Insight

Easter Eggstravaganza - a themed night of icebreakers, activities, quiz and talk!

An egg themed evening for Easter. The first five eggy icebreakers of Egg strength, Egg and spoon, Egg drop, Egg blast and Egg throw can make for a messy evening. Select your venue carefully.

Alternatively, focus on one or both of the evening projects. The team challenge of ‘The Great Egg Drop’ or the creative design of ‘The Egg Fashion Parade.’

The Easter Run-Around quiz will discover how much your young people know about the Easter story and lead towards an opportunity to close the evening with an Easter message or reflection.

Use and adapt the ideas and options given, or prepare your own teaching material. View and download the 14 page pdf Easter Eggstravaganza

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Fantastic Food Night - a themed night of icebreakers, games and talk ideas!

What can you do with some liquorice, spaghetti, flour, chocolate, jam doughnuts, sweets, coke, crackers and marshmallows?

A fun evening which is excellent for 11-14's and works well with a small group. Remember, always be enthusiastic and join in yourself.

Read the 10 icebreakers and games carefully before you use them. Select the ones which will work best for your youth group. Many are based on common party games and adapted through generations of youth leaders.

It's probably impossible to say who first thought up any of these games, but whoever you are, thanks!

FOOD ALPHABET

A simple introductory game to play as everyone arrives. Give each young person a sheet of paper with the alphabet written down one side. They have to add the name of a food to each letter of the alphabet i.e. a=apple, b=bread. There is one point for each answer. Select a few letters for a triple point score. I suggest, Q, U, V, X, Y, Z. The highest score wins an item of food of your choice!

For those who are thinking it can't be done, Q is for quiche, quail, quince; U is for uglifruit, unpasteurised milk (OK, I'm stretching); V is for venison, veal, vermicelli, vinegar, vol-au-vent, vomit fruit (honestly, Google it!); X is for xigua (OK, really struggling here, but this is a Chinese watermelon!); Y is for yam, yogurt, Yorkshire pudding; Z is for zucchini, zabaglione sauce.

SPAGHETTI STUFF

Invite three or four volunteers to sit at a table facing the rest of the group. Then bring out a large plate of spaghetti for each person. Explain that the first person to finish the spaghetti wins. However, they must eat it without the use of a knife, fork or spoon and their hands must be behind their back! A great spectator sport. Have your camera ready for a picture spread in the church newsletter! The winners prize - a packet of spaghetti.

The Body of Christ - a themed youth night of icebreakers, games and talk!

Exploring what it means to be part of the church and to play our part in the 'body of Christ.' To complete the icebreakers and games the young people need to co-operate with each other and work as a team.

BODY WALK

Draw two chalk lines on the floor about 10 metres apart. Divide the young people into teams of four. The object of the game is for each team to cross from one line to the other with only the correct number of limbs or body parts touching the floor. Begin with easy combinations, gradually becoming more complicated: 6 feet only, 5 feet and 2 elbows, 5 feet and 1 hand, 4 feet and 3 hands, 2 feet and 4 hands, 3 feet and 1 nose etc. You can make it as easy or difficult as you like. Have 6-10 different combinations. This game is about working together as a team. You might like to have a camera ready - you have to see this to believe it! Remember to ask the girls to wear jeans for the evening.

Parachute Night - a themed night of co-operative games and reflection.

Parachute games provide an opportunity for co-operative, non-competitive activities and are good for generating a group spirit and togetherness. They can be used with all ages and abilities and work really well with 11-14 year olds. Parachute games can be used in groups of all sizes and I've found that even young people who might normally opt out of 'sport activities' are attracted by the 'novelty' and usually get involved.

Try to get the biggest parachute you can and if possible one with reinforced grip straps. Purpose made nylon parachutes are almost indestructible and a great investment for youth evenings, special events and camps. Recommended users for each size are 6m (20ft)-12 users, 7.3m (24ft)-16 users, 9.15m (30ft)-20 users.

OK Grahame, where on earth do I get a parachute? Play parachutes are available from a number of online educational, youth and sport suppliers. For readers in the UK, try Sports Warehouse, or call on 0800 783 5011. For readers in the USA and worldwide, try S&S Worldwide, or call on 1-800-288-9941. If you Google 'play parachute' or 'rainbow parachute' you'll discover other suppliers. Prices vary, but the two I've suggested represent good value.

Record Breakers - a themed youth night!

Set your youth group some fun challenges. Who can eat the most jelly with chopsticks in one minute? Who can eat the most doughnuts in three minutes? Who can text message the fastest? Who can hold the most live rattlesnakes in their mouth? Er, perhaps not the last one, but all are genuine Guinness world records.

For this youth evening you will need a copy of Guinness World Records 2008. This global publication is available in 100 different countries and 24 languages. Guinness World Records contains listings of the largest, heaviest, smallest, longest and fastest things on the planet, and a collection of epic human endevours and fantastic feats! It also contains a mind-boggling selection of unusual sports and bizarre human records. November 8th 2007 is Guinness World Record Day where many more records will be smashed around the world.

This is a great theme night to advertise widely and encourage your youth group to bring their friends. The aim is to have fun trying to break some simple but unusual feats of human achievement listed in Guinness World Records 2008. The challenges can work on two levels;

1. Young people 'competing' against each other to see who will hold the youth group record.
2. Trying to see how close they can come to the actual Guinness world record.

Newspaper night - a themed youth night!

The amazing Newspaper Night is great for younger teenagers. Encourage your group to invite their friends to a suitable venue for a night to remember. Make sure you have a large supply of old newspapers collected in the preceding weeks.

Read through the games carefully before you use them. Many are based on common party games and adapted through generations of youth leaders. It's probably impossible to say who first thought up any of these games, but whoever you are, thanks!

Although most of the games feature friendly competition, please don't emphasise 'winners' or 'losers', emphasis the fun! Award a small prize for each game, as many of the young people could gain several during the course of the evening. The 10 games that follow are some of my favourite newspaper games and have worked with many different groups.

Foot Party - a themed youth night!

Here's a fun youth night with a challenge and only using your feet! Great for smaller groups and small spaces. Advertise the event and emphasise that bare feet will be required. Don't explain too much, build the anticipation! Girls should be wearing jeans or trousers.

Remember that in some cultures this themed evening cannot be used. As always, be enthusiastic and join in yourself. Ask everyone to remove their shoes at the beginning of the evening.

FOOT SIGNING

Give each young person a felt tip marker and tell them they have one minute to get as many signatures on one foot as possible. When the time is up, go around and count them, to find the winner. Remember not to emphasise the winning but the fun. Interaction, building relationships, co-operation, working together are the goals of the themed games, leading to a linked time of teaching and discussion.

Balloon Bonanza - a themed youth night!

Make your youth night go with a bang. All you need are LOTS of balloons. A few years ago I was leading a weekly church youth night for a lively bunch of 11-14's. We played some games together before a time of teaching, or as the kids called it 'The God Slot'.

I wanted a more unified and purposeful 'feel' to the whole evening, so I decided to try and theme some icebreakers and games together with a clearer link to the teaching. The result was several themed evenings including Balloon Bonanza.

This is a great evening for lively groups and can be played in a large room or outside on a calm day. It can be used as a youth club night, holiday club session, camp night or bring-a-friend night. Although some of the games feature friendly competition, please don't emphasise 'winners' or 'losers', emphasis the fun! What follows is not an exhaustive list of balloon related games, just ones which have worked for me. Please add your own games to my selection.