All Editorial articles – Page 135
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BlogGross Games
It had to happen at some point; every now and then you want to play a game that is grosser than humanly imaginable. A game that you don’t want to tell your church leader about. A game that pushes your young people to the very precipice of human decency. A game where there is a very real chance of a young person rushing out of the room in a desperate attempt to to make it to the bathroom. Here are a few of those games…
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Blog
Ready-to-use Games + Icebreakers: Paper Plane games
Planes, Trains and Automobiles: not only a Christmas movie, but also a hint as to what this month’s games are all about. Apart from the trains bit – I haven’t included many games involving trains, or automobiles come to think of it. For these games you will need a plentiful supply of paper from which your group will make paper planes. See a website such as paperaeroplanes.com for ideas!
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IssuesIcebreaker games
For the first time I’m going to theme this column by the time of year (by that I mean the time of year this issue claims to be not the time you
actually get it). So let’s pretend it really is September as the front cover claims. Here is the Games Master back-to-school-icebreaker-
slash-get-to-know-you-type-games special! -
IssuesReady-to-use Games + Icebreakers: Phone Games
Young people today… always playing with their phones, aren’t they? You know, they’re always playing Cross the angry bird, posting pictures of curry on Insta-naan or checking their What Book. So in an attempt to put the hip back in ‘hip replacement’, all of this month’s games involve young people’s phones. That’s games with their phones, not games on their phones; this isn’t ‘Sit in a corner and ignore everyone.’
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IssuesParachute Games
There’s one prop that our children love more than any other – the parachute. There’s something about a giant piece of coloured material that screams fun. You can play all these games with a 3.5m parachute, but if you can get your hands on a 5m or a 7m one, that’s even better. There’s plenty of choice online so have a look and see what you can find, and what will fit in your room!
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IssuesReady-to-use Games + Icebreakers: Simple Games
In recent months this page has been taken over by water games, jelly games, games that need a lot of space, games that involve outer space, games involving sharks, games only to be played during an earthquake, games for people with three arms, games for people who know every element of the periodic table, horse games and, of course, ear wax games*.
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IssuesName Games
Does this scenario sound familiar to you: ‘I’m sorry, what was your name? Come again? Just one more time?’ And then it’s too embarrassing to ask them to repeat it for the 16th time. But this academic year things are going to be different. Yes, this year you’re going to get the name of everyone in your group right first time. How are you going to do that?
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games + Icebreakers : Water Games
The sun is shining (hopefully), the evenings are getting longer (well, not literally, they’re still the same length of time, but certainly lighter) and it’s time to relax and have some fun with your young people (unless they’re all cramming for exam season). This can mean only one thing: you need some water games.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Games + Icebreakers: Gelatinous Games
Welcome to a brave new era…our very own Jamie and Lloyd have taken over the games page in an attempt to find the weirdest and most fun games in the dark recesses of their minds. So what better way to start than with…games involving jelly.
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Issues
Ready-to-use games + Icebreakers: The last one
After a number of years writing the games column, this is my final compilation. So I wanted to make sure I left it all out there, and have included every possible game that I have ever come across / played / invented / blatantly stolen from lots of wonderful youth worker friends (for legal reasons I prefer the phrase ‘inspired by’). Here I present to you: the last ever bunch of games. Over and out!
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Issues
Toothpick Games
Have you ever brought resources for a youth group session, only to discover that you end up using only a small percentage of them, and now have to store the rest of them in your increasingly-space-precious youth-group-storage-area (i.e. your spare room)? This month’s column includes some ideas for what to do with all those thousands of spare toothpicks that you got for that one thing months ago.
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Issues
Teamwork Games
There comes a time when even the most skilled manipulator of group dynamics has to accept that the group could do with a little boost. A set of creative games can be a great way to work through some of these issues, or at the very least, show the dysfunctional nature of the group. Therefore, here are some teamwork games.
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Issues
'Other' Games
Having a connected theme across the games and the rest of the session can be a really helpful way to make introductions to big ideas and concepts. But sometimes, games can just be fun and have no real link to each other or the rest of the session. Here are some unrelated, just-for-fun, with no-real-point-at-all, games. You’re welcome.
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IssuesNostalgia games
Over the last few issues we’ve looked at games we played as kids which we shouldn’t nowadays. But was it really all doom and gloom back then? Did we just spend our childhoods flying kites into electric pylons? Of course not! So let me try and make amends with a column looking back at some of the great games from our youth. Time to get all nostalgic as we remember Opal Fruits, Panini sticker albums, four channels on the telly, Care Bears, non-X-Factor Christmas number ones, Marathon bars, Jackanory and Cabbage Patch Dolls
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IssuesOutdoor games
I don’t know about your church but let me be honest about mine – our halls aren’t great for games. So I’m keen to leave our buildings and play some games in the great outdoors as often as possible. Going outdoors can present its own problems, but let me encourage you to leave your buildings and go run around outside. To help with that, here are three great outdoor games that have worked really for us:
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IssuesGames for small numbers
In the last issue I focused on games that are suitable for the great outdoors: ones you can play when you have lots of kids and lots of space. But I know that there were some of you who, on reading the introduction to that column, would have thrown their magazine straight in the bin. (Metaphorically of course – it should actually go in the recycling.)
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IssuesYouth Work Lab: Gaming with young people
The gaming industry is huge. No longer a niche market aimed at those who enjoy it as a hobby on the side, it’s now an all-encompassing beast. With the development of smartphone technology, we can all carry a whole host of games in our pockets.
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IssuesRound table: The next generation
Throughout this issue we have heard from some legendary youth work veterans but we also want to listen to the youth workers of the future. So, we gathered six young leaders and picked their collective brains about where they thing youth ministry is heading…
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IssuesGeneration Z
Like a wriggling toddler, the culture and landscape of teenage life is incredibly hard to pin down, so what is life like for today’s young people? And what sort of adults are the 21st Century society creating? Tearfund’s Kiera Phyo takes a long hard look at Generation Z, and likes what she sees…
