Russell Bowlin, Williams Memorial UMC Texarkana, TX
This was one of those time wasters that was dreamed up when I realized we had finished everything I had planned for the evening. It's a great thing to keep in mind when you have fifteen extra minutes. Reading Terry Carty's submission about name that scripture jogged my memory...
One of the greatest warm-weather activities I've done was called Diving for Sunken Treasure. We bought an inflatable swimming pool (6'x3') and set it up in the yard. Once it was filled with water, we dumped in a few bags of Nestle Treasures candy (they look like little treasure chests).
The kids then took turns in the pool, one at a time. They were blindfolded and had to find and pick up a piece of candy using only their mouth -- which requires them to dunk completely under water.
At a recent Wild West themed youth event I had various students come forward to face off in a quick draw/dial contest. I'd hold up a sign with my cell's digits on it and they'd have to pull their cells out, dial, and whichever one reached me first won the round.
Carl Thomas Gladstone; Youth Director FUMC Birmingham, MI
Get two different color PEEP candies (blue and yellow or whatever they have), one plate, and a microwave oven. Put the two PEEPs onto the plate in the Microwave.
Turn it on high and see which PEEP pushes the other off the plate as their marshmallow selves expand. Be sure to turn of the microwave before it REALLY gets messy !
We'll be doing this one shortly at our gathering time for youth fellowship!
Rev. Terry Carty, Director of The YouthWorker Movement
This game is a knock-off of the ancient television show "Name That Tune." Divide into two teams. The leader has a list of well-known Bible verses each with about 10 or 12 words.
Brant Henshaw, Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, PNW UMC, Seattle, WA.
Everyone stands in a circle. Everyone first puts their right hand
into the circle and grabs another hand. Next have them put their left hands
into the circle and grab another person ‘s left hand. The goal here is to
disentangle the entire knot and get back into a circle without letting go of each other ‘s hands.
Brant Henshaw, Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, PNW UMC, Seattle, WA.
Choose someone to be the psychiatrist. Their job is to figure out what is wrong with the rest of the group. Have them leave the room (or otherwise be out of ear/eyeshot) while the remainder of the group determines secretly what is wrong with themselves. IE: each person is pretending to the person two seats to their right. Everyone sits in a circle. When the psychiatrist asks person 1 questions, person 1 answers as if they were the person sitting two seats to their right.
Brant Henshaw, Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, PNW UMC, Seattle, WA.
The participants need to be put into pairs for this activity.
Have them sit on the floor back to back, with one person(talkers) in each
pair being able to see the leader. Give the person who cannot see(drawer) a pencil and paper. The leader draws an object on the board (or displays a
pre-drawn object) to the talkers who must describe it to their partners, who
can then draw it on their paper. Wait until everyone is finished so that
everyone can see how they did. Switch places and run the activity again.
Brant Henshaw, Executive Director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, PNW UMC, Seattle, WA.
Have everyone get in a circle and look down. The facilitator will count to 3. On 3 everyone will quickly look up and directly at someone. If the person you arelooking at is looking at you then you’re both out. (You can make this an icebreaker by having the pairs tell each other a few things about themselves. After everyone is out have the partners introduce each other to everyone else in the group).
Rev. Terry Carty, Director of The YouthWorker Movement
Sharing Cubes
It is sometimes difficult to get everyone in a small group to share during a program discussion time. Sharing Cubes can help break the ice for conversation. This may sound pretty lame, but I promise it works.
