. THEN spring it on them that they have 5 minutes to see which team can eat the most of their sundae without using their hands or utensils. The team with the most ice cream gone wins a prize. Talk about messy! Added by Bruce Huffstetler
Taboo on EaselThis is like the board game Taboo, but on an Easel and a lot easier. Divide your audience into teams (if you have the typical audience with an isle down the middle, make one half "west side" and the other half "east side." Teams elect someone to be the stool person. Bring that person up and seat them on a stool in front of everyone. Write four words behind them on the easel for all to see except the stool person (example: bulldog, stapler, Spain, paper airplane). Assign a point value for each word (example: 10 points each). Give the team (which is one half of the audience) a certain time (90 seconds) to try to get the stool person to guess the words. The team can do the words in any order. If they break any of the rules or cheat, they not only don't get the points for that particular word, they are given negative points (example: negative 10 points). Do several rounds for each team, one at a time, bringing up new stool people each time. Play until blue in the face. Do not permit "east side" to distract or yell or shout out anything during 'west side's" turn. If they do try and distract the other team, deduct points from them. Same thing goes for "west side." Rules:
Tag BlueIt really is as simple as it sounds... Have students mingle around the room. Once they're moving, yell out, "Tag __________" and insert an article of clothing, a color, both, or a wall. The first student to get to a matching object called out by the leader wins! You can make it a little more challenging by using some of the following: 1. Tag something carbon-based. 2. Tag someone who speaks Spanish. 3. Tag something that is over 50 years old. (could be a leader!) 4. Tag someone whose name begins with a vowel. 5. Tag something that you respect. 6. Tag something that is expensive. 7. Tag something that rhymes with “quip.” (usually lip, hip, etc.) The only rules are: 1. Do not tag anything that is inappropriate. 2. Cannot tag one thing more than once. 3. Cannot tag something on yourself.
Team Competition ScrabbleEach team gets a packet containing the same set of scrabble letters with points written on them. Each team will then, in turn, have an opportunity to come up to the main scrabble board with a word and will score according to the letter scores and the board scores. Twist: If there is an *** on any of the squares under this word they will have to take a card from the CHALLENGE pile. They will have to do what is written on the challenge card and complete the task to keep the points they earned. IF they do not complete the challenge then they forfeit the points earned from the word, but the word will remain on the board. The teams will keep the same letters and can use them multiple times but cannot use the same words. At any time a team may trade two of their letters for one new letter from game organizer. In TEAM COMPETITION SCRABBLE proper places are legal but proper names are not (EX: IRAQ or IOWA is accepted but JIMMY or SARAH is not). Game organizer will determine before hand how many rounds will be played. Each team will get equal number of chances to score on the big board. Last used this game with a scrabble board made in Microsoft Publisher and put on an overhead transparency so we could place *** on randomly selected squares. We used three different colored Sharpie markers to play three different rounds. We had eight challenge squares on the board and wrote up 10 challenges ranging from physical challenges (30 seconds to down a can of root beer, 30 seconds to put 15 clothes pins on a team members face, 30 seconds for whole team to swap shoes or build a human pyramid 3 levels high) to trivia questions made up to relevant youth culture. We had four teams and played three rounds which took about 15-20 minutes. Good team participation but was a little slow on action. Put more challenge squares on the board to have more action. Added by Darin Brown
Text Message RelayThis fun game makes use of kids’ cell phones and their innate ability to send quick text messages to their friends. It’s sort of a mix between tag and scavenger hunt. Here’s how you do it. First, split your whole group into two teams of 4-6 kids each. Make sure that every kid on the teams has a cell phone, even if they have to borrow one from an adult leader. Also, make sure that all kids have the cell phone numbers of everyone on their team. Now you’re ready to play. All of the teams will start in the same place. From here it goes like a relay. The game leader will pick a place on campus and say, “Team Member #1…run to the KITCHEN (or wherever you pick). The other Team Members stay in the main room. Team Member #1 will run to the KITCHEN where an adult leader is waiting for them. He/she will instruct the students to do something (chug a soda, do 50 jumping jacks, read the Gettysburg Address out loud, etc). When the student completes the task, the adult leader will tell the student to text Team Member #2 the following message: Go to the PLAYGROUND. There, Team Member #2 will meet a different adult leader who will require a task of them. When they complete it, he/she will allow the student to text Team Member #3: Go to the CHOIR ROOM. This repeats for as long as you want. Make sure you have fun and exciting tasks for the students to do at each destination along the way. (If they DO meet out on the playground, you might have them make 2 hoops on the basketball court, or something like it.) The team that wins is the FIRST WHOLE team to meet back at the start. So, when Team Member #1 is done in the kitchen, he/she needs to run back to the main room. Team Member #2 will do the same and so on. After the last Team Member has completed his/her task, they need to race back to the main room, too. This is a lot of fun, but make sure you take care of a couple things up front. 1. Make sure every kid has a cell phone (and make sure that you do so as discreetly as possible without embarrassing anyone.) 2. If you say an adult is gonna be there, MAKE SURE THE ADULT IS THERE! That sort of confusion will ruin your fun. 3. Make sure the adult leader, at each station, has exactly what he/she needs for the activity. For example, if you need sodas, have a cooler of them there! 4. Have a few judges on hand to officiate. If you really want to juice it up, you can add another requirement. When the Team Members are texting one another, you can mandate that they “walk backwards to the choir room,” or “crawl to the balcony,” or “skip to the youth pastor’s office.” Idea by Ben
The Cat in the HatAs students enter, get them to each write down 1 question on a note card. The question can be about anything…from movies to quantum physics. (If you have a small group, get them to write down 2-3 questions, making sure that only one question is written on a card.) When they are done writing out their question, they should fold it in half and drop it in a big hat sitting close by. Before the game is played later in the night, an adult leader should go through and make sure each of the questions are ‘appropriate.’ When it comes time to play the game, have everyone sit in a circle. The leader hands the hat to one person and they draw out a card. They read the question out loud and have 20 seconds to answer it. (They do not put their card back in.) Then they pass the hat to someone else, and they draw out a card. They also have 20 seconds to answer the question. It’s a lot of fun to see students try and react quickly. NOTE: If you want students to get more than one question, you will have to ask students to write out multiple cards at the beginning of the night. Just make sure that only 1 question goes on a card.
The Circle of LifeThe Circle of Life For this game, all the participants sit in a circle (usually a small group-10 and under). A person starts with a word like "tree," and then the next person says the next word that comes to their mind, such as "wood"-a word that is connected with the previous one. The idea is to go around the circle until the group finally returns to the original word. Expert players will use as many puns as possible, for example "dirt. rock. guitar." A player's main goal is to pass on a word that is connected to the previous one, and yet is as distant from it as possible. This game will not work if players stay within the same category; for example, "teacher. school. chalk. desk." One needs to be creative and think outside the box. Also, one can make leaps in their head and still get credit; for example, "tree, computer." The connection between the two is the word "apple," but the participant already skipped over it in his genius mind. Players are allowed to question a player on their word choice, and the one questioned must explain his/her thought process. One final rule which must be unflinchingly followed; I call it the Napoleon Dynamite Rule: one may only respond to the previous word, not groups of words. For example, if the 2 previous players said, "Napoleon.dynamite." the next player could not say, "movie" or anything having to do with that film. The player must respond only to the previous word said, in this case, "dynamite." An appropriate response would be "explosion."
This & ThatQuick small group opener/activity--just a fun way of getting to know each other a little better. Get into a circle and select someone to begin, then move clockwise around the circle. The first person says two similar items like pizza and ice cream (both foods). The second person has to say the thing they like better out of the two - in 3 seconds or less. If they make the time limit they get to say two things to the next person. But if they don't make it, the next person says two items, and so on . . . Added by Ethan Rogers Also see Getting To Know It, Getting to Know You, & Getting To Know You Better
This Game Stinks!Provide 12 film canisters (or similar small containers) for as many students as you have playing. Fill film canisters with different smells. Try 12 different smells (12 teams of 4-5 students), and 5 canisters of each scent (one for each team member). Apply scents on cotton balls. For example, tuna oil, sauerkraut, vinegar, limburger cheese - the smellier, the better. On "Go!" with fun music in the background, have students find the 5 other people who have the same scent as theirs. Added by Sharon Swinerton
Toe FencingAll the players pair off, lock hands, and try to tap the top of one of their partner’s feet with their own feet. In other words, one player tries to step on the other player’s foot while their hands are clasped. Of course, since players are also trying to avoid having their feet stepped on, they are all hopping around the floor in a frantic dance. When a player has had his foot tapped three times, he is out of the game, and the winning partner challenges another winner. The game continues until only one person is left (or until the music runs out). Added by Young Life
Toilet Paper BrideBring 3 willing girls up front. Once there, split the rest of your group into teams. Give each team four rolls of toilet paper. The object of this game is to dress up these volunteers in a full wedding gown including veil, train, bouquet, etc., all using toilet paper. Then have them model their new wedding gowns around up front and give points or awards to the teams with the best outfit. (Also a classic bridal shower game.) Twist: For a funny twist, grab 3 of your biggest, toughest guys and do the same thing (use your own discretion on this one). Added by Nate Loper Also see Toilet Paper Blow & Toilet Paper Bowling, both on Upfront page and Toilet Paper Over Under on Anywhere page.
Toilet Paper Over UnderAge old "Over Under Relay." Divide teams. On "go," each team passes the toilet paper, over the first person's head, under the next person's legs, over the next . . . unraveling it as you go. If toilet paper breaks, the person must tie it together before continuing to unravel. Also see Snowball Fight on Anywhere page and Toilet Paper Blow on Upfront page.
Toilet Seat Toss, aka Horseshoes with a TwistMaterials needed: 2 plungers & 2 toilet seats - one set (2 plungers, 2 seats) for every 2 teams. Instead of using actual metal horse shoes and metal stakes, use two plungers as the stakes and two toilet seats as the shoes. Stick the plungers on the ground 20 feet apart (a flat smooth surface is usually best like a gym floor) the handles will stick up in the air. Then toss the toilet seats and try to ring them around the plunger opposite your team. Have a few extra seats around in case they break (the padded ones I found are more durable). Second hand is fine as long as they are clean. I have used this at a western themed event. Play instrumental western music in the background. Added by Mark Janzen To continue the Western theme, see Cowboy King on Upfront page.
Tootsie Roll SculptureSplit your group into even teams. Give each a bag of tootsie rolls and a pair of latex gloves (available at beauty supply or retail stores) for the "designated sculptor". Instruct your teams to open and chew all the tootsie rolls and spit them onto a paper plate. The designated sculptor then molds the tootsie roll goop into a work of art. Judge by beauty, height... whatever! Added by Mark Hall Also see Banana Surgery, Bubble Gum Sculpture, Fruit Sculpture, Chocolate Tower, & Potato Head Maker
Top DollarDescription: This game is similar to the $1000 Bill Exchange (Click Here). For this game you will need to make your own fake money. You will need to make enough "one dollar bills" to give each person five dollars. The goal of the game is to purchase candy priced at $9, $12, and $15. Provide two small medium candy bars for $9 each, two large candy bars for $12 each and one bag of candy for $15. In order to get enough money to buy their desired item they must challenge their peers to either Thumb Wrestling or Rock Paper Scisors. The winner must recieve a dollar from the loser. They must accept any challenge. A Bankrupt area may be necessary to clear up any confusion. Also prices may have to be adjusted depending on the size of the group. The rules presented here were perfect for a group of 37 kids.
Top MonkeyA silly game - Simon Says meets Paper, Rock, Scissors. STEP #1: One person is the Top Monkey (they make a motion scratching both armpits like a monkey and encourage the crowd to do the same) and they stand in front of the crowd and explain that they are Top Monkey and that all the animals in the jungle want to be Top Monkey. But, sometimes Top Monkey imitates other animals like the snake (they make a snake motion with their arms and encourage everyone to do the same,) the raccoon (they cup both hands and look through them and encourage others to do the same,) or the bunny (they make two bunny ears with their hands on their head and encourage others to do the same.) STEP #2: The Top Monkey tells the crowd that the way they become Top Monkey is by beating Top Monkey at his imitations. Top Monkey then instructs and leads the crowd to go into the Top Monkey position while they repeat "Top Monkey" over and over again, until Top Monkey yells, "Not a monkey!" Then everyone chooses an animal to be besides the top monkey signified by the symbol (snake, raccoon or bunny.) If they match the top monkey they get to remain in the game and remain standing. If not they sit down. Once this is explained with two or three trials, the game begins, but, everyone in the crowd turns around for the game so that nobody can cheat off the top monkey. After their animal is chosen, they turn around to find out if they advance to the next round. NOTE: Expect most people to beat the Top Monkey during the trials when they face the Top Monkey. That's good because it gets everybody's confidence up. STEP #3: Start and continue rounds until one member of the crowd remains. They become Top Monkey for the next game. BONUS STEP: Even though the last remaining member of the crowd is Top Monkey, they "back to back" challenge the old Top Monkey for the Alpha Monkey position until they beat him or her. Reward the Top Monkey with a banana or banana flavored Laffy Taffy. Idea by Jason Schmock
Towel ThrowHere’s a quick game that works in almost any setting…plus everybody gets to play. All you need is a hand towel (or dish towel). Here’s how you do it. Prior to the game, tie a small knot in the middle of a hand towel. (You may want to do this to several hand towels to speed up play.) Then, get everybody that wants to play into a circle, facing inward. This is an “every man for themselves” kind of game. The object is for players to throw the hand towel at the other players in the circle, hitting them BELOW the neck, and eliminating them from play. Players who are hit must leave the circle. The last 4 players standing, are the winners. Here are the rules: 1. Players CANNOT throw the towel at people standing two places on either side of them. (In other words, they need to throw “across” the circle and not at somebody close by.) 2. If a player throws the towel and hits another player in the neck, face, or head, the player who threw the towel is out. (Have a judge handy to make calls about this one. For instance, a player could have thrown a towel low enough, but the other player “ducked” into it.) 3. After a throw (that gets somebody out or misses) ANYBODY who grabs the towel off the floor can throw it. There is no order for throwing. 4. Catching is NOT allowed. Players must absolutely dodge the thrown towel. NOTE: The extra hand towels can be used to speed up the pace of the game so that students aren’t chasing the towel between every throw. You can also use multiple towels at once for a real frenzy! Have fun with this addicting little game!
Train-WreckThis game is much like our "Fruit Basket Upset," "Identity," and "Newspaper Name Nail." Only, here, you work with a partner. All you need for this game is chairs. (Have them set up in groups of two around the room in a random fashion. Make sure there are two less chairs than students. If you have 18 kids, then only put out 16 chairs.) Have each kid pick a partner. Next have the kids sit down in the chairs with their partner and lock their arms together. The pair of kids left standing are "it". The group that is “it” picks a common thing that all/some of the kids have in common. (For instance, anybody with blonde hair, or anybody that’s wearing sneakers, etc.) When the team that's "it" says the statement, whoever falls in that category ALONG WITH THEIR PARTNER must get up and move to another set of empty seats while remaining arm-locked! The pair of kids left without a chair is the new pair that is "it." The kids that are “it” can continue as long as they want, simply picking different categories, or they can say "train-wreck". When the “it” pair yells train-wreck, everyone can unlock arms with their partners and run for another set of chairs that’s empty! But, you must keep the same partner! (In other words, you and your partner must be sitting together, arms locked, when the train-wreck ends.) The only group not in a seat after the train wreck is now “it.” Just keep going!
Travel Alphabet GameTravel Game: See who can find the letters of the alphabet in order just by looking at signs along the journey. Added by Jenny Schneckloth Also see Atlas, Sentence Game, both on Anywhere page & Mad Sentence Dash on Upfront page.
Traveling Musical BalloonsTravel game. Ahead of time, blow up as many balloons as there are students on your bus. Play music and during that time students have to keep the balloons in the air. When the music stops, they have to grab a balloon. The first one to pop the balloon wins that round. We also had a surprise filling a few balloons with helium. They went right up and they still had to move them in the bus. Then when the music stopped, they had to get the balloons, but they stayed stuck to the roof of the bus! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: Check with the bus driver first and see if he is comfortable with the game. If he is, post a person up front to keep any balloons from floating up near the driver and interfering with his driving. Don’t allow play in the first few rows. Also, make sure that the driver won’t be bothered by any popping that might occur and that he can keep his eyes on the road, NOT on the fun in the back of the bus!!! Added by Johan Barnard, Bloemfontein, Free State Province, South Africa
Triangle BallSupplies: 3 tables, 2 buckets, 1 bouncy small ball, lots of students Play like basketball. Set up 3 tables on their sides, like an enclosed triangle. Set bucket in the middle. Place teams on separate sides of the triangle-basketball court. The object is to get the ball in the bucket. If it goes inside the table area, it’s automatically the other team’s ball. Once a teammate has the ball, they cannot move their feet, only pivot. There is a 5 second ball holding rule, then they have to pass the ball. Other Rules: No leaning over tables, anyone can call a jump ball, but once they have the ball they have to get rid of it. Play as long as you need or want to. Get a few youth ministries together to play against each other. Submitted by Anthony Apodaca
TriggerThe group sits in a circle. Each member gives the person on their right a "trigger," such as, "Every time Jenny smiles, you must stand up and sing The Star Spangled Banner." On "Go," everyone watches for their trigger. The object of the game is to guess what other peoples' triggers are. Added by Errin Martin
Trust CircleObject of the Game: To hold up the person in the middle and keep him safe from falling. If you have lots of students, make groups of about 15. One player is chosen to be "it" first. A tight circle of players is formed, alternating physically strong and weak people. The person chosen to be "it" goes into the middle of the circle and crosses his arms across his chest. The "it" stiffens and falls backwards. The players in the circle work together to catch the person and pass him back and forth around the circle. The player in the middle must keep his feet together and near the middle of the circle for this to work well, and players in the circle generally grab the person who is "it" around the arms and shoulders. Each player is encouraged to have a turn. Variations:
Comments: The players who are "catchers" should be careful as they pass the person around and catch him. In the "Courage Camille" variation, care should be taken that the two players who are acting as "catchers" are strong enough to hold the heaviest person participating. The Point: Trust, faith, team building See Board Lift & Trust Lift, on both Anywhere & Upfront pages.
Trust LiftMore of a learning exercise than a game, the object of the game is for a small group to lift a person above everyone's head. One player is chosen to be "it" first. He lies on his back and stiffens himself while everyone else assembles around him. Together everyone lifts him slowly toward the ceiling as he maintains his reclining position. Once he has reached maximum height, the others hold him there for about 30 seconds before slowly lowering him. The Point: Trust See Board Lift & Trust Circle, on both Anywhere & Upfront pages.
T-Shirt ChallengeUse a men's size medium t-shirt, place it flat out on the ground, and see how many students can stand on the t-shirt with no body part touching off of the t-shirt. For extra large groups, you will need to have several t-shirts supplied for everyone to be able to play quickly. Our record stands at 17! Valley Chapel - Juneau, Alaska
Tubal TugGet 5 small to medium sized inner tubes. One of them serves as the middle ring. Tie 4 ropes (ropes should be 8 to 10 ft. in length) to this middle tube (you have to have your tubes tied for this game!) Tie the other ends of the ropes to the other 4 tubes - one rope to each tube. Next you will need 4 cones and 4 tennis balls. Lay out the inner tube contraption, putting the center ring at the center (duh...) and the other 4 stretched out to the noon, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions. Then place the cones with the tennis balls on top about 10 feet out from the inner tubes. People then get in the inner tubes and on "Go!", they attempt to become the 1st person to get the tennis ball off their respective cones (thus a four way tug-o-war). Since they are essentially pulling against 3 other people, from different directions, it's not always the biggest/strongest that wins. Safety Caution: Don't do this game on cement/asphalt - someone always slips or falls down and then gets drug across the ground by the other players. For a total tube fest, see Tubemania on Outdoor page.
Tug-O-FishJust like tug-o-war, but a one-on-one competition with fish. Buy a bunch of dead fish (at least 6 to 8 inches long) from the local fish market and pair people up (use everyone if your group is small, but 5-10 pairs UP FRONT if you have a large group). At "Go!" everyone starts tugging. The first person to let go (whose hands slip off) is out or if the fish breaks, the person with the smallest half of the fish in their hands is out. Do this until there are only 2 people left. Then break out the largest fish you could find for a finale competition. Safety Note: Have hand sanitizer or a sink close by. Or, use latex gloves which can be purchased 100/box at beauty supply stores. Added by Tony Douglas Also see Mud-O-War on Sick & Twisted page.
Turkey HuntIf you are looking for something to do with that extra turkey left over from Thanksgiving, play this game and every one of your students will have a blast! Buy a frozen turkey and thaw it “some.” Buy a cheap box of rubber gloves, so that every student gets a pair (just in case). Before the game, hide the turkey somewhere on the church property (inside or outside). To start the game, form teams of 3-5 by counting the kids off (we did NOT let them pick their own teams to keep it fair). When you say go, each team runs out of the “barn” (youth room) with their arms linked together. They must keep their arms linked during the WHOLE game, or else they are out. In other words, they are not allowed to split up. When a team finds the turkey, a RUBBER-GLOVED MEMBER of the team picks it up and runs back to the “barn” gobbling all the way. If another team intercepts them, that team gets the turkey and wins the prize. Have a cool group prize for the winning team. NOTE: If you have a really, really big group, you may want to use several turkeys. If that is the case, you will need to tell them how many turkeys there are.
TV TagLike regular tag, only when the person who's "it" is about to tag you, duck and say the name of a TV show before being tagged. You can’t get up until another player tags you. If every player but one is ducking that player has to run and tag another so that the game keeps going. Added by Colombiangrl Also see Blob Tag on Outdoor page and Jail Break (Gym Tag), & Jail Break 2 on Big Room page.
Twinkie LaunchBorrow or purchase a clay pigeon thrower. Ours was not the kind you hold in your hand; it was the kind that mounts on a base and fires the clay pigeon with a giant spring and a catapult arm. Without telling them why, I told all participants of the overnighter to bring one wrapped Little Debbie or Hostess product. Later in the evening when the kids needed a snack, I had them all stand in a group at the other end of the gym (our church meets in a gymnasium) and I fired Litte Debbies through the air with the clay pigeon thrower. IT WAS AWESOME!! Eventually I was able to fire three or four at once at a distance of 50 feet and a height of about 13 feet. I also fired some bananas which went the entire length of the gym and splattered on the back wall (oops!-major clean up involved)! SAFETY WARNING: This type of clay pigeon thrower uses EXTREME spring tension. If a student were to play around with it they could literally lose a limb if the catapult arm hit them. COVER THE THROWER until you use it, then remove it from the field/auditorium as soon as you're was done so no one messes with it. POST ADULTS to watch it throughout the event, even when not playing the game. Added by Marc Kidwell
TwisteopardyJeopardy was getting dull and Twister, while physically challenging, wasn't exactly challenging mentally, so I decided to put a little twist in Jeopardy and came up with, TWISTEOPARDY! For this game you will need: - Twister Board (w/ point values written on each circle)(100-600) - 4 bibles - Point Cards - Prizes Split into no more than 4 teams. Each Team chooses one person to represent their team. A leader is the spinner/caller/host. Each color has a different category. Players take their positions and the spinner spins for one player at a time. The player chooses the point value of the category/color, which the spinner spun, that they would like to try for. Caller asks a question (sample questions below); the player can answer immediately or their team has 20-30 seconds to find the answer in the Bible (be sure to give an “address” to the answer), then the team must relay the answer to their representative and the representative answers. If they get it right, the player takes their place on the board and a point card is given to the team. If they get it wrong another team has the opportunity to answer the question. The game continues like so until one of the players is left standing or you run out of point cards/questions. A category we used was “Quirky Characters,” like the following: 1) Which of the following is most known for being hairy? Esau (Gen 25:25, 27:11) 2) Which of the following is most known for being a doubter? Thomas (John 20:25) 3) Which of the following is most known as a reckless driver? Jehu (2 Kings 9:20) The Point: Knowing/enjoying God's Word Added by Rachel
TwisterBuy the board game twister and play three guys, then three girls. See which gender can stay on for the most turns. Also play classes against each other. *Also see Condiment Twister, Slime Twister, & Twister Testimony
Twister TestimonyEvery 'spot' is numbered and a list of questions about one's testimony and faith corresponds to each number. Examples: When did you become a Christian? How have you shown or been shown grace recently? And random questions such as, which do you prefer, Burger King or McDonald’s? And what's your favorite chat-up line? Added by Anna Tipping Also see Messy Message, Mess Mix, Condiment Twister, & Slime Twister, all on Sick & Twisted page; Messy Plexi & Twister on Upfront page.
Valentine Candy MixerPass out Valentine "conversational" heart candy to everyone, then split up into groups and have each group come up with a poem or funny story using what it says on their hearts. Added by Young Life Also see Valentine Toe Freezer on Anywhere page.
Valentine Toe FreezerFor this game you need as many buckets of ice water (or snow) as you'll have teams, with equally distributed candy hearts in them. Break your group into 4-6 person teams. Have them remove their shoes and socks and sit in a circle of chairs with the bucket in the middle. Instruct the teams that on "Go!" they are to quickly as possible "fish out" the candy hearts with their feet. The first team with all their hearts out (on the paper plate or towel you've provided) wins. Give fresh candy hearts as prizes. A twist: the first team to remove all the hearts and read them wins. Added by Young Life Also see Cold Toe Dogs on Sick & Twisted page, Frozen Marbles on Upfront page, & Valentine Candy Mixer on Mixers page.
War (Card Version)This is a modification of the familiar card game, "War". Divide the students into two groups that are even. Hand each student a different playing card from the deck. Finally, have both teams form a single file line facing the other team. One member of each team will come to the middle and "face-off". At the signal, they will say and show their card to the other team. The highest card wins. The winner takes the person who lost, and their card, with them to the end of the winner's line. The loser is now a part of that team. These "face-off's" continue to happen until one team owns everyone. What happens if the two people have the same card? WAR! Just like the card game, you bring up 3 more people from each line. They all show their card, and the third person brought up for the WAR (4th total) matches his card against the third person from the other line (4th total). Highest card wins. All players in the WAR then go to the back of the winning line. NOTE: Just like the card game, this game can tend to go a very short or very long time; so be conscious of your time. You might want to play timed rounds (after a certain amount of time, the team with the most players wins). Also, this game could work for a large group…you just need a couple of decks of cards, though.
War BallWar ball is combination of dodgeball, capture the flag, and hide and seek. Let me explain! You can make your own “war balls” by wadding up two pieces of paper and wrapping them in scotch tape, or simply buying those soft plastic balls that fill children’s “ball pits.” Your call, just make sure every single student who is playing gets 2 war balls apiece. Now, break your group up into 2 equal teams (number-wise and ability-wise). Put one team on one side of your facility and the other team on the other side of your facility. (If you have an upstairs and a downstairs, use that, too!) Designate one team to be the “attacking” team and the other team to be the “defending” team. Turn off almost all of the lights, only leaving a few on. The “attacking” team must take over a designated area – or capture a flag inside the designated area – without getting hit by a war ball thrown at them by the other team. The “defending” team’s objective is to defend, of course! Players may throw their war balls at any point during the game, and can re-throw any war ball they find laying on the “battlefield.” (In other words, war balls can be recycled during play.) If a player is hit, he/she is out of the game. Head shots do not count. If a person is hit in the head, he/she is still in the game. (This should reduce the temptation by some to throw war balls at other students’ heads.) Set a time limit on each game so that they do not go on forever. Plus, you get to switch it up after the first game, making the defending team the attacking team, and vice versa. Oh, and if you make your own war balls, save em! Your students will want to play this one over and over again! Idea by David M.
Weiner WarsWiener War I Those little Vienna weinies are great for this! Give the kids toothpicks and a can of Vienna sausages and see who can make the best wiener creation. NOTE: If you have an extra large group, you may want to break them up into teams of about 15 players each. Wiener War 2 See who can spit one of the little weinies out of their mouth the farthest. Added by Young Life
What’s That On Your 4 Head?This game makes a great audience game for those times when you need to keep your crowd together. It will work for any size crowd; just know that the larger the crowd, the longer the game. Have an adult volunteer come up front to be the "caller". Ask all the students in the room to stand up. Tell them to pick a number between 1 and 5 and then put that number of fingers up to their forehead and hold it there. Count “1-2-3, hold.” (Students should now have their number set on their forehead.) The "caller" (who is facing the opposite direction and can't see the crowd) calls out a number between 1 and 5. Anyone holding up the number that was called out must sit down. At this point, students are allowed to pick another number (or keep the same one) and the game continues. If a student’s number is called out, they are out of the game. Continue until there are only 2 students left. They can have the same number, and risk BOTH being eliminated, or choose separate numbers and try to win it all. Give out a prize to the winner. NOTE: This is a great game to take a picture of. The students look really goofy holding their fingers on their foreheads. Everyone will get a laugh later.
Who Hit Me?All play for small groups (up to 25). Have two guys lie down on the floor (face up, side by side) and put a blanket over them so that they cannot see. Everyone in the crowd forms a circle around them, and one person in the crowd has a rolled up newspaper. The newspaper is passed around to someone who takes it and hits one of the guys under the blanket with it (make the newspaper thin so it doesn't hurt). The "smacker" then gets back into the circle, leaving the newspaper on the blanket. The guy who has been hit counts to 5 and comes out from the blanket and tries to guess who hit him. If he guesses correctly, the person who is guessed goes under the blanket in his place. These are the instructions given to the crowd and to the players. However, one of the guys under the blanket has been clued in ahead of time that he will be given the newspaper and he will reach over and smack the guy laying next to him with it, then pull his arm in under the blanket real fast and play dumb. The guy who is hit will jump up, and his guesses will always be wrong. (Hit the clued-in guy once in a while so that it won't look quite so rigged.) Also see Big Bootie, Getting To Know It, Getting To Know You, Identity Circle, Name Toss, & Who Is It?, all on Anywhere page. Idea from Young Life
Win, Lose, or DrawThis is the same as the old TV version by the same name. It's played like Pictionary, either guys against girls or team against team. A word is given to one member of each team who tries to draw symbols and pictures to lead his/her team to say the word that was given to them. You may not use numbers, letters or the "number sign" (#), anything else is okay. You also may not say anything or do any kind of gestures, to help your team guess the word. You may point to a team member who is on the right track or very close to saying the answer, but no other gestures may be used. You may nod your head to say "yes, that's right" or "no, wrong." Use Pictionary cards if you have them or make up a list of words yourself. Whoever has the most points (words guessed) at the ends wins. If it is a tie, give each team another word and see who can do their word the fastest. The Point: Use words to introduce your topic, or words to fit the season, i.e., Manger, Wise Men, Christmas tree, etc. Also see Pictionary Mania
Wink MurderGet everyone sat in a circle. Choose a “detective” to go out of the room. Amongst everyone remaining choose a “murderer.” Call the detective back in and get them to stand in the middle of the circle. The murderer then has to wink at people in the circle, without the detective noticing. When the “victims” are winked at, they have to do an elaborate death, and fall over onto their backs. Once murdered, the student must stay dead for the entire game. After each murder has occurred, the detective is allowed ONE guess as to who the murderer is. If the detective is wrong three times in a row (in other words, three different murders have taken place), the murderer wins the game. If the detective guesses correctly within the three rounds, the detective wins. Variation: Instead of playing games that are based on three rounds, you can simply play until the detective guesses the murderer, or until the murderer murders the whole group.
Winking Game, TheGreat Small Group game. Form a circle of chairs. Girls sit on chairs; guys stand behind girls’ chairs. One guy stands behind a vacant chair. Rules: Guys stand with hands behind their backs. Girls sit upright on the chairs. The guy with the empty chair has to wink at a girl to invite her to his chair. She must try to move to his chair. As soon as she moves, her 'protector' may try and stop her by placing his hands on her shoulders. No grabbing and ripping clothes allowed! Guys swap with girls after a while. Some guys may need to 'be girls' or vice versa. Added by Justin Smith in South Africa
World War AlphabetThis game can be played anywhere, but is best for small groups of students, or tons of students broken up into small groups. Make sure that there are no more than 7 students in each group. Put the students in a circle and give each of them something to write with and something to write on. When they get their writing utensils and paper, have them write out the English alphabet in a list form: A B C etc. Now tell them when you say, “go,” they will have 3 minutes to write ONE WORD beside each letter about a certain topic. However, the word they choose MUST start with the letter it is written beside. (For example, if the topic is “food,” they can write hamburger by the “H” and pizza beside the “P.”) If they cannot come up with a word for the letter, they can just leave it blank. The objective is to be the person with the most points at the end of the game. Students are awarded 1 point for every answer they give that starts with the correct letter on the condition that no one else chose that word as well. So, if the topic is food, and two students write down hamburger for “H,” neither of them gets the point. The words have to be in accordance with the correct letter, and unique to the rest of the group. After the 3 minutes is up, “score” the students by having one person say their word out loud. Students must pay attention to make sure they do not have the same answer, as it would not count. Possible Topics Include: Friends Food God Fun Activities School Music Family TV Shows Idea by Jasper J.
Yelling MatchGroup is divided into two equal teams. Each team sits in a single row facing the opponent team across a room. Each team picks out a piece of paper with a message on it. The messages should be common phrases or Bible verses relevant to your topic with about 5-10 words in it. Each person on a team is assigned a word from the message. If there are more team members than words, same words can be assigned to multiple people. At a given count, the entire team yells out their assigned word in unison to the opposing team. The opposing team repeats the process. Each team has one guess at deciphering the message. The yelling is repeated until one team guesses the correct message. The Point: Listening through the "loud" messages all around you Added by Donald Jin
Your Number is UpGreat for dividing into teams. Instruct your whole group to walk randomly around the room. About every ten seconds or so, call out a number. Everyone in the game must immediately form a group hug, made up of the number of people that you called. This sometimes leaves some people unable to form a group because they don't have enough people — they are out of the game. Repeat until you only have two people left and declare them the winners. Also see Clumps on Mixers page.
Zip ZapGather your group and have them sit in a circle. This is a simple game consisting of 2 words- "Zip" and "Zap". One person will begin the "flow" by turning to the person next to them and saying "Zip". The flow will continue in the same direction with everyone saying "Zip" until someone decides to reverse the flow by saying "Zap." At that time, the person who just got "zapped" will look at the "zap"-er and say "Zip!" Flow then reverses from it's original with everyone saying Zip again. Example: The "Zip" starts clockwise around the circle until 1 person looks the other way and says "Zap." Then the "Zip" flows counterclockwise until someone else says "Zap." Zip continues the flow, Zap reverses it. If someone says the wrong word, mumbles, stalls, or looks the wrong way for the word they said, they're out. Continue playing until down to 2 players. Added by Tim Mayfield Also see Big Bootie & Zip Zap Bop, both on Anywhere page.
Zip Zap BopPlayed like Newspaper Name Nail with a few changes. Everyone is to learn the names of the persons to their left and right. Zip means left and Zap means right. The person in the middle says a person's name and either Zip or Zap. The person called must say the name of the person to their right or left, depending on what the person in the middle said, Zip or Zap. The person in the middle tries to bop them on the head with the newspaper before they can say it. Also see Big Bootie, Newspaper Name Nail, & (regular) Zip Zap, all on Anywhere page. |
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