Every youth leader has faced the unique challenge of getting a room full of awkward, bored, and restless kids into a space where they can encounter Jesus in a personal and powerful way. The only question is: how do we get them from Point A to Point B? Youth group games are part of the answer!
By facilitating fun youth group games that can get the students into a place of comfort, excitement, and joy. Plus, you’re opening up an opportunity for them to make friendships that can last a lifetime, and to give them something to look forward to every week!
Here are ways to make youth group fun, and 25 example youth group games you can start playing today. Your students will love trying a new game.
Here are 5 of our favorite Youth Group Games that take minimal prep.
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Table of contents
How Do You Make Church Youth Ministry Fun?
So you might want to run a game or two, but maybe you don’t know exactly how. Or, more importantly, how to make it fun.
Well, when it comes to an enjoyable youth group game, there are some things you want to keep in mind. Whether you’re facilitating small groups, a large group, or even youth camp, these principles apply.
Engaging
Firstly, you want the game to be engaging, meaning every student is involved, all the time. Games with long turns, or that put too much focus on one or a few students, can make students feel bored or not included.
Easy
Secondly, it needs to be easy. You should be able to teach the rules in about a minute. And hopefully not have to clarify again during the game.
There’s nothing more terrifying or daunting for a kid than being tossed into the middle of a group of people they don’t know, and be expected to play a game they still don’t understand.
Interactive
Finally, you want the game to force interaction between the students. After all, the purpose is for them to get to know the kids around them and feel comfortable in the space.
Encourage them to break the ice with people they don’t know in a way that is still safe and fun. You’re opening up the door to create a heart-posture where students can focus on the worship and sermon. Once service begins, a student can focus more on the Lord than worrying about their relationships with the kids around them.
So now that we know what makes a youth group game fun, let’s get into some games you can pick up and drop into your youth group with little to no setup.
As a plus, most of these require minimal supplies, and can be played with groups of almost any size!
25 Fun Youth Group Games and Activities
Youth ministry has its challenges – but you also get to play games, which is a major plus! Getting kids engaged and comfortable through great games will bring them closer together and keep them coming back week after week.
Whether you’re looking for outdoor games or indoor group games, here are 25 fun ideas to get you started.
1. Zip Bong
In this hilarious fast-paced game, students pass the turn left or right depending on if they say, “Zip!” (passes to the player on the left) or “Bong!” (passes to the player on the right).
Players who take too long to respond, speak out of turn, or laugh are eliminated, but watching the game from the outside as the game continues is just as hilarious and fun as playing it.
2. 60 Second Objects
In 60 Second Objects, youth leaders split the students into groups and assign each group some sort of object. Then they have sixty seconds to form it their bodies before time is up!
This fun game is super simple and encourages teamwork and creativity.
A great tip to forming teams is grouping up students with people they don’t know or aren’t friends with yet, allowing them to meet new people and make new friends!
3. Who’s in Charge Here?
Perfect for medium to large sized groups, “Who’s in Charge Here?” involves one “Guesser” leaving the room while the other players form a circle and choose a “Leader”.
The Leader will begin some sort of repeating action for the others to imitate. For example, patting their head or rubbing their belly. They’ll start before the Guesser comes back in and steps into the circle. Then, they study the players in hope of catching the Leader as they constantly change actions for the others to copy.
4. Walk Together
Walk Together is the ultimate game of Simon Says. Except, Simon wants you to do the opposite of what they’re saying!
Play begins with students walking when the youth leader says, “Walk!” and stopping when they say “Stop!”
Pretty simple, right?
Except now they’re going to keep playing and now “Walk!” means stop and “Stop!” means walk.
Soon, “Clap!” will mean spin, and “Spin!” will mean clap, and you’ll have your students dying of laughter in no time!
5. Giants, Wizards, and Elves
Giants, Wizards, and Elves is just rock, paper, and scissors, but in a way that gets students up and moving, and breaking out into crazy poses.
Winning in this game just means having the most points from winning the most matches, meaning students are never eliminated!
This game has every student involved, and gives a chance for everyone to break the ice by doing funny poses and making funny noises.
6. Two Truths and a Lie
Here’s a super simple great icebreaker game that helps your students get to know each other. Two Truths and a Lie has players stating three facts about themselves: you guessed it, two of them are true and one is a lie!
The other players have to guess which they think is the lie. Perfect for smaller groups, and can be played in all the small moments of downtime during the evening.
7. Grandma’s Footsteps
Another super fun and hilarious game for both students hoping to win and those who have already been eliminated, Grandma’s Footsteps has one player at one end of the room with their back turned, while all the others try to creep up towards them and tap them on the shoulder.
But Grandma can turn around at any moment, and if they see anyone still moving, they can eliminate them from the game! The player who ends up tapping Grandma first becomes the Grandma for the next round.
8. Dragon Tail
Perfect for big groups with a lot of open space, Dragon Tail is a lot like tag, except teams are connected by interlocking their elbows. Then they try to eliminate other team’s dragon by swiping their “tail”, a ribbon held by the last person in line.
Usually this person is eliminated, but to keep everyone involved, you can have them join the back of the dragon that just got them, with the longest dragon winning when time runs out.
9. Human Knot
You’ve probably played this classic game before. In this super fun and simple game, groups form circles and knot together by reaching out and grabbing the hand of another person (first with their left hand, then with their right).
Then, all groups try to untangle themselves without letting go of each other’s hands, and the first to fully untangle themselves is the winner!
10. Human Sculptures
Human Sculptures is exactly what it sounds like: players team up into pairs, with one being the “sculptor” and one being the “sculpture”.
The sculptor positions the sculpture’s body parts however they like in order to form them into a pose best representing the prompt given to them by the leader.
Human scupltures can be played as a competitive competition, or just a fun, creative activity. To avoid any potentially awkward or uncomfortable situations, it’s suggested to group up pairs of the same gender.
11. Ultimate Ninja
One of the most infamous youth group games of all time, Ultimate Ninja has players using quick thinking and even quicker reflexes to try to tap the hands of the players around them in order to eliminate them.
The only catch is that play passes around the circle in turn order, and you can only do one motion when it’s your turn, or when someone attempts to get you on their turn!
12. Change Places If…
Change Places is another of our favorite youth group activities that encourages each team member to learn more about the others. In this game, everyone stands in a circle, and a leader calls out a statement that may or may not relate to your life. For example, “Change places if you’ve ever been out of the country!”
Players that have done so change places with other players that have. So students are constantly learning more about each other, and ending up next to new friends they can get to know!
13. 4 Square
Another one of the most infamous youth group games of all time, 4 Square is great if you have open space, something to mark off boundaries, and a ball. Students form up into groups of four, and each stand in a quadrant of a square, then pass the ball back and forth in an attempt to catch another player off guard.
Whenever someone loses, they move to the lowest numbered quadrant, and everyone behind them moves up. This is the most complex game on the list, but is perfect for students wanting to get active and competitive.
14. The Blob
The Blob is a lot like tag, except once a player is tagged, they join the tagger by linking arms with them. Soon, this “blob” will get bigger and bigger as more players are tagged, until the entire group is linked and only one student is left.
Once they’re tagged, they begin the next game as the tagger and begin a blob of their own. This is a great game for bigger groups with an open space they can play in.
15. Penny Chinny
This youth group game only requires a penny for each player. Once everyone has balanced a penny on their chins, the game begins, with players trying to be the last one with a penny left on their chin.
They can’t touch the penny with their hands or interact with each other physically, so they have to get the other players to drop their penny by getting creative: making them laugh, scaring them, whatever it takes. This is also on the list for fun party games!
16. Telephone
Another classic youth group game, Telephone is about trying to pass a single message from one end of the group to the other.
Each player will hear the message whispered to them from the player to their right, then try to whisper the same message to the player to their left.
Since the message will most likely lose clarity and get confused between players, the message said aloud at the end will be much different than the message at the beginning, which is sure to have everyone laughing.
17. Sherlock
A simple detective game that is sure to have everyone involved and everyone laughing, Sherlock has one student assigned as the detective.
They study each other person in the group closely before eventually leaving the room. The remaining players swap one thing within the group, maybe changing places in their line or exchanging the jackets of two players, before the detective returns and tries to deduce what the change was.
18. Cat and Mouse
In Cat and Mouse, players will be passing around a cat and a mouse in a race to get the cat to catch the mouse. Beforehand, you will need to get objects to represent the cat and the mouse, such as stuffed animals.
To play, all the students sit in a circle, then give the “cat” to a player and the “mouse” to a player directly opposite them in the circle. Have a youth or worship leader play music on a guitar or piano, alternating between fast, medium, and slow speeds. The group passes the “cat” and “mouse” clockwise at a matching speed until the cat catches the mouse. Whoever was holding the mouse when the cat catches them is out.
19. Mummy
A hilarious and fun game for everyone. To prepare before the youth group, make sure to buy lots of toilet paper or crepe paper. To play, separate the students into groups of about three to five students each and give each group a roll of paper. Give everyone a time limit and get started.
Each group will nominate one person to be the “mummy”, and they will stand in the middle in a frozen standing position. The other players must wrap them head to toe in the paper just like an Egyptian mummy. When the time is up, the youth group leaders can judge the “mummies” and give awards for things like the Most Creative or the Fastest to Finish.
20. Picture and Pop
This is a puzzle game where students will be in teams and race to be the first to win. To prepare, youth group leaders should print out one photo for each team. Tear the photo into about ten pieces, then place the pieces into a balloon and blow up the balloon.
During youth group, after separating the students into teams, hand each team a balloon. When the game starts, each team pops their balloon and gains access to the ripped-up pieces. They must race to fit the pieces together to form the whole picture. The first team to do so wins the game!
21. House of Cards
This is a great game that encourages teamwork and collaboration. To prepare for this game, make sure to buy several decks of playing cards. During youth group, separate the students into teams and give each team a deck of cards and station them at a table.
Set a timer and then start the game. Each team can open the packs of cards and must attempt to build the best house out of cards before the time runs out. At the end, the youth group leaders can assign awards for different accomplishments: the house that used the most cards, the most visually appealing house, etc.
22. Guess Who
This is an icebreaker game that can help students get to know each other more. It works best with smaller groups, as it can be very difficult with large groups. Choose one student to be the Questioner and make them leave the room. The remaining kids then form a circle and choose one kid in the circle to be “it”. You can mark this however you’d like, such as pinning or taping something to their shirt.
The Questioner gets blindfolded and then led back in by a youth leader. They stand in the middle of the circle and must ask the other students questions to try and figure out who is “it”. When they finally get the right answer, the student who was “it” is now the new Questioner.
24. Curious Facts
To prepare before, youth leaders should get index cards and writing utensils. During youth group, give each student an index card and something to write with. Each student should write a true fact about themselves on the note that is unique and interesting, and probably not known by anyone else in the group. Hand all the cards back to a youth group leader, who mixes them up.
Call a random student up to start. They pull a fact from the bunch of cards, reads it aloud, and then tries to guess who’s fact it is. If they guess wrong, they go back to being seated, and another player is called up. If they get it right, that player joins their “team”, and they keep going. The game ends when one player has gotten everyone on their “team” by guessing correct facts.
25. Find the Passage
This is a great game to get students reading the Bible, but in a fun and competitive way! Separate the students into teams of about two to three people each, and give each team a bible. Every group and the youth pastor should all be reading from a bible of the same translation. Once the setup is complete, you can begin the game.
The youth pastor will choose a verse to start reading off of (Matthew 3:5 for example), then tell the students they are reading from somewhere in Matthew 2, 3, or 4 (or some other collection of chapters including Matthew 3). They begin reading aloud from that verse and keep going as the students flip through the Bible trying to find where they are reading from. When they do, they can start reading aloud alongside the youth pastor to show they’ve found the correct place.
Conclusion: Best Youth Group Games
And there you have it! Seventeen fun games you can start playing in your youth groups with little to no setup or supplies. Incorporating new games will have you and your students laughing, cheering, and engaging with one another in all kinds of fun ways!
We know that running a youth group can be challenging, but hopefully these easy-to-learn games will make it that much easier. And most importantly, remember to have fun!
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