Balloons and Paranoia

Is that not a terrifying post title? Hah. Don’t worry- it’s just a few Youth Group games. 🙂 We played these with our kiddos this past week and had a lot of fun with them, so I figured I’d pass them on to any others who may be in ministry or just looking for a great game for the next birthday party or family get-together.

Game 1: BALLOON FRENZY (Active Game)

Two teams. Two colors of balloons, one for each team. I would say, plan on at least one balloon for every person playing. All the balloons go in the middle to start. Set up two goals on opposite ends of the room for each team to shoot through. The object is for each team to get as many of their balloons into the goal, while simultaneously popping all of the other team’s balloons. This is a feet only game. Teams start by lining up behind their goal and can begin on “Go” or at the whistle. Once a balloon has been kicked through the goal, it is out of play and can no longer be popped (we had leaders picking up the “scored” balloons as the game progressed to take them out of play). Game ends when there are no more balloons in play. The team with the most balloons scored wins.

We blew up A LOT of balloons so that we could play several rounds. 🙂

Game 2: PARANOIA (Non-Active Game)

Everyone sits in a circle. Each person thinks of a “who” question (Ex. “Who has the coolest shoes?” or “Who is most likely to become a famous food critic?”). Pick someone to start. That person whispers their question to the person on their RIGHT. The person they asked has to answer the question out loud with the name of someone in the circle. The question is NOT said out loud, just their answer. A coin is flipped- TAILS means the group gets to hear the question that was asked, HEADS means the question remains a secret f.o.r.e.v.e.r.!!! Hence, paranoia. 🙂 Our rule is that questions CANNOT be rude or mean and everyone was great about following those guidelines, making this a really fun game.

After we played, one of our leaders made it a point to remind students that a game like this has power and the great potential to be destructive and belittling if not played appropriately. We talked about (and had students agree) that if this game were ever to be played outside of youth group, they had to promise to play with the same rules. In the end, it was a neat way to address some of the issues that come from gossip, bullying, etc. 

Do you have any “fan favorite” games that your group keeps going back to? Youth leaders/pastors/directors and teachers, please SHARE! I’m always in the market for a good game or two that’s fresh and new (remember those New Year’s Resolutions?).