This activity should be timed for how long it takes to complete one whole process 5 times. It should then be repeated until the team can't think of ways to improve their speed.
Here are some suggestions on how to improve the speed of the process. The teams should only be prompted with this information if they get stuck.
Divide the group into teams. Give each team an even amount of Balloons and sellotape. Each team must build a chair out of the materials provided within a set time limit. Then each team must sit a person on their chair. The team whos chair hasnt popped wins. If both chairs are still standing add more people to each chair.
In true relay style divide the group in two at least two teams. Get each team to sit down in single file. Give the person at the front of each team a banana. When the game starts the person at the front must put the banana between their feet and pass it over their head to the person behind them who will receive the banana between their feet. When the banana gets to the end of the line the person at the back must shuffle on their bottom to the front of the line and the process continues until one team has done a full loop and the persons who started with banana is now at the front of the line
Overview:
Teams of 4 are competing against each other to get the other teams'' gold and to capture other team''s'' players, and put them in your jail.
Set-up/Boundaries:
Using two ropes, or red surveyor''s tape, divide the field into 4 sections. Each section has one prison area, which is marked off with either ducttape or surveyor''s tape. Each section also has a "gold depot" which is marked using hula-hoops or tape. Each team has their own color, which is a flag strip tucked into the front of each player''s pants. Every team gets an equal amount of "gold" to start the game, which is white socks, gold socks, and 1 gray work sock.
Start of Game:
When whistle blows, teams begin the attack. Another team can only catch you if you are in their section; likewise, you can only catch others in your own section (if you are "green" and you run into the "red" section, then you run across to the "yellow section, red can no longer capture you, but yellow now can). When you capture another team member, take their flag and report to the middle of the field to the scorekeeper, then return flag to the person in your prison.
In addition to capturing opposing team players, you are also trying to get their "gold", without getting caught. You can only take 1 gold piece at a time, and if you are caught inside an opposition section, you must return gold to that team (no throwing gold into your own section).
What Happens When Caught:
Having your flag removed by another team player inside their section gets you caught. When this happens, you report to their prison area and can only get out of prison if a teammate tags you out, without getting caught themselves. If your teammate gets caught trying to free you, they must join you in the jail area. Once you successfully get tagged out, you and your teammate get a free passage back to your section. NOTE (the game coordinator may call "jailbreak" and free everyone in jail in all the sections at any given time, usually when there is a lop-sided number of players in prison).
How the Game is Won:
The game is won by accumulating points for every prisoner your teammates catch, and for each piece of "gold" left at the end of the game. You can run out of gold during the course of the game, but still get points by capturing prisoners and trying to grab other gold from enemy sections. The team with the most accumulated total points at the end is the winner.
Score Keeping:
White Socks- 3000 points each
Gold Socks- 5000 points each
Gray Socks- 10,000 points each
Prisoners- 1000 each player
Set up a normal game of dodge ball. The exception is that when a player is out they stand behind the opposing teams area. If they catch a ball without it bouncing they get to come back to there team. Players on each team can choose to get their opponents out or free their team members.
There are many variations of this game. Begin by asking everyone to blindfold
themselves (or close their eyes, but it’s oh-so-tempting to peek!). Then give them the
task of lining themselves up in order of their birthdays. Variations include lining them up
by height or weight or by allowing them to see, but not talk.
Divide your group into two or more teams. Give each team the same size piece of fabric or carpet. Each team must stand on the carpet. You will then get the team to half the size of the carpet/fabric and everyone must stand on it. This process continues until one team can no longer feet on the carpet/fabric. No feet can be off the fabric or carpet. Piggy backs are allowed.
Divide the group into 2 or more groups and put them in a line facing a bucket full of water. Give each young person a plastic cup. The first person must fill the cup full of water and then place it on their head and hold it with their hands. They should then turn round so they are facing the person behind them, the next person should kneel down with the cup on their head and the first person should pour as much water into the seconds persons cup as possible. This continues to the end of the line where the last person should fill up another bucket full of water. The process keeps going for a set time limit the team with the most water in the end bucket at the end of the game wins. Once a person has emptied their water into the end bucket or to the next person along they can get the next bit of water from the person in front or the bucket full of water depending on where they are standing.
Set up a normal game of dodge ball. The exception is that each player will have there feet duct tapped together.
The goal of this game is to work your way up by beating other players at Rock-Scissors-Paper to the “position” of king or queen.
Everyone starts out as an egg. You find another egg and play Rock-Scissors-Paper. The winner "grows" into a chicken who finds another chicken to play against. Whoever wins "grows" into a dinosaur. The loser returns to being an egg.
Once a dinosaur you must find another dinosaur to play against. If you lose you step down to a chicken. The next step is becoming a prince or princess, which of course means playing against another prince or princess. If you win you become a King or Queen and stand off to the side. If you lose you return to a dinosaur. The game is played until there is one egg, chicken, dinosaur and prince. All other players will be kings or queens.
The fun in all this?: Eggs waddle on the ground in a little ball, chickens walk and squat while flapping their wings and "clicking", dinosaurs "roar" standing up. Princes/princesses "prance" around holding an imaginary scepter while kings and queens stand off to the side victoriously.
This activity requires one package of computer or copier paper and a large, open floor
space. Have one participant in the group draw a picture on a piece of paper of anything
they’d like. Then, give the group the stack of paper and tell them to mimic the drawing
on the floor. To make it more interesting, silence certain people in the group. For
instance, only allow one person to do the talking and instructing or, perhaps, only the
guys. If there is a large number of participants, divide the group in half and have the
groups compete to see who can lay out a more accurate picture. This activity is
especially fun if timed and allows for a fun photo opportunity at the end.
Get two or more team together and give them a frozon tshirt ,the first team to break it apart and wear it wins ! (soak a few old tshirts in water then put them in the frezzer over night making sure they are screwed up in a ball ).
Take them out the frezzer about an hour before use.
Get everyone to stand in a circle, with their arms out either side. Tell people to put their left palm up, and right finger pointing down (touching the person next to them''s outstretched palm).
When you say the word "GO", people need to do two things:
If your finger is grabbed, you are out, and you sit on the sidelines. The game continues until there is a winner.
The key to this game is adding a bit of drama and suspense around when you say "Go". eg count down, add a big delay, etc. You can do it a few times before it gets old :)
GROG is a very active, play after dark game.
You also need a building that is conducive to running and hiding. The only equipment you need is a flashlight. Here is how the game is played. One person is the Game Captain and is in charge of overseeing the game.
Prior to the game, the Game Captain (GC) needs to go thru the play area. In our church, we go around and turn on various Sunday School classroom lights. The doors to these rooms are closed, and those rooms are off limits. (We have classroom doors with windows, so the light shines out into the hall, giving us enough light to play. If this does not work for your play area, you need to figure out how to have a low level of light.)
The GC takes the flashlight apart into at least 3 pieces - the barrel, the battery, and the lens - and hides these pieces throughout the play area. Since the environment is somewhat dark, we tend to hid them in places that are not too very hard to find.
Once that is done, the GC goes back to the group and selects the GROG. The GROG is a creature of the dark, and goes into the dim play area to hide.
The GROG''s goal is to tag the other players, like freeze tag, and renders them inactive. The GROG is trying to capture all of the players. There is no base. If the frozen player is tagged, they can become active players again.
The players'' objective is to find the flashlight and assemble it. Only the light of the flashlight will put an end to the GROG''s existance. Once the players find the pieces of the flashlight and get it working, they go on a GROG hunt. Shining the light on the GROG, or freezing all of the players, ends the game.
NOTES: If you have a large group, divid them into a couple of groups by age and size. You don''t want the big guys tearing down a hallway and crashing into a little guy. Also, warn the players not to run "all out" for the same reason. We encourage the players not to talk, etc., when they are frozen.
This game may confuse and frustrate those who don’t understand at first. Choose three
people in the group by saying, “Amanda, Collin, and Karie”. Then ask the question,
“Whose triangle is it?” Participants will spend lots of energy and time trying to find a
specific pattern, but there’s an easy solution. The first person to speak after you ask the
question is who the triangle belongs to. It may take the group a long time to understand,
so if needed, be very, very obvious. No matter how obvious you are, there will still be
people who won’t get the pattern!
This is a card game that is quite amusing to watch and play. Sit the players in a circle and the dealer has a pack of cards in the middle. He/she turns the cards face up, one at a time, while the others are watching.
When a Jack is turned, the group must shout “I’m alright Jack!”.
When a Queen is turned, the group must take a bow.
When a King is turned, the group must stand and salute.
When an Ace is turned, the group must move to the next seat in the circle.
When a 7 is turned, the group must do all of the above in order.
You could play this as an elimination game; the last person to react is out.
Divide the group into pairs and give each pair a bowl of marshmellows. set up another bowl on the opposite side of the room. each pair must transfer the marshmellows from one bowl to the other by sandwiching the marshmellow beetween their two heads and holding on to each others shoulders. Only one marshmellow can be transported at a time. The fastest team wins. no hands can be used in the trqnsport process.
Stand in a circle, with one person in the middle. When the person in the middle says so,
participants will be given 30 seconds to one minute to memorize the first, middle, and
last name of the person to their left and right. After the minute is over, the person in the
middle will point to somebody and say “left” or “right”. If he or she pauses or stumbles
saying the full name, he or she is then in the middle. If everyone seems to know each
others names right away, the person in the middle can call out, “Move It Buddy!” and
everyone must rush to a new space and begin memorizing names again.
To play the final party games, we will require about 5 balloons filled with colored water. Ask everyone to stand in a circle and give themselves a different number. You can stand in the middle of the circle and throw 1 water balloon in the air and call out a number. Say, "I call upon number ___" and say the number. The player whose number was called on will try to catch the balloon. If that player can''t catch the balloon or did catch it but it popped, will lose and will have to take your place. And the game keeps going on till all the water balloons are over. You can bring more balloons to extend the game.
Split the group into 2 teams. One volunteer should sit at the end of the room holding a plastic cup on their head. The rest of the group will line up behind a bowl of peas/Smarties at the other end. They have to try to get as many peas/Smarties into the cup using a spoon, but the spoon must be in their mouth!
Give each person 3 or 4 Pegs. Everybody should peg these on the bottom of there t-shirt so they are visible for everyone. The idea of the game is to run round trying to nick everybody elses pegs. When they get a peg they must stick this on the back of their T-Shirt. The person with the most pegs at the end of the game wins.
This problem solving activity requires that the leader choose a well known picture or cartoon that is full of detail. The picture needs to be cut into as many equal squares as there are participants in the activity. Each participant should be given a piece of the “puzzle” and instructed to create an exact copy of their piece of the puzzle five times bigger than its original size. They are posed with the problem of not knowing why or how their own work affects the larger picture. The leader can pass out pencils, markers, paper, and rulers in order to make the process simpler and run more smoothly. When all the participants have completed their enlargements, ask them to assemble their pieces into a giant copy of the original picture on a table. This problem solving activity will teach participants how to work in a team and it demonstrates divisionalized ‘departmental’ working, which is the understanding that each person working on their own part contributes to an overall group result.
This game usually takes about half an hour. The organizers of the game begin by finding
multiples of objects. If you plan to have 3 groups, then find 4 objects (i.e. 4 binders, 4
pens, 4 pinecones, etc.). Then, where none of the participants can see, arrange one set of
the objects. Maybe place the pen horizontally in the middle of the binder open to page 4
and put the pinecone centered above the binder. Then gather the participants, split them
up into three groups, and explain the game. Each group has 2 builders, 1 or 2 runners,
and 1 looker. The looker of each group gets to see the original model. Each group’s
builders get a pile of the objects in a space away from the other teams’ builders. The
interaction works like this: The lookers look at the original display and go halfway to the
builders’ location, where the runner will be positioned. The looker tells the runner all of
the details he can remember about the model. Then, the runner goes to builders. When
the runner(s) get(s) to the builders, the builders can only ask the runner yes or no
questions. “Does the pen go here? Is the binder open? Is it open to this page?” When the
runner can’t remember anymore details or wants to confirm a detail, he goes back to the
point where he can meet the looker. He can converse freely about the details. This goes
on until all of the groups feel they are done or are pretty much done. Then, everyone gets
together and looks at each groups finished model. Replication builds communication
Divide your group into three or four smaller groups and provide each group with a razor and a balloon covered in shaving cream. The objective of this game is to shave the balloon as fast as you can without popping the balloon. The team that does this the fastest wins. Though primarily just for fun, this game could teach your youth group different lessons in working with teams. If the balloon pops, this visual could be powerful for children about what can happen when people fail to work together.
Each person must start sitting on their chair with their cushion and straw facing one leader who is also doing the same.
The aim of the game is to do the opposite of the leader in time with the music.
So if the leader stands up the participant must sit down. If the leader takes the straw out of their mouth the participant must put the straw in their mouth. If the Leader put the cushion on their head the participant must take the cushion off their head. This is actually quite hard to co-ordinate all these things in time with the music. Gradually eliminate people from the game who make mistakes.
Everyone stands in a circle. The leader stands in the centre of the circle. Each player holds an imaginary gun.
The leader will start by pointing and calling the name of one of the players in the circle. The players on either side of the nominated player then has to point and shout "Splat!" in the direction of that player. One of the following then occurs:
If someone accidentally ducks or shoots when they were not supposed to be doing so then they are also out.
Once a player is out they should sit in the circle where they were standing. The players next to them now have a different player adjacent to them and must react to their name instead of the shot player''s name.
When only two players remain, they must stand back-to-back in the centre of the circle as in an old-fashioned duel of honour. If the leader shouts either of their names, both players must turn and shoot, the quickest on the draw winning the game. If the leader shouts any other names, both players must take a step forwards.
Sit everybody at a table with spoons spread accross the centre, There must be one less spoon for the amount of people in the group. The group must be in a complete circle
Deal out 4 cards to every person. The idea of the game is to get 4 card of the same suit. (either 4 hearts/4 diamonds/4 spades/4 clubs).
The leader must count down 3,2,1 everybody must discard a card to their left and pick up the card to their right the process continues until someone has 4 card of the same suit in their hand. As soon as they do they must pick up a spoon. As soon as one person picks up a spoon the rest of the group can pick up a spoon. The last one looses or is out.
The game can be repeated as you just played it, or you can deduct a spoon from the table every time someone is out until their are only two winner left.
The game is particularly funny if the fist person grabs a spoon quietly and continues to pass the cards round the circle. You usually find some person will be left still trying to get a set of 4 cards whilst every else has a spoon and just havn''t noticed.
Here are two variations of tag that will keep participants upbeat and interested.
Hospital Tag Every participant is “it” and also has three lives. When a player is tagged
once, he must put this hand on the part of his body where he was tagged. The second
time, he puts his other hand on that spot. The third time he is tagged, he is out.
Participants will get a kick out of watching people run around with their hands on ankles
or backs while trying to tag others.
Clothes Pin Tag Bring enough clothespins for every player to have at least three.
Again, everyone is it. Give them a certain amount of time to tag as many people with
clothespins as they can. When time is called, players with one or no clothespins on them
are still in the game and can again play for one more round. There are many ways to mix
this game up, but remind players that they’re not allowed to take the clothespins off once
they have been tagged.
This game can be a bit confusing to read, so pay close attention. Everyone sits around the table and places both their hands on it. Now with your neighbors on the left and right side, slide your hands underneath theirs and keep your palms on the table. This way, you will make an X with the hands. The game will begin with you tapping your right or left hand and the game moving clockwise or anticlockwise. Let''s say the game is moving clockwise, you tapped your left hand first. Now your neighbor has to tap his/her right hand and then your left hand and his/her left hand, and so on. The game goes on till someone messes up and he/she has to remove his/her hands off the table. If you double tap the wy you rotate round the table will change direction. You can''t double tap a double tap! Keep playing the game till the last person remains. It''s confusing in the beginning but when you coordinate with others, it''s quite fun.
Fill out the leadership questionnaire and mark it to find out how good your leadership skills are.
use the questions below to ask they young people would you rather this or this?