7 Youth Group Games for SMALL Youth Ministries

[@MinistryCoach]

❓➡*How many did you get correct??* Play the "THE FABULOUS FOUR TRIVIA GAME - YAY!" at the end of this video and let us know how many YOU got right! ✅

[@apalesch1]

Zero. I got zero. But I guess it’s just nice to be included sometime.

[@chasemcclure4903]

5/5! And with the blessing of this podcast, it feels like it HAS been my day, my week, my month, and even my year!

[@jordansipe5995]

5/5 I spent the first 18 year of my life basically only watching Friends.

[@MinistryCoach]

@@apalesch1 Don't feel bad...just wait for this week's episode. Let's just say, I didn't go very well 😅

[@MinistryCoach]

@@chasemcclure4903 😂😂😂 we'll be there for you!

[@shellypedrick3782]

I used three of these games and they were a HIT! Had a blast for game time

[@MinistryCoach]

@shellypedrick3782 - Yay!!! So glad the students loved them!!

[@rnicolew1]

Thanks so much for the great ideas! I’m starting Jr. High and High School youth groups from scratch and I’ve been binge watching your channel 😅 I appreciate all you do! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and knowledge ❤

[@MinistryCoach]

Thank you for reaching out, Rachel! That is so awesome that you are starting up the youth group, we will be praying for your journey!!! 🙏🙏🙏

[@DellYouthDirector]

Extreme Rock, Paper Scissors is fun. I had planned on doing this game one time and realized all of our hula hoops were missing (turned out someone threw away all the bent ones...). Anyway, we decided to improvise by using the sanctuary (not ideal, but it was fun anyway). We just had the kids start at the front and back and run back and forth through the rows of pews until they met up. This can also be done by setting up chairs in a big space or rows of tables. Pro tip: count your rows carefully to make sure they will actually meet. We had the wrong number of rows and they ended up running the same direction down the row I expected them to meet in. Quick adjustment after lots of laughter had them meeting up.

[@MinistryCoach]

@dellyouthdirector - great pivot! That's a good alternative!

[@frankgil8313]

Great stuff! Gonna do some of these games soon!

[@MinistryCoach]

Thank you, Frank!!

[@Topher_youthcoordinator]

Thank you for this! I'm the one that emailed you about the small youth group that was thinking of maybe moving to a coffee shop or something similar until we find more people. I couldn't help but be excited to find this as it seems like every time I look for games they seem to be for large groups. I have another one that can work well for small groups that my kids love. To me the description sounds dumb and the kids looked at my like I was nuts when I taught it to them, but as soon as they started playing, they became addicted. I just call it "The Die Game" but it probably has a cooler name elsewhere: The rules: Every player gets a sheet of paper. There is one 6-sided die and one pen. The first person in the group starts writing the numbers 1-100 as fast as they can while the second player rolls the die over and over trying to get the number 6. If they get it, they get to steal the pen and start writing the numbers 1-100 on their paper while the 3rd player starts rolling the die. When the play comes back around to someone, they begin where they left off on the first round. This continues until someone gets to 100. I like to do this with groups of 5-6. If you have a large youth group, just make several small groups (each with one pen and one die) but try to keep them even. If you choose, you can offer a prize to the winner. With that said, I always clarify that the numbers have to at least be identifiable (in other words they can't just scribble lines). The person with the pen is not allowed to prevent the next player from taking the pen and the die should not be intentionally rolled or thrown far away (had one kid purposely knock it under the couch when he got a 6).

[@MinistryCoach]

Hey Christopher!! Yes, I find that a lot of games are either icebreakers and aren't long enough to make a full game out of, or they are more geared towards larger groups, so we thought we would put one out there for some of the smaller youth groups. We play that game as well, we call it "Deadly Dice"...we did a video of it here, our rules might be slightly different but it sounds essentially like the same thing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6OTYnaKl6imbas

[@Topher_youthcoordinator]

@@MinistryCoach Yep looks like basically the same thing! I like that name better!

[@MinistryCoach]

@@Topher_youthcoordinator It's a fun game either way!

[@Topher_youthcoordinator]

@@MinistryCoach yes it is!

[@jasona.anderson1477]

Hi Kristen/Jeffrey! I love what you're doing. Keep up the good work in adding value to people like us who are seeking to minister to young people and to build our youth ministries. You are making a difference! Question for you: What do you consider to be a small youth ministry?

[@MinistryCoach]

@jasona.anderson1477 - thank you for your comment!! A small youth ministry is probably a relative term, but if I had to put a number to it, it might be anything under 20 students or so.

[@jasona.anderson1477]

​@MinistryCoach, thank you for your response Kristen. All the best 👍 👌

[@MinistryCoach]

@@jasona.anderson1477 you are welcome :)

[@MariGonzalez-fv4sy]

I need challenges for the balloon game

[@MinistryCoach]

Here are some ideas: Line up according to birthday (youngest to oldest), make a human pyramid, take a selfie of your team and post it on social media with the caption “We love popcorn, yes we do, we love popcorn, how bout you,” have every student on your team play leap frog, have everyone on your team hop to one side of the room and back

[@judyrichards683]

games for smaller youth groups

[@leilanib73]

Where can I get the game directions? I emailed the email as instructed....

[@MinistryCoach]

@leilanib73 - check your inbox, we just sent out a bunch...yours was probably one of them.

[@MinistryCoach]

@leilanib73 - I just checked and yours hadnt gone out, but I just sent it :) North Coasters ☺

[@leilanib73]

@@MinistryCoach thank you so much!

[@tresagibbs1405]

Do they all hop at one tim

[@MinistryCoach]

@tresagibbs1405 - Hi Tresa, which game were you referring to?

[@jakblesy3051]

Can you give some videos of games

[@MinistryCoach]

Yes, we have a bunch on our channel...here are a few: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIauY5hvebynlas

[@MinistryCoach]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGixZIiKor96iaM

[@MinistryCoach]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX-cnquBmZeKkKs

[@dominicabrahams7980]

can u use teddy bears for the ring elimation ?

[@MinistryCoach]

Probably, if they were small ones...the fun part about using the ball pit balls or whiffle balls is that they can scatter once people dive in to grab them which makes it a little more challenging for the students to get them. Teddy bears could still work, but there's a good chance one of them will get ripped in half by aggressive students 😆

[@jacobromero2634]

Show games ppl need to see examples

[@MinistryCoach]

@jacobromero2634 - we have a bunch of game tutorials on our channel that you can see the games being played: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH3CgoF4r9-aqMU

[@MinistryCoach]

Here is another: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6OTYnaKl6imbas

[@aprilrubybaguio5866]

Hope there is actual

[@MinistryCoach]

Thank you for commenting