Archives by: Shannon Gunter

Have youth in pairs. Each pair lies head to head on the floor. Give each pair 2 spoons and 2 bowls of ice cream sundaes (the more messy the toppings the better). Each person has to feed their partner the sundae using the spoon. The first pair to completely finish both bowls of sundaes wins. It’s best to have each pair’s heads on top of a towel or garbage bag so you don’t have to pay for new carpeting.

Have everyone sit in a circle. There should be 2 chairs per person so that there is an empty chair between each person. Then remove the empty chairs. Put a cone or half-full 2-liter bottle of soda in the middle of the circle. Toss a ball in the middle. It’s half the circle versus the other side. Every time someone from one of the teams knocks over the cone with the ball, their team gets a point. If someone from the team kicks the ball out of the circle between one of the chairs on the opposing team’s side BELOW the seat level of the chair, the team gets a point. Everyone must stay seated in their own chair at all times. If the ball ever hits someone at or above their waist, the team that was hit gets 15 points. In other words, people are not to kick the ball high in the air. The first team to score 20 points wins.

Fill up 2 large paper bags with “treats.” Each bag must have the same stuff. Have both good and bad stuff (ideas: a bag of chips, a candy bar, a large carrot, packed sardines, a packet of crackers, an apple, a jar of baby food, some caramels, prune juice, etc.). One person sits in the team chair. The other person stands behind him and “blindly” grabs an item from the bag. He must feed the person sitting in the chair (while still standing behind the person in the chair). When the person is finished with the food item, the “feeder” sits in the chair and the person next in line pulls another item from the bag. This continues until all the items are finished from the bag. The first team to finish all the items wins.

Two people sit in chairs facing each other. One person is blindfolded. He must feed the person across from him a jar of baby food, applesauce, ice cream, or something else semi-liquid. The person getting fed directs the blindfolded feeder, OR the group around them directs the blindfolded person and the person being fed must remain silent. This is a race between two teams to finish off the food item first.

Get as many pairs as you want. One person holds and Alka-Seltzer on his forehead. The other person stands behind a line with a water gun. Try to be the first pair to totally dissolve the tablet.

Are you old enough to remember “Name that Tune?” This is like the TV show, only with scripture verses. 2 teams battle with 2 people at a time. They go back and forth deciding who can identify a scripture verse in the least amount of words. “(P1)I can do it in 10 words.” “(P2)Well, I can do it in 7.” “(P1)I can do it in 6.” “(P2) Okay, go ahead.” The leader reads the first 6 words of the verse. If the person can recite the entire verse or name the chapter and verse(s), their team gets a point. If not, the other team gets a point.

Everyone starts with 6 pieces of wrapped candy. Player One puts a piece of candy into the middle of the group and call out something he has done that he thinks no one else in the group has done. “I have ridden on a camel.” If no one has done what he’s done (no one’s ever ridden a camel), then he takes back his piece of candy and any other pieces of candy that are in the middle. If someone else has done this thing he called out (Someone else has ridden a camel), then he leaves his candy piece in the middle and the next person calls out something unique that she’s done. Continue around the circle a few times. This can also be done with things you’ve never done that you think everyone else has done. (“I’ve never flown in an airplane.”)

This is a youth group classic! In the middle of the circle are spoons (one less than there are people playing). Everyone has 4 cards. The dealer picks up one card. If he doesn’t want that card, he passes it to the person on his right. If he does want it, he keeps that card, and passes an unwanted card from his 4 cards to the person to his right. If P2 wants the card passed to her, she keeps it and passes a card from her group of 4 to the person to her right. If she doesn’t want the passes card, she passes it on to the next player. You can only have 4 cards in your hand at a time. This all must take place QUICKLY. When someone gets 4 of a kind (4 10’s, 4 Queens, 4 2’s, etc.), he sneakily takes a spoon from the middle. As this is occurring, the cards are still passing throughout the circle, and he is simply looking at the passed cards and passing them on, keeping his set of 4. As people start noticing the missing spoon(s), they grab one for themselves. The person left without a spoon is the loser and must chug a glass of water. *After the first spoon has been taken, you do not have to have a set of 4 to take a spoon. However, if you mistakenly take or touch a spoon prior to someone getting a set of 4 – and you do not have a set of 4 – then you’re the loser of that round. The “dealer” spot goes to the person on the previous dealer’s left.

Everyone stands in a circle. One person starts a story. The narrator says, “Stop,” and points to another person. That person immediately continues on with the story. If he repeats the last line that was said by the last person, says “umm,” or repeats himself, he dies and sits down. (If you have a crowd that loves to be goofy, have the last person to add to the story declare what method of death this person will die from, and have that person act it out before sitting down.) After a while, make it more challenging by insisting that the lines rhyme or having them sing the story. Or, before the story begins, the group must come up with a person, and object, and a place. These must be implemented into the story.