Youth GAMES Alpha

7/28/2019 Youth GAMES Alpha

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GAMES(Competitive, skit type, ice breakers)


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Alka Seltzer ChallengePurchase Alka-Seltzer tabs (or cheap substitute) at your local drug store. The

object of this challenge is to see how long a student can keep a seltzer tablet inhis or her mouth full of water or clear soda. The person who keeps their mouthshut the longest wins. You will want to have buckets or large bowls for studentsto empty their mouths into. For added fun, have students stand across from

each other so if one explodes, they drench the person across from them!Added by Erik Pasco

Alphabet PocketsDivide into teams of 4 or 5. Everyone on the team searches through their ownpockets, wallets, pocketbooks, etc. The group tries to come up with onepossession which begins with each letter of the alphabet. The winning team isthe one to have objects representing the most letters.

Ankle Balloon PopGive everyone a balloon and a piece of string or yarn. Have them blow up theballoon 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 blownup balloon wins.

Back Artist - aka Touch TelephoneThis game is based on the old "telephone game" but involves touch rather thanhearing. 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 simplehand 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 copyof it, using their fingers, on the back of the person in front of them. The drawingcan only be done once. The second person then draws what they felt onto theback 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 pieceof paper. The team whose picture most resembles the original wins that round.

Back to BackThis is the game where you start out with two people sitting back to back andthey have to stand straight up without using their hands. Add one person everytime they stand up successfully. Our record is ten!

Balloon Nose PopAn oldie but a goody. Take large balloons and get a kid to compete against twoof his peers. Each kid receives a balloon. The first teen to blow up a balloonusing only his nose and popping it, wins.

Balloon Shave3 or 4 kids race to shave a balloon. First put shaving cream all over the balloons.The trick is that when the balloon breaks, the shaving cream goes all over so

be prepared. A little nick put on the razor's edge before hand will assure that theballoons will break.

Variation: Water Balloon Shave3 couples come to the front of the room. The boys sit in chairs facing the


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audience and hold a large water balloon on their heads. Their girl partners coverthe balloons with shaving cream, and with a single edged razor blade (no razor,

just the blade) try to "shave" all the soap off of the balloon without breaking it.Whoever is the first to succeed is the winner.

Banana Legs

You can use as many contestants as desired but its best with an audiencecheering them on. The contestants place a knee high over their head (similar toa bank robber) and given a banana. It is a race to see who can eat the bananafirst, through the nylon. Have a camera ready because you're going to wantpictures of this one. Added by Trish Barnhart

Banana Splits in the MouthRecruit four hungry volunteers. Two people stand up in chairs while two otherslie on the floor at their feet. People in the chairs try to make a banana split in theother persons mouth by dropping ice-cream, syrup, banana, nuts, whippingcream and finally, a cherry into the person's mouth.

Fun options: You could have the people in the chair blindfolded. Alternate peoplein chairs with people on the floor. Payback time.

BarnyardThis 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 predict35 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, 10cow cards, 10 donkey cards and 10 pig cards). Hand out cards randomly to thekids 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 outthere Hee-Hawing his head off to no avail.

Beautiful BoysPick six girls and put them in pairs. Then have each pair pick a boy. Now fromyour local dollar store get cheap makeup, hair clips ,earrings, necklaces, or anything like that. Put it all out on a tray or table. give the girls two minutes tomakeup the guy, then have the group vote on the best looker. You have some

great pictures for blackmail later.

Blind DrawGood Small Group game:

Everyone in the group is given a sheet of paper and a pen. They are given 3minutes 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.


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Blind FeedersCall up between 4 and 10 volunteers (depending on the size of your group) to

make two-person teams. Have an apron (or garbage bag with a hole cut out forthe head) and one chair for each team. The person standing behind the chairputs on a blindfold. The person sitting puts on an apron and places hands onhips. The person standing threads their arms through the seated persons

armpits. Place a bowl in one hand of the blindfolded teen and a spoon in theother. They will feed their partner (ice cream, mousse, Jello, etc.). The firstteam finished to the best of their ability wins! Or, you may award prizes for themessiest eaters, cleanest eaters, or the one that got the most into their partnersmouth, etc.Added by Amanda from Australia

Bobbing For Apples In Baked BeansJust as disgusting as it sounds. Make sure you have plenty of clean-up towels.You may be able to get the beans donated and you may want to have swimgoggles and ear plugs. For this game recruit brave, gross-proof students aheadof time.

Body Parts (aka Foot to Ear)For this game you only need a boom box and a fun, upbeat cd. It's kind of likemusical 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 circlewalk counter-clockwise. When the music stops the leader will yell out two bodyparts (e.g. "foot to ear!"). When the music stops and the leader yells the bodyparts 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 ontheir partner's ear). Fun & funny game . . . just think before you yell body parts(e.g. don't yell "chest to head!")

Bubble Blow UpHave 3 "volunteers" up front. Give them each a Blow Pop sucker. The first one tounwrap it, and bite into it, to the gum, and blow a bubble wins.

Young Life Twist: You need bubble gum, flour, a cake pan, and 3 to 4 kids.Bury the gum in the flour. Without using their hands, students have to find thegum and blow a bubble.

Chubby ChihuahuasLike the age old, much debated, Chubby Bunnies, Chubby Chihuahuas uses

"atomic fireballs" (those red hot dime-store candies). RED GOOK GOESEVERYWHERE!!!!!

Communicating ChallengeGive everyone a number. They have to arrange themselves in numerical order bycommunicating with each other without speaking or holding up fingers. They


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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.

Condiment TwisterThis 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 Jellyfor 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 volunteerswith, so clothes aren't ruined. Have their faces, hands, and feet (shoes and socksoff) 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 outwhich body part goes where. i.e right cheek to blue, left leg to green, right handto yellow. It is a mess and a riot. It does get slippery, so make sure you havestaff there to help when people start flying around. Have a place for students toclean up after.

Cotton-ball Vaseline Race

Bring 2 guys and 2 girls up (or one student from each grade). Give each studenta pile of cotton balls. They must move the pile to another location of your choice

(could be next to them on the table or across the room in someone's lap) byputting Vaseline on their noses and picking up the cotton balls with their noses.

They may not use their hands. The first one to move all their cotton balls wins.

Counting GameHave 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 theirhands from behind their backs. The first person to yell out the correct sum of allthe fingers wins. Do best two of three. Then bring the winners up front to playeach other until you have a champion.

Counting Game Variation: The Math GameCompetitors hold just one hand behind their back, revealing the number offingers at the signal. Whoever yells out the sum of the fingers wins the firstround. For Round 2, multiply the fingers. Round 3 is the difference between thetwo numbers. Rotate through as many rounds as you want. For the left-brainedat heart, the Championship Round has the two survivors (who you'll bring upfront) square the total of the two sets of fingers. For example, Person A showsthree fingers, Person B shows four, so the winning answer is 3+4 = 7 * 7=49

Crowd Pleaser

Send 3 very secure students out of the room. Explain to the crowd that it wasrecently learned that when someone is placed in front of a crowd in complete

silence, that they will revert back to the experience of their first kiss. As a matterof fact the first things they will say are the things they said after their first kiss!

Therefore, the crowd must be completely silent and stare at the person. Dontleave the poor kid up there for too long.


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CupidMake a heart-shaped target and fasten it to a guys back. Give his girlfriend a

bow and arrow (with suction cups on arrows) and she stands about 20 feetaway, and is given 6 arrows. The idea is that she must hit the heart on herboyfriends back, if she loves him. Every time she misses, the boy gets a pie inthe face. (Note: Bow and arrow should be the toy store variety. You can use toy

pistols with suction-cup darts, also.)

Diving For The Prize!Get 3 few volunteers. Have a table set up infront with 3 large bowls filled with whippedcream. Tell all that each bowl is filled with whipped cream and has chocolatehidden inside. The volunteers have to find the chocolate without using theirhands, and eat it. The first one to finish eating the chocolate wins. The trick is,instead of it being a piece of chocolate, its an olive! You should see their faces!

Dollar SurpriseMingling 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.

The Dough-Tongue ShuffleThis is a relay game in which the young people are divided into two equal

groups. Each group lines up, with players one behind the other. Then the firstperson in each line is given a large donut (preferably plain). On a signal, the first

person in each group must run up to and round a given obstacle while holdingthe donut by sticking his tongue through its holeno hands allowed. (Thisusually requires that the head be tilted back and the tongue pointed upward.)After running around the obstacle, he must go to a designated area where a

judge is waiting. Then each runner must eat his donut (to the satisfaction of thejudge) and receives another donut from the judge (in his hand). The runner thencarries this second donut to the next person in the relay line. The first runnerplaces the donut in position on the next runner's tongue, and the relaycontinues. The first team to complete the relay by running all its members

shouts "THE DOUGH-TONGUE SHUFFLE!" and wins.

Drip, Drip, DropJust 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!

Egg BlowPut the inside of an egg inside a large surgical tubing. Have two students onopposite ends blow into the tubing until the egg blows onto someone's face.

Use an egg substitute (like Eggbeater's) to avoid bacteria or chance ofsalmonella. Have moist washcloths and towels handy.

Variation: Jello BlowJust like Egg Blow, but with Jell-O. Safer and not as nasty if you get a mouthful!


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EncoreThis is a simple game that tests kids' ability to think fast. Divide into teams

(could be upper vs. lower classmen, girls vs. guys, etc.). Yell out a word that iscommonly found in songs (love, road, river, girl, baby, need . . . ). The teamsmust sing a song in unison (together) using that word. The first team to do itwins a point. Play as long as they like it.

Fizzer TagBefore you play this outdoor game, drill a small hole in the center of as manyAlka-Seltzer tablets as you have kids, and then run a string through each tabletin order to hang it loosely around a players neck. Have each player bring asquirt gun, provide several full buckets of water out-of-bounds for refills, andbegin the game.The object? When a players Alka-Seltzer tablet gets hit enough and dissolvessufficiently to drop off the string, that player is out. To shorten the game, bringout the hose!

Flower Girl

You begin the game by announcing you're going to have a kissing contest (thelooks you get from workers are the best.) You have 3 pretty girls come and

stand at the front of the room. You tell the guys that they'll walk in one by oneand ask each girl, "Are you my flower girl?" If she shakes her head "no", he goes

to the next girl. If she nods "yes", he kisses her. The audience will cheer for thebest kisser.

Select three guys (good self esteem & good sports, not oversensitive). Thensend the guys outside the room and explain the REAL rules. The last girl in the

group of three will be the one who nods her head "yes." When the guy gets realclose, ready to kiss her, she blows a face full of flour into his face (put the flourin her mouth and wipe it all off her face so he has no idea.) Have towels handyfor clean-up.

Fly Swatter HockeyGo to a local dollar store and find two different colored fly swatters. Buy as manyas you need to make two teams in your group. In a large room, either placegoals at opposite ends or tape off an area of the wall to represent goals. Useping 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 5goals wins or set a time limit. Lots of fun.

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 theirtoes.

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


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Frozen to a TPrep: Get as many t shirts as you want to do (2-6). Soak them in water and

wring them out until damp. If you leave them too wet students can't play thegame. Fold them up nicely & place on wax paper inside your freezer for at leastan hour.

Game: Have 2 teams of 4 students volunteer. Pull t-shirts out of the freezer.(Keep in cooler or wrapped in foil if you have to bring them from home.)

The object: When you say go they have to open the shirt and one of thestudents has to put it on. The team that does this the fastest wins!

Funnel Penny GagTake a funnel and shove the small end down the front of your pants so the wideend is facing up. Put your head back, place a penny on your forehead and closeyour eyes. Tilt your head forward, dropping the penny off of your forehead andinto the funnel. Challenge the kids that no one in the audience can do that three

times in a row. Pick the kid that is the most eager to prove you wrong. Set it upfor the kid and emphasize how much you must close your eyes for at least three

seconds before dropping the penny in. On the kid's third try, pour a huge glassof ice water down the funnel (make sure that the funnel has a big enough

opening to allow good water flow!)

Gold Fish SnagThrow about 50 gold fish into a swimming pool. Whoever catches the most fishwith their bare hands wins! For added fun, add some other bigger fish or try it inthe dark! Use a tarp if indoors.

Grand Moo MasterPick 3 contestants out of the audience and send them to another room. You'llbring these contestants back in one at a time, after you explain the game to theaudience, saying that when the first two contestants come in everyone has to"moo" at them. When the final person comes in, no one in the audience is tomoo. So, as you bring up the first contestant, explain to him or her thatsomeone in the audience has been selected to moo louder than anyone else andit is the contestant's job to pick them out. On the count of three, everyone moosand the contestant selects someone. It doesnt matter who they select, becausethe contestant then joins the audience as you bring in the second, having toldthe first that he is now the "loud mooer." Repeat the process for the second,

having him join the audience, then call in the third. After explaining it again,count to three, and the only people mooing in the audience will be the two

previous contestants. Jokes on them!


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Grape Juice ContestPut 3 pounds of grapes in each of two coolers. Let two guys crush the grapes

with their bare feet for two minutes. See who makes the most juice. For a tie-breaker, have the guys drink the juice. Have a measuring cup and big glasses.

Gross Balloon VolleyballAll you need is a Volleyball court or something close to that, water balloons, andlots of gross liquids and sauces (NO Tobasco). What you do is you add things toall of the water balloons like ketchup, mustard, syrup, chocolate syrup, saladdressing, anything you want. The grosser the better. Fill the gross stuff first -then the water).

The object is to throw the balloon back and forth over the net. (If you dont havea net, you can do this like an egg toss). The higher you throw it the more likely itis to break when the person tries to catch it.

Make sure that you tell people to wear old clothes in case they get splattered!

Guess the TaskEveryone gets in a big circle. Pick a volunteer to leave the room after you explain

the game. Once that volunteer is out of hearing range, choose a simple task thatthe 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 ignorantperson by clapping when this person gets even close to doing the task. Louderand faster clapping means the person is getting "hotter" (closer to completing ordiscovering what the task is) and silence means "you're way off- keep trying

stuff".

Gum & FlourGum, flour, cake pan and 3 to 4 kids.Bury the gum in the flour. Without using their hands, students find the gum andblow a bubble.Added by Young Life


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Guys Best Pick-up LineTo 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 yourscene by building a couch out of three folding chairs covered by a LARGE sheetor blanket (it must cover all the chairs well). After building the couch in front ofthem, 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 theroom one at a time, walk over to the girl, deliver their best line, and sit rightnext 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 andhide 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 theguys deliver their line and begin to sit down, both you and the girl releasepressure on the sheet so they will fall right through. Note: the person who takesthem out should have three lines ready for the guys in case they cant think ofone. Make sure you build them up afterward!

Ha Ha Game, TheGet every one to lay down on the floor next to each other in a line. The first

person in the line say's "ha" , the second "ha ha," the third "ha ha ha," and soon. 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.

HAGOOSeparate your group into two even teams and have them stand in two separate

lines (shoulder to shoulder) facing the opposite group. The two groups shouldbe about three or four feet apart.

1) The players at the opposite ends of each line are opponents. They will step

out of the lines, so they are facing each other and looking down the middle ofthe two rows (like an old cowboy shoot-off).

2) They will both say, Hagoo and start to walk down the row toward eachother.

3) They must not break eye contact and the object is to get to the opposite endof the line without laughing or smiling.

4) When the players pass each other, they must continue to maintain eyecontact.

If a person does break eye contact, laughs, or smiles, they then must join theend of the line of the opposing team.

The teams can do or say any silly things to make the opposing player crack up,

but they must be careful not to make their own player lose concentration. Theteams may NOT touch another player. This process will continue until everyone

has had a turn. The team with the most players at the end of the game, wins.


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Happy ShakeGo to McDonalds and pick up 3 Happy Meals (the manager may even donate

them if he appreciates youth work). Pre-pick 3 willing contestants and bringthem up front. (Make sure you follow "Jonathan's Seven Sins of Game Leading"tips here- especially #2- being prepared and #7- making sure the entire crowdcan see clearly)

Blend the Happy Meals together (burger, fries and drink) in front of them. Then,fill up equal CLEAR cups for each person. The rest is a race to see who can drinktheir "happy shake" the fastest. You might want one or two trash cans near thefront for participants who don't like the shakes.

Hi My Name IsA great get to know ya game! Plant several people in your crowd who have aone dollar bill, a certificate to something, or any prize of your liking. Telleveryone that they need to go and introduce themselves to and learn the namesof as many people as they can meet. Have your "planted people" give the prizeto the 15th person that introduces themselves to them. Once the prizes have

been given announce who received them and who had the prizes.

Human KnotsGreat Small Group game. If you use a big group, separate them into small

circles. Everyone squeezes together and grabs the hand of a person notstanding 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'twork out.

Human ScrabbleBreak youth into groups of 10. Give each person a sheet of paper, marker, and apiece of tape. Have each person write a letter of the alphabet on the paper andtape it to the front of their shirt. Now give the teams 4 minutes to come up withas many words as possible using the letters on their chests. Minimum 3 lettersper word. Give each team 2 points for each letter used and an additional 5 pointsif it is a biblical word. The team with the most points wins.

I Need a ShoelaceThis game can be played with small or huge groups. The up-front person dividesteams (in audiences of rallies or other large gatherings you can make eachsection 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 bringup 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


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Ice ChestGet 3 or 4 of your "tough" guys. Tell them you're going to have a contest to see

who is the "coolest!" Have them change into some x-large shirts that you havefor them and have them tuck the shirts in. Then have a team mate (or teammates) run with cups of ice to fill up the shirts. You'll need a lot of Ice, shirts,cups, and buckets or actual ice chests to hold the ice in.

Have towels handy for them when the game is over. You can judge the winnersby how much ice they got in the shirt in a given amount of time or by how longthe guys could stand having the ice in their shirts.

IV Bag SuckGet three large zip lock bags filled with Kool Aid and surgical tubing coming outof the top. Have three people suck until the Kool Aid is gone. First one donewins.

Inner Tube StuffGet 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

Ive Got Your NumberAs kids arrive, each gets a number that they must wear in a conspicuous placeon their clothes. Ahead of time, prepare lots of instructions on little slips of

paper, then place them in a box. They should be things like:Borrow something from 1.

Introduce 2 to 7.Have 6 get you a glass of water.Find out 12s middle name.When everyone has their number, kids each take a slip of paper with an

instruction on it. When they have completed the instruction, they come back andget a new one. At the end of the time limit (five minutes or so), whoever hascompleted the most instructions wins. Make sure you make plenty ofinstructions.

Jelly Bean TradeEveryone for them self. Everyone is handed 10 jelly beans. They are to try to get10 of one color by trading with other people one at a time. First person to get allten of a color they want wins.


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Joust - Sick & TwistedJust like joust, only played outside over a baby pool filled with gross

ingredients (oatmeal, instant potatoes, etc.). You can either use buckets or a4x4 plank of sturdy wood long enough to reach across your pool. (Prop up theends of your plank so the pool is not crushed).

Two contestants with Nerf joust sticks (or pool noodles) and helmets battle onthe plank to knock each other off into the pool.

Lots of preparation required and safety consciousness on this one. Make sure theboard doesnt get too slippery. You might even want gymnastic mats around thepool.

Play near a bathroom and have towels handy for clean-up.

Kissing in the DarkDivide the kids into five teams. Put five targets on a wall with point values suchas 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 runsmoothly 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 thefive 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 offthe 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 nextcontestant so he/she is ready to go on your signal. After each of the fivecontestants have gone, announce the team with the best score and give themsome Valentine's candy.

Kool-Aid Taste OffAsk three volunteers to sit in chairs facing the rest of the group. On a signal theyeach open a different flavored packet (the small ones) of Kool-Aid. They then lickjust one finger and dip it into the packet. The person who in that manner is thefirst to eat all of the Kool-Aid in the packet wins. It's hilarious because they donot anticipate it being so sour, and they usually end up with it all over their lips.

(Warning: this stuff is really gross- use your own judgment- kids could becomenauseated.)

Lifesavers On The Face

Choose 3 guy-girl teams. Each girl gets three roles of Lifesavers and 2 minutesto lick, stick, and arrange them on the guys face. Have the audience vote for the

winning team. You may make a lifesaver hat out of a foam circle, spray-paintedto add to the decor. You may also consider having 2 girls per guy decorate.


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M & M ScarfSix students on each team (2 teams) must divide out colors of a pound bag of

M&M's and eat them in order of color. Example: First person opens the bag andsorts out all the red colors then passes the bag to the next person while scarfing(eating) his color! The team with all the M& M's eaten first is the winner.

Marble in Clear TubingWrap 15 feet of clear tubing around a small girl. Have 3 different pairs of guysget 3 marbles from one end and out the other by lifting and spinning the girl.The fastest time wins. If you have the bucks to buy 2 lengths of tube, you canhave 2 groups at once racing.

Marshmallow StuffThis works best in groups under 30. We recommend 6 guys and 6 girls at a time.For this game you need a couple, of bags of big marshmallows, a Coke (or othersoda) for every two players, and any song with a word or phrase that repeatsfrequently in the chorus. (One youth worker suggests "My Girl", but any upbeatsong will work as long as it includes a frequently repeated pronoun, work, or

phrase.)

Your guys should be on their knees with the girls behind them. Give the girls themarshmallows and the guys the Coke. Instruct your players that when you play

the song, every time they hear the word/phrase "___________", the girls haveto shove a marshmallow in the guys mouth and the guy has to take a drink of

the coke. Be ready for some spit ups with a small garbage can or towel undereach guy.

Melt That Ice CubeDivide 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.

Movie GameHave someone give a line from a movie (popular/mainstream). The first one tosay the movie title the line is from gets to go. Same thing until you've hadenough.

Fun once you get going. Just tell students to have a line in mind because itbecomes boring when someone takes 5 minutes to come up w/a line.

Musical Baby FoodHave 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 groupof 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 offood has to take a big spoonful! (have a staff person supply a clean spoon for

each person- no double dipping)


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Mute OrganizationSimply announce to everyone that you want everyone lined up across the roomby birth date. Only catch . . . no talking. Once they are all lined up, ask certainpeople their birthdays just to be sure.

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

Numbers RaceForm teams of 10 players (ideally). Each person in the team gets a number on a3x5 card or slip of paper from 0 to 9. The leader then calls out a random numbersay for example, 108. The students holding those numbers 1, 0, and 8 - runout in front and display the numbers to the leader calling them out in the correctorder. Try 1,237,582 and so on. The first team to be in place, in the right ordergets a point for their team. For re-use make up A5 cards, in different colouredpaper for each team and laminate them. Don't forget to distinguish between 6and 9 - perhaps a line under the numbers.

Oreo Head3 or 4 kids up front twist Oreo open, moisten the creamier side and stick it totheir forehead. Then, without using their hands, they try to contort their faces to

maneuver the Oreo down their face and into their mouth. First one wins. Funnyfaces!


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Organized Mingling MixerGet an even amount of students and staff in the room. (Add your staff asneeded to make the number even.) Students and staff mingle to music andshake hands. When the music stops, everyone must find another person andshake 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

Pass the BrainsHere's a Halloween variation of the 'pass the parcel' game we typically play at

kid's parties in Australia. Scoop out a pumpkin as you would to make a jack _o_lantern. Carve out a face, but don't make the holes too big otherwise the

'brains' will fall out too quickly. (Alternatively, you could just draw a face on thepumpkin with a black marker pen.) Fill the pumpkin with cold, cooked spaghetti

hiding wrapped candy in amongst the 'brains'. There should be one candy foreach kid playing. Play some spooky music as the pumpkin head is passed

around. When the music stops, the kid holding the head feels through its 'brainsto find some candy.

Pass the Spam

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

Pie Eating Contest2-4 students (who won't mind getting messy) race, sitting at a table with a pieand a fork. Say, "On your marks, get set" then stop and take away the forks.Repeat and add whipped cream. The last time, have them put their hands behindtheir back. Have a drop cloth and towels to clean up. Upbeat "pie-eating" music

in background is a must!

Pickle Spitting ContestBuy 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 byage, 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 ofrecognition. We have done this in our harvest party and had takers of all ages.


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Pillow BattleJust like it sounds. Have a girl take on a guy in a pillow battle. Give them each apillow and explain that they will each get three chances to hit each other.Blindfold them both and tell them they must keep one foot still, although theymay dodge the hit however else they want. First, they must ask the question,

"Are you there?" The other answers, "I am here." When it is all explained, un-blindfold the girl, but leave the guy blindfolded, so the girl can dodge the hits,but the guy cant. After the guy misses once, put the blindfold back on the girl,and show the guy that she is still right there. Then re-blindfold him and do thesame thing again.

Plunger HeadIn most hardware stores you can buy the pink plunger part separate from thestick. So get two plunger ends for every stick. Put one plunger end at each endof the stick. Tie a tennis ball by about 2 feet of string to the middle of thestick. Put your group into equal teams. Have them run a relay to the end of adetermined 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 withoutusing 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 toUNWIND it in the same fashion.

PsychiatristTake 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 briefedseparately 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 natureof their problem. For the sake of his patient's confidentiality and anonymity, heis not allowed to ask them their names. Nor may he ask them what theirsymptoms are. If they knew what was wrong with them, they wouldn't becoming to him for help! Be sure to let the Psychiatrist know, that the sameproblem 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, withoutrevealing the true nature of their problem. Their problem is simple. They believethat they are the person sitting next to them on their left. So when thePsychiatrist 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 newperson 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 mustdiagnose why they are saying Psychiatrist and switching seats.


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Questionnaire GameFor 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 theperson who filled it out) and yell "Go!" Students have to walk around askingeach other questions, trying to find whose questionnaire they have.

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

Questions Under Fire!Loud, fast, and funny! Choose 4 volunteers from 4 different grades. Bring themup one at a time to ask between 14 questions (see below). Whichever contestantcan answer 10 of them in 90 seconds wins (candy, pop, $1-5). They may passas many times as they want and come back to a question later.

Where the audience comes in is as soon as you begin the questions, they candistract the contestant by yelling out random statements, answers, or noises.

They can even get out of their seats and do goofy things as long as they dontget in the persons face or touch them.

Below are 4 sets of questions. You may switch questions around or make up your

own. We suggest having easier questions for younger students on at least onelist. Some of the questions have definite answers; some are random or silly.

The first point: Its hard to focus on whats in front of you (God, priorities, whatmatters most, etc.) when there are so many distractions/voices around youtrying to take your focus away from whats important.

The second point: Its hard, but not impossible, if you concentrate and keep yourattention on God, your priorities, what matters most, etc. Listen to Gods voiceabove all others (just like you tried to listen only to the voice asking thequestions).

1st contestant1. What did Jesus call His followers? Disciples2. How many lives do cats have? 13. What letter comes after V? W4. Is a snake a reptile or amphibian? Reptile5. How many ounces in a gallon? 128

6. What is the name of this Youth group?7. How many stripes on the US flag? 13

8. What shape is the earth? Round/sphere9. What color are your eyes?

10. What is your neighbors address on the left?11. What color is good milk? White

12. How many appendages do you have? 4 (arms/legs)13. What is Garfields owners name? John


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14. What do you put on popcorn?

2nd contestant1. How many ounces in a half gallon? 642. How many disciples did Jesus have? 123. What is 37 - 24 + 19? 32

4. What is your moms middle name?5. How many phalanges do you have? 20 (fingers/toes)6. What is your or your friends cell phone number?7. What branch of military service mans submarines? Navy8. What color is blue? Blue9. How many stars are on the US flag? 5010. How do you make a tuna sandwich?Any comb: bread, tuna, knife, mayo, relish11. When Moses parted the Red Sea, who werethe Israelites escaping from? Egyptian Army12. What US president died in June 2004? Ronald Reagan13. How many wheels on a car? 4 (or 5 including the spare)

14. On what does a rolling chair move? Wheels

3rd contestant1. Say hello in Spanish. Hola

2. Which candle burns longer pink or blue? Neither; they both burn shorter3. How many megabytes does your computer have?

4. What does the acronym ASAP mean? As soon as possible5. Eat a what a day to keep the doctor away? Apple

6. Rendezvous is French for what? To meet7. Who sewed the first US flag? Betsy Ross8. When King David danced in the buff, who got ticked? Michael, his wife9. What size shoe do you wear?

10. What is the exact time?11. What is perfect vision? 20/2012. Count from 10 backwards.13. Who is the lead (senior) pastor at this church?14. Give me a prime number between 1 and 10. 2, 3, 5, 7

4th contestant1. What show says, Wont you be my neighbor? Mr. Rogers Neighborhood2. Count to 10 in any foreign language.3. How many books in the Bible? 664. What 3 colors are on the US flag? Red, white, & blue5. What color is the stem of a red rose? Green

6. How do you get skunk smell off? Tomato Juice7. How do you spell Mississippi without is? Mss ss pp (also counts if they cover

their eyes and spell it!)8. Which is bigger a deer tick or a wood tick? Wood tick

9. Say the alphabet backward. Z..y..x..(also counts if they turn around a recitethe alphabet!)

10. Who is your favorite youth pastor (leader)?11. Which way do hands turn on a clock? Clockwise


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12. What is 1800 in civilian time? 6:00 p.m.13. What is JVC? Electronics or stereos (not junior varsity cheerleaders)

14. What is a Hemi? Engine (high performance)

Alternate Questions:What disease can you get from a deer tick? Lime disease

What size shoe do you wear?

Rubber Band HeadPut an extra large rubber band around the heads of several people. (Commonsense here; be sure its snug but not tight enough to snap and cause anowie!) Place it so that is squashes their nose and folds their ears over. They canuse anything to get it down around their necks except their hands (can use wall,other people, etc.). First one through wins.Hilarious facial expressions as they work it down.

Saran Wrap RaceMaterials 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 wrappingtheir 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 onlywrap 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 unwrapsthem. The first person to unwrap their partner and throw away all the plasticwrap wins! (Notice how the clean-up is slyly integrated into the gamethey don'tpay you for your good looks alone!)

Twist #1: Instead of hopping, students must inch-worm their way across thefinish line. (For this game you can have wrap their arms to their body- just don'tlet 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 teammatewraps themselves up as they unwrap their teammate. After they are wrapped upthey 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.

Shuffle The Deck MixerHand 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 akind, a flush, two pairs, etc.


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Sit Down IfInstructions:

Ask the entire group to stand.Instruct them to sit down when the statement characterizes them and remainseated.Encourage them to be as honest as possible.

If you have trouble because most are not sitting down, give them generalcharacteristics (sit down if you are under 15, if you have on white socks, if youare in love).Sit Down Mixer Number 1Sit 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 3Sit 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.


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Snoot ShootBring 3 or 4 people up front. Give them each a certain number of Jelly Bellys,

they're smaller than normal jelly beans- Good and Plenty's or Skittles work aswell. Place a bucket a good 5 feet away from each contestant. You can guess therest- they shoot the Jelly Bellys, cherios, or other candy out their NOSE into thebucket. A riot to watch- and not much fun to count the candy in the bucket.

Song EnduranceThis game is very simple and can be played with two or more teams. Sometimesthis is fun to do with guys against girls. Pick a song theme (at Christmas chooseChristmas songs, with a younger or more ignorant group you don't even need atheme- 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 otherteam or teams. One team starts and sings a line of one song. Then the otherteam has 5 seconds to start singing a line of another song. Then the other teamhas 5 seconds to sing a line from yet another song . . . Teams may discuss andplan 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 losingteams out until one team finally prevails.

Squirt GameHave everyone sit in a circle. Designate one person as the "squirter" and oneperson 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. Squirtergoes around the inside of the circle, pointing the spray bottle right in the face ofeach 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 personwho got squirted becomes the new Squirter and selects a new topic, whisperinga specific item from that topic to the moderator. Topics are endless: "Running"(running shoes, tank top, water bottle, treadmill), "NBA teams" (San AntonioSpurs, LA Lakers, Detroit Pistons), "G-Rated Movies" (you and I both know theystill enjoy them ? ) You get the idea.

Straw MumbleHave three volunteers come to the front of the room. Each gets a plastic drinkingstraw. The idea is for them to get their entire straws inside their mouths bychewing it in. No hands allowed. First person finished wins. Its harder than you

may think.

Story TimeOne 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 theres anagreed upon conclusion to the story.


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Suck and Blow Boys v. GirlsYou 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 lineas fast as they can using only their mouths. You need to suck in wind to keepthe card on your lips in order to pass it (by blowing out) to the next person inline. 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 firstgroup to pass the card all the way down (and back if you wish) wins.

Sunglass Spit-wadPut over sized sunglasses on two people and try to get spit wads on their glassesusing straws

Super Soaker vs. the SphereGet one of those little toddler games that looks like a ball with shapes cut intothe side of it. Have one student sit opposite another. One gets the ball the othergets a super soaker. The person with the ball should bid for how short of atime they can complete the task. Object is for the one with the ball to get all of

the shapes into the ball before time us up. If they can't do it within time, theother youth gets to blast them with the super soaker. But oh, it gets better. If

they cannot, then tell them to switch, using the next longest time. After all, it'sonly fair! We have a couple adults with much bigger super soakers to help

convince the youth that "it's only fair!"

Surgical Glove Blow UpIf you haven't seen Howie Mandell do it . . . you're missing out. Get some

surgical gloves- rubber- the kind that blow up. Have several contestants comeup and pull the gloves over their own heads, all the way down to just above theirmouth. Have them blow with their noses, inflating the gloves on their head. After90 seconds see who's glove is blown the biggest.

Talk or Get SquirtedGive an outgoing kid a topic like belly button lint. He/she must talk about it fortwo minutes. If he/she stops or repeats him/herself, he/she gets squirted. Thesemust be funny kids who can really talk. For a sell on this one you may use astudent who just talks and talks non-stop interrupting your group. You mayconsider giving the kid a bullhorn or microphone so kids can hear him/her.

Team Competition ScrabbleEach team gets a packet containing same set of scrabble letters with pointswritten on them. Each team will then in turn have an opportunity to come up tomain 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 thisword 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 thepoints 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 teamswill 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 newletter from game organizer. In TEAM COMPETITION SCRABBLE proper places


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are legal but proper names are not (EX: IRAQ or IOWA is accepted but JIMMY orSARAH 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 bigboard. Last used this game with a scrabble board made in Microsoft publisherand put on an overhead transparency so we could place *** on randomlyselected squares. We used three different colored Sharpie markers to play three

different rounds. We had eight challenge squares on the board and wrote up 10challenges ranging from physical challenges (30 seconds to down a can of rootbeer, 30 seconds to put 15 clothes pins on a team members face, 30 seconds forwhole team to swap shoes or build a human pyramid 3 levels high) to triviaquestions made up to relevant youth culture. We had four teams and playedthree rounds which took about 15-20 minutes. Good team participation but wasa little slow on action. Put more challenge squares on the board to have moreaction.

The Un-BananaAsk for 2 volunteers. Give each person a banana and a bottle of 7-up. Tell themthey must eat the banana first then drink the bottle of 7-Up as fast as possible.

The first one finished wins. Sounds easy. But watch what happens when the 7-Up mixes with the half-chewed banana.

To Tell The TruthLike the old 70's TV game show. Pre-arrange four contestants for this game.Have them share a funny/interesting story that happened to them when they

were young that they can say in one sentence. (e.g. My name is Billy and when Iwas 5, I was walking with my mom and a big guy ran by and grabbed my mom's

purse!) If that is the story that sounds the best have all 4 contestants use theirreal name and say the same story. (e.g. My name is Teresa and when I was 5, Iwas walking with my mom and a big guy ran by and grabbed my mom's purse!)All contestants will tell the audience the exact same thing as if it is their story-

but only one of them is telling the truth. Open up the audience to questionindividual contestants (like an Oprah show) and three of the contestants willhave to lie through their teeth. Then have the audience vote who this reallyhappened to. Then have the real person step forward. Great fun!

Toilet Bowl RollercoasterGet four volunteers or pick four people and have a sponsor take them back to asecluded room. have that sponsor tell them that they will go up in front of thecrowd, one at a time. Each one will sit in a chair. The object is for them to actout a given scenario WITHOUT leaving the chair:

1. Pretend they are on a major roller coaster

2. Pretend they are riding a bull3. Pretend they are being tortured

4. Pretend they are getting their shoulders rubbed and they like it a lotWho ever does the best job - wins.

Meanwhile - the leader is in the other room telling the audience that the fourpeople coming out are going to act out what they do when they are on the toilet.

Go for about a minute before telling them


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Toilet Paper BlowPick a 4-person team from each class. See how long they can keep one square of

toilet paper in the air by blowing it. Or you may have one person stand on achair and drop the paper to a person standing on the floor who blows the paperup while the top person tries to catch it with a party blow out horn.

Toothpaste DropYou get tubes of toothpaste, little dixie cups, chairs and blindfolds. Form teamsof two (again, this is a great up-front game with the crowd watching) One personstands on the chairs while the other one lays on the ground (or a table if youwant the audience to see better) with their heads near the back legs of the chair.The person on the chair puts on a blindfold and the one on the ground puts thedixie cup in his or her mouth. Have the people in the chair start squeezing thetoothpaste tube at their own chest level, dropping toothpaste into the dixie cupof the other person. It's a simple contest of who can get the most toothpasteinto the cups. It's pretty messy . . . and the paper towel doesn't really do muchhelp so there's still tons of mess (use drop cloths)! But everyone smells minty

fresh!

T-Shirt ChallengeYou use a men's size medium t-shirt, place it flat out on the ground, and thensee 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 wouldlove to hear if anyone can get more than that!

T-shirt StuffLike the good ol' Long John Stuff game, except with a T-shirt. Bring up 2, 3, or 4

guys that are wearing t-shirts and have them each choose 2 or 3 friends to helpthem. Hand each group 10-20 balloons and instruct them to blow them up andstuff them in their designated team member's t-shirt.

As each group stuffs balloons in their team member's shirt, he will begin to looklike the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man. At a given point (when you see that theirshirts are almost maxed out), count down from 10, stop the stuffing and havethe "stuffers" go sit down. Have the audience vote by applauding who looks themost stuffed.

If the game ended there, I would think it's lame. Here's where the fun begins.Now inform each fat boy that it's time to pop the balloons. Offer a prize to the

person that can pop all their balloons first, (there's a catch!) without taking themout and without using their hands. They have to throw themselves on the floor,

body slamming their torso on the ground to pop all the balloons. This is hilariousto watch and the audience will love it.


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Two Truths and A LieA 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. Forexample: "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 playerguesses correctly, they earn a point. If no one guesses correctly, the individualearns five points. Each person should get a chance to share.

The Point: Getting to know each other.

Ugliest Thing in the WorldProps: one large blanket and 3 informed guys.

Announce that you have discovered the ugliest thing in the world, and he is so

ugly that it is hard to look at him, in fact it's downright unbearable. Only anotherreal ugly person can stand the sight of him. At this point, bring in a guy

underneath a huge blanket rigged in such a way that there is an opening aroundhis face, but not exposed to the room. Ask a couple of guys to take a look at him

and let us know what he looks like (of course these two guys have been cluedin). Each takes a hesitant look at the ugly thing and each reacts very violently,

screaming running out of the room clutching at his eyes. Finally pick a cute (butvery secure) girl or secure female leader and ask her to take a look. She will

probably be a little reluctant about taking a look at him. When she does, the guyunderneath runs away screaming.

Wet Diaper Head

Before your group or event, place 4 buckets full of water at one end of the roomor stage and 4 empty buckets at the other end. Bring 4 volunteers up front, andgive one large disposable diaper to each one. Have each volunteer stand at theend of the room by his or her full bucket. At the signal, they must soak a diaperwith water, then transport it on his or her head to the empty bucket at the otherside of the room. Once theyve reached the empty-bucket, they must squeezethe water from the diaper into the bucket using only their heads. When thediaper is empty, measure how much water got into the originally empty bucket.Can be played as a relay.Added by Young Life

Who's on my backHave 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 goaround 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 numberof asks wins.


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Whipped Cream Pie SearchHave a whipped cream pie in front of each kid. Tell them that there are 5 M&M's

in each pie. The first ones to find all five using only their face will win. But onlyput 4 M&M's in each pie.

Who Wants to Be a Bible Millionaire?

This game is a near clone of the T.V. show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" witha few minor exceptions...

All contestants know 1 or 2 weeks in advance what portion of the Bible thequestions will come from. (We generally give 2 weeks' notice and often cover anentire book, such as one of the Gospels.)

The Grand Prize is $50 (You may decide upon less, but I've found the lure of $50to be a big motivator. You may elect to charge a small fee from contestants andobservers.)

The prize ladder for correctly answered questions is as follows:

Question #1 = $1Question #2 = $2

Question #3 = $3Question #4 = $4

Question #5 = $5 (first milestone)Question #6 = 10

Question #7 = 12Question #8 = 14Question #9 = 16 (second milestone)Question #10= 20

Question #11= 25Question #12= 30Question #13= 35Question #14= 40Question #15= 50

Obviously the easier questions come at the beginning and gradually becomemore difficult toward the end. Students know that one has a very limited chanceof winning the Grand Prize without having carefully read the entire material atleast once or twice. (Yet the questions shouldn't be so hard that they're nearlyimpossible to answer.)

Lifelines are the same except for one. Instead of the "Call a Friend" lifeline, wesubstituted a "Check the Bible" lifeline, where a student has thirty seconds to

look for an answer in the Bible.

"Fastest Finger" questions may be anything you want, but should be easyenough for anyone to answer. Sheets of paper and pens may be handed to each

potential contestant and then the Fastest Finger question is read audibly. Thefirst student to raise his/her sheet of paper (and who has the correct answers)


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gets to compete for the Grand Prize.

Some students may not do Fastest Finger well. Another option may be to ask thequestion and have students fold their sheets and hand them in. Then the hostdraws one sheet at random.

To involve more people, you may invite other students not answering questionsto be "guest hosts" to read the questions to contestants.

We put all the questions on MS PowerPoint, dimmed the lights and showed thequestions on a large screen.

Who wants to be a Chocolataire?Same as Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but with different size Chocolate forprizes

Worm FestHave volunteers put one hand in a pot of live fishing worms in moist dirt, while

eating gummy worms from a bowl with the other hand. The first one to eat 10gummy worms without taking their other hand out of the real worm pot is thewinner


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GAMES-Large scale-(Scavenger hunts, drive arounds, day-long activities)


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Bananarama:Have a scavenger hunt where each team is given a banana and a list of things to

measure with in banana lengths:Sample items:The height of a stop signa garage door

the length of a ChevyHeight of a Staff personwidth of a sidewalksomeone's waistthe banana area of a window(window banana length x window banana width)

Blue GnuThis is a game we used that went over really well. Get 5 or more people that arenot familiar to your youth group at all and name them:

Blue Gnu

Yellow YakRed Rhino

Brown BearGreen Gator etc

These people wear one or more items of clothing of the color in their charactersname and go to a mall and just do some shopping or whatever. Obviously, the

more of their color they wear then easier it is to spot them. So use tough orintimidating looking people and have them wear a minimal yet clearly visible

amount of their color to increase the difficulty. (in other words, they don't needto wear blue shoes, pants, shirt, jacket, and hat. They can just wear a blueshirt.)

Send teams of students over to the mall to search for them. Students, whenthey see someone wearing the color, may ask politely, "Are you the Blue Gnu?"or "Are you the Green Gator?"

If they happen to approach the right person, they are given a code word that fitstogether with all the others to make a code phrase. Instruct you people not todivulge their identity if the students don't ask correctly- for example, if they walkup to someone and say, "I'm playing a game and I'm supposed to ask you aquestion, are you the blue gnu?"

Once they have found all the character, they then bring the code phrase back toa finish area and present it to win a prize


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Christmas Light ProjectSimilar to Video Scavenger Hunt, teams go out with video camera to capture on

video a list of Christmas Decorations. The list includes the more difficult itemslike house with all white lights, a baby doll in a manger, camels, three wise-men,Mr and Mrs. Claus or Snowman, wooden nativity, luminaries, group of liveChristmas Carolers, extra points if you get a homeowner in the video with said

object, person dressed as Santa, etc. Sometimes we list them items withdescriptive words so they have to figure out what is needed on the list. Thisworks at night _ we just have the kids bring flashlight. The unique part of theevent is that the group must add a dramatic flair to the video _ like a minimovie. Each group must create a documentary movie while getting the items onthe list. The rule is that everyone on team must be captured on the video (infront of the item)to get the credit.We have everyone with the cameras bring the necessary equipment so we canwatch it when we get back. And we have a chaperone judge it give extra pointsfor the creativity

Disposable Camera Rally:

A crazy scavenger hunt where each team has a disposable camera and a vehicleto get around town in (I recommend adult drivers) Give them a list of items,

worth different points, to get a picture of. You can develop the pictures at a one-hour place and see results that evening, or develop the pictures for a PowerPoint

slide presentation (many places will develop pictures on CD) the next week.Options are endless!!!

Sample List:

Mandatory Category (Must have all of these to qualify for prize!)A PICTURE OFA creative introduction picture for that particular team3 team members being pushed in a shopping cartSomeone in group chugging out of a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi

Entire team hanging upside down

1000 point itemsA PICTURE OF

Team member hugging a strangerLady scolding childA guy coming out of the girl's bathroomA grocery clerk singingTwo teenager's kissing (can't be team members)Someone ordering fast foodLady walking her dog.

1500 point itemsA PICTURE OFPerson peeling out in a car (team vehicles not included)A fireman in uniformA team member rubbing a bald mans headSomeone (other than a team member) buying "Depends"


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Little kid singingSomeone giving a stranger a noogie

Team member hugging a gas station attendent

3000 point itemsA PICTURE OF

A dog relieving himself on a fire hydrantA traffic accidentOld lady on the ground yelling "I've fallen and I can't get up"A police car (other than the one at the traffic accident) with its lights onSomeone crawling out of a manholeEntire team coming out of a VW bug

Video Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Mandatory Category (Must have all of these to qualify for prize!) Video of...

Everybody 'searching' frantically on the ground for a contact lensMaking a commercial in front of your local Block Buster

1000 points

Fitting your entire team on one treeYour entire team in a new Volkswagen bugGoing to the mall and making a human pyramid

Worth 3000 points

Someone on your team on a lot pretending to be a used car salesmanFitting the entire team in a telephone booth

Worth 5000 pointsSinging to a waitress at a busy resturaunt (either to be sung by a representativeor the whole group) Going into a grocery and asking where the hemorroid medsis (you could substitute that for diarrhea meds)Going through the Burger King Drive-Thru in a shopping cartGetting a guy to try on a dress

EVEN ANOTHER VIDEO SCAVENGER HUNT LIST! Girl in a real bridal gown, guy in suit being "married" by a real minister.

(15)

A member of your group in a church member's bathtub serenading arubber duck with "Rubber Ducky You're the One" (10)

Everyone in group with umbrella singing "Singing in the Rain"-- there

must be dancing-- outside of a movie theater. (10) Your group on the Sidewalk at a business that is open playing "Duck,

Duck, goose" (10)

Group member in grocery cart sucking on a baby bottle while pushing a

cart (15)


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Group walking through Kentucky Fried Chicken flapping their wings

bucking like a chicken Go Christmas caroling to pastor's house. Sing LOUDLY! (15) If they sing

with you (+10), if they dance with you (+15)

Your group in costume "trick-or-treating" at a stranger's house (15)

Your group T-Ping a youth group member's car (10) If you do your youth

minister's car (-100) A member of your group handcuffed to a police officer. (20) If you give

him/her a doughnut (+15) Get two total strangers to sing and do the motions to YMCA with your

entire group. (10) A member of your group sitting in the driver's seat of a fire engine,

making siren noises.(20)

Your group buying $.10 of gas, receipt and pump must be show amount.

(10) A member leading another member on a leash through a pet store. (10)

Two group members hanging upside down on monkey bars making

"monkey sounds".(10) if you eat a banana too (+10) Everyone roasting a marshmellow over a fire and eating it. (15)

Get a deacon to sing "I'm a Little Teapot" with the motions. (10)

Your group in Walmart holding a pack of hotdogs singing "I wish I were an

Oscar Meyer Weiner" (15) Group member sitting on the lap of a public statue. (10)

If you film the outside of youth minister's door at her townhouse (25)

Your group standing around a Christmas tree singing "O Christmas Tree."

A group member doing a lap in a pool. (15)

Your entire group sitting together in a VW bug. (20) if it is an "old school"

bug (+10).

Five Buck Receipt Rush:This event requires little planning and is always very fun. Sometimes it requiresa little of a budget, depending on how many kids are on each team. I usuallycharge a dollar and end up in the red. If you charge two you could break even oreven come out ahead. I advertise that the winning team gets pizza at our localcheap pizza joint.

Have as many teams as you do vehicles. Each team is given $5 to spend as theywish. The contest however, is to get the most amount of receipts, each from adifferent store or restaurant. The total dollar amount of these receipts must beless than $5. The team that gets the most receipts and makes it to the meetingspot (the pizza place) by a certain time is the winner.

I also have a rule that every receipt given must be witnessed by a staff memberand signed by them. This keeps the team together and helps prevent them fromwhipping out a receipt they had from the day before.

If I do have extra money I sometimes surprise them and by them all sodas. Thisappease the losing teams a little more.


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Man Hunt:This is a great event to market your group and try to increase group size. This

works best if your group has already been meeting for a few weeks and has builta little bit of momentum.

Advertise a Man Hunt, but don't tell anyone what it is. Have enough

transportation available for twice the amount of students that you normallyhave. Divide everyone into teams and give them instructions. Let them knowthat this is a contest to go get as many of their friends as possible back to themeeting place by a given time (usually a little over an hour). Give each team alist. The list could look something like this:

Find a high school student . . .That has red hairThat has a 4.0That is on the football team

Teams go out in the transportation provided (half empty cars and vans), getthese people and bring them back at the designated time. Have fun games and

activities when everyone gets back, along with a small promotion of what yourgroup is like, inviting everyone back. Give the winning team, guests and all, aprize.

Memorex Madness:A scavenger hunt where sounds are the items to be found. Teams with taperecorders set out to record a list of items worth various points (examples: babycrying, toilet flushing, siren, a burp . . . )

Monopoly Night:

Take really wide paper (we use paper that is used for covering tables) andconstruct a gigantic Monopoly board. Use construction paper for the differentcolors. The larger the board, the more exciting the teens will find it! (Or Just usebutcher paper and roll out the frame of the board almost as big as the room!)Print huge Chance and Community Chest cards on colored paper. Also, title eachspace with street names that the teens live on. Mass reproduce the Monopolymoney on matching colored paper.

Have the teens bring icons for their game pieces (Stuffed Animals, etc. We hadone teen bring in a tire!). Use fuzzy dice if you can find them...

Split the teens into groups of 2 or 3 as teams and have them work together.

Give the game a specific amount of time. Give away prizes for certain things:First team to own a Monopoly.

First team to cross GO!First team in jail.

Use your creativity (or, have your student leaders use their creativity and own

the event), the sky is the limit!At the end count the money of each team and award the winners.


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Mud Bowl:WARNING: This event can be dangerous if you don't use a totally "obstacle free"field. Only one rock, sprinkler head, or sharp object in the ground can result insevere cuts, scrapes and bruises. It is up to you to use discretion when planningthis event.

This is a great event- because inside . . . everyone loves to get MUDDY! If youhave a piece of land that is not being used, use a tiller to soften the dirt. Use asprinklers to wet down the area before hand. (We have been fortunate to havethe Salt Lake City Fire Dept come out and wet it down for us.) Fromthere........GO NUTS!

We have had Mud Football, Mud Wrestling, Mud Duck, Duck, Goose (a personalfavorite). It usually turns into a mud fight but it is a great amount of fun. Besure to have several hoses set up to wash the mud off!

Add a super bowl style pool for church members to buy (squares) as a fundraiser

See you at the OscarsOut reach event - you hold a formal night (tux etc.), you get your youth band,some desserts, go to your local trophy store and by 12 cheap Oscar trophies,

and do a whole Oscar night.

The key is plugging this months out so students can make videos to submit forthe evening. You'll want to list some guidelines about content, length, etc. Have

the videos due at least 2 weeks before the event so you can screen them,prepare the awards, etc.

We tried to reach out to students outside the group by talking to some local

schools with film classes or drama classes. We let them in on the competition.We had one teacher give extra marks if the kids did it. The Sky is the limit withthis.

Sofa Wars:This is in the spirit of video scavenger hunts and photo car rally's. Find a coupleof old, ratty couches that you won't mind getting thrashed. Divide your groupinto teams of about 15 or so, making sure that each team has someone with atruck to carry the couch. Provide a list of places around town that the teams willbe taking their couch to for different point amounts. Give each team a Polaroidcamera so that each team can take a picture on their couch at each location. A

few good places to put on the list would be Movie theatres, malls, Grocerystores, Wal-Mart, the state capital steps, etc... Give teams about an good

amount of time before having to meet at church and then score the teams.


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Superstar CompetitionThis competition normally consists of ten events, but you can reduce that

number to fit your allotted time. Each participant selects seven events tocompete in. The scoring goes like this: first place-ten points, second place-ninepoints, third place-eight points, and so on. The maximum number of points aperson can score is seventy-which is very unlikely.

Its best to choose events that do not give a huge advantage to kids who areathletically inclined, older, smarter, or whatever. This way everyone has achance and the competition is more fun for everyone involved. Some sampleevents:

Water balloon shot put (for distance)Shoe kick (hang a shoe loosely on the foot and kick it for distance)Rowboat race (or kayaks or paddling with hands in an inner tube for time)Diving (judge for the ugliest dive or splashiest cannonball)Baseball hitting (use a volleyball or have kids hit wrong-handed)Sack race (in potato sacks)Paper airplane throw (make your own airplane and throw for distance in

the air)Stilts race (best time)

Dart throwing (at a dartboard or balloons)Math quiz (give a problem and have participants solve it in the fastest

time)Joke-telling contest or dramatic-reading contest (judged)

Kids will go from event to event, and their scores will be recorded at each event

they enter. After everyone is finished, winners in each event are declared.Whoever has the most total points is then declared the Superstar.

Wake-A-Thon:

Begin by printing out pledge sheets for youth. Have them collect pledges basedeither on hour pledges or flat rate pledges. Have group bring sleeping bags etcand arrange to have large room to keep youth in and also chaperones. Makesure to also have plenty of snacks and games on hand. Each participant raisesmoney for their youth group by staying awake! Each hour they stay awake willbe initialed by chaperone. Have youth total hours and collect pledges. This us agreat way to raise money for group AND for youth to gather for Christianfellowship. Begin planning this for a Fri evening thru to Saturday evening andplan well ahead with activities. Make it a rule that NO ONE goes home frombeginning to end except in the case of medical emergencies etc!!


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Youth GAMES Alpha

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