$1000 Bill Exchange
For this game you need to make your own money on your computer (careful- 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
Rules:
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.

Alphabet Game, The
Great Travel Game:  See who can find the letters of the alphabet in order just by looking at signs along the journey.
Added by Jenny Schneckloth


Alphabet Pockets
Divide into teams of 4 or 5. Everyone on the team searches through their own pockets, wallets, pocketbooks, 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.
Added by Young Life

Alphabet Soup
Split 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 name gets high points as well

They are given a time frame to do this maybe 5 minutes or so.  Make sure you specify no curse words or body parts.
Added by Frank Salvatore

American Eagle 1-2-3
Line everyone up on one side of the room, and have about 2 or 3 kids and leaders in the middle of the room. The object is for everyone to run from one side of the room to the other, and the people in the middle have to pick up whoever they can and say "American eagle 1-2-3" before they SLOWLY LOWER them back to the ground. When the person is picked up they join the middle and it keeps going until there is 1 person left running. Be careful though because some kids get hurt during the game if you don't keep the middle under control (i.e. don't drop the kids on the ground).
Added by Michael May

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.

Ape, Man, Girl Game
This is a variation of the Rock-Scissors-Paper game. Have people pair off. When the signal is given each person strikes a pose like an ape, man, or girl. Be sure to demonstrate what each looks like ahead of time. The ape beats the girl, man beats the ape, the girl gets the man. Eliminate the losers and pair the winners until you get a champion.
Added by Youth For Christ

Baby Food/Hot Potato with a Twist
You 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 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. Be prepared for someone to throw up.
Added by Brian Phillips

Back Artist - aka Touch Telephone
This 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, for example. 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.
Added by Young Life


Back to Back
This 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!
Added by Greg Cates

Balloon & Elastic Tangle
Form 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


Balloon Master
Small Group/All Play: Divide the group into 2 or more teams with 3-4 people on each team.
Large Group/Up Front: Choose 2-4 five-person teams.

Give each team a roll of masking tape and 30 balloons. On "Go!" have members of each team roll the masking tape (sticky side out) around one of their teammates below the neckline. Next, have kids blow up their balloons as quickly as they can and stick as many as possible to the taped-up team member. You can either end game here awarding the Balloon Master to the one with the most balloons attached in the time allotted. Or you can set up an obstacle course and when the balloons have been attached, have the player go through and back to their team. Balloons that fall of during the race can’t be re-attached. The team whose player has the most balloons still attached is the Balloon Master.
Added by Young Life


Balloon Pop Relay
This is the age old relay where they line up, run to a chair across the room, blow up a balloon, pop it by sitting on it and run back. First team that finishes wins. The less people you have on each team, the better - kids will get bored if they stand in line too long.

Balloon Soccer
Two teams, each with a bunch of balloons. Each team has only one color balloon. Goalie for each team stands opposite his team with a large container. Try to get your balloons to goalie and into container while keeping the other balloons out by popping, etc.


Banana Dress-Up
Each team or group is given a banana and a baggy of random items (felt, foil, beads, etc BE CREATIVE). They then are told to create a personality and appearence for their banana with the items they get. One volunteer from each group gets up and introduces their banana to the group. It's better if each group gets different items for varitey. FUN STUFF. )
Added byJessica Fletcher

Banana Surgery
Have a team peel and cut up a banana into equal parts. (Don’t tell them what comes next until they're done.) Then tell them they must put the banana back together using pins, needles, tape, or whatever. The team with the best, reconstructed banana wins.
Our point: Things taken apart (relationships, reputations, etc.) aren't as easily put back together.
Added by Young Life

Barnyard
This is a good little 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.

Put a twist on the game by putting in only ONE card that says "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.

Battle of the Bagels
Place tape on the floor in two places, one for a starting line and one for a finishing line. These may be as far apart as you wish. Have as many players come up to the line with their bagel ready. They stand on the starting and line and pitch their bagel to the other line. The one closest to the finish line, wins. You can keep going with eliminating players as you go along so you can finish with the best bagel throwers. This is like pitchin' pennies or horse shoes.
Added by Michelle Kolbeck

Beach Ball Waddle
Couples lock arms back to back and hold beach ball between them. They must try to get around a pylon and back without dropping the ball.

Added by Young Life

Big Bad Wolf
Give 4-6 person teams enough newspaper and tape to build a newspaper shelter of some kind. It must be big enough to get all three inside. The (youth leader) then attempts to blow the shelter down. A prize is awarded to the best job. Afterwards, have a giant paper fight.
Added by Young Life

Big Bootie
You can use any size group with this game.  Sit in a circle and designate someone to be the "Bootie". 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 you sing and clap, "Aahhh, big bootie, big bootie, big bootie, big bootie, ohhh yehhh, big bootie!”. 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! The game is confusing at first, but once the kids get it they can go really fast.
Added by Fire Team Youth FBC Langley, OK

Blind Draw
Good Small Group game:
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.
Added by Young Life


Blind Shoe Grab (Cinderfellas)
Arrange 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. The girls can only shout out instructions to her prince. After finding the shoes they crawl back to the girls and put shoes on right feet.


Board Lift (aka Airplane)
For this upfront game you need a blindfold and a 2x10 at least 3 to 4 feet long – strong enough to support someone's weight. Point: Trust and/or things aren't always what they seem.

Have two informed strong leaders on either side of the board they are going to "lift" with someone standing on it. Have several informed 'spotters' as well that can catch them any way they would stumble. Then, select three players who don't have a fear of heights and have them escorted out of the room.

Have your first player escorted back in. Tell them the object of this game is to see who can stand on the board longest as the guys lift it up a little at a time. This is a “test of bravery.” But assure them that they are going to have one (or both) hands on your shoulders as they are lifted up on the board. Now blindfold your victim. In actuality, the board holders aren't going to lift the board more than six inches off the ground. By virtue of person's weight they will naturally move and ‘shift' the board a little. You (or the game leader) will begin to kneel down slowly till they almost can't really touch your shoulders. At that point the person really thinks they are going up in the air! Have your spotters play it up to the crowd and motion them to cheer and react as though the board is being lifted up high. Then have your two guys tip the board over so the person falls off. They think they're falling 5 feet when it's only 5". Clap for that player, excuse them back to their seat, and go on to your next victim…er, player.

Added by Travis

Bobbing for Spam
Fill up a large bucket with water, drop in a few large chunks of Spam. The rest is like "bobbing for apples" (just not with apples).  With small groups all can play.  Make it an upfront game for larger groups.

Added by Gavin Gramstad

Body Parts (aka Foot to Ear)
For this game you only need a boom box and a fun, upbeat cd.  It's kind of like musical chairs . . . only more fun to mc. It works best with an even # of students. Have any "extra" be a judge, who stands on a chair for better viewing. Have students pair up with one  standing in a circle and the other standing next to their partner outside of the circle.

Have the inner circle walk clockwise when the music begins and the outer circle walk counter-clockwise. When the music stops the leader will yell out two body parts (e.g. "foot to ear!"). When the music stops and the leader yells the body parts the partners need to run straight to each other and put those designated body parts together (e.g. the one would run to the other and put their foot on their partner's ear). Fun & funny game . . . just think before you yell body parts (e.g. don't yell "chest to head!")

Brother and Sister
Like the old tv game show, "The Newlywed Game" only with siblings.
Point: Just because you're related to someone doesn't mean you know them. Relationships take effort no matter if you're related or not!

Get several sets of siblings to play this game- see which siblings know each other the best. (select siblings that can be a good sport and won't mind answering the below questions.) A brother and sister couple must work together to score the highest points possible to win. The brother is sent out of the room and the sister answers a series of questions about her brother. She records her answers on a large sheet of paper. When the brother returns, he sits in a chair with his sister standing behind him holding up her written answers. If their answers match, the couple gets a point. (remember- when you ask the brother the questions that you asked the sister, ask them like this: "1. What did your sister say was the dumbest thing you . . .")

Repeat this process by sending the sister out of the room and asking the brother to answer questions. Tally the scores and award the prize. Their answers are usually hilarious.

Questions to the sister about her brother:
What is the dumbest thing your brother has ever done?
What is his favorite food?
What do you dislike most about your brother?
Describe your brother in one word.
What is the meanest thing he has ever done to you?
What does he spend most of his time thinking about?
If you had one wish, what would you wish about your brother?
What is his favorite TV program?
How often does he take a bath?

Question to the brother about his sister:
What does your sister spend most of her time doing?
If your were your sister, what would you change about yourself first?
About how many arguments do you have with her each week?
Who obeys your mom and dad best, you or your sister?
How old was your sister when she kissed her first boy?
What animal is your sister most like?
What is you sister's favorite subject?
How long does she talk on the phone each day?
Does she chase boys?
Added by Young Life

Bubble Gum Sculpture
Materials: 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

Build your own Snowman
This can be played up-front while the audience watches, or you can divide into teams and have the group play.

For each contestant have a bag full of assorted snowman accessories such as a hat, scarf, mittens, a carrot etc. and a pair of safety goggles, a can of shaving cream and a set of clothes to go over their clothes for protection. Each team has a designated amount of time to use the shaving cream to cover their "snowman" (the contestant) and put all of the accessories on. The team to make the nicest looking snow man wins.  If you do this game indoors, be sure and put a large tarp on the floor.
Added by Tina Ogle

Busted
Divide group into equally numbered teams. You can play this with two or two hundred teams, it makes no difference. For each team you will need to assign them a color that you can find balloons to match. Beforehand you will need to blow up an equal number of balloons for each team, the more the better the game. You will also need to acquire some ping pong balls. With the ping pong balls you will write letters on that spell out a word. You will take the balls and put them into some of the balloons (one word for team) as you are blowing them up. It is a good idea to use a common long word like Baseball or Dinosaur. You may use the same word for all teams, different words, the words can connect, it is up to you. Put all of the balloons in the middle and mix them up. Scatter the teams so that each team is an equal distance away from the balloons. Have the teams line up. The game kind of works like a relay in that once you say go, the teams will send one player to the middle to retrieve one of their balloons, when they return, another player from the team may go, etc. As the team gets balloons, they will pop them to find a ping pong ball (or perhaps no ping pong ball). The team that correctly spells out the word first wins. In warm weather, this game would make a great pool game.
Added by Jennifer Hicks

Cereal Box Puzzle
Cut 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.

Added by Young Life


Christmas Quiz
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

Christmas: Dueling Carolers
Divide 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

Clothes Pin Mixer
Pass out about 4-5 clothes pins 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 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

Clothespin Bite Relay
This 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!

Clumps
Easy game used to divide your group into teams. Simply yell "Form a group according to . . . (GPA, hair color, cavity #'s, sibling #'s, shirt color, etc.)" 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.

Colored Cool Whip Rinse
For this game all you will need is Cool Whip (one canister per team), different colors of food dye, and a few Super Soakers. Not long before you want to run the game, mix the food coloring with the cool whip making each canister of cool whip a distinct color (Use only real Cool Whip.  The imitations don't stick.  Also, keep it very cold - the cool whip will begin to melt and not stick if it is out of the fridge too long).

If you have a small group, just divide into equal sized teams.  If you have a large group, bring up several teams of people.

This is a two-part game.  For part 1, each group paints one member of the group in cool whip. You can judge who looks best if you want.

Part 2 is when the team rinses the cool whip off with the water gun. The best rinsed team wins. If indoors, use tarps. Offer a prize to the winning team.

Communicating Challenge
Give 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.
Added by Youth For Christ

Concentration
Good Jr. High Small Group game:
Gather everyone in a circle and give each person a number - for example, 1-20. The person who's been given the number 1 starts the game by saying "Concentration, Concentration, ready, begin. When he is saying that, he first brings both of his hands down to his thighs, claps his hands and then says his number 1 and any other number (2-20). The next person follows suit with his or her own number plus another person's number. (The goal is to get to the number 1's chair.) If somebody messes up they move to the end of the line, which would be number 20 in this case.
Added by Erik

Condiment Twister
This game is exactly like twister, but you load each of the colors up with a condiment. So each circle is smothered with a particular condiment. Grape Jelly for blue, mustard for yellow, ketchup for red, and relish on the green circles. Make sure that you have plastic bags and masking tape to cover the volunteers with, so clothes aren't ruined. Have their faces, hands, and feet (shoes and socks off) exposed. Then change the places on the spinning board to right/left cheek, right/left ear, nose, right/left hand, right/left foot. When you spin, you call out which body part goes where. i.e right cheek to blue, left leg to green, right hand to yellow. It is a mess and a riot. It does get slippery, so make sure you have staff there to help when people start flying around. Have a place for students to clean up after.
Added by Brian Carpenter

Counting Game
Have everyone in your group 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.

Counting Game Variation: The Math Game
Competitors 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

CPW (Cotton Projectile Wars)
Divide into two teams and give each member a straw and a pile of Q-tips. One team member from each side sits on their side of the room on a chair with a paper cup on their head. The object is to knock the opposite team's paper cup off the person's head by blowing the Q-tips through the straws. No blocking Q-tips by anyone during the battle.

Criss Cross
Simple game! 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 quite 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
You get the idea!!!

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 qualify 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

Doctor Doctor
(This is modified dodge-ball) Divide into 2 teams, each choosing a doctor, or 2 for larger groups (their identity being secret). Just like regular dodge-ball, use a bunch of balls that are soft and throw them at each other. When someone is hit, they must sit. Here's where the doctor, just one of the players to the other team, may touch the injured and bring them back into play. Hint: the players shouldn't just pop up when touched- this will give away the doctor. Also, we recommend a decoy touching kids as well. When the doctor is hit, the team's only hope is their skill.

The object: Eliminating the opposing team, including their doctor.
Added by Jon Talley

Dollar Surprise
Mingling game. One or two people have a dollar. Everyone goes around shaking hands. Persons with dollar pass dollar off to tenth person he 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


Dragon Dodge Ball
Have the entire group make a circle. Pick four to five people for each team. The first team goes into the center of the circle and forms a line by attaching their hands to the waist of the person in front of them. The people who make up the circle throw the ball at the "dragon", trying to hit the last person below the waist. Once hit, the last person returns to the outside circle and players continue to hit the new person at the end of the dragon until there in only one person left and they too are hit. A new team then goes into the middle. Time each team to see which one can last the longest.

Draw On My Back
This 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, for example. 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.

Drip, Drip, Drop
Just like Duck, Duck, Goose except with a cup of water that the person drips, drips, drips then drops on the person they want to chase them around the circle!
Added by Amy Hackman

Egg Swing
See Flour Swing, only instead of flour, use an egg. Imagine the possibilities! Added by Jennifer Spaeth

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, unpopped balloons count 200 points each.

Encore
This is a simple game that tests kids' ability to think fast. Divide into teams (could be upper vs. lower classmen, girls vs. guys, etc.). 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.

Fall Of Faith
A 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.
The Point: Team building; a good game for a leadership event.
Added by Scott Street

Find Someone Who
(Works well with large groups.)
Give out the "Find Someone Who" list to students and have them go from student to student looking for someone who meets the description on their list.

Example: Find someone who is wearing blue pants.
The student who fits this description signs their name. Students then go off to find someone else that meets a description on their list. The winner is the one who has their sheet filled out first and most accurately. You should read aloud the list with the person's name who signed it. Have the student who signed the list verify the information.

example: Find someone who can belch the alphabet. If Joe signed that item, have Joe come up and demonstrate.
Items needed: Find Someone List (make one up.) Make enough copies for everyone.
Pencils or pens
SAMPLE "FIND SOMEONE WHO" LIST:
Find someone who has a birthday in February and have him/her sign their initials here. __________________________________
Find someone who has been to Colorado before and leapfrog over him/her. Then have the person initial here.______________________
Get seven leaders to sign the back of this sheet.
Find someone who has a birthday this month and sing "Happy Birthday" to them Have the person initial here._____________________
Find someone to listen to you say "toy boat" ten times quickly. Then have them initial here.___________________________________
Get three other people to link arms with you and do the cheer "lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight!" Have each person initial here.________________________________________
Give someone your ugliest face and have them initial here.__________________
With two other people, face the front of the room, put your hand over your heart, and say the "Pledge of Allegiance" in unison. Initial each other's papers._______
Have someone tell you about the best Christmas gift they ever received. Then have them initial here._______________________
Get a hair over 5 inches long from someone else's head. Let them pull it out. Have the person initial here._________________
Give someone a backrub and have them initial here._____________________
Find someone who has blue eyes and have them initial here.______________
Find someone who is left-handed and have them initial here.______________

Find Someone Who Bingo
Same game as Find Someone Who (above) but the "Find Someone Who's" are organized in Bingo rows on a piece of paper (a Find Someone Who Bingo Card). First one to get 5 across, down or diagonal wins.

Fish Pass Through Relay
Run a long piece of rope (like clothesline) through a dead fish. Make sure the end of the rope is pretty secure. Line up your volunteers shoulder to shoulder. Two teams facing each other. Volunteers must have t-shirts on. No spaghetti straps or long sleeves. The players must pass the fish through their shirt in one sleeve out the other. First one to make it through all shirts wins. Having girls in this one makes the game. They're always squeamish. You need a good number of people for this one. 10 - 12 on a team works best.
Added by J. Bucolo

Fly Swatter Hockey
Go to a local dollar store and find two different colored fly swatters. Buy as many as you need to make two teams in your group. In a large room, either place goals at opposite ends or tape off an area of the wall to represent goals. Use ping pong balls for the puck and only let students hit the ball with their swatter. Have a face off between 2 opposing students after each goal. First team to 5 goals wins or set a time limit. Lots of fun.

Football Team Names
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 to pro Team to each team. (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???

1. A dollar for corn (Buccaneers)
2. Native American epidermis (Redskins)
3. Sun-tanned bodies (Browns)
4. I O Us (Bills)
5. Opposite of ewes (Rams)
6. 747 (Jets)
7. 7 squared (49ers)
8. Army insects (Giants)
9. Iron workers (Steelers)
10. Trained to kill (Falcons)
11. Six rulers (Vikings)
12. What streakers are (Bears)
13. Louis Armstrong's favorite song (Saints)
14. 52 of them (Cardinals)
15. Rodeo animals (Broncos)
16. Native American leaders (Chiefs)
17. Called bald (Eagles)
18. Ocean going birds (Seahawks)
19. Hostile invasion (Raiders)
20. Credit card users (Chargers)
21. Boxers (Packers)
22. King of beasts (Lions)
23. Toy and fish arms (Dolphins)
24. One-time British enemies (Patriots)
25. American gauchos (Cowboys)
26. Used-to-be girls (Bengals)
27. Six shooters (Colts)
28. (optional) Tin Man fixer (Oilers)
Source Unknown

Four on a Couch
Great Small Group Game: Create a circle with chairs and one couch - enough seats for everyone playing plus one extra seat. 2 girls and 2 guys start off by sitting on the couch; everyone else in the chairs. Give every person playing a paper to write their name on. They are to turn their names in to you.

Mix the names up and redistribute them back to the youth, making sure no one gets their own name. They are not to tell which name they have. The purpose of the game is for the guys to get all 4 guys on the couch and the girls to get all 4 girls on the couch. The person to the left of the empty seat calls out a name of someone in the circle. Whoever is HOLDING THAT NAME (not the one whose name it is, i.e John calls Amy's name, and Jeff is holding Amy's name.) gets up and sits on the empty chair. The person who called the name and the person who sat on the chair, then exchange papers with names on it (that way the same name does not stay with the same person, it makes it more challenging). The person to the left of the new empty seat calls a new name. (the same name cannot be repeated 2x in a row)  Again the purpose is for the guys to get the 2 girls off the couch and visa versa. This is really fun game but it can last a long time.
Added by Leah


French Charades
This game is played like "Elephant Pantomime" but since you don’t restrict the act to any one theme, it can be played as often as you like with the same group. Divide 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 he 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.
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 lost 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:
Your 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

Frozen Marbles (or Jellybeans)
For this game you'll need:
2-4 large buckets or plastic tubs filled with ice and water.
2-4 bags of marbles(depending on the # of buckets used.)

Students have 15 (or 30) seconds to fish marbles out of ice water with their toes.

Have a youth workers with dry towels close by to dry each player's feet.
Added by Joy Tribbey

Young Life variation: Students fish jelly beans out of ice water with their toes. Have them eat them?!

Fruit Basket Upset
Have group sit in a circle. 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 Sculpture
Break 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.

Garbage War
Divide 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.

Added by Young Life


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 who will hold one corner of the blanket such that the blanket is in a vertical position. This will prevent whoever sits in each chair from seeing the one sitting on the 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.

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 withnicknames 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


Getting To Know You Better
Divide 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


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: This is an excellent motivator for positive self esteem.

Added by Sylvia Tucker

Gold Fish Snag
Throw about 50 gold fish into a swimming pool. 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

Golf Phwack II
Same as Golf Phwack with a few twists.
I created an oversized golf green on an overhead. Different areas were different worth different points. We then had people come up on the stage and take a pitching wedge and aim at the back wall where we had the overhead pointed. It was close enough to
make it, but hard enough to make it a challenge. They took turns and the one with the highest score won. It was fun and strange enough to keep their interest.

Added by Eric Blauer

Gossip Tellers
This game works best in smaller groups (less than 30). Have everyone get in a circle or line. One person start 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: This is how 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 or a tarp down; 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 than 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.

Grape Toss
Divide into teams of 6-10. Each team gets into a circle and appoints one member to be the grape tosser. He gets a bag of grapes (or small marshmallows) and stands in the center of the circle. When the signal is given, he tosses a grape to each team member in the circle, one at a time, and the team member must catch the grape in his mouth. The tosser cannot toss to the next player until a successful catch is made. The first team to toss all the way around the circle is the winner.
Added by Young Life

Grocery Bag Take Off
Get 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 Yoga
Great Small Group game!  Take a regular 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 (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.

Obviusly, 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 loose their balance and fall. For that reason, this is best played on soft grass or carpet.

Our point: This is a good game to tie into a discussion using the point, "Don't bite off more than you can chew or you'll lose your balance!" (Balancing life priorities, etc.)
Added by Rachel Harris, NC

Group Charades
Divide the group up and give each group something that they need to act out for the other groups to guess what it is. Suggestions: poison gas in the room, laughing gas, bad odor in the room, etc. You don't need to make it a contest, or you can have staff judge which group did the best.

Guess the Leader
Everyone 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's back is turned and before the person in the middle has 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.

Guess the Task
Everyone 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 kids 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".

Guys Best Pick-up Line
To sell this one you may tell a quick disaster date story about asking someone out, telling the crowd that you will need their help. To do this, reenact your scene by building a couch out of three folding chairs covered by a LARGE sheet or blanket (it must cover all the chairs well). After building the couch in front of them, pick a girl to sit on the end chair. Then pull up three guy studs to come give you their best line and move. Demonstrate for them that it all counts here — talk, walk, distance from the girl — that when told to do so they will enter the room one at a time, walk over to the girl, deliver their best line, and sit right next to her with their arm around her. After explaining and demonstrating, briefly send them out of the room. While they are out of the room, pull out and hide the middle chair, replacing it with a pillow on the ground under the sheet. Stand on one end of the sheet while the girl remains on the other end. When the guys deliver their line and begin to sit down, both you and the girl release pressure on the sheet so they will fall right through. Note: the person who takes them out should have three lines ready for the guys in case they can’t think of one. Make sure you build them up afterward!

The point: Great game to precede a talk on dating or sex.  

Added by Young Life

Ha Ha Game, The
Get 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

Hannah's Game
Each 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.

The person (Frank) chooses someone in the game and guesses what their name might be. "Bob", I think you're Cinderella." If Frank is correct, Bob in now on Frank's team. Later, if Frank's name is guessed, both Frank and Bob join the other's team.

Frank 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.

Hi My Name Is
A great get to know ya game!  Plant several people in your crowd who have a one dollar bill, a certificate to something, or any prize of your liking. Tell everyone that they need to go and introduce themselves to and learn the names of as many people as they can meet. Have your "planted people" give the prize to the 15th person that introduces themselves to them. Once the prizes have been given announce who received them and who had the prizes.

Honey, If You Love Me You'll Smile
Played just like "Poor Little Kitten". Everyone 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 they laugh 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."
Added by Shorty, FCC Langley, Oklahoma

Hot Potato and Oven Mitt Pass
Just like it sounds: like hot potato.  
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:
1.  If you touch a potato without your mitt- you're out!.
2.  If you have a mitt when the music stops- you're out!
3.  No using weapons or firearms (it's always good to say that just to be safe!)

Added by Jenn Kernya

Hot Seat - Discussion Wrap-Up
Have everyone sit in a big circle with one person sitting on a chair in the middle – the "hot seat". That person takes on the role of someone you've talked about in your small group discussion. If there has been some kind of talk or drama or story, then they can pick someone from that. The student in the hot seat has to really try to be that person. They have to try and hold themselves like that person and speak like that person. Not in voice but in what they say.

The people in the circle then have to ask the person questions and they have to answer as the person they are.

It's a good test to see if they've been listening! The person in the hot seat eventually tells the others in the circle who they are portraying if it hasn't been guessed yet.

The point: Helps students retain the info they just learned.

Added by Caroline Gray

Hug Fest
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.

Our suggestion: Like musical chairs, play upbeat music between calling out numbers.

Added by Young Life

Human Knots
Great 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 can not let go of the other persons hands.  So in order to untangle they must go over and under peoples 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 is a group effort and if one isn't working together then it doesn't work out.  
Submitted by Young Life & Konrad Parsons

Human Scrabble
Break youth into groups of 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 their 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.
Added by Becky Talbot

Human Snowball
Shred a bunch of paper and spread it on the floor in an empty room or corner of your youth room. Split youth in two teams and give each team a roll of duck tape. Have each team select one member to be the "snowball". Give them 2-3 minutes to wrap that person in duck tape with the sticky side out (this isn't easy). 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.

Point: I used this to kick off a discussion of David and Bathsheba and the snowball effect of bad choices.
Added by Saunnie

Human Tic Tac Toe
For this game you need at least 6 students and 9 chairs. Set up 2 teams. The guys can be x's and the girls be o's, or all the freshman and sophomores (x) vs juniors and seniors (o).

Instruct the players to charge toward the chairs when the leader yells, "TIC TAC GO!" Their goal is to make a line, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, just like the tic tac toe played on paper.

NOTE: Teams cannot make the straight line closest to them. You may have a few "Cat's Tails" or "Cat's Games" (depending on the region you live in)!

Added by Marc Hartenberg, Ontario

Human Twister
You will need two dice and about twelve 3X5 cards for every six people in your group. Separate the group 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 to successfully connect two body parts wins the game.

Added by Scott Sagle

Human Typewriters
Pin 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. Catch the cheaters who try to exclude vowels or certain consonants!
Added by Young Life


I Have Never
This game is much like Identity Circle, or Fruit Basket Upset. Have everyone sit in a circle except one person. When everyone is seated the person in the middle says something that they have never done(ie. I have never drank. or I have never worn a dress). All the people who have never done that have to get up and find an empty seat (from someone else who just got up). The person stuck without a seat is now in the middle.
This game has no time limit and at our youth group is wanted to be played on a weekly basis.
Added by Mark Lussier

I Need a Shoelace
This game can be played with small or huge groups. The up-front person divides teams (in audiences of rallies or other large gatherings you can make each section of chairs a group). The up-front person then yells out a demand for an somewhat common item that people might have on them. The first team to bring up that item wins that round. Have each team elect ONE runner to run the item up to the person up front. (Examples:
I need a...
shoelace
student body card
13 shoes tied together
3 belts hooked together
nail file
chewed gum
someone with food in their teeth
sock with a hole in it
movie stub ticket


Ibble Dibble
This game sounds confusing, but read it through a couple times if you have to. 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 no.1 with no Iblle Dibbles, calling Ibble Dibble no. (choose) with no Ibble Dibbles. "
Then that person must respond and choose another person by saying, "Ibble Dibble no. (whatever # they are) with no Iblle Dibbles, calling Ibble Dibble no. (choose) 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 how many they do have)
Added by Phil Greig

Ice Cube Race
Funny 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

Ice Grab It
Played like the game "Grab It!" But instead of a pail of water and soap, use a huge bucket of ice with a marble in it. Flip a coin.  If it's is heads they go for the marble. Trying to grab it and get it out of their bucket before the other team does and goes to the front. Not as messy as the original but less soap in eyes and everywhere.

Have towels close by to warm cold hands!
Added by Jodie

Identity Circle (Fruit Basket Upset)
This game is just like the Fruit Basket upset- but this is when you forgot the fruit. You just have the person in the middle yell out certain characteristics that they have (hair color, color of clothes, gender, etc.) Instead of a fruit and 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.)

Improv
Divide group into smaller groups and give them a topic to make a silly skit up about.  

Suggestions:  
~ On a bus, someone late for work/school/church.
~ I'm the new youth pastor and this is my group.
~ Fender bender
~ Dumb bank or convenience store robber



Inner Tube Stuff
Get several large truck tire inner tubes. Divide the room into teams and see who can stand the most people within the edges of their tire tube.
Option: Hula Hoop Stuff

Added by Young Life

Invention Convention
All you need is a bunch of junk! Get a special trash bag and label 'for game'. Have your staff and parents collect a bunch of their old junk (empty cans, broken appliances, boxes, empty toiletpaper tubes, etc.)

Then, when you are going to play, assemble the kids in groups. Give them each a little bit of trash and one roll of duct tape and some paint. They have five minutes to create the weirdest, most funny, most funny, artistic sculpture out of the junk. The winning team gets a prize.

Our point: God can make something out of the junk in your life...it may look a little funny, but it's worth something to Him and He can still use you!
Added by Alexis Yeager

Inversion
Divide into teams of 15 or 20. Have stand in order between two lines that are 18 inches apart. On signal, #1 changes with #20, #2 with #19, etc. without moving outside of lines.

Added by Young Life

Jelly Bean Trade
Everyone for them self. Everyone is handed 10 jelly beans. They are to try to get 10 of one color by trading with other people one at a time. First person to get all ten of a color they want wins.

Keys
Everybody sits in a chair but one person. The chairs are scattered all over the room. The person standing has a set of keys in his hand. With his other hand he grabs someone's hand. This person gets up and follows the leader who weaves in and out of the chairs in the room. The person who has gotten out of their chair then grabs someone else's hand who grabs another persons hand. This keeps going until the leader drops the keys on the floor then everyone standing runs and sits in a chair. The person left standing is the new leader. Playing music really adds to the fun of this game!

King Elephant
This game is in addition to the rules of Silent Animal Game. We call it King Elephant because the object is to go around the circle until we get to be King Elephant. The game is the same 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 I 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 ( ie. two hands come out like claws for bear) then the bear person does the same not missing a beat, knee clap, knee clap, bear symbol, knee clap, knee clap, next symbol. Same as the other game, if the participant makes a mistake, they become the worm and everyone moves up. Object is to try to be king by knocking out anyone in front of you. Some examples of animals that we use:

Bird - two hands together with thumbs locked, flying like a bird
Chicken - hands under armpits and arms flapping
Crocodile - arms extended with one hand facing down, other up, clapping together
Bear - two hands out like claws
Tiger - hands with fingers spread apart placed on cheeks to look like stripes
Lion - hands above head and connected like a circle - just looks big I guess
Raccoon - index finger and thumbs together like a circle and put in front of eyes
Snake - make a snake movement with one out-stretched arm
Giraffe - one hand up above head fully extended with hand bent at wrist
Rooster - palm facing to left or right, brought to forehead
Monkey - pull ears out from head with hands
Beaver - bring to fingers bent to mouth like big teeth
Worm - wiggling one bent finger
Elephant - one arm extended away from nose, other arm wrapped around and grabbing the nose - hardest one to do, thus challenging to try and stay King

Kissing in the Dark
Divide 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 have gone, announce the team with the best score and give them some Valentine's candy.

Lengths Of String Mixer
Everyone gets a length of string.  Each string is the same length as one other person in the room. Students have to match up with their partner.  Hint: Use this as a discussion starter.  Once matched, you can ask a question for the partners to discuss.
Submitted by Young Life

License Plate Find
Great Travel Game, but can 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.

First in Flight North Carolina
The Empire State New York
The Aloha State Hawaii
The Grand Canyon State Arizona
The Keystone State Pennsylvania
Land of Opportunity Arkansas
The Vacation State Maine
The Centennial State Colorado
The Volunteer State Tennessee
The Constitution State Connecticut
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
First State Delaware
The Golden State California
The Hoosier State Indiana
The Sportsman’s State Louisiana
The Hawkeye State Iowa
Land of Lincoln Illinois
The Sunflower State Kansas
The Great Lake State Michigan
The Bluegrass State Kentucky
The Silver State Nevada
The Bay State Massachusetts
Land of 10,000 Lakes Minnesota
The Magnolia State Mississippi

Added by Young Life


Marshmallow Dodgeball
For this game, all you need are a couple bags of large marshmallows, plastic cups, and masking tape. Divide students into two teams on each side of the room. Divide room with masking tape to mark where players cannot go past. Put a plastic cup on the head of one player on each team (so that everyone on one side of the room has a cup on his or her head). These players sit against the wall on their side of the room, even spaced apart.

The game starts by having the players on the other side of the room chuck the marshmallows at the cupheads, attempting to knock the cup off. Give a point to each side that does just that.

Optional: Soak the marshmallows in water so they will stick to the player when hit.

Rules:

The cupheads must sit on their rears at all times.
If you have enough students, have someone guard the cupheads so the cup won't get hit.
Clean-up: After the game players will have marshmallow powder on them which either makes a great crowd pleaser or a mess, so you might have wet paper towels close by. Caution: If you are in a carpeted room, clean up the marshmallows right after the game so they will not leave a big stain (thereby ensuring an ongoing friendship with the church janitor).
Added by Jared Watson

Marshmallow Pass
Give 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

Marshmallow Pitch
For this game, have kids pair off and give each pair a sack of miniature marshmallows. Each pair should also have a neutral counter. One person is the pitcher, 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

Marshmallow Splat Ball
This is a messy adaptation to Splat Ball.  Make sure students wear clothes that can be thrown away. Divide into 4 or more teams and arm each person with a small Styrofoam plate, and 4 marshmallows.

Give each team captain (adult) a different color dipping sauce (we used Mustard, Red & Green Catsup, and Chocolate Syrup, but use your imagination). Then map out the boundaries, and send each team to a corner of the playing field as a designated area to load up. Fill each plate with the splat substance. Then tell them to dip and on your signal begin throwing them at the other teams. The team with the most hits wins, but once the slime pellets start to fly no one cares. It was a blast. When they run out of mellows they can either pick one up from the ground, and re-dip, or run back to the supply station until the ammo run out. When the fun was done we had a contest to see which team could pick up the most mellows. The prize was dumping a bottle of maple syrup over a leaders head,(stolen from the 10 bags of doom) the ground was spotless. We serve a fun God!
Added by Jon Nowlin

Melon Fest
Watermelon Helmet Contest:
That's right, have each team carve a helmet (or helmets) out of watermelons.  You can go for the gladiator look or more of the Darth Vador look.  Team members must wear helmets throughout the event.

Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest:
(Need I explain?)

Cantelope Bowling:
Create an ally in the parking lot and set up 2 liter bottles at the end.  Leave the 2 liters full and give a bonus if you bust the 2 liters open.

Melon Armor:
Give each team a ball of string, a roll of duct tape, a knife, and about 5 of each melon.  Have each team dress one of their team members in FULL MELON ARMOR.  That's right- dress up this person in as much armor, made of melons, as humanly possible.  (You might want to make the team member a guy!)

Watermelon Toss:
You guessed it- get your two strongest guys to do the age old egg toss (line up facing each other, toss to team mate, back up a step, toss back, and so on . . .) but with a much heavier item!  CAN'T hit the ground.  Last pair still tossing wins!

Seedless Watermelon Eating Contest:
Bring 2 representatives from each team up front-- an eater and a cutter.  At "Go" the cutter starts cutting watermelon for the eater to eat.  Eater scarfs down as many watermelons down in a given period of time.

Ultimate Cantaloupe:
This is just like Ultimate Frisbee . . . but with a cantaloupe!  Divide into two teams, each trying to get to the opposite end zone. Instead of a kick-off, just have one team start on their side of the field. When a player catches the cantaloupe, they can take only 3 steps then they must throw/toss it. Team work their way down the field, passing to each other until a team scores. If the team hits the ground it's the other teams ball (frisbee actually). An added twist: if one team busts the cantaloupe, the other team automatically scores (have extra cantaloupes available) No knocking the melon down, like in ultimate frisbee- in Ultimate Cantaloupe, it always goes to the opposite team of the last person to touch it before it hits the ground. Defensive players must give any person already holding a cantaloupe at least 3 feet clearance.

Bobbing for Melons:
This game requires a pool or some other large body of water.  You can play this many ways- one way is to fill a pool with all kinds of melons, even a few vegetables of choice (cucumbers, squash, etc.)  Then give a team a certain amount of time to retrieve the melons, vegetables, etc.

Increase the degree of difficulty by doing this at night with no lights, or putting Vasoline all over the watermelon.

Steal the Melon:
That's right.  Plain ol' "Steal the Bacon" with greased watermelon in the center.  (Line up two teams facing each other, number them off, call a number and that person has to grab the watermelon and get it back to their side).

Melt That Ice Cube
Divide group into two or three teams. Give a large block of ice to each group. The team has to melt the ice any way they can (i.e. crushing, breaking, friction, body heat etc.).
If possible, weigh before and after to determine winner. Prepare for water.
Added by Young Life

Messy Message
This game works well if you have a laminator, buy the laminating pages, or use clear mailing tape. Print or write a phrase or scripture out on a piece of paper. Then cut it into separate words. Laminate it or figure out some way to protect the paper
from the elements it will be exposed to. Then put the words into balloons and fill the balloons with gross things like ketchup,  salad dressing, or salsa, etc.
The object of the games is to pop the balloon with your feet, find the words, and spell out the scripture or phrase.  
Added by Chad (Big Daddy) Deetz

Milk Chug
Three students compete trying to down a half gallon of milk. Then they must compete in a bat/broom spin. Bat or broom is place on forehead. Spin person 10 times, then have him/her run around a cone that has been placed several feet away from him/her and then return to starting point.

Move Right If
Just like it sounds. Tell the people in the crowd to "move right if . . ." (e.g. they are wearing green, if they're in eighth grade, if their birthday is this month, etc.) Be creative! (move two seats to the left if . . . ) Kids will end up on multiple layers of laps or under others.

Musical Baby Food
Have the whole group of kids sit in a circle. If there is a small group of kids you only need 1 can of the worst baby food you can find. If you have a larger group of kids you can get a couple of cans of food. Play music as the cans of food are being passed around, but when the music stops whoever is holding the can of food has to take a big spoonful! (have a staff person supply a clean spoon for each person- no double dipping)
Added by Krystle

Musical Chairs In The Dark
Played like musical chairs. Only place chairs randomly within playing area. Have youth walk around the chairs to music, then turn the light off (room needs to be dark).  Wait about 10 seconds and turn light back on. Anyone not seated in a chair is out of the game. Play until only one person is left.

Young Life variation: Musical chairs but blindfolded.
Added by Jack Shell

Musical Guys
Musical Chairs with a fun twist. The guys are the chairs and the girls play. Remove a guy (just like a chair) each round until finally two girls fight over one guy!

Musical Paper Plates
Have paper plates scattered throughout the room.  When the music stops, everyone must be touching the plate.  If they are not, then they are out.  Take out more plates every time.
Submitted by Young Life

Musical Squirt Guns
Have a 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 is to use two squirt guns moving in different directions around the circle.
Added by Holly Boardman

Musical Tape
This is just like musical chairs, but with more versatility and you dont need chairs!  Begin by giving each player a 6-8" strip of sticky tape.  You can use duct tape, masking tape, etc., just make sure it doesn't leave residue when removed.  Ask them to fix it anywhere on the floor. (Hint- first have them fold 1" of the tape over on the end of the tape- that way you'll be able to pull it up easier later)  While introducing and explaining the game, remove one of the strips. Tell the youth that they are to move around the room while the music plays, but as soon as the music stops they must place a foot completely over the tape. If some of the tape is visible, the spot may be stolen. One player will be eliminated. With each round another strip is removed until it comes down to the final winner. Because the duct tape is placed randomly, this game is different each time it is played. The choice of which strip to remove will greatly affect the strategies the kids must use to win.
Added by Joyce Stork

Musical Wardrobe
Items 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 is a lot more fun if the items are "thrift store" type clothes (goofy, ugly, lashing, out of style, etc.) Make sure items are in good taste.
The game is played like "Hot Potatoe" (notice the CORRECT, old school, Dan Quail spelling of the word) 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
Take a picture for laughs later!

Mute Organization
Simply announce to everyone 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.

Then you can have them do the same thing, but by shoe size, height, etc.

Name Game
You start with a name (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.

Name Tag Mixer
Before kids arrive, prepare name-tags by writing an easy-to-read number on each one. Also prepare slips of paper with instructions such as "Introduce #4 to #12, "Find out #7’s favorite pizza topping," "Shake hands with #5 and #13," and so on. Don’t use numbers higher than the number of kids expected. It’s better to make instructions for #1 to #10 and have duplicate name- tags for #1, #2, #3, and so on. Give kids a name-tag and slip of paper, then send them out to complete their assignment.


Name Toss
Have your group sit in a circle.  There should be no open spots, and one person in the middle holding a tennis or wiffle
ball.  The person in the middle calls out someone's name and throws the ball up in the air.  The person's name who was called has to run to the middle and catch the ball while the person who called the name has to
run to the open spot.  If the ball is dropped, the catcher is out. Continue playing until there are only a few people left.  One rule: you cannot call the person's name who was just in the middle.  
The Point: A great get-to-know-you game.
Added by Katey Wright

Newspaper Name Nail
Designed as a mixer "get-to-know-ya" kind of game (usually for no more than about 30-35 people).

Have everyone sit in a circle or something as close as you can get. Then, 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 whop'em with a rolled up newspaper (or pillow) before that person can say both their name and someone else's name in the room. If they get whooped 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 whoop. This helps people learn each others name and mixes kids around with each other.

Items needed: Rolled up newspaper or pillow (pillow is actually preferable.)

Newspaper Search
Split up into teams and hand out a newspaper to each. Then 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.

Added by Young Life


Ninja, Gun, Gorilla
Same beat 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. 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


Numbers Race
Form teams of 10 players (ideally). Each person in the team gets a number on a 3x5 card or slip of paper from 0 to 9. The leader then calls out a random number say for example, “108”. The students holding those numbers – 1, 0, and 8 - run out in front and display the numbers to the leader calling them out in the correct order. Try 1,237,582 and so on. The first team to be in place, in the right order gets a point for their team.  For re-use make up A5 cards, in different coloured paper for each team and laminate them.  Don't forget to distinguish between 6 and 9 - perhaps a line under the numbers.
Added by Amanda from Australia


One Body
Depending on # of players...for each team formed you will need:
1-t-shirt (or sweat shirt)size 2x-3x
1- pair sweat pants size 2x-3x
3 blind folds
1 laundry basket
Objects to be put into basket.

Form teams of 4 players each:
   1-person is the "eyes & mouth"
   1-person is the "brain"
   1-person is "1/2 the body"
   1-person is other "1/2 of body"
Get prepared for game:
"Body" gets into the sweat pants and shirt together (then blind fold them). The "Brain" stands behind the "Body" and is blindfolded.(may hold on to
back of sweat shirt)
The "eyes & mouth" stands next to the "Brain"

How to play:
The "Eyes and mouth" whispers to the "brain" what to tell the "Body" to do.  
The body tries to get the pre-designated objects into their own basket.
When all objects are found and in their basket, Team sits down,
"Eyes & mouth" yells "DONE!" First team to sit wins!

Rules: No peeking!  "Eyes & mouth" must only "whisper" to the "Brain".
"Brain is the only one who can "talk". Body may not use their arm or hand that is inside of the sweat shirt.

Object ideas:
Gallon size food cans.
Twisted pipe cleaners "on" each basket.
Large ball.
*This game works best if the objects cannot be picked up with one hand. Have the same kind of object for each team to pick up.
Game Variation:  When all objects are found and in team baskets...Leader yells "Done!" Each teams sits and the team with most objects in their basket wins. This way does not require identical objects for each team.

The Point/Discussion Idea: Ask what they learned about the Church being "One Body" through this game.

Added by Vonnie Waldrop


One-footed Blindfolded, Peanut Butter . . .
You gotta try One-footed Blindfolded, Peanut Butter Life-Saver Picker-upper.

One volunteer hops around on one foot while blind-folded, picking up at least one of each flavor of lifesaver in the area. To begin, they must dip their foot in peanut-butter, then hop around an area where three different stations of different colored lifesavers are set up.

Meanwhile, the rest of the audience, or several dozen members, surround the chosen one, but do not touch him/her. For the first round, the audience insults and deceives the blind-folded volunteer to keep them from completing their task. For the second round, the audience encourages and helps the volunteer successfully pick up at least one of each flavor.

This was specifically designed for a class on encouragement.
added by Jason Eppink, Jenna Eppink, Natalie Maddux

Organized Mingling Mixer
Get an even amount of students and staff in the room.  (Add your staff as needed to make the number even.)  Students 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.

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 right now?
5.  Share a moment in your life where you remember being the most happy.
6.  Share a moment in your life where you were really sad.
Hint: you can use questions that will kick off that night's discussion.
Submitted by Young Life

Pantyhose Stuff
Great Small Group game:
Divide 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.  Challenge: Same game blindfolded.
Added by Young Life


Paper Plane Onslaught
For this game you need two different colors of 8½ x 11 paper, as many sheets as you have students plus extra, just in case. Also, give everyone a pair of cheap sunglasses, because you'll need eye protection for this one. Then you split the room with tape or other similar divider. Give half the group one stack of color paper and the other half the other color. Choose a time limit between 1 and 3 minutes. The idea is to see how many paper airplanes one team can throw to the other side before the time is up. The team that has thrown the most planes to the other side wins.

Quick Clean Up: The team that cleans up their side the fastest wins the onslaught.

Added by Sterling Lynn

Pass the Spam
Divide students into teams (however many you want) and form a line. Give each team a can of Spam. Have the first person in each line open the can and place the Spam under his chin, holding it against their chest. When you say "Go" they pass it to the next persons chin. (No hands...except to pick it up off the floor!). A simple relay, but have fun adding creative twists...like "last person eats it!"
added by Purple Chris

Penny on the Chin Mixer
Give 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. You may want background music starting and stopping each round.
Added by Young Life

Pickle Spitting Contest
Buy a large container of dill pickles. You can go with whole pickles, you can cut them . . . the size is up to you! Roll out plastic on floor! Catagorize you crowd by age, grade, gender, whatever you feel like, and go to it. Anything from distance, bullseye, goal posts, target, (skies the limit) and have fun with lots of recognition. We have done this in our harvest party and had takers of all ages.
Added by Dean Bohl

Pictionary Mania (How many ways can u play?)
Play with teams, having them draw with toes or mouth.
VariationS:
~ Play-Doh Pictionary  
Sculpt objects for your team to guess.
~ Fruit Loop Pictionary
It's just like it sounds.  Break up into teams and play Pictionary.  But instead of using pens, pencils, etc to draw, give each team a box or two of Fruit Loops cereal! It's fun to watch how creative teams will get using the different colors.  (More may get eaten that played with!)
~ Playdoh Pictionary - Sculpt objects for your team to guess.

Added by Young Life/Fruit Loop Pictionary added by Marc Wilkinson

Pie Roulette
Six kids in a circle pass a pie around. When the music stops, the kid with the pie has the choice of pieing the person on their right or himself. If the kid pies another kid he’s out. If he pies himself, he stays in. If they all pie themselves add honey to the pie, or Spam, or chocolate syrup, or whatever it takes. Use marshmallow fluff or whip cream for the pies.
Added by Young Life

Play Doh Pictionary
Just like it sounds! Pictionary, but with Play-doh. Divide into teams. Have a representative come up front from each group. Whisper a Pictionary word (like "dog") to the group and they must run back to their group and, without talking, mold that word with Play-doh. You can use words from your "topic" that day or from your lesson to introduce the subject.  

Put a staff member on each team cause kids will cheat (so do some staff members!)

Play Doh Snowman
We did this for one of our Youth's Christmas Parties. Divide group into teams made up of about 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, "Most Creative" or "Biggest Snow Man", etc. This works great for groups of 30-40 teens. Our teens were very creative, and we showcased them on Sunday in the foyer. They loved it.

Added by Howell Champs

Plunger Head
In most hardware stores you can buy the pink plunger part separate from the stick. So get two plunger ends for every stick. Put one plunger end at each end of the stick. Tie a tennis ball by about 2 feet of string to the middle of the stick.  Put your group into equal teams.  Have them run a relay to the end of a determined length in pairs. Each member has to put a plunger end on his forehead and together they have to wrap the tennis ball around the stick without using their hands (other than to hold the plunger to their heads). When they get it wound, they drop it, run back and tag the next group who then has to UNWIND it in the same fashion.

Not only does it teach teamwork and team cheering, everyone looks equally stupid in the process.
Added by Robin Thornett & Johnna Maddox

Polaroid Picture Challange
You 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


Poor Little Kitten
Everyone sits in a circle. One person is the "Poor Little Kitten", and stands in the middle of the circle. He must then go to any person in the circle and kneel down in front of them and meow the saddest "meow". The person sitting must then say "Poor Little Kitten" and pet him on the head without laughing. The "Poor Little Kitten" has three chances to make the person laugh. If the person sitting laughs he becomes the "Poor Little Kitten".
Added by Mary Vela

Potato Head Maker
Break group into teams of four kids. 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

Psychiatrist
This game is a blast, it can take a long time though, so be prepared to make it your only game for the night!

Take your group and have them sit in a circle with one person, the psychiatrist, questioning them while standing in the middle (usually it helps if the person who is the psychiatrist has never played the game before). They are briefed separately on the rules of the game.

The Psychiatrists 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 goal is to answer questions as truthfully as possible, without revealing the true nature of their problem. 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

Pull Across the Line
See "British Bulldog" (above). Same object of the game, but you can't cross the center line and you convert people to your side by reaching over the line and pulling them to your side.

Variation: Have someone sit down if they are pulled across

Pull Apart
This is where all the guys link up (get in a big pile and hug, grab each other, whatever necessary to try to stay linked together) and when you say "go," the girls try to pull them apart. Once a guy is pulled to where he isn't touching any other guys, he's out and needs to go sit down. Last two guys together are the winners.

For the obvious reasons, we don't suggest reversing the gender roles on this game.

Pull-up
Everyone gets a chair and forms a circle, everyone sitting in their chair and facing the center of the circle except for 5 boys and 5 girls who start the game. (They are in the middle, standing). At a whistle the 10 boys and girls in the center of the circle run to the people sitting in the chairs and "pull-up" a person of the opposite sex, by taking their hands and pulling them out of their chair. For example a boy would go up to a girl, pull her out of her chair and then take her place. The girl can offer not resistance. She then runs to the other side of the circle, pulls a guy out of this chair, and takes his seat, and so- on. This continues for one minute, the whistle blows, and everybody stops where they are. The boys and girls left standing are counted. If there are 2 more girls than boys, the boys get 2 points, and the game goes on. Every time a minute goes by, the whistle blows and those standing are counted. The idea is sort of a random "musical chairs", boys against the girls. The team with the least left standing each time wins.

Added by Young Life


Pumpkin Decorating
Divide into groups of 4 or 5 and give each group a pumpkin on which they need to draw a face with color markers. Works great around October 31.

Option: award a prize for the best artwork.

Added by Young Life

Pumpkin Puzzle
This 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


Puzzle Mixer
As kids arrive, give them each the piece to a kid’s jigsaw puzzle (min. 10 pcs, max. 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 kids 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


Pyramid Race
Pretty Simple. Divide Group into teams of six. Have them build a pyramid (three people on bottom, two in the middle, one on top) and walk across a certain point (only needs to be 10 or 15 feet away), turn around and walk back, all while in the pyramid. First team done wins!

Q-Tip and Food Coloring Wars
This is a messy game, so do game outside or in area easily cleaned up. Have a staff person wear a T-shirt, preferably plain white. 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 5 Q-Tips per person or an equal amount if teams are not even in number. (6 on team one, 7 on team two, 6 on team 3 - give team #2 five more Q-Tips) and give each person a straw (wide straws work best - McDonald's has them, but it would be wise to ask instead of just grabbing that amount). 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 kids 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 # or 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:
Old white T-shirt (they'll need to be thrown out after this event!)
Enough Q-Tips for each kid to have 5
4 different food coloring colors
4 cups or bowls
4 one cup measures of water
Drop cloth
Tape to tape a firing line on the ground

Q-Tip Shuffle
Another stupid relay . . . but some of you might actually like those pathetic things! Several teams divide in half and stand in two lines on the opposite sides of the room for this relay game. A person in front of the line shoves six Q-tips in different orifices of his/her body (sticking out of pockets, between knees, protruding from armpits . . . ), then shuffles across room to the person in front of the other line who grabs Q-tips with their teeth, and drops them on the floor. That person then sticks the Q-tips on their body somewhere and does the same, running (shuffling) back to the original line. First team to finish the relay wins.

Q-Tip War
This is a simpler, cleaner version of our Q-tip & Food Coloring War game above. Divide room in half (with tape if needed). Each person gets a plastic straw and each side a bunch of Q-tips. On "Go" with loud music started, the object is to get as many Q-tips on the other side of the line in the allotted time.
Added by Young Life

Questionnaire Game
For this game you'll need as many pens as students and a pre-typed/copied questionnaire.

Have all your students fill out an anonymous questionnaire when they come in, with questions/statements like, "My favorite band is.." "My dream car is...". Once finished, pass the questionnaires out randomly (to someone different than the person who filled it out) and yell "Go!"   Students have to walk around asking each other questions, trying to find whose questionnaire they have.  

The Point: Good getting-to-know-you game

Quick Draw
Divide into 2 teams and have each team get as far away from each other as possible (opposite sides of the room). The leader is in the center of the room and holds two boxes (one for each team) containing 10-20 words or phrases on little slips of paper.
When the game begins, one member from each team runs to the center, takes a slip of paper out of their team’s box, reads it and gives it to the leader who discards it. The player then runs back to his/her team, picks up a drawing pad and a marking pen and tries to draw the word or phrase. No letters or words are allowed, only pictures. The team tries to guess the word or phrase by looking at the drawing. The artist may not speak until someone finally guesses correctly.
As soon as the word or phrase is guessed, the next player runs to the leader and draws another slip of paper. Play continues until one team finishes all twenty.
The 10-20 words and phrases should be the same for all teams. Also, it might be wise to have an adult referee with each team. In that case, each contestant should bring the slip of paper to his team referee so he knows what the phrase is and can determine when it is guessed.

Added by Young Life

Rain Maker
This game involves the whole group - the larger the better. Explain to everyone that you are going to do something once thought impossible: with their help you will make it rain inside.
Divide into 3-4 groups where they are sitting (left, left middle, right middle, and right…sides of the room). Explain that they MUST be absolutely quiet and watch you tell them what to do for this to work. Point to the left side and have them quietly rub their hands together back and forth. Then bring in the next group, and the next, until all are doing it (gets louder as you go).
After the last group has joined in, go back to the first group and get them snapping their fingers, then the next group and so on. Then back to group one to begin patting their hands on their legs…on to the other groups.
Then back to group one to begin patting harder and stomping their feet on the floor…on then to the other groups.
You can do this process in reverse…back to patting legs, then back to snapping, back to rubbing hands, then back to silence. If it is done right, you will hear your rainstorm!
The Point(s):
1. Things aren't always what they seem (see related trivia below).
2. Gets their attention before you speak.
Added by Young Life
(Related Trivia: Peter Jackson used a stadium of people to create the sounds of Orc Wars in the Lord of The Rings movies.)


Real Identity
This is a great "get to know ya" and a memory game. Everybody is in a circle. Everyone takes a turn saying their name and something about them (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.

Ro-Sham-Bo 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 a prize.

Run the Gauntlet
Girls are given rolled up newspapers, and they are lined up in two single file lines. The two lines are parallel, facing each other with approximately three to four feet between them. The boys tie balloons to their seats (on their pant belt loops) and must "run the gauntlet", that is , they must run between the tow lines of girls who try to pop the balloons by hitting them with the newspapers. The object is to see which boy(s) can avoid having their balloon popped.

Saran Wrap Body Pass
Get 4 staff members from the crowd (as many staff as you have sections of the crowd- divided by isles) Have each staff member stand in front of a given section of crowd that can cheer for their staff member. Have each staff member grab about 3 or 4 kids to “wrap them.” Hand each group 3 or 4 rolls of Saran Wrap, tell them to mummy them and yell “Go!” (I tell the staff to put their hands in the air so they have them free for later!)
When they are wrapped up- ask the crowd what the best way to judge who is wrapped the best- then announce that you have an idea. “Pick them up and pass them to the back of the crowd and back up front again. First section to do that wins!”
Added by Greg Weisman

Saran Wrap Race
Materials needed: as many boxes of 100 ft. plastic wrap as you plan teams for, masking tape (for finishing line), trash can, stop-watch (optional)

Prep: Beforehand, use tape to designate start and finish lines. Pick 4-10 students (depending on amount of space available) and put them in teams of two.

Assign one player from each team to wrap and one to be wrapped. When they hear "Go!", the wrapper opens the box (an added challenge) and starts wrapping their teammate from the neck down, including arms, with the entire roll. NOTE: Do not wrap arms to body- this could result in injury if they fall. Have them only wrap arms individually!

Once they've been wrapped they must hop to the finish line. As soon as they get across the finish line their teammate runs from the starting line and unwraps them. The first person to unwrap their partner and throw away all the plastic wrap wins! (Notice how the clean-up is slyly integrated into the game…they don't pay you for your good looks alone!)

Twist #1: Instead of hopping, students must inch-worm their way across the finish line. (For this game you can have wrap their arms to their body- just don't let them fall- they don't have their arms to stop their fall)

Twist #2: When the wrapped one gets across the finish line, the other teammate wraps themselves up as they unwrap their teammate. After they are wrapped up they hop to the starting line, turn around and hop back to the finish line, and the game resumes as usual. Use this twist if you need to burn more time up.

Added by Michael Kirschner

Shoe Pile
Have 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 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.

Added by Youth For Christ

Shoe Tie
While students are entering your youth room, ask them to take off their shoes and put them in a back room out of sight.  While they are involved in other activities, have a leader or two sneak back and tie all the shoes together in one big, massive knot.  Then bring out the pile in front of everyone.   The object of the game is to see who can be first to get their shoes untied, back on their feet, and tied again.  Award two different winners: laces and no laces.  
Added by Bryan Murawski
Young Life Variation:
Divide all the people into groups of 3. Taking turns, have 2 people untie and then retie the laces of the group with one person using his left hand and the other person using his right hand. Put a time limit on it. Race against two groups.




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.
Submitted by Young Life

Shuffle Your Buns
This game requires at least a good handful of people and a chair for everyone. Have everyone sit in a circle. Then select a person to go into the middle. When you say "go" they are to try to go back to their seat. Everyone slides their tush (shuffles their buns) over to block the person from sitting in the empty seat. The person will end up running around the circle trying to get to the rapidly moving empty seat. If he sits than the person on his or her left is the person who has to go in the middle.

Silent Animal Circle
This game gets difficult with more than twenty people; it is better for groups of 15 or so. Everyone gets in a circle and is given an animal in which they are assigned a hand motion that represents that animal.

Hand Motions (a few examples):
Elephant- hang one arm down with your other arm wrapped around it, holding your nose (like a trunk)
Mosquito- with your left hand hold up a peace sign with the inside of your hand facing you, with your right hand poke your index finger pointing forward and place it in the middle of the peace sign in your left hand; now bring your hands to your face like you have a mosquito nose.
Cow- put your hand at your stomach with your fingers sticking out like an udder.
Deer- point a finger on each hand upward, placing your hands on top of your head (like single horns)
Moose- open your hands with fingers spread wide and place hands on your head with thumbs touching the top of your head (moose antlers)


How To Play:

Lets say that 12 people are playing this game. They are all in a circle. The Elephant, in the 12 o'clock position of the circle is the leader. Then in the 11 o'clock position the mosquito then whatever order you like. The animal is always in the same position- as people move, they assume the animal in that particular seat or place in the circle. The object is to get to be the elephant. As people mess up in this game, they have to move back to the one o'clock position and work their way up again as others mess up.

The elephant starts the game by doing his own signal then another animals signal, such as the cow. The cow must then do his own signal and another animal's signal immediately. A certain rhythm or speed is set by the elephant (by how fast he or she does the signals). Everyone must keep that rhythm- no hesitations. If an individual pauses, forgets to do their signal, or messes up the signal in any way, then he or she must go back to the one o'clock position. Lets say that the cow is always in the 10 o'clock position. If the person that was the cow messes up, then he or she goes to the one o'clock position and is now a snake (for example). The person who was the deer (in the 9 o'clock position) is now the cow and so on down the line. When ever someone messes up, it is only the people below them that are affected and have to move up to a new animal. If the elephant messes up, everyone moves because he is the highest position.

Silent Charades
Divide into teams of 5 to 7 people. Have the members of one team leave the room while the others think of a situation which can be acted out without words (see below for ideas). Then bring in one person from the team that was sent out of the room. 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 he 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.
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 lost 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:
Your are a pregnant mama 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.

You can also act out a hobby, changing a diaper, or washing an elephant.

Added by Young Life

Sit Down If
Instructions:
Ask the entire group to stand.
Instruct them to sit down when the statement characterizes them and remain seated.
Encourage them to be as honest as possible.
If you have trouble because most are not sitting down, give them general characteristics (sit down if you are under 15, if you have on white socks, if you are in love).
Sit Down Mixer Number 1
Sit down if:
You haven't used deodorant in a week ... two days.
You haven't won the same socks two days in a row.
You sing in the shower.
You drive a Volkswagon.
Your belly button is an outie.
You haven't taken a shower in a week.
You didn't use mouthwash today.
You are a girl and you didn't shave your legs today.
You are a guy and you didn't shave your legs today.

Sit Down Mixer Number 2
Sit down if:
Your nose is crooked
You believe each person should pay expenses on the first date.
You still suck your thumb.
Your socks don't match.
You are ticklish.
You wear baby doll pajamas.
You weigh less than 100 pounds.
You nose is running and you don't have a handkerchief.
You're going steady but you wish you weren't.
You are good-looking but not conceited.

Sit Down Mixer Number 3
Sit down if:
You have ever eaten snails.
You are cross-eyed.
Your mother still dresses you.
You use Ban deodorant.
You have never lied to your mother.
You have a hole in your sock.
Your zipper is open.
You got a traffic ticket lately.
You are on a diet.
You have never stolen a street marker.
You have a false tooth.
You are really good looking.

Sock Wars
Use tape on the floor to design an "arena" and have all contestants take off shoes but leave socks on. You can have as many people participate, but remember the more kids, the bigger the area should be. The object of this game is to keep your socks on as long as possible! There is no standing, so everyone is crawling around on the arena trying to pull everyone elses socks off while trying to defend their own socks.
Added by Stephanie

Sockball
kind of like hot potatoes/tag/WWF
NEED: circle of chairs of no less than 15 people 2-4 people standing in the middle 3-4 long socks with tennis balls in the end. HOW Those sitting in the circle toss the sockballs to each other (usually very hard throws) and try to keep those in the middle from catching them.(more fun if you can bounce it off someone in the middle) If they catch it then the thrower goes in and the runner sits down.(even if it falls to the ground and is picked up) The people in the middle can also tag any thrower who is holding the sockball and they have to switch.(this keeps the pace up). This is our favorite game, good for those nights when high activity level is the best option.
Added by Collin Buckley

Song Endurance
This game is very simple and can be played with two or more teams. Sometimes this is fun to do with guys against girls. Pick a song theme (at Christmas choose Christmas songs, with a younger or more ignorant 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.

Sound Effects
Supplies 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 nor more than 15. All members of the group must contribute. You could give a small prize (bag of candy or litre of pop) to the group that adds the most creative sound selection not on the list.

*Herd of cows
*Cat in a dog kennel
*TV Show theme
*Lovesick Coyotes on a moonlit night
*A worship song
*Room Full of Babies
*Traffic

Source Unknown


Squirt Game
Have 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.

Added by Youth For Christ

Stand on the Bucket
This is a 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.

Steal the Bacon (the fish, the freshman . . .)
This is an age old game that can be played a billion different ways. How good the game is depends on how creative you are with methods and objects.

The game is played by forming two teams in parallel lines facing each other. Number them off so each person has a counterpart. Put an object in the middle such as an old tire tube (the bacon) When a number is called, 12 for example, the number 12 from each team is to try to run out and grab the bacon and get it back to their side.

This can be played many ways. Here are a few:

Kiss the wench- see above in the game list

Hockey style- a ball is in the middle and several hockey sticks. A goal of some sort is on each end of the play area. When numbers�

are called (single numbers or multiple numbers) the numbers called are to run out, pick up a hockey stick and try to hit the ball in the appropriate goal.

Water balloon style- one Water balloon is in the middle- the number called runs out and tries to get the Water balloon first and try to hit the other person with it.

Bucket of water- same as Water balloon but with bucket of water

Chalk Sock- Same as the Water balloon style but they have to try to grab the chalk sock (a long sock with a pile of chalk powder in the end- leaves a chalk mark on clothes- and sometimes starts really cool fights!) and hit the other person with it.

Steal the Freshman-Take a wild guess what you put in the middle!

Steal the Fish-Gross, but fun

Backpack Style-With this method you always call two numbers and one must get on the other's back before running to get the object in the middle. You can use an object suspended in the air (hung by string) that they have to grab with their teeth.


Sticks and Tires (Toothpicks and life savers):
This is a 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 candy on their toothpick. They must pass the life saver from their toothpick to their neighbors toothpick without any hands. First team to pass it all the way down is the winner.

Story Time
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.

String Toss Game
Get 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 on to 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.

We suggest typing up your predetermined questions ahead of time. You can find some great ideas for questions or discussion starting statements on this page: http://www.thesource4ym.com/outreach/koosh.asp

Suck and Blow
You might want to rename this game! This racy title just happens to describe what you do. Line the kids up, and have them pass an index card 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. This game is especially great with boys, because if one person drops the card at just the right point, the two come very close to locking lips. The first group to pass the card all the way down (and back if you wish) wins.

Super Sundae
Divide 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 most ice cream gone wins a prize. Talk about messy!
Added by Bruce Huffstetler

Superball Pass
This is a great game to be done in a sanctuary with pews. Divide the crowd in half. Have several members from each side of the sanctuary go to the back of the room behind the last pew. Dump a pile (about 20 is good) of superballs in front of the first pew. The kids in the pews must get the superballs to the people in the back of the room by shoving/throwing/passing them UNDER THE PEWS. Nothing can go over a pew. First team to get a certain # of the balls to the back (75%) is the winner!

Taboo on Easel
This is like the board game Taboo, but on an Easel and a lot easier. Divide into teams. Teams elect someone to be the stood person. Bring that person on the stool and 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 a certain time (a minute 30 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.

Rules:

no hand motions

no "sounds like" or rhyming with other words

Tape Head
The same as I need a Shoelace with an added twist! Have the runners or team leaders have a hat with tape all over it on their head. Teams must stick the items called for to the hat to remain there til the end of the game.

Team Competition Scrabble
Each team gets a packet containing same set of scrabble letters with points written on them.  Each team will then in turn have an opportunity to come up to 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


The Sentence Game
Great game for Jr Highers, Travel, or creative kids. Can be played with just two people or 50. It's 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 no 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

Toe Fencing
All 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 Firing Squad
If you don't mind A LOT of clean up, this game is one kids will remember!

For this game you need several packs of toilet paper, depending on the number of students you have. This is a variation of Toilet Paper Dodge Ball. Line all but two players against an outside wall with side boundaries clearly marked. The two "marksmen" pull off a wad of toilet paper and dip in a bucket of water, making it really soggy. Then they try to hit the other players who are allowed to move side to side from about 15-20 feet away. The last person to be hit and the runner-up are the two "marksmen" in the next round. If the game is taking too long, put a 1-3 minute time limit on each " round, and pronounce the winner as the one who has the least amount of people left standing (and dry)!
Added by Rachel Tarr

Toilet Paper Over Under
This is the age 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.

Top 40 Mixer
This is a fun guessing game that can be used as a mixer. Divide the room into teams. Tape-record bits and pieces of some of the top 40 hits of the month, week, or whatever onto a cassette. You can usually accomplish this by recording them right off of the radio. Edit it so that only a second or two of each song can be heard. Then when you play it back for the kids, see how many of them can identify all of the songs.

Added by Young Life


Trigger
The 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", wveryone watches for their trigger.  The object of the game is to guess what other peoples' triggers are.  

Added by Errin Martin

Trust Circle
Object of the Game: To hold up the person in the middle and keep him safe from falling.

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:

1. Players in the circle sit down, placing their feet around the ankles of the person in the middle. Sounds crazy, but it works

2. "Courage Camille" is a slight variation of this game in which only 3 players are required. Two of the players face each other and lock hands. The third person stiffens and falls backwards into their arms. This should be done several times, with the person falling farther backwards each time (the players locking their hands should lower them each time). Other players can then try.

3. "Courage Camille" can also be played with only one person catching.

4. The person who is "it" wears a blindfold.

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.

Trust Lift
More of a learning exercise than a game!

Object of the Game: 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.

T-Shirt Challenge
You use a men's size medium 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 off of the t-shirt. Our record stands at 17 people! It is a-lot of fun and I would love to hear if anyone can get more than that! Valley Chapel -Juneau, Alaska! shilling@gci.net

Two Truths and A Lie
A good game for small group interaction. The object is to reveal unknown things about yourself to the group in a fun atmosphere.

A person states three things about himself. Two must be true and one a lie. For example: "I was born in South Africa. I have a green card. I have a dog named Bubba."

The others in the group try to guess which statement is the lie. If a player guesses correctly, they earn a point. If no one guesses correctly, the individual earns five points. Each person should get a chance to share.

The Point:  Getting to know each other.

Valentine Candy Mixer
Pass 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


Valentine Toe Freezer
For 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

Who Is It?
This is a good game for small group interaction. The object is to get individuals to share unknown things about themselves in a safe environment. Each player writes down a little know truth about himself. The paper slips are handed in and read aloud one at a time. The slips are then read a second time, and players write who they think wrote that slip. After everyone has guessed on slips, the truth is revealed. Each player gets a point for every correct guess. If no one guesses a person's slip correctly, that person gets five points.

Who's on my back
Have everyone secretly write down the name of a person on a small piece of paper. It has to be a person that everyone in the room would know about (eg. Jesus, George Washington, Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc.) Then have them tape the name on the back of the person on their left. Everyone must now go around and ask people yes or no questions about who is on their back. They can only ask each person one question. The person who can do it in the least number of asks wins.

Win Lose or Draw
This game is the same as the old TV version by the same name. It is played like Pictionary, either guys against girls (battle of the sexes kind of deal), 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 you 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 (maybe use words from a certain subject or topic to introduce your discussion for the evening, or words to fit the season, i.e., Manger, Wise Men, Christmas tree, etc.)
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.

Yelling Match
Group 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 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.
Added by Donald Jin

Your Number is Up
Great for dividing teams.  Much like the game "Clumps."  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.

Zip Zap
Gather 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 "zipped" will look at the "zip"-er and say "Zap!". 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


Zip Zap Bop
Played 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 persons 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. This is a pretty stupid game- but some kids actually like it- try it and if it doesn't work right away have a back up.