YOUTH WORKER'S IDEA STATION

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Games - Outdoor

SPLASH ATTACK

You'll need a field about as big as a football field for the maximum fun.  Tell the teens that they must bring their ammunition: as many water balloons as they can carry! If they do not bring water ballons, they'll have no weaponry.  (Give them at least one week's notice before this game).  SPLASH ATTACK is a variation of Capture the Flag.
Divide your group (any size) in two teams and the field into two territories. Each team has a flag they can place anywhere in their territory...as long they don't hide it and it is accessible for the other team. Each team may place up to 4 chairs, 2 tables and 1 ladder in their territory as shields.

The object is to get the other team's flag to your side without getting hit by a water balloon ball thrown from the other team. Referees' decisions are final, and hitting the referee - even by accident - puts three of the team's people in jail. If a player is hit with a balloon, he must go to a designated jail. The first team to capture the other team's flag is declared the winner. There will be three rounds of this game, so theteams must figure out how to ration their supplies.  Each round is usually five minutes long.

WATER GAUNTLET

You will get wet in this game!  Tell the teens they need to bring a bucket and sponges.  Each teen should bring a bucket and as many sponges he can get his hands on. Let the teens know the bigger the sponge the better. 

Mark out a lane  with a starting line and a finishing line  100 feet apart. Set up  5 obstacles that are large enough to be hidden behind:  a trash can, a table, or even an old sofa!   Put  the obstacles around the lane so those running can use them for shields.  Six people get a bucket full of water each and 10 sponges. These people are the "gunners".  One teen at a time will run the lane and stay as dry as possible.  The object of the game is to get from the start to the finish without getting hit by a wet sponge by hiding  from obstacle to obstacle....but each teen only has 30 seconds to run the course!  The gunners will try to hit the runners. Of course practically everyone will be soaked, but judges can decide who is the LEAST wet.

MISSILE RANGE
 
Divide your teens up into teams of five or six.  Tape off an area where the team must stand, and place a garbage can five feet away.  Each team is given 50 balloons.  There will be an adult scorekeeper at each team's area. On the word GO, the teens must blow up the balloon and then aim it and let it go, trying to get the balloon into the trash can.  Each team will be given one minute to get as many balloons into the can.  Points are awarded:  1 point if the balloon hits the trash can, and four points if it goes in.

FOODBALL

No, that's not a typo: it IS Foodball that you can play with the teens. Divide the teens into teams for a regualr two-hand touch game of football, complete with laying out field dimensions and goal lines. Your teens, however, will not have a regualr football but will play a game of football with fruit. Two good pieces of fruit you can alternate are bananas and oranges. (Soften up the oranges by squeezing them a few goof times before putting them in the game.) Every first down and third down, use a banana. Every second and fourth down, use an orange. On running plays, the teens must hand off after running 7 steps. No punts or kickoffs, though. Those are taken care of buy thwing them. Better have a stash of pieces of fruit on hand when the fruit gets too mashed up to use.

OUTDOOR WATER GAME: SUBMARINER

You will have two groups, the Submarines and the Destroyers. Your play area should be about the size of half a football field. Lay down about 50 to 100 water balloons across the play area. Pick three teens to be Submarines; they will start at one side of the play area. Everyone else is a Destroyer and is lined up on the other side. When you blow the whistle, the three Submarines run across the field, picking up as many water balloons as they can. TYhey will have a twenty second head start in picking them up. When you yell GO, the Destroyers on the other side will run out, picking up all of the rest of the water balloons in the field - they will throw them at the three Submarines. The Submarines can throw their waterballoons at anyone who is holding a water balloon, not anyone who doesn't have a waterballoon in hand. If a Submarine gets someone three times with a water balloon, that person joins the Submarines. This is a wild and quick game.

TARP WARS

You will need one tarp or thick sheet for each eight to ten teens in your youth group. Each group of teens gathers evenly around the sheet, in preparation of catching and throwing a water balloon. The youth leader starts the game by sitting on top of a ladder and dropping a small water balloon into one team's sheet. if they catch it, they get a bonus point. They then must throw it into a large trash can for a "basket." They receive three points if it goes in and one point if it strikes within ten feet. The youth pastor then goes to the next team and they also will try. After every team has a try, an adult leader is stationed next to each team. On the signal, the teams are given balloons to make as many tries in one minute as possible. The adult keeps "loading" them as the clock winds down, keeping score as well.

BLAST SOCCER

Here'a game that is quick and easy to play, yet filled with a lot of excitement. If you've ever played "Steal the Bacon" you will recognize the mechanics of this game.

Divide your teens into two equal teams and put them in two parallel lines facing each other. (It's best to play this on a basketball court so the lines are evident).
Count off members so that each team has a number 1, number 2 and so on. Tell the teens they may not leave the line until you blow a whistle. Place a soccer ball in the center and call two numbers. THEN blow the whistle. The teens whose number you called must then come out and head to the ball, trying to score a goal by kicking the ball past the opposite team's line. The teens left on the lines are "goalies" and can use hands and feet to stop the ball, but must stay on the line. If a line "goalie" catches the ball, he or she tosses it back to you for depositing in the center of the court. Teens who are in the middle trying to score must play by regular soccer rules, and any balls kicked over the heads of the "goalies" don't count Remember to call at least two numbers at any time, and be sure to mix 'em up. Sometimes you can even call three or four numbers. Once in awhile you can run a play with more than one ball.

TWIZZLER SCAVENGER HUNT

We recently heard of this one and think it's a great idea! Divide your teens into groups with an adult driver. Before you blow the starting whistle, give each group a pack of Twizzlers candy. They must then race the clock to measure things on your list in Twizzler lengths and record the results - first team back wins.
Here are some things they can measure -
1. The youth pastor's car
2. The line on a parking space
3. The front door of the local library
4. The circumference of a telephone pole
5. The height and width of a pay phone
6. The length of a Sports Illustrated magazine
7. All the way around a city bus or taxi
8. The circumference of the team's driver's head
9. Height of the city park basketball pole

COME UP WITH YOUR OWN MEASUREMENT CHALLENGES!

OUTDOOR GAME: Polar Control

You will have two teams, the Ice Blasters and the Snow Spies. The playing field must be roughly the size of a football field. The two teams each have possession of one half of the field apiece, and at the end of their territory they each have a zone known as Ice Station Zebra. For this first round, the Ice Blasters will each have a "weapon": a leg of nylon hose with a ball of flour stuffed into the leg.


The object: the Snow Spies must run through the Ice Blasters' side and reach the Ice Station Zebra without getting hit by someone's flour weapon. (The Blasters may not throw it, only sling it and keep hold) If a Spy is hit, he is sent to the "jail" known as the Igloo for the duration of the round.
After a three minute time limit, the number of "safe arrivals" are counted up and the teams switch the attack, and the Blasters will run through the Spies' territory. This is a running fun game and will become a popular outdoor treat with your teens!

THE CLASSIC SCAVENGER HUNT

You know how this is played. Have a big week of announcements to make it really exciting and even buy small trophies made up with cars on the top. MAKE SURE THAT ONLY ADULTS ARE THE DRIVERS.

Have a list of items that they have to get and give each team 1 hour to get as many items as possible and return. If they are late, they lose the point value of the most valuable item.

The list can be:
furniture ad from newspaper - 10 points
Burger King crown - 17 points
red comb or brush - 11 points
creamer from 7-11 - 8 points
a credit card application from Exxon, Mobil, or Arco - 8 points
McDonald's napkin - 14 points
Arby's Horsey sauce - 14 points
Taco Bell sauce - 14 points
empty oil bottle or can - 10 points
sticker with a cartoon character on it - 13 points
empty 2 liter bottle - 8 points
postage stamp - 13 points
signature of a policeman - 22 points

TECHNO-CARD RACE
BUSINESS CARD SCAVENGER HUNT:
For this you will need to purchase a delectable ice cream pie and have four bulletin boards placed in the Teen Room.
Teens will meet at designated time at the church. They are divided into teams with adult drivers. Envelopes are handed to them which they can only open once inside the automobile. When the team piles into the car, the envelope opened reveals the scavenger hunt list...but all of the objects retrieved must be business cards! The first team to complete the list and come back to the church and pin them on their bulletin board wins the prize ice cream pie and first in line for the refreshments.
Time limit is 45 minutes.
LIST OF BUSINESS CARDS NEEDED:
1. A business card with blue ink printing on it.
2. A Florist shop card.
3. An accountant's business card.
4. A clergyman's card or a church card...but not from your church!
5. A card from a pizza place.
6. A card from a bowling alley - with the manager's signature on the back.
7. A card from a police station - with an officer's thumbprint on it.
8. A personal business card that has a lipstick kiss on it.
9. A gas station business card with the current price for unleaded written on the back by the cashier.
10. A business card - different from the previous nine - that has either the letter Q, X, or Z printed on it.

TRACTOR PULL

This is a weight-lifting contest with a country twist. Get about 250 pounds of free weights - some in 5 pounds, some in ten pounds, some even in the two-pound area. Have a chair set up at the end of a "runway." Mark off a dirt path which will be about twenty feet long and three feet wide. Pick teen guys in teams of two who will then come up to the front one team at a time.
With a nylon rope, tie about twenty five pounds of the free weights together and have one boy sit on the chair with the rope fully extended, twenty-five feet away. The first boy must pull the weights towards him 12 feet (Mark the twelve foot distance in lime or spray paint) in order to qualify for the next round. The second boy merely holds the chair in place, or possibly even the first boy, for judges are watching to see if the first boy ever leaves his seat. If he does, the team is disqualified. Each complete pull is finished by the teen boys, then fifteen pounds are added. Same pull requirements, the next round adds fifteen more pounds. The teams are eliminated if the boy leaves the chair or if he cannot make the twelve foot pull within 20 seconds. Keep going until you have a winner. Then alternate - it's the girls' turn!
The contestants can use both arms to pull, they just have to stay in their seat. The second part of the team tries to keep them in their seat while the pull is going on.

STOMP

Actually, this game is good indoors or out. You will need at least one balloon for each teen attending. (Carry extra balloons.) The first competition is in seeing which teen can blow up his balloon the fastest and tie it onto his shoestring. REMIND THE TEENS THAT THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST HALF OF THE COMPETITION, so they don't break their balloon. After you award a small prize to the fastest teen, announce that the second half is in awarding a prize to the last person who has their balloon unpopped. When you blow the whistle, everybody can try to stomp other people's balloons in order to pop them. They may not reach down and grab the balloon - only pop them by stomping. They may not touch another person - only pop the balloon. This elimination game is a lot of fun.

OUTDOOR GAME: KNEE BALL

This is rough-and-tumble, and a good game for the fall weather! KNEE BALL is a regular tackle football game that pits the boys against the girls, except the boys are all on their knees. That's it! The Berean Christian school kids told me that it's a rough game, but it is great fun! Usually the boys avoid the passing game and have mostly running plays, but the handicap of being on their knees evens things out greatly.

MOB FOOTBALL

Here's a game that's great for large groups as well as small, because there is no limit to the number of players on the two teams!

You'll be playing on a marked football field. The team on offense will start at the 20-yard line and be given 4 downs (or for our international friends, "four tries") to score a touchdown. If they can't score in four downs, the ball goes to the other team.

Each play starts as the ball is hiked to the QB. The quaterback is then picked up and carried by the rest of the team down the field! The whole team locks arms together, and must stay joined. The defense starts each play back at their own on their 1-yard line, and when the ball is hiked, the defense also locks arms and runs togheter to the offensive team to try to dislodge any one of the offensive players from the rest of the team. When they are successful, the play is over, and the next down starts. If the offense dows not score, the defensive team becomes the offensive team and starts on their 20-yard line. Both teams must always be linked to their own teammates at all times or play stops.

CENTIPEDE SPRINT

Here's a great active game that requires teamwork! Divide your teens into two teams, and lay out a straight course with a start and finish line, about fifty feet away. Tell the two groups that this will be a massive team effort in a sprint to see which side is the fastest. However, the teens must go across the finish line TOGETHER like a centipede. The teens must line up with one person behind the other, in one direction, facing the finish line. At the word GO, the team players sit down and wrap their legs around the person in front and lock thier legs the best they can - this forms the body of the "centipede!" The team members then lift with their arms and begin to push the centipede toward the finish line. The teens' arms have actually become their "legs." If any part of the centipede breaks, the line must stop and reconnect. The first "centipede" must COMPLETELY cross the finish line with no breaks in order to be declared the winner. This game helps build great unity among the group, while being a fantastic photo opportunity.

RATTLESNAKE FOOTBALL

Make sure you play this game outdoors! Divide your youth group into two teams. One team will be defense and one will be offense. On a "football field" that you have designed, put the defensive team on the 5 yard line, and the offensive line on the 50 yard line. The offensive "snake" team will have four downs to score a touchdown before the defensive team takes over and goes in the other direction. Here's how it works:

Arrange each team's teens into a line and have each teen wrap their arms around the waist of the person in front of them, forming a long chain. Stick a red handkerchief in the back pocket of the last person. The red handkerchief is the "football" for the offense. The defense will have a blue handkerchief tucked in the back pocket of the person who is last in line. The goal is for the front person of the defensive snake to get the "football" of the offense, while anyone in the ofensive snake can try to reach out and grab the blue handkerchief of the defense, thus allowing the offense an automatic touchdown. Both snakes try to avoid getting caught. The snakes trade times that they are offense and defense. The offense, obviously, is trying to march the "football" across the goalline, while the defense is trying to get the handkerchief while protecting its own tail.

CELL PHONE SCAVENGER HUNT

Your kids will be driving in groups with an adult leader, looking for items, with one exception to the old game: it's completely dependent upon a cell phone. When the teens leave the building for the first item, they have a card that tells them what to find. However, after that first item, they must then call the church and ask YOU what the next item is. If the teams get a busy signal, they'll just need to "wait in line" until you give instructions for the next item! You, as the youth leader, are in COMMAND CENTRAL, sitting by the phone with a list in your hand. Only when they find the previous item are they to go to get the next item on your list. This should run exactly one hour. Some items to find are:

the price of bread at the convenience store
a trademark paper napkin at a local ritzy restaurant
one Dunkin Munchkin
a Burger King drink cup
a receipt from Pizza Hut

ALPHA GROUP

You'll need a free-standing ladder and a megaphone (or at least a loud voice).

This is a GREAT team building game.

DIVIDE YOUR TEENS INTO TWO OR THREE GROUPS. GIVE THEM A DESIGNATED SPOT, SUCH AS A TAPED-OFF SQUARE THAT COULD FIT ALL OF THEM IN. CLIMB ON A LADDER OVERSEEING THE WHOLE PLAYING AREA. CALL OUT A LETTER OF THE ALPHABET AND GIVE THE TEAMS A DESIGNATED AMOUNT OF TIME IN WHICH TO FORM THE LETTER. START THE FIRST THREE LETTERS WITH A 45 SECOND LIMIT, THEN GO DOWN PROGRESSIVELY TO 35 SECONDS, 30 SECONDS, AND CONCLUDE WITH TWO LETTERS AT A 25 SECOND LIMIT. THEY ARE TO HOLD STILL WHILE YOUR PANEL OF JUDGES DECIDES WHICH LETTER HAS BEEN CREATED BEST. ANY MOVEMENT AFTER THE TIME LIMIT WHISTLE IS BLOWN RESULTS IN FORFEIT OF POINTS FOR THAT ROUND.
BE SURE TO STATE THAT ALL THE LETTERS ARE TO BE CAPITAL LETTERS AND THAT ALL LETTERS FORMED SHOULD FACE YOU.

DRIVE BACK
Here is an energetic game without the brutality that can scare a lot of teens away from playing. It is played on a soccer or football field. The only sports equipment you need is a football. The goal of the game is to kick or throw the ball and eventually try to get the ball to fall into your opponents endzone without them catching it in the air. The safe thing about this game is that although is is incredibly active, there is absolutely no contact.

Divide your teens into two teams. One side will kick or throw the football from the 20 yard line or thereabouts. The other team will try to catch the ball. Anyone on the opposing team can catch it. If they catch it in the air, they can advance seven steps before kicking or throwing it back. If they do not catch it, they must kick or throw it from where they are. Remember, each time you get the ball, you are sending it right back.. You are trying to drive the other team back into their own end zone!

If a team is able to kick or throw the football into the other team's end zone where that team cannot catch it (it was kicked past the end zone or they dropped it) then the kicking team gets 6 points.

The key is in catching the ball and getting those extra seven steps each time while your opponents cannot. You keep trying to kick or throw the ball "where they ain't" so that they have to deliver the ball back to you without any steps. Those steps add up! Each score is six points. The first team to reach 30 points wins the game. This game can get going pretty fast as the teams race to catch and deliver the ball quickly enough to throw off the other team.


Here's an idea for a full-blown activity: SLOP DAY!

Before you click to another page, thinking, "it's too much trouble," may I say that in doing this event and being with other groups having a Slop Day that this is one of the biggest group-builders you can do. Look, if you're all dirty, all the inhibitions fall! I've never seen it to fail.

BRIEFLY, HERE ARE THE IDEAS. YOU ADD THE DETAILS, OR WRITE ME AND I'LL HELP YOU OUT.

1. Get a back corner of someone's lot (church or otherwise) and dig a mud pit - about five feet long, four feet wide and about two feet deep. Your main game will be Mud Pit Tug of War. You can buy a nylon rope (recommended) by the foot at Lowe's or Home Depot.

2. Have an ice cream eating contest. One bowl for each of five contestants. They have two minutes. Award the winner.

3. By the way, the top prizes are bars of soap.

4. Make an obtacle course with hay bales. Use a lot of tunnels where people belly through. One of your adults should be near the end to drench them through a tunnel with a bucket of water.

HERE ARE SOME GOOD GAMES THAT COULD EITHER BE ICEBREAKERS OR A GAME. HAVE AN UNUSUAL PRIZE, LIKE A BAG OF KIT-KATS OR A TWO-LITER OF COKE.

1. SPEED RACE: contestants must peel an orange wearing boxing gloves. They have one minute maximum.

2. FACE OF STEEL: contestants must eat a whole lemon without making any faces. (Believe it or not, I had two teens who could do this without flinching.)

3. TAKE THE HEAT: contestants take sample crackers with progressively hotter tabasco sauce. You might substitute Buffalo Wings for the crackers. Our kids loved this one.

4. COORDINATION: Duct tape two coke bottles (20 oz size) side-by-side and have a drinking race between two teens. The teens will forget you need suction to drink a Coke, and the double openings make it impossible. Get a camera for this one.

this was MONDAY'S IDEA:

Let's deal with the grand game of VOLLEYBALL and some new ideas to spice up the game! Most youth leaders have a love/hate relationship with the game:

It's easy to set up

It's quick and exciting.

BUT

It scares the weaker kids.

Someone tries to slam and pull down the net.

...you know what I mean. So...let's add some new twists that will make it fun for everybody. Here are some tips to try...all of them have worked for us.

1. Use a Beach Ball. Spiking becomes a non-entity, and it is funny watching a"slow-motion" game.

2. Use a GIANT Beach Ball and have everyone sit while they play. Lower the net to four feet off the ground. Nobody make rise from a sitting position. This one is a favorite of our teens. The giant beach balls may be ordered through some catalogues, but they are worth it.

3. Instead of the dull routine of "earning a serve," let each side serve five times, just like in Ping Pong. Each play earns a point for one side, no matter who serves. Play to 30 instead of 15.

4. On every third play, make that exchange worth TWO points instead of one point. This adds a real twist.

5. Or, you may want to play to 100 points. How? Every time someone touches the ball during the volley, it's worth one point. In other words, if a volley saw the ball batted 30 times, the team that won that volley gets 30 points. This causes a lot of excitement and high tension. Even adults like this game.

GOT AN IDEA ON SPICING UP VOLLEYBALL? SEND ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND I'LL PRINT 'EM WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS.

HERE WAS LAST FRIDAY'S LIST OF GREAT OUTDOOR GAMES:

TRACTOR PULL
This is a weight-lifting contest with a country twist. Get about 250 pounds of free weights - some in 5 pounds, some in ten pounds, some even in the two pound area. Have a chair set up at the end of a "runway." Mark off a dirt path which will be about twenty feet long and three feet wide. Pick teen guys in teams of two who will then come up to the front one team at a time.
With a nylon rope, tie about twenty five pounds of the free weights together and have one boy sit on the chair with the rope fully extended, twenty-five feet away. The first boy must pull the weights towards him 12 feet (Mark the twelve foot distance in lime or spray paint) in order to qualify for the next round. The second boy merely holds the chair in place, or possibly even the first boy, for judges are watching to see if the first boy ever leaves his seat. If he does, the team is disqualified. Each complete pull is finished by the teen boys, the fifteen pounds are added. Same pull requirements, the next round adds fifteen more pounds. The teams are eliminated if the boy leaves the chair or if he cannot make the twelve foot pull within 20 seconds. Keep going until you have a winner. Then alternate - its the girls' turn!


CONVICT ESCAPE
This relay involves couples. Divide the family into two teams. On each team, a volleyball is placed between the two players, just above the belt line as the couple stands back-to-back. The volleyball is the "bank loot." The couples are then lightly tied with a rope wrist to wrist on only one wrist only. Make the tying into a "bunny ears" bow - that way, if they fall, the rope will let go. The rope is the "handcuff."
The story is told that their have been two breakouts at local jails and stolen money has been taken during the breakout. However, the money is being relayed to a central point. Each couple must "relay" the "loot" down the court and past the "tollbooth" (actually a chair) without dropping the "loot" or breaking the "handcuffs." The first team to finish the relay wins a bag of Nestle's $100,000 candy bars - the "treasure!"

BASKETBALL ALL STAR COMPETITION

It's not exactly what you think! You are not just throwing the ball in the middle of the court and letting the teens have a go at it...this is a team effort that will nevertheless get everyone involved.

First of all, you will have a 45 second Team Three Point Shoot. Place three teens on the perimeter of the three point line. These are the shooters. They may move about freely as long as they are behind the three point line.

Place three teens inside the three point area. These are the rebounders. They may run anywhere in order to get a rebounded shot back to one of the shooters. Set the timer for 45 seconds. Count each shot as three points.

Notice this: you have six teens involved in every round. The teens do not have to be physically superior either.
For added flavor to the night's activity, have a free throw shooting contest. Have a maximum of five guys and five girls enter. Each one gets ten shots from the foul line. Before they start their "official" ten, let them have two practice shots. Then, as they start, tell them that if they get ten in a row, you will double the first place prize pot. (Example: two McDonald's gift books instead of one, or two Whoppers instead of one.) In eight years of this competition, I have never had anyone get ten in a row, but it has been close! Everyone starts cheering and getting excited to see whether the teen will get the perfect score.
With these two games you have an organized and controlled round of play that involves one of the most popular of today's sports with teens: basketball. By the way, referee's shirts and whistles go a long way in this one, too.

BASKETBALL WALLOP

If you meet in a gymnasium or have access to a full basketball court, try BASKETBALL WALLOP. Divide the group up into two teams. Pick five guys from each team to start the game (substitutions are allowed) on the court. They will be playing regular basketball. The only exception is, you have also allowed five girls from each team to get on the court as well. They will be the defensive players in the game - using pillows! Allow the girls to bring pillows that night. Be sure to check them for any hard packing, so as not to inflict serious damage to any of the guys! The girls must stay on their end of the court, but each time the guys come down to try a score, the girls can let 'em have it! This produces hilarious results, if not a low-scoring game. Let the game go on for about ten minutes.

BIG SACK RACE

Head on over to a landscaping business, a home and garden store, or a paint factory and obtain some of their used 500 lb. sand sacks. These sacks will contain sand for the business...they will let you have them for free most of the time. Cut the sacks in half and you have sacks big enough to hold three teens at once for a good ol' sack relay race!
The usual one-person-to-a-sack is funny enough, but to get three teens in one bag, trying to coordinate their jumps - ! You better bring out the camera for this one. There will be a lot of thrills and spills in this multi-person sack race!

SELECTIVE TUG


Everyone knows you need to be outdoors and you need a lot of room whenever you play the grand old favorite "Tug of War." There are exceptions, though. On a rainy day, desperate thinking brought up this new angle:
Start with the two teams but have them select specific people for the following rounds -1. Four girl tug 2. Four guy tug 3. Two guy and two girl tug 4. Two guy tug 5. Two girl tug 6. One girl tug 7. One guy tug
Limited space is no problem. I would suggest you get a nylon rope. (You can purchase any length at Home Depot.) If a person is involved in one tug, they may not be used for another tug. This will get the strategic juices flowing in both groups.

HEADLIGHT SOCCER

Here is a game that is great even in cold weather. If you have willing parents and adult staff, you can have a blast out in an open field. First you will need a volleyball or a Nerf Ball, so when the ball is kicked against a car there is no damage. Secondly, you will need to find an open field (about half the size of a football field) for your game. Third, you want a good, strong referee's whistle.
This is an evening, in-the-dark game! Before the game, all available cars are to surround the area and face inward, turning their lights on. The two soccer goals consist of a row of four chairs at each end of the field. There is no goalie and nobody uses their hands. Nobody can be closer than ten feet to the "goals." Hitting the chairs is one goal; knocking over a chair with the ball equals two goals!
At the start of the game, divide your teens into two teams. You toss the ball high in the air to start the game, rather than the standard soccer game. Now, both teams should consist of both guys and girls. Starting off, everyone is playing. But you have forewarned the teens that when you blow the whistle once, all girls are to stop where they are. The guys play while the girls stand still.

If you blow the whistle in two short bursts, the guys must freeze and the girls play the ball. If you blow three bursts, everyone plays at once. Throughout the game (consisting of ten minute halves) you may keep blowing different sets of whistle combinations: one, three, two, one, two, three...and different groups will be freezing and springing into action. The unusual lighting and the unique "start, stop" type of play make this a favorite.

FLAMINGO BALL

The boys will play the girls in this two-hand touch football game. Only thing is, the boys must play the game on one foot while having the other foot firmly held in their hand! The girls can demolish blocking when they have this advantage. And the boys can only pass and catch with one hand! Regular football rules apply. You might want to use a Nerf Football for this game. Have referees available for whistle calls and to add the "official" look to the game.

NFBL

It stands for National Football/Baseball League. You will be playing on a baseball field but you will be using a Nerf Football. Instead of having a pitcher pitching the ball to the batter, the batter kicks the Nerf Ball from a tee. No fielders may be closer than the pitcher's mound, and every batter must kick it at least as far as the pitcher's mound. Since the ball is a Nerf Football, even your weakest players will get a good boot out of this ball. When the fielders get the ball, they play it as if it's baseball, except of course there are no gloves. It's a forward pass to first base to try to get them out!
If a ball is kicked in the air and is caught, it's an out. A runner cannot be hit with the ball, only tagged. Double plays are a riot to watch. If a kicker cannot get the ball beyond the mound, it is a foul ball, but if they do it again, they are out. There are four outs to a side. Every run scored is a TD = six points.

POOL OLYMPICS


This will be a great activity as the weather continues to stay hot. You will need to have access to a pool... it's best if it has a diving board. You will also need at least four inner-tubes.
Start off with a "warm up" relay race where the teens will be divided into teams. You will first announce the prize for winning the whole activity's worth of games - Give them something like getting first stab at the refreshments as well as extra Pepsi drinks - 1 per person. The relay race is simply rolling the inner-tube straight down to a post twenty feet away and then coming back. Both teams will be trying to go around the same post! There might be some fun collisions. Award the winning team 100 points, the losing team 50 points.
Then take the whole group to the pool. The next contest is an inner-tube balancing contest. Take a three guys and three girls from each team. Get your stopwatch out, because this will be going down to the tenths of a second! Put the inner-tube in the water and let the contestant - one at a time - get on the tube and stand up. Once you see they are in the upright position, blow the whistle and start the stopwatch. To give you an idea, a good balance may last ten seconds, but the usual teen will flip off in about three to five seconds - and when they lose it, the fall is worth a picture or two. Give 120 points for the longest guys' time and 120 for the longest girls' time...second place gets 75 and third gets 50.

Finish out the competition with a belly flop contest off the board. You will be amazed at the SPLAT you can get. Have five judges with Olympic signs giving 9.5, 8.6, etc. to each flop. Give the first place flop 100 points, second place 85 points, and 70 to third place.
If you still have time, run a Biggest Splash contest, with the same points given for the winners as in the Flop


Spirol, Spinning Horizontal Line

DRIVE BACK

Here is an energetic game without the brutality that can scare a lot of teens away from playing. It is played on a soccer or football field. The only sports equipment you need is a football. The goal of the game is to kick or throw the ball and eventually try to get the ball to fall into your opponents' endzone without them catching it in the air.

Divide your teens into two teams. One side will kick or throw the football from the 20 yard line or thereabouts. The other team will try to catch the ball. Anyone on the opposing team can catch it. If they catch it in the air, they can advance seven steps before kicking it back. If they do not catch it, they must kick it from where they are.

Remember, each time you get the ball, you are sending it right back... You are trying to drive the other team back into their own end zone!

The key is in catching the ball and getting those extra seven steps each time while your opponents cannot. You keep trying to kick or throw the ball "where they ain't" so that they have to deliver the ball back to you without any steps. Those steps add up! Each score is six points. The first team to reach 30 points wins the game. This game can get going pretty fast as the teams race to catch and deliver the ball quickly enough to throw off the other team.

BIG SACK RACE

Head on over to a landscaping business, a home and garden store, or a paint factory and obtain some of their used 500 lb. sand sacks. These sacks will contain sand for the business...they will let you have them for free most of the time. Cut the sacks in half and you have sacks big enough to hold three teens at once for a good ol' sack relay race!
The usual one-person-to-a-sack is funny enough, but to get three teens in one bag, trying to coordinate their jumps - ! You better bring out the camera for this one. There will be a lot of thrills and spills in this multi-person sack race!

T-SHIRT STUFF

Arrange for four T-shirts to be brought in - the biggest ones your teens can find! Tell them the bigger the T-shirt, the better their chance of winning.
At the meeting, have a teen put the T-shirt on and tuck it in his pants. On the signal, teens are to blow up small balloons that are approved by the adults ( you don't want them making small balloons that are no good. They must be a minimum size of six inches.) It's best that each team gets a small person for this contest. Have three or four stuffers for each team. On the whistle, the teams blow up the balloons, tie them and stuff them into the person's T-shirt. Who can stuff the most balloons into their teammates T-shirt? Make this a 100 second time limit. Take pictures of this one!

Teens vs. Staff in
PLUNGERBALL!

Staff takes on youth in a softball game - but instead of a softball, it's a tennis ball! Instead of a bat, use a tennis racquet and a plunger. Plunger hits are worth double. For an interesting twist, make it four outs and five bases.

Would you do me a favor? If you play a game and it works well, drop me a line!
bradzockoll@hotmail.com

A bicycle; Actual size=130 pixels wide

T-SHIRT NIGHT

Gather and borrow as many large T-shirts as you can possibly round up for this night. Have your staff go and get boxes of T-shirts. When the teens come in for the activity, start off with this competition: divide them up into teams and give them ten minutes to them to put on as many T-shirts as they possibly could! One Wisconsin home school parent told me that one of his boys wore 60 T-shirts and fell down - and couldn't get up!