Games for youth at church

Arrange the tablecloth on the table, place the random items on top along with the baseball bat, and cover them with the boxes. The bat should be the last item before the hole. Have a leader put the wig on and crawl under the table with the watermelon, put their head through the hole, and cover them with a box. Make sure the leader is facing the contestants, not the audience.

The person who names all four items the fastest wins. Have the leader put the wig on the watermelon, and put the watermelon through the hole instead of their head. When the pre-picked kid removes the box, the leader will still yell, the kid will pretend to freak out, grab the bat, and smash the watermelon. Also, pick a big crazy wig that will cover plenty of the melon. You can choose any number of kids, but 3—5 is probably ideal.

That was really interesting! Thanks for showing us how you use the bathroom. Supplies: clear and flexible tubing, eggs, funnel, garbage can.

Band kids and athletes tend to do well in this gross test of lung capacity and stamina, but anyone can participate. Choose four students and pair them up for 1v1 matches. Put the funnel into the clear tubing and crack an egg into it. Hold the tube so that the egg settles into the middle, and then have the first pair of kids each take a side, and put the garbage can between them.

After each pair goes, have the winners face off to determine the champion. A few feet should be plenty. Supplies: enough cans or bottles of soda for each contestant to have one, garbage can. When they come up, have them remove a sock. Open a can or bottle of soda for each kid, and have them put their sock on top of it the top of the can or bottle should be all the way at the bottom of their sock.

This is too easy. Pass your soda to the person on your left. Whoever finishes first wins. Keep the garbage can close. Visiting a nursing home is a wonderful way for your youth group to serve together because everyone can do it, and it shows your kids that sometimes attention and conversation are profound gifts we can use to love others.

Your students will be nervous about talking to strangers, and they may struggle to find common ground. So, before you go, talk to your group about ways they might start a conversation, or encourage them to play a boardgame with someone.

You may also want to caution them about some of the things they might see or experience. Equip them to be successful. Give them tools to show the residents and staff that they are loved and that they matter. Pro tip: Call the nursing home you plan to visit in advance. Talk to them about the ideal times for a large group of visitors. It will also help to get a heads up about their specific guidelines and any recommendations they have about what to bring games, books, small pets, etc. Public parks are for everyone in your community to enjoy.

They can also be difficult to maintain and keep pristine. In just a couple hours, your youth group can bless your community and serve your neighbors in a tangible way by cleaning up this shared space. You may even find that it creates opportunities for conversation too. People will be curious why so many kids are picking up trash and cleaning up the area, and some of them may even want to join you.

You could also talk to your city council or parks and recreation department to find out about projects where they could use volunteers. This could allow your students to do some more interesting jobs like landscaping , and if your parks are already pretty clean, this is another good way to have a visible impact. If you can, try to take before and after pictures to help kids feel a stronger sense of accomplishment.

This will help others visually connect your act of service to a church that cares about the community, regardless of whether or not neighbors talk to you.

And regardless of whether people are able to do their own yard and house maintenance, many people will appreciate the gift of a cleaner yard. Depending on the season, where you live, and what equipment you or your neighbors have, students could do jobs like:. Every youth group game or activity you ask kids to participate in should have a larger purpose. Or to create an experience students will want to share with their unchurched friends. This feature allows you to:. These are just some of the things you can do through this Church Management System to make your life as a youth leader much easier.

Click here to schedule a demo and learn more. Talk to an Expert. Ryan was a volunteer youth leader with Young Life for eight years. Having everyone start at the same time, have the groups figure out how to get the shirts out of the ice. The kids will be getting to know each other in no time as they try to figure out what to do. Form two circles of chairs, one circle inside the other, with the chairs facing each other. Have participants pair up and sit across from each other.

Give them a question that they both have to answer. Once they are done, have the students on the inside ring move one chair to the left and the ones on the outside ring move one chair to the right. Ask another question. Repeat as long as you want to play, asking different questions along the way.

This game is simple but effective, and a lot like "Would You Rather". The main difference is that instead of longer questions, "This or That" is simple one word options. The youth are given sticky notes and a pen and are instructed to write down 3 facts about themselves, without writing down their names on the paper.

The papers get collected and posted on a wall. Then a volunteer gets the ball rolling by going up to the board, choosing one of the notes not their own , and reading out the facts.

The group then tries to figure out who the person is. The first one to guess correctly as long as it isn't their own gets to choose the next note. This game is a good conversation starter and kids find out a lot of interesting information about each other.

Designed to get kids talking, this one is good for older kids, but can easily get out of hand depending on the dynamics of the group. It also works better with smaller groups so it would be a good idea to break the kids into groups of 4 or 5.

Design a chart with a list of 6 questions, each question next to a number. Next to the number, write down a "get to know you" question. Then go around the room a couple of times and have each student roll the die and answer the question that matches the number they come up with. Just like it sounds, the kids sit around in a circle and go around one at a time saying something about themselves like, "Never have I ever been on an airplane. This is another effective icebreaker for all ages.

It can also be played with the leader asking the questions and the youth answering. One of the most well-known party games, if played wisely, this is an effective icebreaker. It definitely needs supervision because questions can easily get out of hand.

The best way to avoid that is to have the leader ask the questions. Get together a list of questions as well as a list of dares that aren't too embarrassing or difficult. Then start play by going around the circle and asking each person if they want a truth or dare. Get a clean mason jar and a number of big popsicle sticks. Write a "get to know you" question on each stick and place them all in the jar. Have the kids sit in a circle and have the first one pick out a stick without looking.

Then have them answer the question. After that, the next person pulls out a stick and answers a question. Make the questions a little more detailed so the youth can't just answer with a yes or a no. That will foster more dialogue. Thanks Liz - I agree, these are definitely good for all ages and not just youth groups. It think they'd be lots of fun at a family reunion setting.

I think quite a few of these could be adapted to social occasions for older people. There are some great ideas here. Looking to jazz up your youth group? Starting a new group at your church? Here are more than 50 ideas that will make your weekly youth meetings the place to be!

In recent decades there has been a significant rise in the number of youth groups and worship ministries. Coming up with a name for a group can be challenging. This article showcases an epic list of best youth group names. This is an extensive list of games you can play with kids in the gym. Before too long, their best friends will be in that community! Something that usually works is to ask questions that are totally ridiculous and let the kids imaginations run wild.

They'll all start to feed off of each other's answers and everyone will be laughing together. Okay, these are getting out of hand. When you use your imagination, they will use theirs. Daniel Berk is the Managing Editor at Tithely. A student and teacher of the Bible, he is a lover of theology, church history, and The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually.

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Products Learn. Access all Tithe. Login Sign Up Free. Church Signup. Church Growth. Looking for youth group activities? Read here! Youth pastors are overworked. Youth Pastor can be an impossible role.

Have you felt this way? This is extremely common. To Encourage Having Fun Remember, it's easy to get caught into a mindless routine of last-minute activities that just pass the time think 3rd grade substitute teacher wheeling in the VHS and playing a movie everyone had already seen 30 times.

To Encourage Working Together Competition, classic games, and beat-the-clock time limits all have their place, but team-building and group activities exist for a reason.

Example: Have someone record a TikTok of another person helping bag the groceries for an elderly person at a grocery store. Add some fun music behind it, then post it to your Youth Group's TikTok account. Get-to-know-you activities A big part of youth ministry is building relationships with your students. Here are a few youth group game ideas many churches have used: 1. Pass around the pack. Dice and Dare Prep time: 15 Minutes Write 12 get-to-know-you questions on a board.

Have students sit in a circle. Have each student roll the dice once and answer the number question shown on the dice.

Take turns going around the circle. A lot of energy. Life-Size Tic Tac Toe Prep time: 5 minutes Arrange three rows of three chairs so that there is a square of nine chairs total. Arrange the student into two teams. Each team takes turns sending one member to sit in a chair.

The first team with three in a row wins! Bank Robbery Prep time: 30 minutes Buy several boxes of streamers. Tape them horizontally along the hallway as if they were lasers in a bank. The fastest student wins a prize. The Worm Olympics Prep time: 5 minutes Prepare two sleeping bags. Pair up students in pairs of two. Each person in a pair gets in a sleeping bag on the ground one pair at a time. Have each member of the team race each other from a starting line to the finishing line.

Creative Activities Have time to buy a few things and organize youth group games and activities? Yarn-Wrapped Cardboard Letters Prep time: 60 minutes Decide a word that you want to spell with letters that correspond to the number of kids. Pre-cut letters from cardboard. Pre-cut 1-yard pieces of yarn.