Today we are sharing another great game to play for those long rides you might experience in ministry. This one is well known, but rarely played well. We want to make Name That Tune a success for you!
Before I became a Christian, one of my buddies in High School tried to reach out to me by telling me that Christian music was really good. To prove his point, he put in a CD of Petra… yes… that Petra. Even at the time, they were not at the top of the Christian music industry. As a result, I, being the nice guy I was, told him that his music stunk (in not so nice terms) and walked away thinking Christian music was a joke.
Fortunately, their is a lot of great music in that is centered around our faith today. This game might be a great way of introducing some of your students to some of it.
PREP TIME- 5-15 Minutes
ITEMS NEEDED- iPod (or like player) with Music & an Adapter for your device
GAME TIME- 10-20 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- Anyone in your vehicle
INSTRUCTIONS
Before you leave for your trip, take 10 or 20 minutes to throw together a set list for the game. Make sure to include a good mix of solid Christian songs and some well known funny songs as well. Classics like “Eye of the Tiger” or Europe’s “The Final Countdown” are always great. It never hurts to throw in some “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire either.
As far as Christian artists, this is where you have to know your group. Obviously, Switchfoot, Toby Mac, Skillet & Lacrae have a number of great songs, but you can go old school with DC Talk or even Carman (no will probably get it, but trust me, it’s awesome!).
You should have about 20-30 songs selected and then you can have your PASSENGER (NOT YOU!!!) play through the songs for you while you’re driving.
Award points for naming the song (or close to the title) plus bonus points for the band as well. Whoever tallies the highest score at the end is the master of music!
BONUS TIP
1. This is certainly a great game for the road, but it also works in a group setting. You can also play a bit of a twist off of it and have people perform their best lip-sync to a song, ala Milli Vanilli (or anyone who sings at the Superbowl).
2. Have a student organize the game for you and just check over the list before to make sure it’s good. This saves you a lot of time and it gets them involved in it as well.
To get more great games and tips, subscribe to our blog and follow us on Twitter @stumingames.
Well summer is closing in, and for most student ministries, that means lots of events, camps and missions trips. That also means that you and your group will be sharing a fair amount of time together in a car, van or bus.
I’ve found that these times can go one of three ways:
1. Everyone pops their headphones in and no one talks to each other for the next 4 hours.
2. People are get tired and grouchy (especially on the way back), and the amazing experience you just had takes a downhill turn.
3. Everyone bonds and gets to know each other. You laugh, sing loud (and horribly) to the only station that will come in and create memories in a time that they thought was insignificant.
Obviously, the goal is the latter. I can’t tell you that I’ve achieved it every single time, but I have a pretty good track record. In fact, I would venture to say that I have never laughed harder than some of those times we had in our church van throughout the years.
Before I share the ABC Game, which isn’t new to most of you, let me remind you to pray for the time you ride together. Most of us pray for the event or for traveling mercies, but never even give a second thought to asking God to bless our ride time together. In addition, have a plan. I’m not talking about having a clipboard of activities for the entire ride, but have some ideas of things that you can do when you see eyes glazing over in boredom.
Well, without further ado, let me present to you the ABC Game:
PREP TIME- None
ITEMS NEEDED- Just The Open Road (I just wanted to say that so badly!)
GAME TIME- 15-30 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- Everyone in the Vehicle (if it’s a bus, you can play with a smaller group)
INSTRUCTIONS
This game is about as easy as it comes. Your only goal is to work together as a team to find each letter of the alphabet as you travel to your destination. I recommend playing in areas where there are plenty of signs and businesses on the roadside. It’s not that you can’t play in super rural areas, it’s just that the game can drag on.
As for the rules, we generally play that you can only use one letter off of each sign. So a “Dairy Queen” sign can’t be used for “d” & “e”. You don’t have to use this rule, but it makes it a bit more challenging. We also allow our group to use license plates as well (some groups use only license plates- that’s hard!).
Other than that, the only other rule is that nothing they use for a letter can come from inside the vehicle. It’s really a pretty simple and fun game to help pass some of the time as you drive along.
BONUS TIP
1. While many of the games we share are competitive in nature, this one is more team oriented. That said, you can compete with yourself. Time how long it takes your group to come up with all 26 letters, then repeat the game, trying to best your previous time.
2. If you really want to involve everyone, have each person in the vehicle take turns finding letters. I don’t normally use this method, but if you do, allow the other students to help them find their letter.
To get more great games and tips, subscribe to our blog and follow us on Twitter @stumingames.
If you are a connoisseur of fine television, then you’ve probably watched the Price Is Right. Okay, the fine television part might be stretching it, but I loved watching good old Bob Barker every summer weekday at 10am. I can’t say that I’ve seen it many times in the past ten years or so, but I know that one of games most popular games was PLINKO.
Believe it or not, there are sights online that will build or send you a pre-built Plinko Board. They tend to be sort of spendy, so if you need to save some money, check out eHow’s link: http://www.ehow.com/how_5085611_build-plinko-board.html.
PREP TIME- 1-3 Hours (depending how handy you are!)
ITEMS NEEDED- 3/16-inch thick or higher pegboard, sheet of wood or cork board, & 200 1/4-inch x 1 1/4-inch grooved dowel pegs, air hockey pucks, items for guessing prices
GAME TIME- 5-15 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- 1 (if you give away small prizes, say at a carnival, you can just hand out the plinko chips so kids can play)
INSTRUCTIONS
Constructing the board is far and away the most difficult part. That said, the Price Is Right Plinko game is broken up into two parts.
The first part is earning the chips. Give the player one chip to begin with and then have four items that the participant must guess higher or lower on a set price that you have pre-determined. For example, buy a bag of pretzels at the store and ask the participant is the retail price of the pretzels higher or lower than $2.99. If they guess correctly, give them a Plinko chip.
In all, player can earn up to five chips. At this point, they will need to take their chips up to the top of the Plinko board so they can drop them in. You will probably need to have some sort of chair they can stand on. At that time, they drop the chips down through the pegs and wait in anticipation to see what slot their chip lands in.
They are then awarded the cumulative total of prizes from all the chips they drop.
BONUS TIP
1. If you are planning a Price Is Right night like we did, it probably means you’ll only have one person playing Plinko. In that case, make sure to have good prizes- that’s what creates the drama. You don’t have to break your bank, but get creative so the game will attract attention.
2. Use the game at a large church or outreach event. Instead of awarding large prizes, make every slot worth a small prize, like a piece of candy, a pencil or a small toy. The game itself is fun, so get some good use out of it.
To get more great games and tips, subscribe to our blog and follow us on Twitter @stumingames.
This Wednesday we are sharing a really simple game that has zero set up and only requires you to have a boatload of rubber bands on hand.
PREP TIME- None
ITEMS NEEDED- Tons of Rubber Bands (thousands if possible)
GAME TIME- 2-5 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- 2-4 Teams of 3 (or more if you’d like!)
Today we are sharing a great game that you can play throughout the summer, over the course of a month or for a weekend activity. Versus is based upon the old ABC show entitled, Shaq Versus.
PREP TIME- Depends on the Event
ITEMS NEEDED- Depends on the Event
GAME TIME- Depends on the Event
PARTICIPANTS- 2 Participants (some team games may require more)
INSTRUCTIONS
This a great game to stir up a some excitement during the summer months. The other bonus is that since most students are out of school, most of them will have time to hang out help put the competitions together.
It’s a new day, which means it’s time for a new game. Today’s game is Walkers & Talkers.
Not only is this a fun game, but it can also be incorporated into a message or lesson about listening, speaking up, guidance or trust.
PREP TIME- 10-20 Minutes
ITEMS NEEDED- Blindfolds & Obstacle Course Materials
GAME TIME- 5-10 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- Minimum of 4 Teams (you can play with as many as you would like)
INSTRUCTIONS
Set up an obstacle course in your meeting room, gym or even outside if it’s possible. I generally tend to just use things that I have in my office or things lying around our church. You can let participants crawl under, climb over or even climb through things. In addition, you can have them perform certain tasks at predetermined locations (like carry an egg with them without breaking it or eat something).
Today’s game is a bit gross if you ask me, but if you ask some students, they think it’s fun. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. Our game centers around baby food.
Now I know that most of us have probably seen people play a version of this game before, but one big difference for us is that we don’t force people to play this one. If they want to join in, great, but don’t make it mandatory!
In fact, I would say that’s a good rule of thumb when playing any gross game. It’s your prerogative to lead the game, but it’s not your prerogative to make everyone miserable!!
PREP TIME- 5 Minutes
ITEMS NEEDED- 10-12 Jars/Containers of Different Baby Food, Paper Plates, Pens
GAME TIME- 5 Minutes
PARTICIPANTS- Minimum of 4, but you can play with an unlimited amount of people if you have enough materials
