I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM! It doesn't get much better than a whole night centred around the deliciousness that is ice cream. This theme night is a great treat for summer, but works equally well any time of the year.
Start by getting your group into teams, and get them to... See more

This classic egg catching competition is a great one for Easter!
Play in pairs. Each pair is given an egg that they must throw and catch between them without breaking.
Start 2 metres apart and with each successful throw, extend the distance they must throw between, until you have one pair... See more

This talk and small group discussion guide uses the process of bread-making to teach about spiritual practices and growing with Jesus the different seasons of life. You could use it as a follow on from the Bread of Life.
Note: If you don't have the resources or time to bake bread, you could... See more

Hold a Youth MasterChef competition, with the focus on getting into the kitchen and cooking up a storm. Get youth into teams and give them a cooking challenge for the night, e.g. cook an international dish, the best pancakes, or a fruit-based dessert. Bring in a panel of judges to pick the best... See more

Split youth into teams. They must choose someone to be the ‘birds nest’. The birds nest then gets a new hairdo of shaving foam on top of their head. The others are given cheese balls or marshmallows to try and land on their head from a certain distance. Whoever has the most ‘eggs’ when... See more

Teams line up side by side at point A. At point B, mark out three concentric circles for each team. The outer circle is worth 25 points, the inner circle is worth 50 and the centre circle 100. Players have to bowl three pumpkins into the circle to try and score for their team.
Keep a tally of... See more

For this relay game, teams line up at point A. At point B is a table with items of food set up for each player. Players run, eat an item, and then run back to tag another player. First team finished wins. Items can be nice... or not so nice! See more

An extremely messy game for indoors or outdoors. Split your group into teams, lined up single file. Each team chooses someone to be 'The Face’. 'The  Face' has to sit in a chair at the front of their team's line. Players must race into the designated playing area and find items to collect to... See more

Split youth into teams. The aim of this relay is to ‘transport’ whatever is to be transported from a container at point A to a container at point B, filling it to  the marked level first in order to be the winner. Teams must transport using whatever methods or objects you designate.
Teams... See more

Split youth into teams and assemble them side by side at the edge of the playing area. The object of the game is for each team to send out 2-3 people at a time  into the playing area to retrieve (in order) items assigned for making pudding. Make sure you have at least 5 or more ingredients (such... See more

Prepare some interesting food items beforehand and invite participants to take on the straight face challenge. Players must stand in a line facing the crowd, down the food item and try to keep a straight face the longest.
Food items can include wasabi spoonful, chilli sauce, lambs tongue,... See more

This challenge is pretty adaptable. Simply invite youth to participate and give each ‘eater’ something to eat the fastest. It could be a hot chilli, wasabi spoon, lambs tongue, bowl of chocolate pasta, baked beans - whatever you wish. You can always make a 3 course meal of it or... See more

Crank out the oven and pizza bases and make dessert pizzas.
The twist? Run team games around acquiring ingredients or even visiting people's houses to collect the toppings.
Great toppings include chopped fruit, chocolate, marshmallows, nutella, biscuits, ice cream, whipped cream,... See more

Teams line up side by side and must choose a member to be the ‘catcher’. The catcher's job is to lie on the ground and place a small cup on their forehead. The team must then take turns to race and fill the cup by standing on a high chair and releasing the toothpaste over their... See more

Arrange a table of nice and not so nice foods. Give each food a number from 1-6.
Each player roles a dice twice to see which foods they must blend.
Put the corresponding foods into a blender and give it to the youth to drink.
If they drink it down they win!
For another great... See more

Give each youth a dry Weet-Bix to eat. Youth have to stand in a row facing each other either playing as individuals or as teams. First to finish their dry Weet-Bix while staring out the person opposite wins.
Can also be played with multiple food items, saving the Weet-Bix for last. Also... See more

Arrange your youth in two lines so that they are standing facing each other. Give each person a new toothpick.
Challenge them to see which line can transport whatever item you present the quickest using only their toothpick in their mouth - no other assistance.
Great items to use... See more

Divide your group into two teams, and set up play within a rectangular area, and include some obstacles around the space.
Give each team 3-4 sturdy chairs that they must use to stay off the ground in order to collect or ’rescue’ items around the area. Items could include random... See more

Does your youth group love food? (What group doesn't?!) Here are a few ideas to use their love of food to bless their local community.
Does your church have a freezer of pre-prepared meals ready to go for families that have a crisis and need some time off cooking? If so, spend an evening with... See more

Get 4 volunteers up front and have them sit down facing the rest of the group. On a low table in front of each of the volunteers, have the ingredients for lemonade: half a lemon each, a tablespoon of sugar, and a glass of water.
Announce that this is going to be a race to make lemonade. When... See more

Three girls put a towel around three guys, sit them on their lap and feed them a baby bottle of fizzy drink. Then make them burp. The first guy to burp wins. See more

Prepare beforehand by spreading out plastic on your stage area. Try to find a place where everyone can see someone lying down.
Get 2-3 pairs to come up front. Have one partner lay down on the plastic and the other to stand above them with a small cup of chocolate syrup. The "dropper," standing... See more

A banana themed social event aimed at junior youth, ie 11-13 year olds. Timings given are approximate.
Banana Jokes
Kick off the night with banana jokes - the worse the better. We also told a banana joke in between each game, which they loved. For example:

• How do you... See more