The Tables Have Turned

What you need: A lot of space, 15+ tables, Blu-Tack

Cost: Free

The tables are put out all over the room, and a piece of Blu-Tack is put on one end of each table. The group are divided into 2 teams. One team is placed on the left side of the room, and the other on the right side of the room. When you shout ‘THE TABLES NEED TURNING’ the teams must turn the tables so that the dot of Blu-Tack is on their side of the room.

This game gets rambunctious fast, so it’s best to lay out some ground rules, e.g. no grabbing tables that a member of the other team is turning, no hovering by tables that are being turned, no moving the Blu-Tack.

After a while, the leader shouts out ‘THE TABLES HAVE TURNED,’ and the teams must return to the sides of the room while the leader counts up whether there are more Blu-Tack dots on the left or right hand side of the room.

THE TEAM WITH THE MOST BLU-TACK DOTS ON THEIR SIDE OF THE ROOM ARE THE WINNERS!

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Ice Ice Baby

Things you need: Lots of ice, some bowls

Cost: Free if you make the ice yourself, under £5 if you buy the ice

Each player is given a bowl of ice. They put their hand into the bowl of ice and keep it there for as long as possible. Possibly play ‘Ice, Ice, Baby’ by Vanilla Ice while the game is being played.

THE WINNER IS THE PERSON WHO HAS HIS/HER HAND IN THE ICE LAST!

Warning: If it gets to like 5 minutes and hands have started to go blue, call an end to the game and declare it a draw. We don’t want frost bite in our youth group.

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Safari Race

Things you need: nothing

Cost: Free

Divide everyone into 2 teams. Each person must choose an animal (you can’t have more than 1 of each animal, so it’s best to make let each person choose one at a time).

Once everyone has chosen their animal, they are told that they must race each other 2 at a time across the room, in the style of the animal they have chosen. Each team nominates who will race 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc...

The aim of the game is to beat whoever you are racing, but the real fun is for everyone watching each person’s interpretation of how they think their animal would race (some of the best animals have been: eagle, tortoise, sloth, squid & t-rex), This game give new life to the phrase “it’s not the winning, but the taking part which counts.”

THE WINNERS ARE THE TEAM TO COME FIRST IN THE MOST RACES

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Shoes and Socks Off

Things you need: nothing

Cost: Free

Shoes and socks off is similar to British Bulldog. Each person leaves 3 items of (appropriate) clothing at one end of the room (shoes, socks, cardigans etc.) and stands against the wall at the other end. One person stands in the middle. After the middle persons shouts out “shoes and socks off!” everyone must run past them, grab an item of their own, put it on and run back to the other side without getting tagged. If they are tagged by the middle person, they join them.

The game continues until either everyone is caught, or someone manages to get all their items of clothing back on.

THE WINNER IS THE FIRST PLAYER TO GET ALL OF THEIR CLOTHES BACK ON AND TO SHOUT “SHOES AND SOCKS ON!”

Peace & love,
Nigel x

The Frozen T-Shirt Game

Things you need: some old t-shirts

Cost: Free

To prepare for this game, take your t-shirts, soak them in water, scrunch them up into balls, pop them (separately) into freezer bags and leave in the freezer overnight. Divide your group into teams of about 3-4 people. Each team is provided with one frozen t-shirt, and it is a race to get the t-shirt on. This is achieved by smashing the t-shirt on the ground, pulling at it, shoving it under armpits and (sometimes) breathing on it.  This is best played outside in the summer.

THE TEAM TO HAVE THEIR T-SHIRT ON ONE OF THEIR PLAYERS FIRST IS THE WINNER!

Warning: It might be necessary to emphasise to your youth group that peeing on the t-shirts is unacceptable.

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Where’s Nigel?

Things you need: Nothing

Cost: Free

My youth group played this game one week when I was at a conference. The young people did not know that I was away, and the other leaders told them that it was a game – I was hiding somewhere in the building or grounds, and it was up to them to find me. Obviously they were unable to find me, but looked for a good 20 minutes before they gave up. In other youth groups, obviously change the name of the game, unless your name is Nigel too.

THE YOUTH LEADERS ARE THE WINNERS!

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Lost in Space

Things you need: a darkened room (preferably with stuff in it)

Cost: Free

One member of the youth group is selected to be the missing astronaut, and to goes into the room and hides. This can be done whilst the lights are still on. The lights are then turned off, and the other astronauts are sent on a quest to go and find him/her in the dark depths of space. Depending on the skills of the hider, this can take anything between 2 minutes and 10 minutes.

THE PLAYER WHO FINDS THE MISSING ASTRONAUT FIRST WINS!

Peace & love,

Nigel x

Let Them Eat Cake

Things you need: some medium sized cakes

Cost: <£5

The youth group should be divided into teams of 4-5. You should have bought enough cakes to have one cake for each team. You can buy value Victoria Sponges cheaply in most large supermarkets. Bear in mind when you buy your cakes whether there are any nut/dairy/gluten allergy sufferers in your group. When you say ‘go’ the teams must race to be the first to eat their cakes (no utensils are to be provided. Cakes must be eaten ‘caveman style’).

THE TEAM WHO FINISHES THEIR CAKE FIRST WINS!

Peace & love,

Nigel x

The Frozen Peas Game

Things you need: cups, frozen peas, kitchen scales (optional)

Cost: 80p

Divide the group into teams. Give each member of your youth group a cup. Take your bag of frozen peas, open it, and pour the peas on the floor. If you spin on the spot whilst you do this, the peas will spread out further. When you say ‘go’ the players have race to collect as many peas as possible in their cups.

When all of the peas have been collected (and you’ll need to check this if you meet in a hall where people might get upset at finding peas everywhere) measure out which team has the greatest amount of peas. This is when having a set of kitchen scales might be useful as you can easily prove which team has collected the most peas.

THE TEAM WITH THE MOST PEAS WINS!

Peas & love,

Nigel x

Welcome to Nigel's Games Blog

Hi, my name is Nigel.
When I'm not busy sleeping, preening myself or chasing squirrels, I enjoy creating new and exciting games for youth groups.

I thought it would be good of me to share them on the blogosphere, so that other cool cats such as yourself can use these games in their own youth groups.

I hope you find this blog useful and if you use any of these games I would love to hear your reviews!
If you're also a cool cat like me who likes to invent games and would like to share them on this blog, please message me. I like having friends and I like sharing. Well. I like sharing games. There are other things I prefer to keep to myself, such as snacks, blankets and my scratching post.

Peace & love,
Nigel x