Children & youth ministry

http://www.youthpastor.com/

http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/icebreakers.html

http://njcirclek.org/icebreakers.htm

Lori Morris

Spiritual Pep Rally: being each other’s cheerleaders

The point of this game night is to get kids more in tune to each other and to get them in the mode of supporting each other as a team.

The ice breakers should take about thirty-five minutes give-or-take.

Ice Breaker #1

“Holla!”

(5-10min.)Here’s when you find out who the shy ones are. This is basically a scream off. You get all of the people together in chairs or stands or whatever you’ve got, and you tell them to scream their name as loud as they can on the count of three. Whatever name you hear the loudest will be pulled out of the group and given some kind of candy something. Eventually you are left with the shy people who are afraid to scream very loud and they’re screaming their name. People would normally not just introduce themselves to anyone are telling everyone their name in a very memorable way.

Ice Breaker #2

Team Spell Check

After splitting the entire group into three teams, assign each team a name (e. g.: The Razors, The Cream, and the Burn. Or team Chili, team Queso, and team Salsa). The point of this ice breaker is to find out who is on your team and to find out who the natural leaders are. Each team has five minutes to spell their team name on the floor using only themselves. They have to use every person on the team. (This one I picked up from a high school tradition from my home town. I really don’t know who started the whole spelling-things-out-on-the-ground-with-human-bodies-thing.)

Ice Breaker # 3

Car Cram

This ice breaker is done outside in a parking lot in three cars about the same size. (with the owner’s permission) Each team has 7 minutes to stuff as many people as they can into their team’s car. This gets the players feeling closer to each other (yes, literally) and helps them build teamwork and find leadership on the team.

Ice Breaker # 4

Squad Lines

Within each team, the players have to order themselves by birth date (from youngest to oldest) using only hand gestures. No writing and no noises of any kind (John-boy, YMN class) Here they have to work together without arguing and they have to learn to communicate with each other.

Ice breaker # 5

Team Announcer

This is a unique way to introduce new comers and to have fun with the core kids. Each group splits up into groups of two or three and each person is given five questions to ask their partner as follows:

1. What is your name?

2. How tall are you?

3. What is your hobby?

4. How do you like your eggs?

5. If you could give yourself a nick name, what would it be?

After each person has their partner’s info, you line the team up like a basketball team would before a game. As a person gives the info about their partner like an announcer at a Mavs game would, saying the name at the end (e.g.: Kyle “The Yellow Dart” Smith); the partner runs through the “tunnel” of their teammates. (I made this…..up with a little help from a youth sponsor at Evangel Temple, Bryan Dixon)

Games

The games should take about 60 mins.

Game # 1

Cheer Try-outs

Each team is given a box with an unusual object in it. (e.g.: a slinky, a box of soap, and a matchbook from Bennigans) They are given 5-7 minutes to come up with a cheer for that object. Then each team must perform their cheer in front of the whole group. The youth staff judges which cheer is best. The winners get something cool (stickers, ribbons, candy’s always good).

Game # 2

Chain Tag

This is an old game, but we just played it in class the other day with John-boy. The way it work is you have one person be “it” and mark of a certain area that the rest of the people can play in. After a person is tagged they have to link arms with the person who tagged them. The point of this game - teamwork.

Game # 3

Walk Like an Egyptian

In their teams get the kids to build a low pyramid. (i.e.: 4-3-2) If there are more kids than this on each team have them pick the strongest, sturdiest ones to build the pyramid. This game is a short race. The base of the pyramids have to crawl to the finish line and still keep the rest of the pyramid on top. The first team to the finish line still intact, wins ( from Jessica Parham, my roommate)

Game # 4

Blind Bart Pyramid

Now that they’ve built a pyramid of people, It’s time to go back to preschool and build a good ol’ pyramid of blocks. Each team is given three colors of blocks and a picture of how the pyramid should look when finished. The trick is, the person building the pyramid has to be blind folded. The rest of the team has to tell the builder where the different blocks are and help him to build without touching him or the blocks. The team that gets their pyramid up first, wins. (I made this…up)

Game # 5

Water Balloon Volleyball

Each team splits into two groups and each group gets a sheet. The groups get on opposite sides of a volleyball net. The goal is to keep a water balloon from hitting the ground while catapulting it across the net to each other on a sheet. The team who can keep up the longest volley, wins. (or whoever can go to five minutes without dropping the balloon is way cool – however you want to play) This game is supposed to test their ability to work as a team and to find leadership potential. (game from Bryan Dixon)

Game # 6

Candlelight (no, not that kind)

The candlelight (not the engagement candlelight, this is something else) is a ritual I learned from my freshman year R.A., Shelley Forrester. You light a large drip less candle and say something that you think is great about one of the kids in the group (the candle starts in the youth pastor’s or the game night leaders’ hand), then pass the candle to that person. That person, in turn, has to say something they think is glorious about another person, and so on and so on until every person has said something wonderful about another person. Each person can be picked only once. This brings the students into a more serious mode of encouragement to prepare them for the devotion. (from Shelley Forrester)