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Youth Group Games for REALLY SMALL Youth Ministries · Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Today we're gonna give you five super fun and easy games that you can play with even the smallest of youth groups.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, the number one podcast for helping you grow the size and health of your youth ministry.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: If this is the first time we're meeting, my name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola, and we have another game episode for you.
0:30
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: And it's because some of you have been requesting small youth group games.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Very small.
0:39
SPEAKER_02: And I love a small youth group game because you get better engagement, you can ref it, more rounds, everyone can play.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Elimination style doesn't take as long either.
0:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's a lot of benefits.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: And people are like, well, we need teeny tiny youth groups.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Because we do have an episode all about small youth ministries, but this could be even smaller.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: This could be even smaller.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: This is like cutting that in half.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: And then dividing it by half.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Jeff.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: And you know, this is a podcast.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: Surprise, surprise.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: Hence the name Ministry Coach Podcast.
1:14
SPEAKER_02: Ah, thank you for putting that in there.
1:16
SPEAKER_02: So all that means is just like you, I am a visual learner.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: And when you hear, you're gonna like have to like mentally lock in and imagine the step-by-step games.
1:28
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna try to explain it very clearly.
1:31
SPEAKER_02: But this is not an episode that has the actual game footage in it, but it has us explaining it the same way we would explain it to the students who are gonna play.
1:40
SPEAKER_02: And Jeff, this guy, right here, what a guy.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: Out of the goodness of his heart, because he loves you guys, if you would like written instructions of any of these games, you just email this buddy boy right here, and he will send them to you.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Because why?
1:55
SPEAKER_02: Because that's who he is, ladies and gentlemen.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: So email us at ministrycoachpodcast at gmail.com.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: We can send you over the instructions for all of these.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you are more of a visual learner, like she said, this is the podcast, but we do have game tutorials on our YouTube channel.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: We do.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: So make sure you check those out.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Those have the visual instructions.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: You could even listen to it with the audio off and be able to probably figure out what was going on.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: But Rich, this is a podcast, and we're gonna try and make it enjoyable for you, maybe for us.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: But let's go to number one.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: All right, number one is super fun.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: It is called signs.
2:29
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
2:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna give you two different ways to play this.
2:31
SPEAKER_02: So it's a two-for-one deal right here, ladies and gentlemen.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so this is actually one my leaders and I play together because we're a smaller group.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: I can't play this with my students, but it's so much fun.
2:45
SPEAKER_02: So basically, everyone sits in a circle, you know, facing each other.
2:50
SPEAKER_02: And everyone comes up with their own unique sign.
2:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, because I always have lashes.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: I go like this.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: So I put my hands over my eyes with my fingers up like lashes.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: Some people will do like beat their chest like a gorilla.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: Someone might like pull their earlobe.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: It could be whatever you want.
3:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: So everyone goes around and shows everyone what their sign is.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: Then somebody gets in the middle and they close their eyes, and then we pick a person who's going to start with the sign.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, we have to be quiet and just point.
3:26
SPEAKER_02: So if it's you, we're all gonna be like, ah, and point to Jeff.
3:29
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: And Jeff's gonna be like, It's me.
3:32
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
3:33
SPEAKER_02: And then that person is gonna open their eyes, and the point is Jeff is trying to pass his sign to somebody else in the circle without getting caught by the person in the middle.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: So you would the person in the middle knows the signs.
3:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: But they don't know who has it.
3:53
SPEAKER_02: So, meaning, like when they're kind of turning and looking, that's when you have to be really sneaky and pass your sign to someone else.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: So here's how you pass a sign is you do the sign of the person you're trying to pass it to.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: So if you're trying to pass it to me, you would put your hands over your eyes like this.
4:11
SPEAKER_02: When I acknowledge, yes, Jeff, I have received the sign, I will do my sign back to you.
4:18
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
4:18
SPEAKER_02: And now I have it.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: You have to do it immediately, or you just kind of when you have a chance.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: When I have a chance, because sometimes I like can't receive it because the person's looking at me or it's too risky.
4:28
SPEAKER_02: So I would have to do it really quick or something.
4:31
SPEAKER_02: And now it's you're off the hook, you're safe.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: Now it's me.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: So if they guess me while I have it, now I'm in the middle.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: But if you're trying to pass it to me and they guess me and I haven't received it yet, I don't have it.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: You still have it.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: So now I have the sign.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: So now I'm looking at somebody else in the circle and I'm doing like pulling my earlobe, trying to get someone's attention.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: When they see me and they want to receive the sign, they'll pull their earlobe acknowledged.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: And now they're trying to pass it to someone else.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: Specifically, the person who that had had the sign of pulling the earlobe.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: So you're passing it to someone by using their own signature sign.
5:12
SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: So the whole point is you're trying not to get caught by the person in the middle.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: And it ends up being hilarious because sometimes you'll get lost.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: You'll be like, who has the sign?
5:21
SPEAKER_02: Who has the sign?
5:22
SPEAKER_02: Or you see someone trying to pass the sign, and that's not the person's not receiving it.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: They're like, they're like out to lunch, like they're not paying attention.
5:32
SPEAKER_02: And so then it's like, what?
5:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm intently listening.
5:41
SPEAKER_02: Not used to this.
5:42
SPEAKER_02: Freaking me out, man.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: Um.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: What?
5:49
SPEAKER_02: You're the one talking.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: I'll look somewhere else.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, weirdo.
5:55
SPEAKER_02: Uh so you'll be like, love your neighbor, love your neighbor.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: That's what my people, my leaders will say if it's like, oh my gosh, Jeff's been trying to pass Kristen the sign, she's not receiving it.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: Be like, love your neighbor.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: It means someone's trying to pass a sign, pay attention because it's you're not getting it.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:14
SPEAKER_02: And the person in the middle can't do like rapid fire, like, you, you, you, you, you, you, you know, like, you know how kids are.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: So do you give them a limit of how many guesses they can get?
6:25
SPEAKER_02: I think they get three.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: I'm glad you asked that.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: I forgot to say that.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: So they get three guesses, and then you can decide what to do.
6:33
SPEAKER_02: You can start the game over with a new person in the middle.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: You can have them walk the plank.
6:39
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, whatever you want to do.
6:41
SPEAKER_02: So that one's super fun.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: Another way to play signs is we played this at church before where somebody goes out of the room and we designate a sign leader.
6:54
SPEAKER_02: And it's very different.
6:56
SPEAKER_02: Not everyone has a sign.
6:57
SPEAKER_02: The sign leader is just gonna start doing weird stuff.
7:00
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: So they're like in a circle and the person comes in and they stand in the middle of the circle.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: The sign leader just starts something.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: So maybe they're like just clapping.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: And everyone just has to clap.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: And then without warning, the sign leader changes it to something else.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: So maybe now they're like, woo-hoo, hoo, ha ha, ha.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: So it's the person in the middle is trying to figure out who is the person.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: Who's changing the signal?
7:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: So again, give them like three guesses or whatever.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: And it's really funny because the person in the middle is just like overstimulated.
7:34
SPEAKER_02: Like people are acting like monkeys.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: People are doing the macarena.
7:37
SPEAKER_02: People are, but they can't figure out who keeps changing it.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: So that one's great.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: And it's so easy, and you can play it with a really small amount of people, no prep, no supplies.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: We've played it a handful of times.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: And I would think you would want to use a sign without any sound because if you use a sound, you're giving away your location.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:58
SPEAKER_02: There's a free strategy tip for you, ladies and gentlemen.
8:03
SPEAKER_02: Look at this.
8:04
SPEAKER_02: All from Jeff Flaskola.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: All right, what's number two?
8:07
SPEAKER_02: All right.
8:07
SPEAKER_02: The next one, this is called Color Confusion.
8:11
SPEAKER_02: All right.
8:11
SPEAKER_02: Now, this one is very simple.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: Basically, you have a bin of ball pit balls.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: Those are like the I always called them Chucky Cheese balls.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: What's Chuck E.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Cheese?
8:25
SPEAKER_02: Chuck E.
8:26
SPEAKER_02: Cheese is still a thing.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: They don't have a ball pit anymore, though.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: I know, but some people don't know what Chuck E.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Cheese is.
8:31
SPEAKER_02: A kid casino.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: And really special people know what Showbiz Pizza is.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Put in the comment section below if you remember Showbiz Pizza.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: You need to be over like 50, I think.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: But anyway.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: Are you over 50?
8:43
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm not.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: But I do know.
8:44
SPEAKER_02: But I know people who know people.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: I know people who know people.
8:50
SPEAKER_02: That's showbiz pizza for you.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: Okay, color confusion.
8:53
SPEAKER_02: So you put all the ball pit balls in a bin.
8:56
SPEAKER_02: We use like one of those Christmas storage bins from Walmart or Home Depot or whatever.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: So fill it all up, and you have people like um you cone off a big circle around the bin.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: And people, like however many people want to play, basically they have a blindfold on, and then you call out a color.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: And then they have to walk to the bin and they have 60 seconds to get as many balls as they can.
9:31
SPEAKER_02: However, many of that particular color they get, those are the only balls they get points for.
9:37
SPEAKER_02: So it's like so random.
9:39
SPEAKER_02: And like, how could you possibly even know?
9:42
SPEAKER_02: And we played it the other day.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Where are you putting them once you get them?
9:45
SPEAKER_02: So you could have an assistant like with a basket or you could give them a basket.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: And even that part was funny, you know, because they had to walk.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't just like they started at the ball pit, they had to walk from the cone to the ball pit.
9:59
SPEAKER_02: So that's already taking 10 seconds of your time.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: Once you get there, you grab balls and you have to put them in your assistant's basket, or maybe you're holding a basket.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: And then at the end, it's like you look and see, what did I get?
10:11
SPEAKER_02: You know, so it's kind of a fun, like no skill game, just fun spectator game for people to watch.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: And you could play with as little as like five kids, you know, and just be like, What did you get?
10:23
SPEAKER_00: How far away is the circle from like where the bin of cheese balls made it like 10, 15 feet?
10:32
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: And so I think a cool twist, something a little fun that you could do is add like I always like adding like a special whatever, like a special ball.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: So if they happen to grab like the golden ball, it's worth five points regardless of the color or you know, something cool like that.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: One thing you're gonna have to really be careful of is cheating.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh junior hires junior hires with blindfolds like pretend they can't see, but they really can.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this kid, we were playing it the other day, and he just the color was green, and he just kept grabbing all the balls that were green, like not even hesitating.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm like they don't even like try to hide.
11:14
SPEAKER_02: I dumped I dumped their bucket out and I'm like, you're disqualified.
11:17
SPEAKER_02: But I think maybe here's what would be fun to like hack the cheating thing is the color shows up at the end, you know.
11:28
SPEAKER_02: So it's like we had a screen that would flash all the colors of the balls and it would go at the beginning, it would stop, and whatever color it stopped on, it's like go find green, you know.
11:38
SPEAKER_02: But if it was like, okay, three, two, one, go get the balls, and then now they have their bucket and now they're looking at the screen and it's going orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, blue, and then it stops blue.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: And then everyone looks at their bucket and either cheers or is like, ah, you know, so it's like that would prevent the cheating.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you use sleep masks, you can get them pretty cheap on Amazon.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: We'll link any uh prop, not props, what are they called?
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Game supplies, things like that.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: We'll put it in the description below.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: But if you do use those sleep masks, like they're kind of blackout, I feel like those work better than just like the classic baby.
12:13
SPEAKER_02: I put a t-shirt over their heads, like just a full-on t-shirt, so you couldn't see.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: But I they still found a way, you know what I mean?
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Where there's a will, there's a wheel.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: Because I and then I tried to pull it kind of like tight so that they couldn't like see out the bottom.
12:28
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
12:29
SPEAKER_02: They'll figure it out.
12:30
SPEAKER_02: They're geniuses at cheating, is what it is.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: But then when they get caught, oh my gosh, no, I did it.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: My new line is like, you know what?
12:39
SPEAKER_02: You're just gonna have to answer to Jesus on that one, okay?
12:42
SPEAKER_02: Because he's watching.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you clarified, but when they go and they walk to the container that has all the balls, do they grab one at a time and bring it back?
12:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: So okay, I thought maybe they were just like dumping a.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: You could do it either way if you want to make it extra challenging.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: I like that because then yeah, they have to like find their way back.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: So that's actually the way we played it is they would have to walk from the cone to the ball pit, then back to the cone where the person with the basket was waiting, and they had to like find them and put it in the basket.
13:12
SPEAKER_02: You could do them a solid and give them the basket, like we said, or you could have the person with the basket standing next to them if you like want to make it easier.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: You could play around with it.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times I observe my games and I gauge, is this too difficult?
13:29
SPEAKER_02: Is this too easy?
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Is this stupid?
13:32
SPEAKER_02: What is going on?
13:32
SPEAKER_02: And then I'll be like, all right, are you guys ready for phase two?
13:36
SPEAKER_02: And I'll change it right then and be like, now you have to walk backwards, you know, like because I'm like, oh no, this is too easy.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, gauge your student skill level, and you could start with it one way and then be like, all right, now that you guys are good at that, now you're gonna have to walk back to the cones, right?
13:55
SPEAKER_02: And the person's not gonna be with you, but we'll do you a favor and give you 40 seconds instead of 30.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, play around, use your expertise.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: All right, next is called The Temple of Jome.
14:08
SPEAKER_02: I used to love that movie.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Is there anything to do with Indiana Jones?
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: Do you remember?
14:17
SPEAKER_02: Do you remember, Jeff, that movie?
14:18
SPEAKER_00: I do.
14:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Haunted me as a child some of those scenes.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: Was that the one where they reached the heart out there?
14:25
SPEAKER_02: Okay, that stuck with me too.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: I probably saw it when I was like seven.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And then the whole like food scene where they're eating the chilled monkey brains.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: Isn't the eyeballs and the soups?
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: And then I always thought the the actress who sees it, she like goes, and you thought that was the eyeballs did it.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, it was that much more frightening.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: I was like, My band name screaming eyeballs.
14:48
SPEAKER_02: Uh no, Jeff.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: There will be no don't worry.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: I know it's trauma for you.
14:55
SPEAKER_02: No, they won't hurt you.
14:56
SPEAKER_02: So, okay, I always think of the scene where he tries to take the idol but put the bag of sand there.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's not Temple of Doom, though.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: What?
15:05
SPEAKER_00: That's Raiders of the Lost Star.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: But he's in a temple and it's Doomish.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: So this game is called Raiders of the Lost Star.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad I'm here?
15:17
SPEAKER_00: Don't answer that.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:20
SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, call it whatever you want.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: I like Temple of Doom, even though it's from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
15:25
SPEAKER_02: So what you do is you once again need a kid with a blindfold, just one, and then you give him or her a pool noodle.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, that would probably be the easiest.
15:39
SPEAKER_02: You could use the sock weapons we've talked about before, where you put a long sock um and ball up another sock into the toe of it and you like swing it and it gets long and you can whip people with it.
15:51
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
15:52
SPEAKER_02: So that kid is blindfolded holding a weapon.
15:54
SPEAKER_02: He or she is in the middle of a coned off area that's probably it's pretty small.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh think of it as maybe like two feet on every side, a two feet radius, two feet radius.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Roughly like a hula hoop, then.
16:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh if you want to make it a little no, uh two feet on every side of you.
16:18
SPEAKER_02: Because if you're whatever.
16:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
16:20
SPEAKER_02: So then you scatter some type of prizes in there.
16:26
SPEAKER_02: It could be candy, candy, it could be just pepperoni.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: It could be Easter eggs.
16:35
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
16:36
SPEAKER_02: It could be something, something that the kids want.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: So their job is to get the prizes without getting hit.
16:45
SPEAKER_02: And if they get hit, they have to surrender it.
16:48
SPEAKER_02: So they're like this kid is blindly whipping everywhere, and kids are on the floor and crawling and trying to get as many as they can.
16:57
SPEAKER_02: You could do it like teams, depending on how many kids you have.
17:00
SPEAKER_02: Like once your teammate grabs one, they go to the end of the line and the next person has to grab one.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: So you can make it a relay and involve more kids.
17:07
SPEAKER_02: It could be every man for himself, you know, just get as many prizes as possible.
17:13
SPEAKER_02: If you get hit, obviously you're eliminated.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: So you could do the score of like, okay, high score of how many things you collected, or just pure elimination, like you're out, you forfeit all your points, or like you can only take one at a time.
17:30
SPEAKER_02: So if you get hit in possession of a prize, you have to put it back and go to the end of the line.
17:35
SPEAKER_02: So the concept is there, and then now use your group to what is the best way of execution.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: We played it, I think, on Easter.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: And I Yeah, on Easter we call it Revenge of the Rabbit.
17:48
SPEAKER_02: We do?
17:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that.
17:51
SPEAKER_02: Was I there for that?
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's in our Easter episode where we did really like 10, 12 Easter games or whatever we did.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: So I guess we already did this game, but you could play it anytime.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: But it's Temple of Dune, not to be confused with Raiders of the Last Dack and the other Revenge of the Rabbit.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: That's only on Easter.
18:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so you could put anything down.
18:14
SPEAKER_02: It was so fun.
18:15
SPEAKER_02: It was just like such a and the larger the space, the bigger the challenge.
18:20
SPEAKER_02: So maybe you start with a small space with that kid who is armed with the sock, and then the space gets bigger and bigger, and that's harder to patrol, obviously, because people can come in and out.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: So again, gauge it is like, all right, you did good.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: Now we're gonna make it bigger.
18:36
SPEAKER_02: So gauge, easy, hard.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Harder for the people person swinging the thing would be a bigger space, but harder for people to grab things would be a smaller space.
18:44
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
18:45
SPEAKER_02: So, like you are the game architect as the youth leader, so you know, pivot, improvise, change the name, change the name, make it accurate, whatever you want to do.
18:57
SPEAKER_02: Okay, then I love this game.
19:00
SPEAKER_02: We just played this two weekends ago at our weekend services called Awesome Ball.
19:06
SPEAKER_02: It's sort of like extreme monkey in the middle.
19:09
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: So everyone who's playing sits in a chair and makes a big circle, everyone facing inward.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: Okay, make it big.
19:18
SPEAKER_02: Then you have one person in the middle, like make the like spread the chairs out a little bit, you know.
19:24
SPEAKER_02: Then there's one person in the middle who is it.
19:27
SPEAKER_02: Their goal is to get the ball, right?
19:30
SPEAKER_02: So the people in the circle are trying to pass the ball to each other without the person in the middle, the monkey, if you will, getting the ball.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: So if I try to throw it to you and the monkey intercepts it, then I'm out.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: The way that you would be out is if I made it to you and you like fumbled the ball and the monkey grabbed it, because my boys will make anything contact, you know?
19:57
SPEAKER_02: And so it's like full contact monkey in the middle.
20:00
SPEAKER_02: Even if you sort of are slipping, they're gonna try to snatch it out of your hand.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: So if you botched the catch, you'll be out.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: So the ref has to have some kind of it's a little nuanced.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: A judgment call on like, uh, who's who really botched that pass?
20:18
SPEAKER_02: And then if the monkey gets it, then the person who botched the pass, they have to be in the middle.
20:24
SPEAKER_02: And usually for a winner for that kind of game, it's fun because no one's ever out.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: And I know you guys like those kinds of games, but you could say if you've made it this whole round and you've never been in the middle, you can go get a piece of candy.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: Like you never became the monkey in the middle.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: So if you throw a pass and let's say the person, let's say it was either a bad throw or the person bobbled it, couldn't catch it, whatever.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: Can the person sitting there get up and get the ball?
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: That's where it goes full contact.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: Me and Arden went full contact in this game, and she, I can't remember who prevailed, but I think she did.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: It got wild.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: And then a couple of rules.
21:04
SPEAKER_02: You can't pass it back.
21:06
SPEAKER_02: So if you pass it to me, I can't pass it right back to you, or I'm in the middle.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: And then you can't pass it to the people immediately on your left and right, or you're in the middle.
21:14
SPEAKER_02: So once you play it for a while, then I like to introduce version 2.0, and that's the bounce pass.
21:21
SPEAKER_02: So first it's just a straight pass, but then it gets harder and it's a bounce pass, and it's easier for the monkey to get it because you know, like, obviously, right?
21:33
SPEAKER_02: I was gonna like go into the reasons why.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: The physics.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: So so Jeff, stick with me here.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: Can the monkey like how can they impede the pass like by getting it right in someone's face?
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: It's it's basically carnage, which ends up being really fun.
21:51
SPEAKER_02: So the bounce pass a couple of times, and I think we posted on our Instagram, is like the monkey would be like so ready to get it.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: I love how we keep calling.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Of the monkey.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: Her, him, any of them.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: They're monkey.
22:04
SPEAKER_02: And they would be like ready to block.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: And then the person ready to pass it would just bounce it in between their legs to the other person.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: And it was just so insulting.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: Like it was just hilarious.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: And everyone would be like, ah, because they're like, they're they're thinking they're so ready, but their stance is wide, and then it just goes right under their legs to the other person.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: It was so fun.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: So that game, you don't need a lot of people to play.
22:29
SPEAKER_02: And if you don't have that many, just make the circle wider.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: The more people you have, spread the chairs further apart.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: Hey, quick question for you.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: Have you ever felt like you were working really hard in your youth ministry every week, but you don't know what the next step is or how to grow your youth ministry?
22:49
SPEAKER_02: Well, you are not alone.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: And that is exactly why we created our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Inside the program, we're gonna walk you step by step through strategies, systems, leadership principles that help ministries grow, both in size and in health.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: This isn't just theory, it's the exact framework we've used and taught to youth pastors all over the country and even globally.
23:16
SPEAKER_02: In addition to the course and coaching, you will also have the opportunity to join a cohort community where you can meet with other youth leaders who are on the same journey to encourage each other, share ideas, and stay accountable as you put things into practice.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: So if you're looking for a clearer path to grow your ministry, head over to grow your youth ministry.com to see everything that's included.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: Once again, that's growyouryout ministry.com.
23:42
SPEAKER_02: All right, let's get back to the episode.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: And then last game is so fun.
23:47
SPEAKER_02: I just discovered this one.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: I played it with my leaders because it is a small group game, and it's actually a board game, but we adapted it to be no supplies.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: And I think there were like eight of us playing one night after youth group like two weeks ago, and it's called Wavelength.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: So wavelength is a board game that is really popular right now.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: It's a group party game, and we played a little differently than the rules of that.
24:12
SPEAKER_02: So if you're familiar with that, gives you kind of a jumping off point, but it's kind of different.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: So basically, one person is it, and that person kind of like closes their eyes while the rest of the people come up with a number between one and ten that is like the target of the game.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: So when I was it, the number was I think it was six or seven.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: For the sake of this podcast, let's just say six.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: That was hurtful.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, wait, no, six.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's go with six.
24:54
SPEAKER_02: Are you guys hearing this?
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Go.
24:57
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so my number was six.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: And then, but I didn't know that.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: They come up with it and they don't tell me, right?
25:04
SPEAKER_02: So then you come up with the prompt.
25:08
SPEAKER_02: So I came up with the prompt, and the prompt was a scale of candy you're stoked to have in your Halloween bucket, which would be a 10, uh-huh, versus candy you're not stoked to have in your Halloween bucket.
25:24
SPEAKER_02: And it could be whatever you want.
25:25
SPEAKER_02: Places you want to go on vacation, places you don't want to go on vacation, a livable wage in Southern California, a job with a livable wage, a job that is not a livable wage in Southern California.
25:38
SPEAKER_02: So, anyways, you come up with it and they know the number you don't.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: So it's six, right?
25:44
SPEAKER_02: So then they could say something really simply like they're trying to get me to guess based on their answers to me, guess the number.
25:55
SPEAKER_02: So if they're like NECO wafers, I'm like one, right?
26:00
SPEAKER_02: And so then they'd be like, oh shoot, okay, but everyone kind of knows, you know, like, and what it does is it opens up kind of like some arguments and like ways of thinking.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: Like one guy was getting just I mean, they were so mean to him.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: They were like, What are you talking about?
26:18
SPEAKER_02: You can't live on that, and blah blah blah, like all this stuff.
26:21
SPEAKER_02: So, like, they were like, Okay, Kristen, it's a it's a full size, king size kit cat, and half of it is so good, but half of it is stale and disgusting.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, but I got to eat half of it, and it's a kit cat, uh, okay, a six, and then or I think I said seven, and then so then it's like, okay, they want to try to scale back a little.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: It's like, okay, well, I know you love almond joys.
26:50
SPEAKER_02: It's an almond joy, but in order to get it, you have to climb into a haunted attic.
26:56
SPEAKER_02: But it's the best one you've ever had, but you're still shaken up when you're eating it.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh shoot, like I love almond joy, but uh uh, I don't know.
27:04
SPEAKER_02: Like that would be a 10, but haunted attic, okay, seven, you know.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: So you can say like at what point do you guess?
27:12
SPEAKER_02: So after everyone goes, okay.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: So there was like eight or nine of us playing, and then it would go the next person, and they're trying so hard to like create something to get me to say seven.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: So then when at the end, six multiple times.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: I really do think it was seven now that I'm thinking about it.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Start start it over.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Forget everything you just heard.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Well, and one guy's like said something about Sour Patch Kids.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I don't like source.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, is that like a four?
27:41
SPEAKER_02: And he goes, Oh, you know, it's like so.
27:45
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to the end, and based, I'm like, guys, okay, here's where my head's at.
27:49
SPEAKER_02: I feel like what you're trying to tell me is it's something really good, but it's coming at a cost.
27:56
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm like, the cost, the scale of the cost felt at it dropped like two or three points off.
28:05
SPEAKER_02: Is it seven?
28:07
SPEAKER_02: And it was.
28:09
SPEAKER_02: And they were all like, yeah, like everyone celebrates because they're kind of working together.
28:15
SPEAKER_02: So this isn't like it's a collective win or a collective loss.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: So what you have to be spot on.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: You do, you have to get the number correct.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: And if you get it wrong, it opens up a lot of really fun conversation, and then everyone's like, No, you skewed it because who the heck likes Sour Patch Kids?
28:33
SPEAKER_02: Everyone loves Sour Patch Kids.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: You could never pick a one or a ten, though, I'm assuming.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: You could because I feel like that would be really easy.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: It would be really easy, yeah.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: So it's a collective win, collective loss.
28:43
SPEAKER_02: So everyone, you could just say, Okay, if we do this guy solving this puzzle, we all get candy or we all get whatever.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: And then you have the next person go.
28:53
SPEAKER_02: And you know, we played it like we played a bunch of rounds, and it was so fun.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's just I could see this game being really fun for high schoolers.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: I think you know, junior high, they might need to warm up a couple rounds.
29:08
SPEAKER_02: It's not a total junior high game.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: It's like a fun camp game, I think.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think if you made the prompts very junior high friendly, like just simple, like uh best meal you've ever had, worst meal you've ever had, you know, kind of thing.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: So, and we actually did that, I think, or like the best smell in the world, the worst smell in the world.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: And so it just frame it for your group.
29:35
SPEAKER_02: But I think high school, I was playing with a bunch of young adults, like 18, 19, 20, 21, and they were like into it.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: So I think high school would be probably the target age for that.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: So that was super duper fun.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, these are all easy, very low supply, don't need a lot of people.
29:56
SPEAKER_02: Good luck.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: Let us know in the comments how they go if you did some variations for it, but why not try something new this week?
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like Kristen said, uh, if you want the instructions for those games, just email us at ministrycoachpodcast at gmail.com and we can send that right over to you.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: You can call it games for super small youth groups, and we'll get that sent to you.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: All right, we're gonna do a community comment of the day.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: This comes from Daniela, who says, This was so spirit-filled.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: This channel is a blessing.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate that.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: Daniela, we love encouraging comments because this podcast is kind of a labor of love.
30:32
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
30:32
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're here for the community of youth pastors.
30:36
SPEAKER_02: Being, Jeff always says, be what you wish you had.
30:38
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Okay, Jeff.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you guys so much for watching and listening, and we'll see you next time.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: Today, we're gonna give you five new and fun games for a youth group.
30:52
SPEAKER_02: Today, we're gonna give you five super fun and simple games that you can play with your little youth group.
31:00
SPEAKER_02: Five super fun and super easy games that you can play with the smallest of.