Youth Games

This activity is one of the simplest icebreaker game - mostly suited for older teens or young adult groups.Ask the group if they could go back in time and witness, in person, a happening in history, what would it be and why. This often leads to some fascinating conversations! If you have time, have participants share their ideas and reasoning.

Have your group mill around for a few. Have them stop, ask them to without moving chose two other people and not tell who they have chosen.When the group has chosen their "partners" get the group to move so that they are equal distance from their partners without telling people who they have chosen.

This game is a potentially life-changing game. It is best suited for groups that know each other reasonably well.Sit in a circle and give everyone a piece of paper and pen. Each individual should write their name at the top of the piece of paper, then pass it to the person on their left.

This activity works best played in a large, open area.Pick three "elephants". These are the taggers. They must hold their right ear with their left arm, then rest their right arm on the inside of their left elbow. Their arm is their "trunk".They must chase after everyone else and attempt to tag them. When the participants are tagged, they also become elephants and have to chase everyone else.

Split the group into teams of four to five people.The goal of this game is to build a "carriage" or container to help cushion a falling, uncooked egg so it lands from a 2-3 story drop without breaking.Give the teams access to a variety of supplies - rubber bands, paper, straws, tape, and balloons.

Everyone is seated in a circle.One person stands in the middle of the circle, holding a lid (e.g. from a saucepan). The participant in the middle (with the lid) begins by walking around inside the circle. They then take the hand of someone of the opposite gender and lead them around.The second person then takes the hand of the opposite sex and so on.

This is not a game, but a way you can add a twist to an existing activity, by asking people to come in fancy dress.Some ideas of dress-up themes include:Decade based (i.e.

Purpose: To have fun and have a laughEquipment: A tennis ballDetails:1. A group of people, as few as 3 and as much as the area can hold will stand in a circle.2. One person will throw an underhand pass to someone else.3. If the person catches it, he/she will throw it at another person.4. If you drop it, you go down on one knee5. If the same person drops it again, he/she will go down on two knees.

I'm sure you've all participated in Car Washes to raise money for charities/camps/etc., but for something different, try a Dog-Wash-A-Thon!The idea is participants bring their dogs along and have them washed for a fee or donation.As you can imagine, this event is a lot of fun but also gets pretty wet and messy so choose your location wisely.

Dodgeball is a classic youth group game - definitely needs to be played in a place where balls cannot cause too much damage!Split your group into two teams. They stand in lines at the opposite ends of the hall or gym. In the middle, place 5 or 6 balls.Start by yelling "Dodgeball". The two teams then race to the middle, grab the balls, and start throwing them at the other team.

Everyone needs a pen and paper. Have everyone sit in a circle and place a bowl in the center. To start, everyone writes down one thing that they think no one knows about them and then places it in the bowl.After everyone has put one in the bowl, everyone pulls a piece of paper. If it’s theirs, they should place it back in and take another piece.

Get everyone to sit in a circle and have one person in the middle.The person in the middle walks up to someone and says, "Do you love your neighbor?"They will then respond something like this:Yes, except for the people who have brown hairorYes, except for the people wearing redorYes, except for (insert your own criteria here).