Hobbies And Interests
Communication
For a youth group meeting that focuses on communication, teens can play Talicor's "Pocket Ungame -- Teens Version." Pocket Ungame is a noncompetitive card game that focuses on communication and sharing. The cards have questions on them that players can answer themselves or ask another person to answer. Another idea is to split teens into three teams of two. Assign each team a specific fruit -- an apple, lemon or orange -- and blindfold one person from each team. The blindfolded player must walk up to a table covered in apples, lemons and oranges and try to pick up her team fruit. Her teammate must communicate with her and direct her to the right fruit to bring back and drop into the team basket. The team that can pick up all their fruits the fastest wins.
Game Night
Organize a game night for a youth group. One game teens can play is Talicor's "Bible Mad Gab Card Game." Each card in Mad Gab has three puzzles on it that consist of nonsense words that when read quickly form a phrase. A player must read the puzzles aloud to his teammates as they try to guess the correct phrases. A different game is Talicor's "Scattergories -- Bible Edition." Players role a die with letters on it and then must fill in a list of Bible categories with words that start with the letter a player rolled.
Competition and Challenge
You can focus a youth group meeting on teaching adolescents about friendly competition and challenges. Blow up a balloon for each person. The player who can keep her balloon afloat the longest wins the game. Players can only use one hand to keep their balloons in the air; their other hand must be behind their back. Players can try to swat other players' balloons to the ground. Another idea is to take a youth group to play miniature golf. Divide teens into groups to match their competitive levels. For example, junior high girls can make up one group while junior high boys can form another group.
Teamwork
Some games for youth focus on teamwork. Divide players into teams of two and give one member of each team a cup filled with mini marshmallows. The other teammate should have an empty cup. The players with the marshmallows must try to toss marshmallows to their partners, and their partners must try to catch the marshmallows in their empty cups. Whichever team switches marshmallows the fastest wins the game. Another idea is to set up an obstacle course and divide players into three-player teams. Two teammates hold hands while the third teammate sits on top of their hands. The two teammates holding hands must carry their seated teammate through the obstacle course.