“Live so that when you tell someone you are a Christian, it confirms their suspicions instead of surprising them.”
– Unknown
Porcupine Relay
Game Description
In this relay race, participants pass a marshmallow to the end of the line using toothpicks.
Game Materials
- A large marshmallow for each team
- Toothpicks for each person
Game Play
- The first player puts the marshmallow on his or her toothpick and then holds the toothpick with his or her teeth.
- Players must pass the marshmallow from player to player by sticking his/her toothpick into the marshmallow and leaving it in as they pass it along.
- Participants are not allowed to use their hands.
- As the marshmallow is passed it accumulates one more toothpick from each player so that its difficult to insert your toothpick without getting stuck by the ones already there.
- When the relay is finished the marshmallow is sure to remind you of a porcupine.
Optional Discussion
- What are some of the tricky situations we face in life?
- How do we handle such situations without getting hurt?
- What are some of the potential hurts when we pass the gospel on to others?
- Are the risks worth it?
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This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.
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The First Requisite for Success
When interviewed by Success Magazine in 1898 Thomas Edison was asked, “What”s the first requisite for success?” And Edison answered this way: “The ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary. You do something all day long, don”t you? Everyone does. If you get up at 7 A.M. and go to bed at 11 P.M., you have put in 16 good hours, and it is certain with most men that they have been doing something all the time. The only trouble is that they do it about a great many things and I do it about one. If they took the time in question and applied it in one direction, to one object they would succeed.
”
Leap of Faith
Game Description
Use this group building game to build community, teamwork, and trust within the group.
Game Materials
- a board at least 6 inches wide and of a length of three feet that is strong enough to be used for a platform on which a student may stand.
- two bricks, cinder blocks, or solid wooded blocks that the board can be placed upon so that someone can place there hands beneath the board to raise it.
- Blindfold
Game Play
- Place the board on a couple of bricks or something that raises up the ends so that two leaders can place their hands beneath the board and raise it.
- Blindfold a volunteer and have them step on the platform.
- A third leader must stand in front of the volunteer so that the volunteer can place their hands on the shoulders of this leader to keep their balance.
- Tell the volunteer that you will raise them up no higher than waist level and then they will be asked to jump from the platform using the leader as a spotter to maintain their balance. (In actuality, the board only leaves the ground a few inches.)
- The leader in front of the volunteer slowly squats making the volunteer believe they are being raised whereas in actuality they haven’t.
- Tell the volunteer to jump, assuring them that they will not be hurt. They will be jumping only a few inches but expect to fall a few feet.
- The feeling is eerie, and they are quite surprised. They will, of course, be falling into the waiting arms of the group.
Debrief
- What were you feeling before you jumped?
- What were your fears?
- How much did you trust the leaders / the group to protect you from harm?
- How is this activity like trusting God?
- Do you feel you can trust our group or not?
- What are some ways we can learn to trust each other?
- What responsibilities do we have to each other for support and encouragement?
Closing Application
Be someone others can trust and go to for encouragement and support.
Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level
This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.
Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!
Where the Fire Has Been
H. A. Ironside once told the following:
“One of the first gospel illustration that ever made a real impression upon my young heart was simple story that I heard a preacher tell when I was less than nine years old. It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that had been opened up for homesteading. They traveled in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning fiercely, and was coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river the day before but it would be impossible to go back to that before the flames would be upon them. One man only seemed to have an understanding as to what should be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror. “Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?” The leader replied, “My child, the flames cannot reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has been!”
On Him Almighty vengeance fell,
Which would have sunk a world to hell.
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus becomes our Hiding Place.
The fires of God’s judgment burned themselves out on Him, and all who are in Christ are safe forever, for they are now standing where the fire has been.
Source: Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, pp. 105-06.
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The Misery of Arrogance
Arrogance has its own built-in misery. The arrogant person may offend others, but he hurts himself more. I was once stung by a honeybee. The sting hurt me, but it hurt the bee more – the bee died as a result of that thrust, but I didn’t.
– Billy Graham
Angels and Mortals
Game Description
Each person is an angel to someone else in the youth group. Their goal is to anonymously bring blessings to a mortal (other student) by doing nice things for him/ her, by notes of encouragement, by small gifts, etc. Works great for camps and retreats as well.
Game Materials
List of Rules
Game Preparation
Gove each person a mortal. There are many ways to do this. You can match people or the easiest way is to simply drop everyone’s name in a bowl and draw one out for each participant.
Game Play
- Make sure everyone is included
- Set the rules
- Set the time frame
- At the end of the time frame, mortals try to guess the identity of their angel.
Sample Rules
- Angels are not to let anyone know the identity of their mortals. Angels may use fellow angels to help them bless a mortal.
- If a mortal believes he / she has discovered an angel’s identity it must not be revealed. This includes other student’s angels as well.
- Mortals should not degrade or bad-mouth their angels, nor should they degrade the gifts or notes they have received.
- Angels are not to spend more than $10 on a mortal
- Angels must not whine about the Mortal they have received
Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level
This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.
Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!
Crossing the Sea
“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”
– Rabindranath Tagore
Listening to God
About Simulation Games
A simulation game is used to introduce youth to real life in “simulated” activites (much like an airline pilot gets to fly a simulator before the give him/her the real thing to mess up). A simulation game is a structured activity that approximates, but does not exactly reproduce, situations in every day life. They create a controlled environment in which issues can be realistically examined through personal experience. The key to simulation games is the “de-briefing” at the end, when the implications are discussed. At times the experience may be staged to look like a real event. At other times the youth are aware they are participating in a simulation.
Game Description
You can use this simulation game to lead participants into a discussion about variety of issues:
- How to better listen to God
- Trusting other people
- The effects of various influences in our lives
- Learning how to discern the love of God in a world where people deceive you.
Game Objective
The objective is for the blind folded person to walk from one side of the room to the other without touching one of the sheets of paper randomly scattered across the floor.
Game Materials
A stack of letter-size paper…about 30-50 sheets. (cool colors if you have them). One blind fold. You can also write various issues youth may face on the pieces of paper. Some examples are: premarital sex, lying, drinking, smoking, dating a non-Christian, cheating, respecting parents, speeding, stealing, peer pressure, hatred, revenge, unwillingness to forgive, making fun of others, Speaking words of discouragement, ridicule, refusing to talk to someone, drugs, pornography, lewd jokes, gossip, lust, envy, greed, addictions, anorexia, bulimia, overeating, not doing your best, etc.
Game Duration
It will take 5-10 minutes per person to do the simulation. Debrief can be adjusted depending on your requirements.
Game Preparation
- Write one issue on each piece of paper (Optional)
- Randomly distribute the sheets of paper across the floor.
Game Play
- You might want to have more than one person play the game so that you can have more perspectives for the debrief. Have those awaiting their turn wait in another room with a leader so that they do not catch on to what is happening. Call them into the room one by one.
- Before the participant enters the room, choose one youth to be the voice of the Holy Spirit. The blind folded person can not know who this person is going to be. As variations, use people they trust in some of the scenarios, and people they don’t know well in others.
- Blindfold the participant and tell them that their goal is to reach the other side of “life” without touching the sheets of paper.
- Line the rest of the group up along the two side walls of the room – They cannot come next to the blindfolded person, and cannot touch them. Neither can they move from their starting positions. Only the person playing the “Holy Spirit” can move along the walls.
- The rest of your group tries to get the blind-folded person to step on the squares of paper. They can only do this by providing verbal directions to try to influence the blindfolded participant.
- The challenge for the blindfolded person is to listen to the voices and try to discern who to follow and trust. Most of the time they will fail and listen to the wrong person.
Optional Activity
If you have written various issues on the sheets of paper, distribute them to the youth. You may want to have youth list the various influences that affect our decisions on these issues. What is God’s standard on this issue? What is the correct response when confronted with this issue?
Debrief
You can focus on a variety of issues:
- How to better listen to God: How do we recognise the voice of God in our lives? How do we know when it is God speaking, and not our own thoughts? How do we know we can trust the voice of God for guidance? What influences are strongest in your life? Why? How can we learn to better recognise God’s voice?
- Trusting other people: How do you know who to trust? Can those we trust mistakenly mislead us at times? Do we sometimes betray the trust of others accidentally or even intentionally? How can you be a positive influence in the lives of those around you?
- The effects of various influences in our lives: What are the greatest influences in your life? How much does peer pressure affect you? How can we influence our sensitivity to the influence of God’s Spirit in our lives?
- Learning how to discern the love of God in a world where people deceive you.: Why does God allow us to go through trials and struggles? Does God tempt us? How can a loving God allow such evil in the world?
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200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
It Makes Sense 2
Game Description
Use your senses to identify common foods and snacks.
Game Materials
Jars of Baby food, Dark Construction Paper, adhesive Tape, Disposable Spoons (1 per participant per jar), Paper, Pens
WARNING
Be sure to check participants for any food allergies before doing this game.
Game Preparation
- Purchase 8-10 jars of baby food, each with a different flavor.
- Tape a piece of dark construction paper over the label of the jar so that the labels cannot be seen.
- Number the jars.
- Give each participant a piece of paper and pen and a spoon for each jar.
Game Play: Taste
- Each participant will do a taste test from each baby food jar. For each jar of baby food, participants should use a clean spoon. They are only allowed a single taste from each jar.
- Participants take a small spoonful from each jar as a sample and try to identify the food.
- They must record their answers on paper that has been numbered to correspond with the numbers on the jars.
- After everyone has tasted the food from the jars and recorded their answers, reveal each jar’s label.
- The participant who correctly guessing the contens of the greatest number of jars is the winner.
Game Variation
- Taste and Touch – use small finger foods (i.e. olives, cooked (cold) spaghetti, piece of candy, cracker, barbecue potato chip, cashew nuts, breakfast cereals, croutons, grapes and other fruits, raisins, dates, dried fruits, and other small snacks) Blindfold all the participants so that they cannot see before passing around the finger foods. Answers are wispered to the leaders.
Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level
This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.
Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!