From Kelli Mahoney,
Your Guide to Christian Teens.
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No one said youth group games and activities had to be boring. These games are fun for larger groups and teams, and they are sloppy, slippery, outrageous fun. Note, though, that many of these games are messy and will require that you use tarps and ways for your students to clean up afterward.

Bobbing for Ho-Hos

Got milk? Got some Ho-Hos? How about a big, clear bowl? That’s all you need for this game. Like bobbing for apples, you put the milk and Ho-hos in the bowl and let people bob for the chocolate treats. The person who gets the most of them wins.

Slippery Limbo

Lay a tarp down on the floor. Take some dishwashing detergent and spray it down on the tarp. Add a little water, and you have a slippery surface. Then have the students to line up to do some limbo. If you feel like the floor is too hard, do this activity outside or lay some mats under the tarp.

Turkey Bowling

While this is an excellent idea for Thanksgiving, it is still fun year-round. Lay plastic tarps on the floor. Take ten bottles of soda (still full), and lay them out in a bowling pin pattern. Buy one frozen turkey per team (keep the turkeys frozen until service). Then team members take turns using the turkey like a bowling ball to knock down the soda. Be aware that the sodas may “explode” and spray your audience.

Donut on a String

Tie a donut to a string and the string to a pole. Then have someone lay on the floor. The other person has to hold the pole so that the person laying on the floor can try to eat the donut without using his or her hands. The first team to eat the whole donut wins. (It’s really harder than it sounds.)

Blind Water Balloon Volleyball

Using a van or opaque shower curtain, lay down two bedsheets on each side of whatever his hanging in the center as the “net.” You should not be able to see through the “net.” Have each team sit on their bedsheets with their water balloons. Each team tries to throw over a water balloon so that it hits the sheet on the other side. Because the teams cannot see the other team, it is harder to be ready to catch the flying water balloons.

This Is a What?

Another game that seems simpler than it is. Have everyone sit in a circle. Pick up an object and tell the person next to you, “This is a marble.” He asks, “A what?” “A marble,” you answer. “A what?” he asks again. “A marble,” you say. “Oh, a marble,” he says. The pattern is now established. He then takes the marble and turns to the next person and starts the pattern. As the marble goes around, you start on the next object and the next object. Eventually there will be a lot of these conversations going on at once. The goal is to see how many objects you can pass around the circle.

Living Sculpture

Toilet paper, saran wrap, and tin foil are used to make sculptures out of one person per team. The team with the best sculpture in the time allotted wins. The “sculpture” volunteer stands in a position while the team wraps toilet paper, saran wrap and tin foil around him or her to create a “work of art.”

Milk Chug

This is fun, but ultimately disgusting. It is a good idea to get permission from the parents of students competing, as it will likely result in vomiting. So why is it on this list? Well, it really is a fun competition to do during a service. Have four or five students volunteer to compete during a youth service or activity. At the start of service give each student a gallon of milk. Throughout the service the students chug the milk to see who can finish the entire jug first. It is a good idea to have garbage cans on hand.

While all of these games can be fun, do you have more ideas you’d like to share. E-mail your ideas to your Christian Teens Guide. I’ll put them together in more articles to share with other youth groups!