Activities to Share With Your Youth Group

Aardvark Relay

• Divide the kids into equal teams. The number of teams and players to each team can vary based on the number of kids playing and the playing area size. Place an empty bowl for each team on one side of the room. On the opposite side of the room, place another bowl for each team. Fill the bowls on one side of the room with peas. Make sure you put an equal amount of peas into each of the bowls to make the game fair. The object of the game is for the kids to move the peas from the pea-filled bowl to the empty bowl on the opposite side of the room using only a straw. The game should be played relay-race style where one at a time, the kids go to the pea-filled bowl, pick up a pea using their straws and try to make it to the bowl on the opposite side of the room. If the kid drops the pea, he must pick it up again and continue. The winning team is the one that gets all of their peas into the empty bowl first. After the game, discuss as a group people's tendency to hold onto material things, and the difficulties this tendency creates.

Encouragement Game

• This game works best in youth groups where the kids know each other pretty well. Gather the kids into a large sitting circle. Give each kid a piece of paper and a pencil and instruct her to put her name at the top of the paper. After everyone has a piece of paper with her name at the top, have the kids pass the papers to the people on their left. Each person then writes something admirable about the person whose name is at the top of the paper. Continue to pass the paper around the circle until the kids have their own papers back. Allow each one time to read the positive comments written by their peers.

Balloon Smash

• This icebreaker is one kids of all ages can enjoy. Divide the kids into two teams. Designate one team as the blue team and the other team as the red team. Attach two inflated blue balloons to each player on the blue team using string. Tie two inflated red balloons to each player on the red team. When you say "Start," each player tries to pop the balloons from the opposite team by stepping on them. Once both a player's balloons are popped, he is out of the game and must sit down. The last team with inflated balloons wins.

Mine Field

• This is a trust-building game. Set up your playing area like an obstacle course with tables, chairs, balls and other small obstacles. Divide the kids into teams with two people per team. Assign one person as the caller and the other person as the mine sweeper. Blindfold the minesweeper. The object of the game is for the minesweepers to navigate the obstacle course (the mine field) without hitting any of the obstacles (mines) by following the verbal cues of their partners, the callers. If a minesweeper hits an obstacle, she must start over at the beginning of the course. After all of the minesweepers complete the course, have them switch roles with the callers and play again. Use the time after the game to discuss how each role made the kids feel, how easy it was to trust the callers and what kind of communication was the most helpful.