Christian youth camp games are a great pastime for all to enjoy. Not only can you play them at camp with friends, but also at youth events. These games have been around for a long-time and can be played in many different variations. If you play these games with your youth, it can be great to let them take the leadership role in guiding the group about how to play the game, what rules to use, etc. This can be a great way to build their self-esteem and let them know how it feels to lead others. Check out these ten fun Christian youth camp games below that you should try at your next camp outing or youth event.
1. Capture the Flag
An absolute favourite game of Christian youth camps (definitely ours!) is Capture the Flag. This game can be played indoors or outdoors and benefits from a large space to run around. Both sides will play as a team protecting the flag and trying to get the opponent’s flag. Each round, whichever team retrieves the opponent’s flag and brings it back across the line is declared the winner. Additional rules include:
- When you are tagged on the opponent’s side, you must go to their “jail” and can only go free if one of your teammates who isn’t tagged runs into the jail.
- People guarding the flag must stay at least 30 feet away from the flag.
- Optionally if your space is big enough, you can have a “no man’s land” in the middle where both teams can be, and neither team can tag each other there.
2. Minute to Win It
Minute to Win It is a perfect game with so many variations available for youth camps and groups. We have run many at Guelph Bible Conference Centre for many different camps, youth camp, day camp, family camp, and more. Minute to Win It offers a variety of options ranging in set-up time from super quick to a few minutes. Minute to Win is done by dividing individuals or groups into teams and performing a series of “mini-games.” The winner is the team that wins the most mini-games in the series. Here are some great examples of Minute to Win It games:
- See which team can sort a shuffled deck of cards the fastest.
- Time how long a team member can keep up three balloons without letting them touch the ground or the wall, only using their hands.
- Tape a box of tic-tacs to the end of a ruler. Put the ruler in your mouth and nod your head to get all the tic-tacs out. The person that can do this the quickest wins.
- Use a bunch of plastic cups to stack in a pyramid shape. Whoever can stack the design and then put all the cups back together first wins.
- Cookie on the face is another favourite. Place a cookie on an individual’s forehead, and they must now move the cookie from their forehead to their mouth and eat it. They cant use their hands and must only use their face muscles or by moving their head.
3. Limbo
A Christian youth camp favourite, Limbo is a fun game of physical strength and agility. Players form a line while standing under a stick with the lowest point about knee height. One person starts walking forward under the stick. The stick gets lowered periodically, and if it is touched as you try to go under it, you are eliminated.
4. Water Balloon/Egg Toss
A Water Balloon/Egg Toss is a super easy to set up youth game. You can either use a water balloon or an egg. You partner up and stand across from each other. They must pass/throw the egg back and forth once. After this is completed, they take a step back. This continues till only one person is remaining. You are eliminated when your egg or water balloon breaks. Alternatively, you can make this more challenging by making participants stand stationary and not move their feet.
5. Obstacle Course
This game can be played inside or outside, but open space is needed. The course must have obstacles to crawl through, walk over, balance on, etc. Try using some household items like chairs or boxes in place of the more difficult ones. On ‘Go!’ everyone attempts the obstacle course at once, trying to reach the end while abiding by any rules that have been set for the course. The player to finish first wins! Usually, obstacles courses can be played with full teams. Once one member goes through, they can tag the next member to do the obstacle course or complete a different part of the obstacle course. Here are a few ideas for obstacles to get started.
6. SPUD
A simple game that only requires a ball and some outside space. You will need a group of youth and a field or big gymnasium and a ball. Everyone stands close together, and then the leader designates one person to catch the ball. The leader then yells “SPUD” and throws the ball high in the air. Everyone else runs as far away as possible. The person who was designated catches the ball, and everyone must freeze. The person with the ball gets three big steps to try and close the gap between them and the rest of the group. They then throw the ball, and anyone they hit is “out.” The group then comes back together, and a new person is designated to catch the ball. This continues until there is one person left.
7. Tug of War
Tug of War is one of the most underrated youth games around. It’s easy to set up and brings a super fun, and competitive atmosphere…not to mention everyone is tired after playing it. Tug of War is done by having a large rope and placing a tape or marker in the middle. Two teams line up on either side and pull the rope. The team that is pulled across the line loses. There are lots of fun variations you can do for this:
- Guys vs Girls
- Only using one hand
- Youth vs Leaders
- One side starts with an advantage
- One vs one
8. World Records
A cool game is World Record. You aren’t trying to break any world records, although you can try and research which ones could be broken. World Record can be done by creating weird challenges and seeing who in the group can complete it the quickest, throw it the farthest…etc. Here are some examples:
- Farthest balloon throw
- Biggest feet
- Loudest clap, snap, or whistle
- Fastest time to drink a water bottle
- Longest time to not blink
9. Counsellor Hunt
A spin on the classic “hide-n-seek” game, Counsellor Hunt is simply the counsellors who hide and the youth who look for them. When the youth find a counsellor, the counsellor gives them a note saying that they found them. The winner is the team that found the most number of counsellors hiding (only one note per team). This is a great game that is fun for both counsellors and youth.
10. Inflatable Tube Steal
A favourite at GBCC is stacking inflatable tubes on top of each other and running a series of game variations based on them. One popular one is dividing the Youth group into 4 even teams, one on each side of the tubes. Each player is assigned a number starting with “1” on each team. Numbers are then proceeded to be yelled out by the leader (i.e…”1,4,7″). These players must run and retrieve as many tubes as possible and bring them back to their side, the team with the most tubes after all the tubes have been brought to a side wins. Note: you sometimes have to call the round earlier if there is only one tube left and no one can pull it to their side.
Which is your favourite?
Tell us in the comments which one is your favourite or which game you are going to try out next. Also, if you have never been to a GBCC Youth Camp, you should sign up to experience many of these games and more!
