Amoeba Tag

Select one teen to be “it”. This person will be the one who will first “tag” other teens. Explain to the group that when you are tagged you join hands with the teen who tagged you. This will create an “amoeba” as the group of tagged players grows. Only someone with a free hand can tag another player, so only the teens at the front and the back of the chain can tag at any given time. The group must move as a unit to accomplish their goal of tagging every teen and resetting the game with a new “it.”

To start the game “it” counts to ten to give players a chance to scatter.

Ankle Balloon Pop

Give 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.

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

• 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 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 Spin

Let your youth seat in a circle either on the floor or on chairs, place a spinner in the middle. Spin it. Whoever it points to must pick up the bible and open it randomly without thinking twice. Wherever the person opens he/she must read just one verse and then must just share in one minute what he/she gets from reading that verse. Do this until almost everyone has had a chance.

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 3×5 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 Soccer

Have the teens form a circle facing into the center, give one teen a soccer ball. Teens stand with their feet spread about 3 feet from leg to leg. They have their feet right up against the feet of the person standing next to them. One player starts by throwing a soccer ball across the circle, trying to get the ball through the leg opening and have the ball exit the circle. The “target teen” tries to block the ball from going out. If the ball does go between their legs, that teen turns and faces out so now they are playing backwards to the group. If a backwards player has the ball go between their legs, they are then eliminated from the circle. Teens need to defend against the ball going between two players as well. If the ball goes in the opening between two teens then both teens turn around. Players may not reach over and throw the ball between the legs of someone standing right next to them.

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 person’s name.

Chocolate Game

Supplies for each group: chocolate bar, pair of dice, rubber gloves, apron or large shirt, fork and knife. For each group place a supersize bar of chocolate, still in its wrapper, in the center of a table. To make the game last longer, you could add additional layers of wrapping paper. The group sits around the table and take turns rolling the dice, one roll at a time, until someone rolls a total of six. The 1st person who rolls a six gets to start eating the chocolate block — but only after they put on the pair of rubber gloves and the  apron/large shirt, and then runs once around the table; Then with only with the knife and fork they must remove the wrapper and cut and eat the squares of the chocolate one at a time. While each player is getting ready (ie gloves, apron/shirt, run around table) to eat the chocolate bar, the rest of the group keeps taking turns rolling the dice. If someone rolls a six, then the person who rolled the six before him relinquishes his right to the chocolate block, and the 2nd person must try to eat the chocolate before someone else rolls six. The game is over when the chocolate is finished.

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.

Clusters

Have the group mill around, call out a number. People have 30 seconds to be found in a group of that number. If you called out 3 then groups of 2 or 4 will be eliminated. Groups can steal a person from another group, or defend itself against an interloper who would attach and disqualify all of them.

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.

Criss-Cross

Divide into 4 teams. Send each team into a corner. The object of the game is to see which team can get to the opposite (diagonal) corner the fastest using the designated method that the leader calls out (eg. if the leader calls out “hopping,” the teams must hop to the opposite corner). This will create a “bottleneck” or “traffic jam” in the middle each time. Keep score of which team wins each crossing. First team to 5 wins.

Good Crossing Methods:

• Hopping
• Wheel barrel (one person holding a partner’s legs while they walk on hands)
• Crab Walk
• Sprint
• Backwards Walk
• Skipping
• Crawling

 

Cups and Downs

Supplies: 20 identical cups – plastic Solo Cups work well – for each group

Divide group into 2 teams. If group is very large divide into several sets of teams, each team with 10-15 players

Name the teams as “Ups” or “Downs”.

Place the 20 cups in the middle of the room, with half right side up, and half upside down.

On your “start” the teams race to their middle and “Up” team needs to turn as many cups up the right way as possible, as the “Down” team is attempting to turning them all upside down.

At the end of your time – count the up cups, and the down cups, and declare the winner. Add fun and energetic music.

 

Cup Stack Relay

Each team lines up about 15 feet from their table which has 15 cups stacked up like a pyramid. The first player

will run to the table and collapse their pyramid so that all the cups now sit inside each other, and then runs back

to their group. The next player runs up and restacks all the cups back into the pyramid formation before running

back to their team for the next player. Continue this pattern, one builds the next one collapse. The last player

should re-build the pyramid, which means the 1^st player may need to go twice. 1^st team where all players have

had a turn and the team has a standing pyramid wins.

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…

Elf Defense

SUPPLIES NEEDED: two different colored balloons, 25 to 50 of each for two teams of play. Form two teams of elves. Each team must defend its treasure (a pile of balloons) while attempting to steal or destroy the other team’s treasure. Use one color of balloons for one team, and another color for the other team. Designate a time period (five to 10 minutes) to play the game. When the time ends, each team’s unpopped balloons count 100 points each. Stolen, un-popped balloons count 200 points each

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 8th grade. Alana plays basketball.

Nissa’s favorite candy is Snickers.

Evan’s Dad is a dentist.

 

Human Foosball

The game is just like table top foosball but with real people. Use a soft foam ball, approx. soccer ball sized in order to avoid accidental injuries from aggressive kicks and air-born balls. To mark you “court” use painter’s tape on a gym or hall floor to create the space – known as a lane -for each row of players. Each lane should be about 4ft wide and go the entire width of your court. Number each lane. All Even lanes are for team A, Odd lanes are for team B. Mark off a Goal at each end of the court using 2 chairs about 3 feet apart. Or create a goal on the wall that is a 3ft by 3ft square using painter’s tape

Divide the teens into 2 teams of 20 to 25 players. Each team then divides up into groups of 4 or 5 players per row and then each row of players gets one lane. All players on the same team will face the opposite team’s goal. Row Players in each lane need to hold hands at all times. Each row of players can only move side to side and must stay within their lane, they cannot go forward or backward. They move as a group all going side to side together. They cannot step outside of their marked lane. Players can only kick the ball with their feet, they cannot use their hands or head.

The game starts by rolling the ball into play from the mid-court starting area between the two teams. Players try and kick the ball forward past the opposing team. Play continues until a penalty occurs, the ball is out of reach or out of bounds, or a goal is missed, or is scored.

Players cannot use their hands. If they touch the ball with their arms or hands, it will be a penalty. The ball must stay below the hands of the team or a penalty is called on the kicking team. When a penalty occurs, the ball should be placed back at mid court at the feet of one of the non-offending team and the game restarted.

 

Hula Hoop Relay

Create teams which have an even number of players and have them line up in single file lines. Instruct the teens that they must take the hand of the person on their right and left. The first and last teen in line will only be holding the hand of one person. Explain that each team must pass the hula hoop down the line without breaking their grip. If they unlink hands at any point, the team must start over (or they incur a penalty that you create). When you tell the teams to start, they must pass the hula hoop down the line as quickly as possible by contorting their hands, arms and entire bodies so that they can fit through the hula hoop and then pass it to the next person

 

Human Knot

The Human Knot is a classic game that gets the youth to trust and work with each other. You have each person get in a circle and hold hands with someone, who is not on either side of them, and you cannot hold the same person’s hand. Then the youth try to untangle themselves (without releasing hands) and get back into the circle. This game takes room but no supplies and makes the youth work together.

 

Human Scrabble

Break the youth up into groups of about 10. Give each person a sheet of paper, marker, and a piece of tape. Have each person write a letter of the alphabet on the paper and tape it to the front of his or her shirt. Now give the teams 4 minutes to come up with as many words as possible using the letters on their chests. Minimum 3 letters per word. Give each team 2 points for each letter used and an additional 5 points if it is a biblical word. The team with the most points wins.

 

Hungry, Hungry, Alligators

Supplies = For each team you need 1 rolling mechanic, furniture dolly, or oversized skateboard (4 wheels, teens will lay on this) and one plastic tub or crate. Lots of balloons.

Place balloons in center of the room, scatter the teams around the outside.

One teen lies belly down on the dolly and bends their knees so their feet are now toward the ceiling. They hold their crate straight out in front, open side down (Alligator). Another teammate (driver) grabs the ankles of the teen on the dolly. On the word go, the drivers push their alligators into the center. The alligators try and capture balloons with their crate, when filled the driver pulls the alligator back to the team area with the captured balloons. After 2 passes have other teammates become the alligator and drivers, keep switching until all have had a turn. When time is up the team with the most balloons in their area wins. Add lots of fun music.

 

I Love My Neighbor!

Everyone sits in a circle on chairs except the teen who is “it”. “It” begins by saying “I love my neighbor especially when they…(blank). “It” fills in the blank with something that applies to him/ her and others in the group. Everyone to whom that applies, including “it” gets up and runs to get a different seat. Whoever is left standing is the “it” in the middle.

Example: I love my neighbor especially when they….. wear shoes, have earrings in, are 15 years old, learn Spanish.

 

I Love You Baby

Any sized group can play. Place everyone’s name in either a “mens” or “womens” hat. Everyone sits in a circle, and one person is picked to start the game. They choose a name from the hat of the opposite gender (guys choose a gal’s name; ladies choose a gent’s name). The basic play goes like this: The person who is “it” says to the person whose name they drew, “I love you baby, wont’ you give me your smile?” The person they ask must reply without smiling “I love you baby, but I just can’t give you my smile” If they can answer without smiling, the person who was “it” must draw another name and ask the question again until someone smiles.

Then they’re it. The person who is “it” can use whatever theatrics they’d like such as getting down on one knee, batting eyelashes, making faces, silly voices, getting very close, singing, etc., to try to get the other person to smile. You should announce in advance if they can or cannot make physical contact such as sitting on a lap.

 

I Never

This game requires a bag of Starburst candy or Hershey’s kisses, etc enough for everyone in the group to have 6 or 8 pieces. Tell the teens to each take 6 to 8 pieces of candy, but they are not to eat them. Group the teens into circles of 6 to 8 participants. Going around the circle a teen will state something they have never done that they think the others have – for example “I’ve never been to Disneyland”. If the other teens have done the statement (been to Disneyland) they must give the speaking teen one of their Starburst/Kiss. If they have not done the statement, then the speaker must surrender a piece of candy to them. Keep going around one or more times until the time for the game is up. Teens can eat the loot only at the end. Have extra candy so no one is left out.

Variation: Bluffing – If a teen challenges the speaker’s statement and the speaker was trying to bluff the group

the speaker must surrender all their loot to the challenger.

 

Landmines

Materials needed, blindfolds, Water balloons (can be substituted by Styrofoam coffee cups, or various other dry things for inside use), and students. Set up the minefield by randomly placing the water balloons in a marked section of ground (a concrete slab or basketball court work well for this. grass also works, but you will need to set boundaries). Teens are in groups of about 4 or 5. Give each team a blindfold. Put the blindfolds on one member of each team. The point of the game is for the team to get across the minefield with the fewest casualties the fastest. If a person touches a mine he/she is out (if it bursts water on them, it just makes it more fun). The team members must be their eyes and tell them which way to go. The blindfolded people crossing the field must stay within the set boundaries, and only one person per team may be on the minefield at a time (so they can’t lead them by touch). Team members help each other by shouting directions. Works best if mines are close together and if teams are close together. Sponsors may yell out random directions to try to throw them off. The trick is (don’t tell the kids this till after it’s over) for the person in the minefield to pick out a certain voice and listen to that one voice. Then its easy to connect this to listening to the voice of God above all others.

 

Line ‘em up

The leader calls out what the criteria for the lineup is, for instance by height, and people line up. When the line has been formed the teens turn to their neighbors and learn each other’s name. Repeat four or five times with new criteria. Or break a large group into several teams and have them compete as to who can get lined up correctly the fastest. Add simple prizes lie a bag of chocolates for the winning team to share.

Criteria ideas:

Age, Height, Alphabetically by name, street, school, or middle name; Shoe size; hair length or color; birth month; number of siblings; Height they can jump; rainbow order of shirt color; etc.

 

Living Sculpture

Toilet paper, saran wrap, and tin foil are used to make sculptures out of one person per team. The team with the best sculpture in the time allotted wins. The “sculpture” volunteer stands in a position while the team wraps toilet paper, saran wrap and tin foil around him or her to create a “work of art.” This game can also be played using shaving cream – for added fun in the summer use squirt guns to remove the shaving cream. Another twist is to base the sculptures on characters from popular movies, TV shows or even Disney cartoons.

 

Marshmallow Game

You will need large marshmallows for this game. Divide the youth group into two teams (maybe more teams depending on how many teens are present). Give each teen a marshmallow. The first player must lick the marshmallow, stick it to their forehead, and run to the finish line and back, to tag the next person. The next player does the same, until each player has had a turn. If the marshmallow falls off, they have to stop, stick it back on, and continue. The first team to be sitting in a straight line wins! Play upbeat, energetic music while game is played. The music starts on “Go” and stops when a team wins.

 

Marshmallow Towers

Use masking or painters tape and define a territory of a circle or box approx. 8 feet in diameter for each team. The team territories should be about 8 to 10 feet apart and grouped together rather than being in a line. Gather teens into groups of 5 to 7. Give each team 12 or more large plastic cups and one bag of large marshmallows. The leader calls go. Each team tries to build a tower using all of their cups. At the same time they throw marshmallows at the other team’s towers to try and knock them down. Team members should stay in their own circle “territory”. Sooner or later though the teens will start to just run and throw marshmallows at each other, it’s okay let them have fun ☺ Add music!

 

Minute Movies

Break the teens into groups of 6-8 people per team. Each team has 5-10 minutes to create a skit of one minute in length which represents a movie. When time is up have each group give their movie in a minute skit to the whole youth group as an audience. The audience tries to guess the movie. Award points or trophies if desired. Added twist no words can be used in the skit.

 

Mix & Meet (the M & Ms game)

Break into groups of 10-15, each group has a bowl or bag of M&Ms. Each person gets a random number of M&M’s, however they cannot eat them yet.

Assign a different meaning to each color:

Blue = family, Green = school, Yellow = friends, Red = hobbies, Brown = music/movies

However many M&Ms they have in their hands, that is how many facts they have to tell. For example, if they have three blue, they would have to say three facts about their family

 

Mummy

Break participants up into two equal groups. Select 1 teen from each group to be the Mummy. Give each group two rolls of toilet paper. Start with “GO” and the first group to completely wrap their Mummy in toilet paper (from head to toe) wins. They must use one full role. For round two give a prize for the most creatively posed Mummy.

 

Musical Squirt Gun

Break into groups of 6 to 8. Each group will need a standard toy water squirt gun filled with water. On the word “Go” (or the start of music) the squirt gun is passed around until the music stops or until the leader says, “Stop”. The person who is holding the squirt gun at that time is out. But before they leave, they may squirt the person on their left twice, or on their right twice, or once each. The last person standing wind. Note – the squirt gun should be passed with two hands and received with two hands (otherwise it will be frequently dropped and will break). It is best to have a second loaded squirt gun on hand to be substituted for the empty one.

 

Number and Words

Teens pair up into groups of two facing each other. They have their hands behind their backs. The Leader calls out a word or phrase that has up to 10 letters in it. On the word of the Leader, the players hold up a combination of fingers 1-10 to match the number of letters only. First partner who gets it right wins. This is an elimination game; have a prize for the final winner.

 

Ninja

Players stand in a circle. Players take turns, going around the circle. The player who is up can make one quick motion in order to slap the hand of another player. The motion must last not much more than 1 second. The player freezes in the position he or she ends in. The player being assaulted must try, also with one quick move, to evade being hand-slapped. This move must also last not much more than 1 second and the player then freezes in whatever position he or she ends in. If a players’ hand is slapped, they are eliminated from the circle. If a players’ move is not swift and quick, they are eliminated from the circle.

 

Olympics

Have a one night or a summer long Olympics. Create your own events suggestions include volleyball, spelling bee, charades, darts, track and field, Bible trivia and pie eating. During the Olympics church members come and are judges of events. Before judging, they share their faith journey with the youth.

 

Open or Closed?

This icebreaker is a simple as passing a book around a circle. The leader starts and states to the person to the left, ‘ I pass this to you closed’ or ‘I pass this to you open’. The leader may pass the book actually open or closed regardless of what is stated because the open or closed status depends not on the state of the book but whether or not the leader’s legs are crossed or open at the time the book is passed. It usually takes five or six times around the circle for people to “get it”. Place youth leaders at various points on the circle so that at least some people know how to play the game from the beginning. This is a good lead in to a discussion on the topic ‘things aren’t what they first seem’ and ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’.”

 

Organized Mingling Mixer

Get an even number of teens and staff in the room. (Add your staff as needed to make the number even.) teens and staff mingle to music and shake hands. When the music stops, everyone must find another person and shake hands. The leader calls out a question they must ask of whomever they are shaking hands. Use fun and serious questions Hint: you can use questions that will kick off that night’s discussion.

Sample questions:

• What is your favorite pizza?
• What is your favorite kind of weather and why?
• If you could go anywhere on a vacation for a week, where would you go?
• What would you do with $1,000 dollars cash right now?
• Share a moment in your life where you remember being the
• Share a moment in your life where you were really

Paper Bag Skits

Create one paper bag kit for each team. Place random items into the paper bags. The items can vary in each bag. Each team is given a bag and must create a skit that is in the theme. Every item in the bag must be used, every person on the team must play a part. Theme ideas: “Bible Parable” “Disney/Pixar Animated Movie” “Super Bowl Commercial”, etc

 

Pass the Egg

Divide into teams and line the teams up, or have them gather into a circle. Each teams gets one raw egg. They must pass the egg around the circle. First team to pass around the circle without breaking the egg wins.

Variations:

• Over and Under – pass the eggs over-and-under: Teams line up with alternating players facing each (note every other person is back to back).The first player passes the egg up over their head, the next player takes the egg and passes it low between their
• 2 eggs: left hand to left hand, and right hand to right hand, both going around circle at same
• Skip: Players skip the person next to them and pass the egg to 3rd person. All feet must stay in place. Teens lean across, around, or behind to Egg goes around circle twice so each person touches it.
• No hands variations: neck to neck, knee to knee, elbow to elbow, or feet to

Pile up

Start with teens pulling their chairs into a circle

The leader gives a command like “If you have blue eyes, move three places to the right.” Everyone with blue eyes moves and sits (or piles up) on those who are sitting 3 places to the right. Give the next command, move teens in both directions, and various numbers of places to skip. Commands can refer to grade level, number of siblings, birth month, favorite TV shows, age, color of clothing, etc. Have adult helpers remove the empty chairs

 

Pillow Jousting

For each station you need:

• solid “plank” wood from lumber store either 2×6 or 2×8 approx 8 feet long
• stands to hold the plank about one foot above the ground. Chairs or mason blocks work well 2 pillows

Divide the teens up into teams. Each station can accommodate 2 teams. The teams line up and each send a

“jouster” up on to the wood plank. The jousters use a pillow to try and knock their opponent off the plank. Proceed with pairing off and each team counts their wins or Winner stays up and takes the next opponent from the other team.

 

Popcorn Race

You will need a bucket full of popped popcorn and an empty bucket for each team, plus a dessert-sized paper plate for each player. Divide the youth group into two or more. The first player scoops their plate into the full bucket of popcorn. Then they hop on one foot to the finish line and pour what ever is left on their plate into their empty bucket. Then they run back and tag the next person in line, who does the same process. The team who has the most popcorn in their bucket at the finish line wins!

 

Protect the President

For this game all you need is a volleyball-sized Nerf ball. All the kids stand in a wide circle with two people in the middle. One person in the middle is the President. The other is the Bodyguard. The people in the circle have the Nerf ball, and throw it at the president. The bodyguard may do anything to block the ball with his body jump, squat, dive, etc. The ball may NEVER touch the president. If the ball touches the President at any time, the person who threw the ball (or the last person to touch it) then becomes the Bodyguard, the Bodyguard becomes the President, and the President goes back into the circle.

 

Pyramids

Select 10 players for each team. The first team to build a pyramid using all their players, (without falling over) wins. Start with the first four or five players on their hands and knees. Put the next three or four in the same position, only on the first layer of people. Continue until all the players are in the pyramid. Play upbeat, energetic music while game is played. For variations, make cards with Letters, Numbers, and Shapes for the team to try and build. For instance a bridge, the letter W, a goalpost, etc

 

Quick Fire Math

Teens pair up into groups of two facing each other. They have their hands behind their backs. The leader gives a countdown such as “3, 2, 1”. On “one” the teens bring their hands forward with some fingers up, and some down. They try and quickly count all fingers showing – their partners fingers and their own – for a total. (The total will be some number between 0 and 20). The first partner to correctly announce the total wins and moves forward in the eliminations. Play again just winners, and then another round from those winners, until one teen is victorious.

Variations include setting up brackets by gender, school, hair color, etc with a grand playoff at the end.

 

Rabbits, Rabbit Traps, and Tornado

Gather the teens into groups of three. Two teens hold hands, they are the rabbit traps. The third teen is in the middle of them, that person is the rabbit. One or two teens are “it” and they call out “RABBITS” and all the rabbits leave their rabbit trap and go look for a new one. “It” (who called out RABBITS) must run and look for a rabbit trap as well. Whoever is left over will be it and they can call out whatever they like from this list. Each call has a designated action.

RABBIT TRAPS, the rabbit traps must unlink themselves and go find a rabbit. (If rabbits are called the rabbit traps must stay in place and not move and if rabbit traps are called the rabbits must stay in place and must not move).

TORNADO everyone must move around and become a new set of three who are the rabbit and rabbit trap.

If any person is the announcer for three times during the duration of the game a small penalty will apply such as

sing a song, do jumping jacks, tell a joke, etc…

 

Rock, Paper, Scissors Train

Everyone 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

 

Send Me Your Champion

The group should be divided into about 4 or 5 teams. The set-up should be that the person announcing Send Me Your Champion should be about 100 yards away from the teams. (the game is like a race to see who will send their champion the fastest to the announcer) The announcer will have about 30 or more or less, depending how long you want the game to go on for, pieces of paper. These pieces of paper can say things like Send Me Your Champion who is carrying a rosary. So if anyone on your team has a rosary they must run up and be the first one to give the announcer the rosary in order to get the point. Another piece of paper can say Send Me Your Champion who is wearing something that is hand-made, and the same process is repeated, the person must run and be the first one to get the point.

List of Send Me Your Champion Ideas to get you started:

Wearing a hat (the youth might get creative and put like a scarf around their head) Wearing a green shoe and a black shoe

Is wearing all their teammates shoes (the youth might tie all the laces together) Two dollars in quarters

Picture of their mom with them (it can be in the cell phone or a wallet picture) A Christian song

 

Shepherd and Sheep

It’s Duck, Duck, Goose but with Shepherds and Sheep. And yes teens actually love playing this.

 

Shuffle The Deck Mixer

Hand everyone a playing card as they come in. During the mixer, call out different combinations that they have to form a group with. Example: four of a kind, a flush, two pairs, etc.

 

Shuffle Your Buns

Arrange chairs into a tight circle. One chair remains empty. One person stands in the middle. When the game starts the person in the middle tries to sit in the empty chair while the people sitting in the chairs ‘cover’ the empty chair by ‘shuffling their buns’ and moving in a clockwise manner. If the person in the middle sits in the chair before it is covered, then the person in the circle who didn’t cover in time is now in the middle.

Twist1: Have a leader watch and be the ‘judge’. Leader can call out ‘switch’ and the circle changes direction to counterclockwise when ‘covering’ the empty chair.

Twist2: For extremely large groups (40+). Have two empty chairs and two people in the middle trying to sit. Energetic music is a must.

 

Slippery Limbo

Lay a tarp down on the floor. Take some dishwashing detergent and spray it down on the tarp. Add a little water, and you have a slippery surface. Then have the students to line up to do some limbo. If you feel like the floor is too hard, do this activity outside or lay some mats under the tarp.

 

Snowman

Break into teams – one team member volunteers to be the snowman for their team. A jar of marshmallow fluff or Cool Whip is spread on their face. Other team members then decorate with M&Ms and other candies. Awards can be given for “most M&Ms”, “best artistry”, “most creative”, “fastest done”, etc

 

Straw and Paper Race

You will need one piece of paper that is a 4-inch square for each team and a straw for each player. Divide the youth group into two or more teams. The first player must use the straw to pick up the paper, by sucking in through the straw. Then, they must carry the paper to the finish line and back, but they must have the paper stuck to the end of the straw while they run. If the paper falls off, they must get it back on the straw, by sucking in through the straw, and continue on. Each player takes their turn until all players have had a chance. The first team to be sitting in a straight line wins!

 

Suit’s you!

Seat everyone on chairs gathered into a circle. The leader stands in the middle with a pack of regular playing cards. Name everyone in the circle for one of the card suits – Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Clubs, etc. If the number of people divides exactly by 4, add an empty chair to the circle. When everyone is named, the Leader turns over the first card and calls out the suit – say Clubs. All Clubs move one seat to the left. This will mean they have to sit on the lap of the person next to them. The Leader calls the next card and the people named for that suit move, and so on. The winner is the first person back to their own seat.

HOWEVER, teens can’t move if there is someone on their lap, and if there are 4 or 5 people on their lap, they are stuck for ages!

 

Sumo

Teens squat down and cross their arms across their chest. Teens must stay in a full squatting position and their arms must remain crossed. When the facilitator says go everyone tries to knock the other teens over. If they are knocked off their feet or if they undo their crossed arms to catch themselves, they are eliminated. Teens slowly walk around in a squatting position and bump into others trying to get them to call over. Last person still upright wins. Variation: Play as teams – 2 teams face off. Winning team advances to the next round.

 

T-Shirt Challenge

You use a men’s size t-shirt, place it flat out on the ground, and then see how many kids can get on the t-shirt with no feet or any body part touching the ground or floor that is not covered by the t-shirt.

 

These Ten Things

Do what it says, and then write down the person after each thing. Whoever finishes first wins.

You don’t have to do them in order.

• Find a person wearing Vans, and tell them what you want for Christmas next
• Go up to someone you haven’t ever talked to, and tell them your favorite awkward moment or embarrassing little kid
• Find someone who’s Dad is going bald, and tell them something
• Ask an adult or teen leader if you may walk backwards across the room. Then, make and give them a thank-you card. (Paper and pens on the table)
• Tell someone you always talk to, that you appreciate
• Find someone who has a birthday this month, and sing happy birthday to
• Ask someone on the (insert name of high school here) football, swim, or soccer team, for something random and then apologize to
• Go up to a sophomore and play patty-cake.
• Tell anyone what your favorite kind of food
• Find five other people, and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” together (the whole thing).

 

Think Small

The objective is to see if you can get everyone in a medium to large group to touch a small object at the same time. For a group of 20 see if everyone can touch a soccer ball simultaneously. If they succeed at that task try a softball, ping pong ball, a marble.

 

This Is a What?

Another game that seems simpler than it is. Have everyone sit in a circle. Pick up an object and tell the person next to you, “This is a marble.” He asks, “A what?” “A marble,” you answer. “A what?” he asks again. “A marble,” you say. “Oh, a marble,” he says. The pattern is now established. He then takes the marble and turns to the next person and starts the pattern. As the marble goes around, you start on the next object and the next object. Eventually there will be a lot of these conversations going on at once. The goal is to see how many objects you can pass around the circle.

 

Traditional Egg Toss

Choose partners, start close together and begin playing catch with the egg. With each toss the partners take a step away from each other. Winning team is the one farthest apart with an intact egg. Can also be played with water balloons.

 

Turkey Bowling

While this is an excellent idea for Thanksgiving, it is still fun year-round. Lay plastic tarps on the floor. Take ten bottles of soda (still full), and lay them out in a bowling pin pattern. Buy one frozen turkey per team (keep the turkeys frozen until service). Then team members take turns using the turkey like a bowling ball to knock down the soda. Be aware that the sodas may “explode” and spray your audience.

 

Two Truths and a Tale

Ask all players to arrange themselves in a circle. Instruct each player to think of three statements about themselves. Two must be true statements, and one must be false. For each person, he or she shares the three statements (in any order) to the group. The goal of the icebreaker game is to determine which statement is false. The group votes on which one they feel is a lie, and at the end of each round, the person reveals which one was the lie.

Variations: “Two Truths and a Dream Wish.” – Instead of telling a lie, a person says a wish. That is, something that is not true — yet something that the person wishes to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Europe might say: “I often travel to Europe for vacation.” This interesting spin on the icebreaker often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people share touching wishes about themselves.

 

Workout

Everyone lays down in a circle, with legs in front of them – the feet would meet in the center of the circle. The leader goes first. They sit up and says “Hi, I’m Jenny!” Then everyone else sits up too and chorus “Hello Jenny!”. Everyone down again, next person, repeat. When everyone has done this once you add something about yourself, like “Hi, I’m Bob and I like burgers!” (… and I come from Michigan / and I’m 15 years old / etc). The group sits up and choruses “Hello again Susie!”. The later rounds can be more or less giggly/challenging depending on how closely you instruct the participants to match the type of statement the leader makes. At first do all rounds with only name and one or two additional personal facts. For an experienced crowd you can make it more challenging by adding additional facts and by deciding how people should move, or piling on extra moves for the later rounds, example. sit up and then raise your arms & touch your toes& wiggle your nose.

 

Wormy Pie Relay

Make “pies” by placing gummy worms on a paper plate and then cover with whip cream or cool whip. Contestants place hands behind their backs and eat their Wormy Pies. Have a speed contest either as a whole group or as teams.

Variation – want to add a gross factor? Bury pickles, sardines, Spam or other edible unexpected items in the cool whip/whip cream.

Football Trivia – Guess the name of the NFL Team

This is perfect the week before the SuperBowl. (Take out the answers and have teams of two compete – first team who gets all the teams wins)

1. Goliaths NY Giants 2. Seven Squared SF 49ers 3. Lions and Tigers oh my                                                           CHI Bears 4. 747                                                                                    NY Jets

5. Hostile attackers OAK Raiders
6. Various iron workers PITT Steelers IOU’s                                                                            BUF Bills
7. Helpers to relocate GB Packers
8. Flipper MIA Dolphins
9. Trained to hunt ATL Falcons
10. Ruled the seas MINN Vikings
11. Opposite of ewe LA Rams
12. Mythical Monsters TENN Titans

14 American Vaquero                                                     DAL Cowboys

15. Under the Pope PHX Cardinals
16. Credit Card Users LA Chargers
17. Indian leaders KC Chiefs King of beasts                                                               DET Lions
18. Jungle Cats CIN Bengals
19. A dollar for corn TB Buccaneers
20. Ocean going bird SEA Seahawks
21. Burnt epidermis WASH Redskins
22. Heavenly Halo’s NO Saints
23. Rodeo horses DEN Broncos
24. Six Shooters IND Colts War Movie                                                                           NE Patriots
25. “Never more” BLT Ravens
26. British Sports Car JXS Jaguars
27. Black Cats CAR Panthers
28. Symbol of the United States PHI Eagles

Looking for games to play from a screen with your whole group? Our favorite resource is DownloadYouthMinistry.com. Most have a small price tag to purchase. There are loads to choose from.