Here’s a great group game that actively involves everyone and no one gets “out.” It also involves an element of juggling that anyone can do without practice. It is like large group hot potato juggling. Here’s how it works:
Have the group sit in a circle. You can do multiple circles if you want to and have each circle compete for speed in the game.
Start with one ball in the circle. I suggest a ball sized anywhere from a tennis ball to a volleyball. Hand it to a person that will be identified as the “starter.”
Give a “ready, set, go!” Then the starter person passes it to the person on their left (clockwise around the circle) and the ball must be passed around the circle in the style of hot potato. Everyone must physically handle the ball and physically pass it. If the ball skips a person, the facilitator must take the ball and re-start it at the point where it was last touched by a player. You can time the players to see how fast they can get it back to the starter player (kids LOVE this). You can also have multiple circles race against one another if you like.
So far, this is pretty much “hot potato” without the element of randomly halting it.
Now for the extreme version: Add more balls to the circle. The starter passes the first ball. Then count to five (or whatever number you like) and start the second ball. See how fast the group can successfully make a full revolution with both balls making it back to the starter (and every player has passed it).
Try this with three or more balls at the same time. The players have to stay focused on the next ball coming! Again, time the group or have multiple groups race against one another.
For a very challenging variation, try passing one ball clockwise and another ball counter-clockwise around the circle. Or do that with multiple balls in both directions. Add these challenges accordingly based on the average age and skill of the people playing the game.
I’ll warn you that it is very easy for the players to pass a ball and then “check out” no matter how many times you remind the players to look for the next ball coming. It is an interesting exercise in “juggling” multiple tasks at the same time. If you play the game, you’ll find that you will get distracted by watching other balls and then you’ll miss one of them coming your way.
I like to use this game as a way to introduce the idea of juggling to groups in a way that everyone can quickly learn. It is fun and there will be a lot of frustration and a lot of laughter. Enjoy!
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Are you looking for some ideas for the bring me game? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve got both free and for-purchase options. Read on….
Maligayang pagdating sa lahat ng aking mga kaibigan sa Pilipinas!
(a message to my friends in the Philippines)
The Bring Me! Slideshow
I created a slideshow of the Bring Me! game so that you can project the game on a screen for your party. There are 20 unique objects or commands (some not in the list below) with lots of pop and color to make your event as fun as possible! Only $5!
Purchase the full game slideshow at Deeper KidMin by clicking here or click the large image below. You get 20 colorful rounds of the game plus instructions so you can have a great party! The slides are JPEGS, so they are easy to use on just about any computer or application (such as Keynote, Power Point, ProPresenter, etc).
What do you do when you have a room full of children causing havoc (or could potentially do so) and need to engage them in a way that is both fun and simple to execute? Well, education is a good idea. But perhaps you’ve taught and they’ve learned all day and it’s time to kick back and play a good old-fashioned group game.
Play the “Bring Me” Game!
The Bring Me Game concept is simple and the variations are endless. You, the game leader, should stand up front with a microphone (or not if your group is small enough) and ask for random objects/items. I’ve got a list to get you going below.
The first person or group or team to produce the requested item and bring it to you gets a point for their team. WARNING: Kids tend to RUN a lot in this game. So make sure you remind them to not trample one another or trip over anything in their effort to bring the items up to you. You can decide how long to play the bring me game (such as “first team to ten points wins”).
One major thing to keep in mind when playing the game and coming up with ideas is the fact that nearly everyone has a device these days (even youth). If you’re at an event where most everyone has a device on them or at least some representatives of each team (such as adults in mostly-kid events) have devices, then make the most of technology in your requests. The internet is an endless supply of “scavenger-hunt” challenges. Just ask for a picture of BB-8 from Star Wars or a map of the country of Malaysia or any other fun idea they can search for.
The types of things you call up in the bring me game will vary depending on the size and the average age of your group. For example, not many kids will have a credit card on them if you ask for one. So be creative with ideas that fit what you think is out there in everyone’s pockets, purses, and accessories.
A Starter List
Here is a FREE list of ideas to get you going. You can come up with your own ideas by thinking of other things similar to or related to items on this list.
two different shoelaces tied together
five different socks bundled up in a ball
a selfie on a device
a photograph of exactly ten people on a device
something edible
chocolate
something that has a picture of a rainbow on it
a double-A battery and a triple-A battery
something that is completely blue
two people wearing glasses doing jumping jacks next to one another
two unrelated people with red hair
a human hair
a non-human living thing (this will usually be a bug or insect found on the floor)
lipstick
chapstick
nail clippers
six people forming a human pyramid
a red pen or marker
something with a Disney symbol or character on it
two unrelated people with braces
a nail file
a one dollar bill, a five dollar bill, and a ten dollar bill (exactly)
a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter (exactly)
a liquid
something that feels cold
something that feels warm
something that lights up (that is not a phone or tablet device)
ten people in a line that goes from tallest person to shortest person
a pencil
a tissue
a crumpled up piece of paper
something silver
something gold
a person wearing two different kinds of shoes
a rock
a visible piece of dust/dustball
something sharp (and if it is a dangerous/forbidden object, you can confiscate it 🙂
something conical
something circular
something in the shape of a cube
a ball of some sort
something chewable
five breath mints
three different kinds of breath mints
a picture on a device of the White House in Washington D.C.
a picture on a device of a mother and a son
someone who can say the alphabet backwards (for real, not someone saying, “alphabet backwards”)
pocket fuzz/lint
a device playing the United States’ National Anthem
A crazy new word has entered my vocabulary this summer – MVOTW. It stands for “Memory Verse of the Week.” I have learned that elementary kids and preteens love weird words. They also love doing silly motions to spell out or act out something. So each week at camp this summer, I have taught the kids a MVOTW. It usually goes along with the camp theme or the Bible Study for the week. At Mt. Lebanon Camp in Dallas it was Psalm 127:1. At Highland Lakes Camp this past week it was Hebrews 12:1. I have the kids stand up and slowly move their hands to their head to form the letter “M” over their heads. While we do that we are slowly crescendoing into saying “MAAAAVOTWA!” Then the guys act like bodybuilders and the girls act like cheerleaders (and some kids just do either one if they feel like it).
Then we simply act out the memory verse using motions for each word. It is an easy and effective way to teach kids how to memorize God’s Word. I had kids come up to me this summer and do the memory verse from two summers ago. They had remembered it because they had silly motions to go along with it.
Often I get a chance to teach kids the “why” behind memory verses. It is not just a meaningless memory game. It is a chance to hide God’s Word in our hearts. And that comes in handy when we are tempted to sin (among other benefits of memorizing Scripture). I teach them about the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4). Three times the devil tempted Jesus and three times Jesus responded to the temptations by saying “It is written…” He was quoting memory verses to the devil and eventually fended him off because each temptation was struck down with a passage from God’s Word. Jesus memorized Scripture (he probably did so as a boy growing up in the Jewish school system of his day). So I challenge the kids to memorize God’s Word so they can wield that “sword of the Spirit” when Satan tempts them.
