High Energy - Easy Game to set up
Cupside Down Game. Need: Plastic cups (4 times the number of kids. ie...4 kids 16 cups; 10 kids 40 cups This just a rule of thumb on numbers.) Timer or a way to time the game. Place cups out in an open area. Have half up and half down. Children are placed on two teams. One team is "cup up" and one team is "cup down". Time for one minute. At GO teams rush out and try to turn all the cups either up or down. At the end of the time the team with the most cups turned in their direction wins. If you have time, play again switching which team is cup up or down. 
Shoulders, knees, CUP!
Use Hand Up/Pair Up. Give every other person a stout plastic cup (the older the kids the stronger the cup!) The people with the cup hold it up in the air and pair up with someone without a cup. (Hand Up/Pair Up- Kagan). Students try to be the first one to grab the cup after listening to a series of commands. The cup is placed on the floor between the two youth, then the leader shouts Head, Toes, Elbows, Toes, Ears, Hair (really anything will work) and then CUP! The first person to grab the cup wins! Then it is cup up/pair up with a new partner who does not have a cup and the game starts again. 20 sec. video: Head, Shoulders, CUP! This will take you to Youtube The Cotton Ball Game.
Two Good News Clubbers (or more) at a time are blindfolded and try to spoon cotton balls from the bowl on their lap into the bowl held on top of their head. They only have 30 seconds to get as many in as possible. It's pretty tough since the cotton balls are almost weightless on the spoon and it's very funny to all the other guests who can see that they are scooping up nothing but air most of the time! No using fingers to hold the cotton ball on the spoon! Pass the Hula Hoop
Team Building Game. This is a great game for kids because it's fun, and it promotes listening, executing instructions and teamwork. Ask the kids to form a circle. Place a Hula-Hoop over one kid's arm, and instruct everyone to join hands. Without letting go of anyone's hand, the team must find a way to move the Hula-Hoop all the way around the circle. If you have many kids, add another hula-hoop or two. Just be sure they are all traveling the same direction around the circle. 
Full of air:
Need: 1 balloon for each player (same size usually a 9 inch) 15 plastic cups. How to play: Each player blows up his own balloon. The cups are lined up on the edge of a table with the open side down. Using the air inside the balloon, each player tries to see how many cups they can knock off the table. 
Big Bad Wolf
Supplies: LOTS of newspaper and LOTS of tape. Wanna see how well your group does building something together? Try this fun exercise. Divide students into teams of 4-6. Give each team enough newspaper and tape to build a newspaper shelter of some kind. It must be big enough to get three team members inside. Set a time limit on how long you want to give teams to work on the project. The Big Bad Wolf (youth leader) then attempts to blow the shelter down. Award prize to the best construction job. Afterward, have a giant paper fight. Teaming Games:
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Teacher helps: Who Goes First?
As teachers, often we have difficulty choosing who goes first when we have the children working in partners. Below is a file you can print to create cards to help kids learn and know who will go first. They are intended to be printed front back but if you only want the choices, print pages 2, 4, and 6. Hope this makes your life easier as you serve Christ.
Drop the pennies. Need: 10 pennies for each player 1 gallon glass jar 1 glass baby food jar How to play: Place the baby food jar in the bottom of a gallon glass jar filled with water. Each player is to drop his pennies in the jar one at a time and see if they can drop the penny in the baby food jar. Player cannot touch the jar or the water. If the players are older students have them drop from a little higher distance. 
Human Machines
Supplies: None. This can be done with large or small groups. If you have less than 10 people you’ll create one machine. If you have more than 10, you’ll want to divide into teams of 10 to 20 people and have each team create a machine. Give them the following instructions: You are to make a human machine using all of your team members. Choose an appliance, machine or contraption of any kind, and act out all of its parts with all the members of your team. For example: if you were to choose an electric toothbrush, several people could lay down to be the handle, others would be vibrating bristles. The sky is the limit. It’s best to let them come up with their own ideas. But here’s a few great ones: A pinball machine (with a kid rolling around as the ball) A ski lift (with kids being scooped up by kids with locked arms) A washing machine A car wash A helicopter Please email me if you have any good ideas for kids and I'll add them to the list. :-) Aardvark Race
Mama Aardvark has to feed her babies ANTS! Help her gather the ants.
Materials: 4 bowls dried beans (pinto or a size that is larger than the straws.) straws - one per person How to play: Set the game up by having two sets of two bowls facing each other (One on one side of the room and one on the other side of the room) Have 2 teams line up on the side of the room with the bowls of beans. Each person on the team will have a straw. To start the game have the first person inhale a bean in their straw. The bean will stay at the end of the straw as long as the person is inhaling air. The first player then crawls to the other bowl and blows the bean into the bowl. If the person drops the bean in mid voyage the person has to engulf it off of the floor and continue. The team with the most beans at the end of the time limit wins!!! This can be played also as a team builder where the teams have to reach a certain level in one bowl in order for the group to receive a prize/snack/treat. | ||||
How Close is Close?
Spread out a large plastic tarp and have all the children stand on it. Ask them to step off and fold the tarp in half, then tell them to get back on the tarp. Each time they successfully stand on the tarp, ask them to step off and fold it in half. They must work together more each time the tarp becomes smaller to allow everyone on it. Challenge the students to see how many times they can fold the tarp. The activity ends when they cannot find a way to make everyone fit. Allow children to problem solve and find ways to squeeze as close as possible. Don't forget to account for the giggles. And don't forget the memory pictures!
Two Truths and a Lie
Summary: A classic get-to-know-you icebreaker in which each person says two
truths and one lie. The goal is to figure out which statement is actually the
lie.
Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 6-10. Two Truths and a Lie is the classic icebreaker game in which one attempts to identify which of three statements is bogus. Instructions: Have everyone sit in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement a lie. The rest of the group votes on each statement, and the person reveals which one is the lie. Variation: Two Truths and a Dream Wish. As an interesting variation to the classic Two Truths and a Lie icebreaker, people may also play a version called Two Truths and a Dream Wish. Instead of stating a lie, a person says something that is not true — yet something that they wish to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Hawaii might say: “I have visited Hawaii when I was young.” This interesting spin often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about their lives. 
Secret Shepherd
Players try to stick a paper shepherd (ours is made of card stock with a loop of painter's tape to attach it) on a person's back without her noticing. When that person realizes the shepherd is on her, she has to stick it on someone else's back. Don't worry about the shepherd staying on just one back for hours -- giggling kids are sure to give the person a clue before too long. Try to have the shepherd visit everyone's back by the end of the club. Picture of the shepherd is from http://www.supercoloring.com/pages/the-shepherd-in-a-christmas-play/. Blind Squares
Time Needed: 15 minutes
Number of Players: 10-15 Materials Needed: Bandanas and a pliable rope, 40-50 feet long Instructions: 1. Blindfold 8-12 of the group members. Ask them to hold onto a rope. ( The loose ends of the rope are tied together so it is a continuous loop.) Ask the other members to observe the blindfolded group as they do the activity 2. Explain the concept of consensus to the group. 3. Instruct the group holding the rope to make the best possible square they can. The rope cannot be put down until the group has reached consensus. (This will take about 5 minutes.) CEF of Idaho Top 10 Counties Chapter
PO Box 965 Kamiah, ID 83536 Beverly Wisdom, local director [email protected] 208.935.7996 Providing Living Water for the Children of northern Idaho. Reaching the unchurched children for Jesus Christ through after school Good News Clubs (GNC), Jesus-You Connection (JYC), and Christian Youth in Actiion (CYIA). CEF Top Ten |
Teamwork OlympicsTime Needed: 20-30 minutes Number of Players: No Limit—at least five for one team Materials Needed: One or more Large metal washers with 5-7 strings tied to it. The strings should be 2-3 feet in length. Tennis balls or other firm ball. Cups, cans or bowls that will hold the balls. Preparation Needed (Ahead of Time): Tie strings to washers randomly around the washer. Instructions: 1. Form the participants into teams of 5 –7 each. 2. Give a washer with strings to a team and instruct each team member to hang onto a string. 3. Place a ball on the washer. If the ball falls off the washer they must start again. 4. The team must work together to place the ball in the cup, can, etc. on the other side of the room. 5. One or more teams can do this at the same time as a timed event or one team at a time with observers. Teams can try again if they want. 6. Observers should watch for communication, leadership, and team work skills Leviathan Tag
Summary: Leviathan Tag is an action-based game that is like tag, but with a twist! Teams of 4-8 people form “dragons” by linking elbows and attempt to grab the “tail” of another team’s dragon. Last team remaining wins.
Ages: 12 and up (younger children: just let them play without the strategies.) Recommended # of people: Groups of 4-8 people. Messiness Factor: Might break a sweat! Materials required: One scarf or bandana for each team. Instructions for Leviathan Tag Setup for the Leviathan Tag Game You need an area with a lot of space. Form teams of 4-8 people. Make human chains by having team members hold on to each others waists or link elbows. Each team of connected people is now a “dragon” with a head and a tail. Place a scarf or bandana hanging in the back pocket of the last person in the chain (the tail of the dragon). Rules for the Leviathan Tag Game People who are part of a human chain cannot let go and get separated! The goal of the game is to have the head of each dragon (the front of the chain) to grab the scarf or bandana off the tail of another team’s dragon while staying linked. If any part of a team’s dragon gets separated, the detached tail end cannot move; only the head and the people attached to the head can move. You cannot go after another team until you have reconnected your body together. A team can perform defense by curling up into a ball. You can curl up as a whole dragon or just the tail if the head has been detached. All teams attempt to do this simultaneously. When any team loses their flag (i.e., when another team grabs their flag) they are out. The last remaining team is the winner! |
