The Vegetable Game


Have youth sit in a circle. Each youth should select a vegetable that he or she wishes to represent. Go around the circle making sure everyone knows each other’s veggies. The object of the game is to say your vegetable name twice and then the name of someone else’s vegetable, thereby, passing the turn. The trick is everyone in the game must play without showing his or her teeth! This makes it very difficult to laugh and/or talk. Youth end up in stitches trying to hold in laughter while saying vegetable names. It helps when you get really cheesy and start hamming it up! “Brocoleeeeee, Brocoleeeeeeeeeeeee!”


Jennifer Hills


 

 

Ball and Chain


Each youth is given a piece of yarn (about 1 yard) and a balloon. The youth should tie one end of the yarn to his or her ankle and the inflated balloon to the other end (creating a ball and chain). Youth then frantically try to pop other youths balloons while protecting their own! Last one with a balloon still attached to their ankle wins!


Jennifer Hills


 

 

Octi-Ball


Group Size 20 +


Materials needed: 



  • raised dividing line/Volleyball net

  • a marked off “Activity Area” with materials for activity area

  • at least 5 each of 4 different soft throwable items (i.e. plush footballs, sockballs, dodgeballs of different colors, etc…)

  • signs/posterboard  – This provides a key for the previously listed items

  • scoreboard


Description:  Octi-Ball combines many mini-games into one.  Players lob items over a line to other teams.  Each time an item is caught, there is an activity listed connected to that item.  Players complete the activity, mark a point, and continue play.  If a player is hit with the item, but does not catch, they must make an explosion sound (“Boom”) and continue play.  Play continues until a team scores 25 points, or a higher point range if group is larger. 


 


 

Example:

On the posterboard you would label:


          Soft footballs = Sing ABC’s while balancing a cup of jello on your head.


          White Sockballs = 10 jumping jacks


          Black sockballs = blowing 6 bubbles


          Orange dodgeballs = getting the signature of an adult leader


          Red dodgeballs = putting together a 10 piece puzzle


 


 

Upon play, player A catches a black sockball.  They would walk over to the activity area, blow six bubbles, mark a point on the board for their team, and continue back into play. 

 


 

Variations: 


  • You might adapt the activities to fit a theme or lesson.  For example, one of the activities might be finding another name in the Reformation word search, or reciting one of the 10 commandments until all are named, etc.

  • An outdoor variation might include objects of water balloons, water bombs, wet sponges, etc.

Sean Cramer, DCE


 


 

Sum Fun:

Great game for a few minutes here and there, or for a trip. 2 players face each other and put their hands behind their back. On “go”, players pull their hands in front showing between 0 10 of their digits. Whichever player can add up the totals of both them and their opponent first, wins. 


 


 

Variations: 


  • Play this as a large group. Large group would break into pairs and compete. The winner of each round would find another winner to compete against. Those who lose, become fans of the person who just beat them, and cheers them on. 

  • Try it with 3 people, 4, 5, 6!

Sean Cramer, DCE


 


 

Teleportation Tag

This game is named for one of the great science-fiction franchises of all time.  But since I’m not sure of copyright laws, let’s call the show Star Shrek.  (Blast, I probably broke another law with that one).


 


This is just a simple twist on tag.  In the show, the characters would often be “beamed up” and teleported to a different location.  In this version, “it” tags Peter, but yells out “Barry”.  The tag is teleported to “Barry”, and Barry is now “it”. 


 


Play continues until it is good and prudent to quit. 


Sean Cramer, DCE


 


 

Talkin’ Toilet Paper

Materials needed:  roll of toilet paper


This is kind of taken off of an old activity, but fun if the group hasn’t done it before. Ask the group to take how much toilet paper they normally use when they use the bathroom. You can start by taking some and then pass the roll around the room. After everyone has some, have each share something about themselves for each square of toilet paper that they have.  You should start the group off. If they need help to think of things, share these topics: hobbies, family, school, dreams they have, where they live, job, etc.


 


 

Balloon Rumble

Materials needed:  Chairs, Balloons, permanent marker


Everyone is in chairs in a square around the room. Be sure to be in a square shape because each side of the square is a team…4 sides=4 groups. Have everyone blow up a balloon and mark it so they know which one is theirs and put them in a big pile in the center. When a signal is given, everyone rushes to find their balloon. (It’s fun, because the commotion makes the balloons go all over.) The team that has their balloons and is sitting down first wins. 


 


(Twist:  Shoe Rumble you could substitute the balloons for everyones shoes and the team that has their shoes on and is sitting down first wins.)


 


 

Email Tag

Materials needed:  Paper & markers/pencils


Its almost like telephone tag, but a little different. Split the group into 2+ teams. Make each team form a long straight line. The leader or someone not playing the game will provide a word/object (bird, flower, hotdog, etc., etc.) by writing it down and showing it to both people at the end of each line. Instead of telling the next person what they heard, they will then write it on the next person in line on their back with their finger. When it gets to the last person in line, he/she draws it on a piece of paper and if right and first done, gets to move to the front of the line. The winning team will rotate through their whole group.  


 


 

The OOC (Overload Obstacle Course)

Materials needed:  Shoe boxes, white wrapping paper


 


Make an obstacle course with things to step over, things to duck under, something to hop over, curve around, go straight, something to go through — whatever is somewhat of a challenge. Time yourself going through it without carrying any anything. This will become the standard of time to beat.


 


Next get a lot of shoe boxes, or assorted boxes from your local grocery store and cover each box with white wrapping paper and put words on them like “school” “sports”, “friends”, “hobbies”, “girlfriend”, “family”, “boyfriend” — anything that might be considered an activity or thing a person must try to balance in life.


 


Have youth go through the course with as many boxes as they can until they cannot handle “everything.” When they fall with all the boxes everyone yells “Overload!”


 


This game or builder can also be used as a Bible study in that we can’t handle everything in life and God has given us just enough things to do as He sees it in our life. Youth need to find out how much they can handle in school and life and that if they try to do too much they “Overload.” 1 Cor. 7:7, 1 Tim. 4:14; Prov. 3:5-6


John Hagge, DCE


 


 

Lego-tionary

This is a spin off of Pictionary with Legos. Have a bucket of Legos and cards with different items written on them. Split into teams. One person from the team draws a card and has 1-2 minutes (depending on how easy or hard you want to make it) to build the item written on the card with Legos. Their team has to guess before time runs out or the other team gets to take a guess.  The team that guesses correctly the most Lego creations wins!


Jaclyn Gronbach, DCE

 

 

Have game or community builder ideas of your own? Feel free to share them with us! Either add them in the comments below, or email them to youth.ministry@lcms.org with “thESource Game Idea” in the subject line.