Chapter One
Toilet Paper Confessions
This game requires only toilet paper. Have your group sit in a circle and pass the
roll to each member. Tell them to place the roll on their finger and see how many
tissues they can get by pulling on the paper once. After everyone takes a turn, then
have the players count how many tissue squares they got. Then, they must tell you
one thing about themselves for each tissue they got. John Cook
Move Your Buns
You need multiple rows of chairs for this game, with an aisle down the center. Split
your group into two or four teams-one team sitting on the left and one on right.
(If you have four teams, put two teams on each side.) The leader makes statements
like these-
* If you are wearing
shoes .
* If you were ever a
cheerleader .
* If you have brown
hair .
* If you had a big zit in
the last week .
If the question is true of the
student, he must move down
the row. (For example, the
team sitting in the chairs
with the aisle on their right
will move to the right on
each turn.) Students move
one spot for each question that is true for them. If someone is sitting where a student
moves, she sits on that person's lap or squeezes onto the same chair. The first
team to get all of its members on one side wins. Amy Cole
Telephone Pictionary
You need two teams of at least 15 people each; fewer are okay, but this minimum
number is best. Line up 10 students from each team and put the rest in a group
across the room. Whisper a sentence or statement to the first person in line. That
student whispers it to the next person in line and so on, just like a normal game of
Telephone. When the last person in line has heard the statement, he runs across
the room to the rest of his group and starts drawing images and pictures to get the
group to say the statement he heard. (Players can't use letters or numbers in their
drawings.)
VARIATION-Draw a fairly simple picture and show it to the last person in line.
Then, as in Telephone, that person uses his finger to draw the picture on the back
of the person in front of him, and that person draws what she felt on the back of
the person in front of her, and so on until it gets to the first person in line. Then the
first person in line draws what he felt on a piece of paper, intending that it is what
the original picture was. The closest drawing wins. Amy Cole
By the Way
You can do this activity anytime and anywhere. Have everyone sit in a circle. Go
around the circle and have each person say her name and add, "by the way" plus
a four-word phrase that describes something about them. For example, "My name
is Pat and by the way my cat is fat." As they move around the circle, each person
must repeat what all of the previous people said so that they get to know each other
better. This game is really funny because the students get really creative about
what they say and how they say it. Heath Kumnick
Mystery Punch
In this fun mixer (Get it? Mixer?), students work in small groups, create, and laugh
a lot.
You need a variety of mixing supplies: fruit juices, chocolate syrup, fruits, soda-the
more creative the better. If you avoid things like pickle juice and sour milk, you
can use these drinks with your supper. Be creative without being disgusting. The
Aztecs had a beverage called Chocal. The closest thing to recreating it today would
be chicken broth, cocoa, and Tabasco sauce. (Don't make that face; it's pretty
good!)
Tell the groups to create their own commercial beverage. They can name it and
come up with a slogan. After a given time limit, have the groups share what
they've come up with. Have lots of Dixie Cups so that everyone can try all of the
drinks. Give prizes for Best Name, Worst Looking, and Best Tasting.
NOTE-This game also works with pizza! Becky Carlson
Silly Putty Body of Christ
This is an object lesson that emphasizes the importance of being part of a group-the
body of Christ (unity building, giving, and receiving, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26).
First, you need Silly Putty or Play-Doh for everyone in the group. The Silly Putty
should be different colors. Youth love to play with Silly Putty, and they like to get
things free! Have each one mold the Silly Putty into a symbol of who they are. Give
them a chance to share what they made and how it represents who they are. After
each person shares, explain that it is nice to be recognized as individuals and each
individual helps make up the group; but to become part of a group, you have to
give of yourself.
Let them have a reflective opportunity to give back to the group in a symbolic way
by giving back the Silly Putty. As the youth give back the Silly Putty, clump it all
together in a big ball. DO NOT MIX IT TOGETHER. The result is one big, colorful
ball of Silly Putty. The big ball represents the members of the group, each one bringing
something unique to the group to create something beautiful. Then comes the
fun part-point out that as we give of ourselves, we also receive. Give a piece of
the big ball to everyone who gave his Silly Putty. Let students know they have bit
of everyone in their new piece of Silly Putty. They each take home a piece of the
group!
NOTE-
You can't take yourself out of the group once you've "given" yourself. If you try,
your Silly Putty sticks to the others.
Once each person has her piece, it is beautiful to see all the different colors. But if
you keep kneading the putty, it soon becomes one new, not-so-beautiful color.
Jeanne Wong
Stick-on Name Badges
Prepare in advance as many stick-on name badges as you will have participants.
Use names from themes such as nursery-rhyme characters, children's story characters,
TV characters, TV and/or movie celebrities, or professional athletes. As students
arrive, place a badge on
each person's back and tell
them the theme. Each person
must figure out who she is by
introducing herself to another
member of the group and
asking only one yes-or-no
question. When people figure
out who they are, they move
their name badges to the
front; but they remain in the
game to answer questions of
those still trying.
Don Mullins
Name Crowd Breaker
Here's a quick get-to-know-the-names game. Start by sitting on the floor in a circle.
Go around the circle with each person saying his name three times. The group
responds each time with, "Who?" The speaker usually gets louder each time but
given the opportunity to be creative, students have a lot of fun with this. Some students
say their name slower or quieter or weirder each time. A sample would go
like this: The first person introduces himself in a normal tone of voice, "Mike." The
group responds with, "Who?" Mike repeats a little louder, "MIKE!" The group asks
again, "Who?" This time Mike yells at the top of his voice, "MIKE!" And then the
group says, "Ohhhh, Mike." Then it's the next person's turn. Tim Bilezikian
The Think-like-Me Game
Make a sheet of goofy sentences, and pass them out to your group. Give students
30 seconds to fill in the blanks. When the leader says, "GO!" students start looking
for other students who wrote the same answer. When they match, they sign
one another's paper. Here are some ideas to get you started.
* Gabe's dog is so big, instead of a stick he fetches a ______________________
* It's going to be so cold on the camping trip next month that Laura is going to
get frost on her ______________________
* Every time I look at
whipped cream I think of
______________________
* You may not believe in
reincarnation but in a
past life (youth director)
was
______________________
* Very few people appreciate
a dessert topping
made entirely out of
_____________________
* "This fruit juice tastes
funny," said Bill, "It's
like they squeezed a
_____________________
to get it."
Everett Bracken
Capital Letter
Before the meeting, write one capital letter on as many stick-on name badges as
there are participants. Place a badge on the back of each person in the group, and
give each player a pencil and piece of paper. Each person must figure out what
letter is on his back by introducing himself and saying a five-letter word. The
other person indicates whether or not the word contains the letter on the first person's
back. By keeping track of the words that do and do not contain the letter,
a person can eventually figure out the letter that is on his back. When people figure
out their letters, they move their badges to the front, but remain in the game
to answer questions from those still trying to figure out what their letters are.
Don Mullins
Who Are U 2?
Have the students pair up with someone they don't know or someone they feel is
very different from them. Each pair must find five things they have in common and
write these down on a sheet of paper. When all of the groups finish, an adult leader
reads the lists, and the group must decide which pair the sheet belongs to. (NOTE-The
pair that knows their list is being read should try to throw off the rest of the
group by guessing too. If they just sit there and smile it's sort of a giveaway.)
Christy Dixon
Seeking My Fortune
Here's a great mixer for small groups. Buy a box of fortune cookies, and replace
the fortunes with slips of paper that contain the spiritual gifts Paul writes about in
Romans 12:4-8. (Put one gift on each slip.) Pass these out to your group. Then
have each student break open a cookie and read the gift on the slip. Have students
explain to the group how this gift applies to them or how they can use this in everyday
life. After the students read their slips, let them trade their slips for ones they
feel are closer to what they think their gifts really are. Go around the circle and ask
them to explain why they traded.
VARIATION-if you have some comic-book fans in your group, try this game after
watching a clip from the movie X-Men. What are your students' powers?
VARIATION-You can also put the slips into balloons and blow them up. Students
pop a balloon to reveal their gifts. Talk about how God wants us to explode with
the gifts we are given and not just slowly let the air out.Steve Case
GUMP-isms
Play the clip from Forrest Gump where Tom Hanks says, "My momma said life is
like a box of chocolates ." Have your group come up with as many Gump-isms
as they can. Give a box of chocolates to the best one or the most bizarre.
Steve Case
More in Common than a Cold
This game works best in large groups. Have students introduce themselves to
someone in the crowd. Next, have them find something they have in common in
one of these five categories: favorite food, favorite band, favorite TV show, favorite
movie, and favorite sport. When they find someone they have a match with, they
must stay together, find another pair, introduce themselves, and find a way to link
up with the other two. Those four then find another group of four and so on and
so on. Dave Fox
The Reason for Extinction
You need paper, crayons, markers or pens to draw and color with, and a list of fake
animal names and attributes.
Divide the students into a few teams, and distribute the paper and drawing implements.
Read the name of a fake animal and a couple of its attributes, (it can fly, or
swim, it eats meat, it eats berries, has claws, or how big it is). Do this with each
team. Then give them about five or six minutes to draw the animal as a team. Have
students take turns as the official artist within each team, and play until everyone
has a chance to add to the drawing. Then have sponsors judge each picture using
categories such as most imaginative, most accurate, and best artwork.
Brian Stegner
Whozat?
Before the game find out one fact about each student. Print these facts on a sheet
of paper, then make copies and pass them out. Turn the students loose and have
them find out which student belongs with what fact.
Here are some ideas for facts: favorite song; what father does for a living; what
mother does for a living; favorite pizza topping; and poster on bedroom wall.
Joel Lusz
Ten Questions
First have students team up with someone they know well or fairly well. Next, ask
each team of two to team up with another pair that they don't know well or at all.
Now each group should have four people in it.
Beginning with the person in each group who has the most money in their pocket,
play 10 Questions, a modified form of the game 20 Questions. (Remember, in
this game players can only ask yes or no questions!)
The first player's topic is-The person (living or dead) I would most like to have
lunch with.
After two minutes call Time and ask each group to question player #2 (the person
to the left of player #1). Player #2's category is-The first thing I would wish for if
I had Aladdin's lamp (excluding more wishes or money).
Continue play until each group member has been questioned about her category.
Player #3's category is-The historic event I would most like to witness (if I had a
time machine).
Player #4's category is-An event in my own life I would like to relive. Len Woods
End-of-School Blowout
This crazy discussion mixer gives small to medium-sized groups a chance to have
fun and get better acquainted. It takes about 10 minutes. Use this mixer on or near
the last day of school.
Ask everyone to pair up, and then give each pair a copy of the sheet on page 18. It
is self-explanatory.
NOTE-for older groups, change the last statement to "make predictions about
what you'll all be doing five years from now."
Continues.
