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Salt & Light Company

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Outdoor Games
3D Kickball

Mentoring Program

This is a fast moving version of kickball for large groups. This

version enables everyone to get up to bat several times in a short
period of time. The concept is the same as kickball except that you
have three pitchers pitching to three kickers simultaneously. Once
you are on base you do not have to advance a base unless you want.
Therefore you can have several people on one base at a time. Instead
of there being three outs we make it nine outs before the next teams
gets up to bat. The defensive team can stand anywhere around the
playing field. Try it and modify it to suit the needs of your group.

Lighthouse Groups

Acid River

Alumni Database

Source: YMCA Camp High Harbour

Retreat Ministry Book

Age Group: Mid and Late Adolescents

Chaplain Dan Ponsetto

Take the group out in the woods, or anywhere suitable. Make sure
you have 3 coffee tin cans that are strong and sturdy as well as two
boards roughly 4 feet long and half a feet wide. Set down two ropes
about 10 to 12 feet apart. The object is to get everyone on the boards
or cans at the same time and then to get everyone off successfully
without anyone falling off and touching the ground with their feet - or
else they fall in to the imaginary "acid river." If one person falls off,
the whole group has to start over. This activity will build
communication skills, leadership skills and fellowship skills.

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Blob
The Blob begins innocently enough as a mere individual playing a
game of tag. As soon as she catches someone, she joins hands with
him. Now he's part of the Blob, too, and they both set out hand-inhand in search of victims. Everyone the Blob catches (only the
outside hand on either end of the Blob can snatch at players) joins
hands with it and becomes part of the lengthening protoplasmic chain.
And thus the insidious Blob keeps growing. Unlike your run-of-themill mad scientist created Blobs, this one is not content merely to
ooze along, seeking its prey. It gallops around the field, cornering
stray runners and forcing them to join up. (You'll have to agree on
boundaries for this game; some people will go to any lengths to avoid
meeting with an untimely end at the hands of the primordial slime).
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Moreover, the Blob can split itself into parts and, with its superior
communal intelligence, organize raiding parties on the lone few who
have managed to escape. The thrilling climax occurs when there's
only one player left to put up a heroic last-ditch stand on behalf of
humanity. But alas, there is no defense against the Blob, and
humanity succumbs. (If that seems unfair, well, that's the plot.)

Capture The Flag

Age Group: All Youth
Divide your group into 2 teams, you also need to divide your playing
area into 2 equal parts. (We use a field for the younger youth and the
entire camp ground for the older youth). Each team has to designate
an area to be used as a "jail" which can be guarded from 5 feet away.
Each team also has to hide their flag from the other team. If a player
from team A crosses onto Team Bs side, then a member of Team B
can tag the member of team A. The Team A member is then put into
jail. Players can also rush or storm the opposite by running over the
line to try and find the flag -- but if you get tagged -- off to jail you
go. People in jail can be rescued by their teammates if their teammate
makes it safely to jail. Once she/he does they lock arms with the
jailed teammate and walk back safely to the other side. They cannot
be tagged by their opponent if their arms are linked. Once a team
member has picked up the flag and stands still he/she can not be
tagged. Only when they begin to run can they be tagged out. Then
they must drop the flag where they were tagged and does not move
from that spot. After the opposite team's flag has reached it's
opponents side--the game is finished.
Centipede
* Source: The Outrageous Outdoor Games Book, page 97
Divide players into two teams. Mark the Start and Finish lines about
30 feet apart. Teams line up with one person behind the other, facing
the finish line. Next, players sit down and wrap their legs around the
person in front to form the body of the centipede. Players' arms
become the legs. When the leader says "Go," players lift with their
arms and begin to push the centipede toward the finish line. If players
become separated, they must try and reconnect. The winning
centipede must completely cross the finish line with all its players
connected

Dragon
Split the group into two parts. Get them into line and have them wrap
their arms around the waist of the person in front of them forming a
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long chain. Stick a rag or handkerchief in the back pocket of the last
person. The goal is for the front person of one group to get the "tail"
of the other, while the tail of the group tries to avoid getting caught.
Can be done indoors as well if you have enough room.

Electric Fence
Divide group into two teams. For each team, find two trees close
together. Take a length of rope and create a sort of web by cutting the
rope and tying sections together with duct tape. The teams must get
their entire team through the holes of this fence without being
"electrocuted" (touching the rope). First one to do so, wins. A great
activity that was a lot of fun!

Flicker
This is a great large group game for all ages. You need a large
playing field. Players should be spilt into two evenly matched teams
and go to different sides of the field. The game is played like
Ultimate Frisbee or Football Frisbee. You will need a volleyball
sized ball to play. The object is to score goals on the opponents
end. Players run up and down the field passing the ball between
teammates. The ball cannot hit the ground or it is given to the
opposing team. If the team without the ball intercepts, knocks down,
or blocks the ball from the offensive team it then becomes their ball.
The main rule is that they cannot maul the person with the ball.
There has to be four feet between the person with the ball and the
defender. Once a person catches the ball, he/she cannot run with it.
He has to pass. The team eventually scores by catching the ball in the
opponents endzone. Both feet must be in the endzone to score.
The game is then restarted from the midfield by the team who just got
scored on.

Four way soccer

Four teams are made up of 6 players each (this can be modified to
accommodate different sized groups). Each team needs one captain
and one goalie and each team is also assigned a color. Each team is
given a ball which is painted with their "team color." The goalie of
each team wears a belt with three flags of the "team's color." When a
goal is scored against a goalie, a flag is removed from the goalie's belt
and is given to the captain of the team which scored (indicated by the
color of the ball that went through the goal). The winner of the game
is the team that first receives a flag from every one of the other teams.
Because defense is as important as offense, the game can be played
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until all but one of the team captains has every color. I was thinking
of making each of the goals to represent gifts like "faith, hope, love
and charity" instead of using colors.

Iced Marbles Race

Form relay teams of 5-8 teens each (if teams get too large, the youth
get bored waiting their turn). For each team, put about 10-15 marbles
in a large plastic dishpan, then fill halfway to the brim with ice cubes.
Then set a smaller container, like a coffee can, next to the dishpan.
Set a chair in front of each dishpan, and have the teams line up facing
their chairs from the other side of the room (so they will be able to
see the person sitting there). Have each teen take off one shoe and
wait in their lines. On your mark, the first person from each team runs
up to the chair, sits down, and uses their bare foot to fish out a marble
and drop it in the can (they may not use their hands at all). When they
have done so, they run to tag the next person on their team to get
another marble. Play to see which team finishes first (if your teams
are not even, someone will need to go twice). It's a good idea to keep
several towels on hand for people to dry their feet. This game works
indoors/outdoors, and can be played any time of year - but is
especially refreshing on a hot summer day!
Movie Madness
Age Group: All Youth
Divide your group into teams. Give each team a video camera. An
adult or responsible teen can be chosen to film. Tell each team that
they have several hours to make their own movie. You can give them
a type of movie to make (Action, Sci-fi, comedy) - most will be
comedy, no matter what type is given. They are to come up with the
plot, write a script, and film the movie. The movies should be 30
minutes long. Then have them meet back to watch and eat popcorn.
Give bonus points for getting strangers involved, soundtrack, special
effects, etc. Give them as much or as little help as you want. For more
fun, allow no editing. These videos are great to show at parent
appreciation dinners or watchnight services.

Pantyhose Games
BANANA HOSE
Divide the teens into pairs
Give them one banana and half a pair of panty hose(i.e. one leg of
nylon)
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One puts the panty hose over their head

The other feeds the banana to them through the panty hose
The first team to finish the banana wins
[HINT: slowly works better as you have to strain the banana through
the panty hose]

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED FRESHMAN

Divide the teens into groups of three
Give them one pair of panty hose (with the toes cut out)
Give them lots of balloons (for them to blow up)-- same # of balloons
for each team
One student gets to wear the panty hose on his/her head, while the
other two blow up balloons and shove them down the two legs to
form Rudolph's "antlers" -- the first team to finish wins.
[HINT: don't blow the balloons up too big or they are difficult to get
down the legs of the panty hose]

Pac Man
This is a fun game for any age and it takes about 15- 20 minutes to
play. Choose two volunteers from the crowd. Have everybody else
pair up with a partner and link arms. Then after everyone has a
partner, have the partners spread out a little. Then choose one of the
volunteers to be Pac Man and the other to be the ghost. Hand the
ghost a hat or a towel. The object of this game is for the ghost to
touch Pac Man with the towel or hat. If the ghost does this then Pac
Man becomes the ghost and chases after the new Pac Man (old
ghost). There is a catch though. All these partners that are linked up
are Pac Mans helpers. At any time the Pac Man can link arms with
a pair of people. When this occurs the person that is on the far end of
the link releases and becomes the new Pac Man. For instance, there
is a pair 1 and 2. Pac Man comes along and links arms with partner
1. This means that partner 2 releases and becomes the new Pac Man.
This game continues until the leaders want to break it up. You can
also have 2 ghosts and 2 Pac Mans. The rule about this type of play
is that ghost 1 must chase Pac Man 1 and ghost 2 must only chase Pac
Man 2! Have fun!

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Sharks and Minnows

This game is good for all ages and it takes about 15-20 minutes.
Choose a volunteer from the group to be a shark. Then split the rest
of the group into two sections. One group lined up 100 feet away
from the other group, which is also lined up. The groups should be
facing one another and the shark should be in the middle. You should
also set up sideline boundaries to prevent cheating. When the sharks
says swim both groups run across to the other side trying not to get
tagged by the shark. If a person is tagged then he/she stops where
he/she is and stands still. Now they become the sharks helpers.
They cannot move their feet, but they can reach with their arms to try
and tag the other minnows (the people running across). Once
everybody is either across to the other side or tagged, then the shark
says swim again. The shark and his helpers tag more people. This
continues until there is one person left. This person becomes the new
shark. This is a great game to put in for a break from the retreat.

Soap Shrink
* Source: Quick Crowdbreakers and Games for Youth Groups (Group
Publishing) page 89
"Create in me a pure heart, O God" or other "cleansing" verses.
Good for any group size. Divide your group into any number of
teams. Give each team a large, new bar of soap. Provide one or more
kiddy pools filled with water -- enough pools so that one person from
each team has access to one. (**I used water buckets-- one for each
team**) On
"GO" have teams race to shrink their bars of soap without breaking
them. Team members will need to take turns furiously "washing their
hands" to shrink the soap. If a bar of soap breaks, it's disqualified.
(**I allowed them to start over with a new bar of soap and try to
catch up**) Call time after five minutes. The team with the smallest
bar of soap wins. (**This worked as an indoor game pretty well -although a little messy. But the clean-up was easy and fun with
mops**) Award hotel-size bars of soap to winning team members.
Take this a step further and add a brief study of Psalm 51:10
Tetherball Contact Dropout
Source: Serendipity Youth Ministry Encyclopedia, page 22
Age Group: Early and Mid Adolescents
Leader sits on the ground and swings a tetherball violently overhead
like a lariat as close to the ground as possible. Players join around in a
circle within range of circling tetherball. When the leader says "Go,"
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all players must move within radius of the tetherball circle and jump
the ball and rope as it circles under them. If a player is touched or
knocked down then they are out.

Tin Foot Two

Source: The Outrageous Outdoor Games Book, page 125
Age Group: Early Adolescents
On an open paved area, draw Start and Finish lines about 10 yards
apart. Divide the group into pairs. Players line up at the start line with
partners standing on three tin can stilts, sharing the middle stilt with
their inside feet. When the leader says, "Go," the pairs of players race
across the playground to the finish line. The first pair to cross the
finish line wins
Trout and Egg
Age Group: All Youth
Have guys pair up with girls and assume the "camel fight" position
(girls on guys backs). Each guy has a raw egg attached to his head
with masking tape. Each girl is given a raw trout (frozen trout kill
people). The object of the game is to break all of the other guys eggs
using only the trout. Last team without a broken egg wins.

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