7 Fun Youth Group Games

No one said youth group games and activities have to be boring. These games are fun for larger groups and teams, and they are sloppy, slippery, outrageous fun. It's a great way to engage students, and a good marketing tool. When students choose a youth group, they'll want a little fun mixed in with the serious side of building up their faith.

Wacky Youth Group Games

Many of these games are messy and require that you use tarps. Find fun ways for your students to clean up afterward, such as turning it into a contest or organizing a quick trash-throwing game with garbage cans as the hoops.

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 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 and the holiday season, 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 the game begins). 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. Someone 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

Play water balloon volleyball using a van or opaque shower curtain. Lay down two bedsheets on each side of the curtain, which is 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 each other, it is harder to catch the flying water balloons.

This Is a What?

"This is a what" is 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.” They respond with “a what?” “A marble,” you answer. “A what?” they ask again. “A marble,” you say. “Oh, a marble,” they say. The pattern is now established. The person asking then takes the marble and turns to the next person and starts the pattern again. 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

Use toilet paper, saran wrap, and tin foil 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. Since this brings out the more artistic side of the group, this is a game that engages creative teens.