GAMES FOR YOUTH MINISTRY

Antique Statues

Provide dark t-shirts that are wet with water to volunteer team members and allow them to change. Give each team a large bowl of flour. Team members cover their volunteer with flour and create antique statues. Team that gets the most flour on “statue” instead of floor wins

Variation – create themes – Disney Characters – Movie Villains – Saints – Sports, etc

Balloon Hoop Race

You will need a hoola hoop and large balloon for each team. Divide the youth group into two or more teams. The first player must take the balloon, put it between their knees, and run towards the hoola hoop that is being help by an adult at the finish line. They must get the balloon in the hoop, without using their hands. If they drop the balloon on the way to the hoop, they must stop, pick it up, and go back to the spot where they dropped it from. Once they get it in the hoola hoop, they pick up the balloon in their hands, and run back to their line, giving the balloon to the next player who will follow the same procedure. The first team to have everyone complete the process, and are sitting in a straight line wins!

Balloon Tag

Blow up a balloon for each teen (and more if you want to play more than once), and tie it to a strand of string or ribbon like the type frequently attached to balloons you purchase. The string/ribbon should be 2 – 3 feet in length. Teens tie the balloon to their ankle. Object of the game is to be the last teen with an intact, inflated balloon. All wait until the leader calls “go!” Then the teens run and try to stomp and pop someone else’s balloon while protecting their own. Add music to make this even more fun.

Banana

Break the group up into groups and give each group a banana and tell them to cut it up. Then give them tape, tacks and glue and ask them to put it back together again. After attempting this impossible task, stop to discuss how hard it is to repair errors that we make. Sometimes they cannot be repaired, so it is wise to think carefully about the consequences of things we say or do before taking action.

Banana Split Activity

Get together the ingredients you need to make 64 banana splits. 64 of each of the following: Bowls, spoons, bananas, ice cream, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, whip cream. Divide the ingredients to be eight servings i.e. a stack of eight bowls. Divide everybody into eight even groups and give each group only one ingredient. Now every person in the group has a stack of 8 of one of the needed ingredients. Once all the ingredients are handed out, get everybody to form new groups that have all eight of the banana split ingredients. There should now be newly formed groups of 8 people which now have enough supplies to make one banana split for each person in the group. When each group has made their splits ask them to sit down and share something like – favorite childhood movie, book, super hero, etc.

Better Bucket Brigades

You need a large open space and at least four large buckets, one paper cup per person. Before teens arrive, arrange the buckets on the field, fill up the starting buckets with equal amounts of water. Divide the group into equal teams with at least five players in each team. The more players in a team the better. Have players line up in a straight line between the full bucket at one end of the field and the empty bucket at the other end. Give each player a paper cup. The player closest to the full bucket is the “scooper” and the player at the end of the line is the “dumper.” At the signal the “scooper” scoops a cup full of water from the bucket and pours it into the cup of the player in front of her. That player turns and pours the water into the next player’s cup before turning and getting a fresh cup of water from the scooper. Players continue scooping and passing water until the full bucket is empty. Victory is determined by which team has the most water in their bucket at the end of the relay. In case of a tie, the win goes to the team that finished ahead of the other.

Variations: One Cup. Instead of giving each player a cup, use only a few cups per team.

Over-and-Under. Again, each team has just a few cups to work with. But they have to pass the cups over-and-under: players line up with their backs to the goal bucket, the first player passes the cup up over her head, the next player takes the cup and passes the cup low between his legs.

Spread the Wealth. Instead of having players groups close together, have them spread out so that they cannot pass the water directly. Teams will have to decide whether they should run to each other or try tossing the water. Let the teams come up with creative solutions, but have one rule – each player must handle each cup of water at least once as it travels down the line (players can handle a cup of water more than once if they like.)

Bible Team Pictionary

Split into 2 teams and move into “sides”: boys vs girls, Confirmed vs candidates, by schools, etc. Have a large white board at the front of the room. Create the playing cards by using 3x5 index cards and putting bible words, persons, or objects on them, examples: 10 commandments, heaven, hell, bread, Holy Spirit, cross, Mary, etc.

Play the game like Pictionary– a team member picks a card and has 1 minute to draw it, while their team tries to guess. The other team should be silent. If the team guesses they get one point, if they do not guess correctly the other team gets one minute to try and win the point. Teen “artists” cannot write numbers or letters. If the “artist” doesn't know what is on the card, have them pick another card.

Big Squeeze, The

Easy and fun game for a big group. Divide into 2 or more teams (more people, more teams) and announce that each team will be racing to squeeze into the shape of the item mentioned. For example: if the leaders yell out the word "football" the teams must squeeze into the shape of a football as would be seen from above. Keep score- first team to 10 wins. Be sure to play fun music as the teens are “squeezing”. As soon as you pause the song, yell out the shape and watch them scramble to group up.

Ideas - Squeeze into the shape of . . .

California

A dog

A pair of sunglasses

A baseball bat

A shark

A map of the U.S.A.

Your youth minister

Blind Square

You need a team of more than four people, blindfolds for all team members, a level playing field and about 20 - 50 ft. of rope. The rules are simple, each player needs to keep at least one hand on the rope at all times. Working together, the team must try and form a perfect square in a given period of time. (Five to ten minutes works well.)

Blind Water Balloon Volleyball

Using a van or opaque shower curtain, lay down two bedsheets on each side of whatever his hanging in the center as the “net.” You should not be able to see through the “net.” Have each team sit on their bedsheets with their water balloons. Each team tries to throw over a water balloon so that it hits the sheet on the other side. Because the teams cannot see the other team, it is harder to be ready to catch the flying water balloons.

Bobbing for Ho-Hos

Got milk? Got some Ho-Hos? How about a big bowl? That’s all you need for this game. Like bobbing for apples, you put the milk and Ho-hos in the bowl and let people bob for the chocolate treats. The person who gets the most of them wins.

Bombs Away

Find a space in your youth area about four feet wide by twenty feet long. Use some tape to mark this game area out clearly. Take six or seven pieces of construction paper and randomly place them in the area that's been marked off.

Break your group into two teams. Each team is to pick a 'guide' who will direct teammates down the four foot by twenty foot corridor while they are blindfolded. Blindfolded youth must walk from one end of the corridor to the other end without touching the tape boundaries or any of the bombs (pieces of construction paper). Use a stop watch to record the duration of each youth's effort.

When a youth steps on a bomb or on or past a tape boundary, hit a pot with a spoon or make some such loud noise simulating a bomb going off. Record the number of times errors are made.

Total the times needed for each team to walk the maze and add ten seconds for each time a bomb goes off. After each youth attempts to traverse the maze, change the locations of the construction paper so that no one can memorize the locations of the bombs. The total team time plus the penalty seconds will determine the winning team.

Build a Snowman

You will need one cup of icing or Cool Whip for each pair of players. You will also need a small handful of colored candies for each pair of players. Teams play as partners. On "Go," one of the partners puts icing all over the face of the other partner. They are to put the colored candies on their face to decorate. The object of the game is to see how nice they can make their snowman look, not how fast can they decorate them. You can set a time limit, especially if you have a big group of teens. The winning team is the one who gets the loudest cheers! When using Cool Whip, the game can be extended by using squirt guns to “melt the snowman”.

Cell Phone Scavenger Hunt

Create a list of items and ideas. Such as a Rub a Statue’s belly, A Cross, 3 People over 30, a bunch of white flowers, etc. Assign points to each item. Send the teens out in teams with an adult leader to locate the items. Each team must have one member who has a cell phone that can take photos. All items get photographed on a cell phone. First team back with all items wins. Or team with the highest point value at the end of the allotted team wins. Hints – set boundaries: are you staying on church property or is this activity on a field trip, define the geographical boundaries. Include “an image of God” then at the end suggest the teens keep their God image on their phone – when they are feeling low at school or home they need only reach for their cellphone to be reminded they are a child of God

Circle Toss

Gather the teens in circle. The leader has a supply of random objects to throw, (examples tennis ball, stuffed animal, t-shirt tied into a knot, etc), it doesn't matter what they are as long as they can be thrown. The leader starts by calling a teens name and throwing the first item to them. That teen throws it to someone else, saying their name, and so on and so forth. When it gets back to the leader, he/she brings out another object and repeats the process. This can be repeated as many times as objects you have. Or start throwing multiple objects at the same time so that there are several items flying. For added fun, time it and see how fast they can get it while still clearly saying the next persons name.

Consequences Hot Potato

A variation of traditional Hot Potato. Gather teens standing into groups of 5 to 8. Each group gets a “potato” type object. Music starts and the “potato” gets passed or tossed within the group. When the music stops whoever is holding the “potato” must perform a consequence announced by the Leader. Suggested consequences – jump up and down 4 times on one leg, hug someone who is wearing green, chew a piece of gum and blow a bubble, etc. Please be aware of the limitations and sensitivities within your group.

Cross the Line.

A variation of Red-Light Green Light - Cross the Line. Line the youth up in a straight line at one end. Draw a line, or place a string or colored tape on the ground for a finish line. Then ask a series of questions with the following as examples:

How many of you slept in a tent the past year?

How many of you have gone to a circus?

How many of you play a musical instrument?

How many of you went out of state for a vacation this past summer?

Who saw a good movie last summer?

Who can warn us of a bad movie, to be avoided, that you saw in the past year?

Recite a Bible verse.

Dance

Everyone gets into a circle and one teen is chosen to go first. They have to perform one action such as jumping, scratching their head, etc. The second teen repeats the first teen’s action, and then adds their own. The third teen has to repeat the first and the second teens’, and then add their own. This then goes on around the circle, with each teen acting out all the movements IN THE RIGHT ORDER, or they are "out" and have to watch for the rest of the game.

Donut on a String

Tie a donut to a string and the string to a pole. Then have someone lay on the floor. The other person has to hold the pole so that the person laying on the floor can try to eat the donut without using his or her hands. The first team to eat the whole donut wins. (It’s really harder than it sounds.)

Duck Duck Goose Variation

Everyone holds hands and makes a circle. There are going to be two people holding hands outside the big circle, we’ll call them IT. IT will be on the outside of the circle and they will go around and then touch the hands of any two people who are linked together. The two people who have touched will then run around the circle in the opposite way as IT and try to get back to their place before IT gets there. If they do not make it before IT then they will become IT and the game continues. If any two pairs of people do not make it back when they are IT, a small penalty will be given to them, such as sing I’m a little Tea Pot, or say a prayer, or do the Macarena, etc…

Guess Who

As the teens arrive for youth ministry, tape the name of a Bible character to the back of each person. They cannot see the name and only the other participants will know which character they represent. Each person can ask questions about who they are (for example, male or female, Old or New Testament). The first person to guess who they are wins, and so on. You can have multiple prizes as each member guesses who they are.

"Ha ha" game.

Youth stand in a circle. One youth is designated to begin. He or she turns to the next youth and states "ha" while staring into their eyes. There are no restrictions as to how to say "ha". It can be stated loudly, softly, drawn out, sung, anyway the speaker feels he can induce laughter in the listener. If the speaker or the listener laughs (even a little giggle), he or she is out. The recipient then turns to the next youth and states/sings "ha ha". The game continues to "ha ha ha", "ha ha ha ha" and finally "ha ha ha ha ha", before going backwards - four "ha's" - three "ha's" and the like.

Continue around the circle until all but one person is left who, then, can be crowned "stone faced champion". The game is equally fun for those who have gone out as they watch their friends try to induce laughter in others

Human Alphabet

As teens enter the room, give everyone a pre-typed sheet of paper with each letter of the alphabet on the vertical left side. Everyone attempts to find out something about others that starts with one of the letters. Put the teen’s name and info on a line. Cannot use the same teen more than two 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.
Sample:
A______
B______
C______
D______
Examples:
Jamal broke his arm in 6th grade.
Alana plays basketball.
Nissa’s favorite candy is Snickers.
Evan’s Dad is a dentist.
Human Knot