Youth Group Games

These are the games that youth leaders are looking for and some of these games can be weird, gross, obnoxious and repulsive. Why do youth leaders use such games? To help knock down the walls that kids start building, to teach them that everyone is different and different is okay. Laughter is one of the best medicines and the memories that have been deposited are priceless.

More Youth Group Ideas

• Youth Group Game Ideas
• Small Group Icebreakers
• Icebreakers for Teens
• Icebreaker Games

Required: Dark rooms
Players: Medium (2 groups of 10 or more)

You have two teams of 10 or more (the important thing is to have two teams), 2 aliens and 2 ray guns. Play this game at night in a church or at someone’s house where it will stay dark inside. Set up a base where people will go if caught. Give the ray guns 1 minute to hide and then send the aliens off. After another minute the whole group goes looking for the ray guns. The point of the game is to not get caught by the aliens while looking for the ray guns (the only way to get the aliens out is to be holding onto the ray gun while touching the alien). The ray guns can give away their position if they want to but they should stay hidden (makes it more fun). The aliens are chasing everyone around while they are on the look out for the ray guys.

Submitted by Bojana Kuzminac

Required: Safe bike route, bikes & host homes
Players: Small to large groups

Plan out a bike trip that will allow the route to return close to where the starting point was. Have different stopping points throughout the trip. Possibly have host homes that will provide drinks, maybe a cooked hotdog or meal. Have the last stopping point where they could go swimming or enjoy a campfire with Smores. You could use this idea as a fundraiser for teens by getting pledges for the distance they will travel. Make sure you have drivers with vehicles that can carry bikes that will not make it or need a ride home. Also have a first aid kit, bike repair kit with pump and wear proper biking protective gear.

Submitted by R. Scheel, Fun-Attic Inc.

Required: Large clean tub, water, towels, apples and “Cow Tongues”
Players: Small to medium groups

Go to your local supermarket or butcher and purchase 1-3 cow tongues. Wash the tongues off and cook them in a slow boiling pot on the stove for several hours. Once cooked refrigerate until your ready for them. They can be cooked up a day ahead of time if needed.

For your next youth event or party fill one clean large tub with water, add apples and cow tongues. Give prizes to the participants that are willing and successful in pulling out a cow’s tongue with their teeth. You could also purchase an extra tongue that can be served to those that are willing to participant in the delicacy. If your concerned about participants not willing to bob for apples because of the tongues in the tub. Add the tongues at a later time, after a few participants have had the pleasure of bobbing for apples. Do this without anyone knowing that you’ve added them to see what type of reaction the previous bobbers will give. Ask them if they think that the tongues were in the bottom and now they floated to the top?

Submitted by R. Scheel, Fun-Attic Inc.

Required: 8 – 2ft cut pieces of 2 X 4 wood, hammer, safety goggles, 8 nails for each team
Players:Small to large groups

Each teams mission will be to build a chair one person or nail at a time. Have 8 pieces of wood and 8 nails at one end of the playing field for each team. The first person on each team will be given a hammer. Their job will be to race down, put on the safety goggles and nail two pieces of board using only one nail. When they have completely driven the nail into the board they will remove the safety goggles and race back with the hammer, hand it off to the next player and the next player will do the same. The first four players will have to make the seat of the chair and the next four players will create the legs of the chair. The first team done is the winner.

Created by R. Scheel and Mariah (age 8), Fun-Attic Inc.

Required: big bowls, bags of jumbo marshmallows, bottles of chocolate syrup, plastic hair nets, garbage bags, table, paper plates
Players:Small to medium groups – 2 players per team

Cut hole in bottum of garbage bags and place over 1 player on each team so their clothes stay clean and place the head gear on them. They get on their knees behind a table and put the plate in front of them. The other team members line up in front of them about 4-5 feet away depending on age group. Dump the marshmallows in the bowls and then pour the chocolate over top. Stir them up so all of them get good and covered.

GO! Give about 1 minute, each team begins to throw the chocolate covered marshmallows to their team mate. When a catch is made (with no hands of course) the team member is to suck off all the chocolate then spit out the clean marshmallows. During the cleaning process [DO NOT STOP THROWING] you may be able to catch-n-clean more than one at a time. At the buzzer add them up the most catch-n-cleans win.

Submitted by S.T.A.T.I.K. Kids Church

Required: Music, sound system with microphones, platform
Players:Medium to large groups

Have youth group leaders get all participants standing and forming two circles. One of the circles should be inside of the other circle. It’s helpful if there are a couple of the leaders standing on a stage above the players or on a stable platform/chairs. When the music starts the two circles will rotate in opposite directions. The leaders will stop the music and make an order. Somewhat like the game twister, they will call out body parts to connect. Examples are “right elbow to left ear”, “left knee to nose”, “right hand to right shoulder blade”, “head to left ankle” or other safe combinations you can come up with. You can have these written down to be pulled out of a hat or just make them up as you go. The leader calls out one of the orders and the inside circle players are to quickly find an outside circle player and complete the order by connecting. As the players start to find a partner, they are given only a few seconds to complete the order, the leaders on stage will start calling players out that have not completed the order. The leaders will start pointing and saying “Your out”, “Your out”, “Your out” trying to eliminate as many as possible. After a few seconds you start up the music again and repeat, trying to get it started quickly so that the kids will be mixed up with as many players as possible. You can play this until you have one couple as the winners or until they get tired of the game. Great game to get kids to interact and meet new faces (elbows, knees, ears, feet). Can be done with a large group of 50-100 kids.

Submitted by R Scheel, Northview Campus Life, Grand Rapids, MI

Required: Several whistles, small paper plates and whip cream
Players:Small to medium groups

Lay out paper plates on a table and place one clean whistle on each plate. Cover each whistle with one scoop of whip cream. Each player will run to the table, bend over with hands behind their backs and find the whistle with their mouth. They are to position the whistle in their mouth and the first to blow the whistle is the winner. If you’re playing this game as a team the first whistle blower earns points for their team, you could even give the second place team second place team points. Clean off whistles with hot soapy water and start again with new plates and fresh whip cream.

Required: Pre-made coupons, lots of prizes
Players:Medium to large groups

Use this idea for your next lock-in or youth camp experience. Pre-make coupons with or without point values on them. If using coupons with point values make them 100, 200, and 500 point value coupons with a space for date and leaders signature. If no value on coupon supply all leaders with a marker or pen that is a unique color and all leaders will have to same color. You can then write in the agreed amount of any specific dare. Make sure that a space is provided for their signature and date. Inform youth that they’ll be using these coupons to earn prizes in an auction that will take place later in the trip/event. If you are traveling to a camp, the dares can start once you start loading up. What can the youth do to earn these points?

Carry the leaders bags to the transportation provided
Carry the bags to the lodge
Fluff the leaders pillow
Waiting on the leaders hand and foot by getting their lunch, drinks and clearing the tables
And then there are all those crazy things that they are more than willing to do to earn one piece of paper with points on it. They’ ll beg you to give them something to do to earn points. They’ll sing, dance, and do stunts anything to earn those points.

For the more reserved youth I had them in the Bible counting sheep in John: 10 (answer 17), memorizing and reciting verses including Roman 3: 23 forward and backwards, finding the definition of Nabal’s name (answer Fool), name the Fruits of the Spirit, What is a Lament? (answer Sad Song) and so on.

Towards the end of the event the youth will total up their points and an auction will be held. You can auction off little items like candy bars, bags of candy, donated items from small to large and even perks. Perks are usually special nights with the various youth leaders like dinners, bowling, movies or sleepovers. The perks can sometimes be for more than one person, so they can invite a guest or up to 3. The youth will pool their points to purchase these perks. Once all items have been auctioned off the coupons are totally worthless. You can let them know how many items will be auctioned off or we leave it a surprise so they have no idea when the bidding will be done.

Submitted by Robin Scheel, Fun-Attic Inc.

Required: Stocking Cap, Duct Tape, Plastic Spoons
Players:1 at a time

This is an easy game that can be played with teams or individually. Start with a stocking cap that will cover the whole head of the contestant. Pull it down as far as possible and then take duct tape wrong side out from the bottom of the head all the way over the top and mummify the head( let them breathe of course!) once the head is covered then draw a square on the carpet with duct tape and dump 100 plastic spoons on the ground, into the square. The contestant must use his taped head to pickup as many spoons as possible, getting them out of the square. The one with the most spoons is the winner.

Submitted by Rev. Stacy Brankel, Ruidoso, NM

Required: Nylons, eggs, old clothes, roped off area, foam swimming noodle, blindfold and maybe a lake to wash up in
Players:Small to large groups

All players will be given one raw egg and one nylon (clean pantyhose or knee hi). If you use pantyhose, cut into two pieces so that you’ll have one leg for each player. (Instruct players as to what they have to do before they are given the eggs because once they drop their egg they are out of the game.) Players are to place one raw egg in the nylon and tie around their heads so that the eggs sit on top of their. The nylon will be the only thing that should hold the egg on their head, not their hands. All players will be instructed that they must stay in the roped off area. One player will be blindfolded and given a foam swimming noodle. When all are ready the player with the noodle will try to smash the eggs on the other players heads. The eggheads are to run around in roped off sections while making a chicken sound. If a player looses his egg or their egg is smashed that player is out of the game. The last player with a whole egg is the winner. Remember to have them use discretion as they will be hitting players on the head and have a leader monitoring at all times.

Created by R. Scheel, Fun-Attic Inc.

Required: Lots of trees, blindfolds
Players: Small to medium groups

Everyone has a partner. One is blindfolded and the partner who can see leads the blind partner to a tree of their choice. They describe it to the sightless from questions that are asked by the blindfolded person. They can move the hands of the blindfolded person to show them unique features and the blind can touch the tree as much as they want until they think they know their tree. Everyone returns back to the center. Have the blindfolded players spin around a few times to disorient them. The blindfolds are then taken off. The newly sighted players try to find their tree while their partners stay quietly in the center. When the first correct tree is found that team is the winner.

Submitted by Madison from Lyons, Colorado

Required: Miniature marshmallows
Players: Small to medium groups

Each participant is given a small marshmallow. The competition is a distance thing… you have a person put a small marshmallow in one nostril and plug the other one, then have them blow it as far as they can. I think you get the picture!

Submitted by Jeremy from the music group “Down Here”. Thanks, Jeremy
Graduated from Briercrest with a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Ministry

Required: Clean hands, bowls, sunglasses, old clothes, miniature marshmallows and chocolate syrup
Players: Small to large groups

Divide group up into to teams. Have an adult or leader for each team lay on the ground with protective eye covering like sunglasses. The teams line up about 15 feet away from the leader that’s on the ground. Have a bowl of miniature marshmallows and a bowl of chocolate syrup for each team. On go, each player one at a time will pick up one marshmallow, dip it in syrup and run to their “leader” that is on the ground with their mouth open. They will drop the chocolate covered marshmallow in the leaders open mouth while standing over them and go to the end of the line. If the player misses the target he/she must leave it. The winning team is the one that has the least number of marshmallows on the face of the leader or floor. Great game and the kids LOVE IT!!! (Caution! This game can cause a choking hazard. Play with caution and at your own risk)

Submitted by Betty at FBC New Bern

Required: Disposable diapers, several types of candy and chocolate bars and small sample spoons
Players: Small to medium groups

Buy a box of cheap disposable diapers and 8-12 different types of candy bars. In separate diapers melt one candy bar in microwave until you cannot tell what type it is. Number the outside of that diaper, list it on a master list and do the same for all the other candy bars. Have participants with small food sample spoons taste each diaper and make a list of what type of candy bar they think is in the diaper. Have players get a new spoon for each diaper and no double dipping. The person with the most correct answers is the winner.

Submitted by Jeremy from the music group “Down Here”

Remember – The object is for everyone to have fun. The moderator is the all-powerful dictator. You may at any time change the rules or boundaries or handicap players to help balance out the wide spectrum of abilities. We want the tentative athlete and the superjock to play together at the best of their abilities.

Have Fun! ?

Now here are some colorful ideas to liven up play time.
If you have a fun game that is entertaining and healthy for kids of ANY age, you can send it to us for consideration and addition to our Games and Activities Guide.
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