Category: Group Games

Freeze Dance

Kids dancing at Dare2Run Camp in Trinity, Texas, 2012

Here is a brand new game (to me) that worked GREAT at all the summer camps I’ve spoken at so far this summer.  You can play this in most any setting with kids and with any number of kids….

Name of the Game: Freeze Dance

Point of the Game: Dance when you hear the music.  Freeze when it stops.  Follow the caller’s instructions.

How to Play: Play music for the kids.  I used a great remix version of the theme to Chariots of Fire by DJ Hush, which has the epoch slow part at the beginning and then a electronic dance-party remix sound to the rest of the song.  Then pause the music whenever you like and tell the kids to freeze.  They need to dance slow when there is slow music and fast when there is fast music.  Each time they freeze, I tell them a command that they must perform on the next freeze (i.e. stand on one foot, touch a friend, etc.).  They only need to do one command at a time (in other words, commands don’t “carry over” from one freeze frame to another).

Versions: You can play the elimination version (kids get kicked out when they move during the freeze time) or the “everybody plays” version, where there is no elimination.  Honestly, I like the “everybody plays” version much better.  The kids might not freeze as perfectly as they would otherwise if there were elimination, but they still play and participate enough for it to be a lot of fun.  Besides, you don’t want too many kids sitting around waiting for the next game to start.

Ideas for Freeze Commands (each time they freeze, tell them they need to move in the direction of freezing in this next command while the music plays):

  • stand on one foot
  • touch a friend
  • touch an adult
  • touch a chair
  • touch at least 3 chairs
  • touch someone wearing blue
  • strike a lawn care pose (lawnmower, sprinkler, etc.)
  • strike a sporting pose (favorite sport or game)
  • play dead (this one is hilarious)
  • play roadkill (playing dead with arms and legs sticking straight up in the air)
  • form a large circle
  • make a conga line (and have them dance it when the music starts again)
  • look happy
  • look sad
  • (the ideas are endless)

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Now Bring Me This!

Here’s a game I learned from my friend Brandon Rushin.  The game is called “Now Bring Me This.” Kids love it!  And it’s perfect for 2 kids or over 1,000 kids (not many games can do that).  So you can use it in a classroom, in a Children’s Church service, at camp, in a youth group, or wherever kids are found.  Here’s how it works:

Split the group into multiple teams (if over a hundred kids, then one team per every 30-50 kids)

Tell the kids that you’re going to ask for something.  The first team to produce what you ask for gets a point for their team.  The team with the most points at the end of the game wins!  Its that easy.  

You can come up with your own list of things the kids need to produce, but here is a list to get you started….. (note: the list will look different depending on your setting and what the kids may or may not have access to at the time; this particular list is good for summer camp)

  • a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter (no more, no less)
  • 2 double-A batteries
  • 5 shoelaces (off the shoes) knotted together in a string
  • 10 hats stacked on top of one another, worn by a team member
  • a photograph (either hard copy or on a digital device) of a mother and her son
  • the signatures of 7 adults on your team
  • a signature of an adult from another team 🙂
  • something sticky
  • something with all the colors of the spectrum on it (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)
  • a line of 9 kids from shortest to tallest
  • a staple
  • a rubber band
  • something that is alive and visible to the naked eye (non-human)
  • something that glows in the dark
  • a kid with 8 sunglasses on their face
  • a human pyramid three levels high (with adult spotters)
  • 15 bandanas tied together
  • 10 kids standing in front of me, each one wearing non-matching socks

If you want to get a little gross with this game, like my friend Keith Connor does, then here are some more….

  • belly button fuzz
  • chewed gum
  • something that looks like puke
  • a fingernail clipping
  • a recently used tissue
  • a kid who can wear another kid’s sock on their head like a hat

Welcome to camp!

Leave a comment with your own lists or ideas…..

Family Night Idea for Your Church: “Family Connect”

On a Sunday morning when I was the Children’s Pastor at our church, two dads of kids in our children’s ministry bumped into each other in the foyer.  Now, before I go on, let me say that at the time we were a medium sized church (about 450 people), so not everybody knew everybody else.  But most “regular attenders” were familiar with one another.

“Who Are You?”

One of these two dads in the foyer had been regularly attending for over 5 years.  The other, for at least a year.  When they bumped into one another, they had never met before.  I witnessed this interaction as they introduced themselves to each other for the first time.  The 5-year guy even made the mistake of saying, “are you new here?”  Then the 1-year guy had to say, “no, we’ve been coming for about a year now.”

The Predicament

I explained this predicament to my wife in the car ride home that afternoon and we brainstormed together about it.  We decided there needed to be some way to connect families with one another.  Parents need the friendship and support of other parents who are going through the similar life challenge of raising kids.  But they can’t start that relationship if they don’t know one another.

“Family Connect”

So we came up with something called “Family Connect.”  It is just a one-night event, so it is not designed to answer all the issues that parents need.  It is simply an “entry-level” event to help families connect, have fun, and get to know one another.  The goal is that relationships are fostered and will continue to grow further so families can minister to one another.

It went off as a super hit with our families.  We expected 75 people and about 125 showed up (out of a church of 450).  And the format was simple:

  • We threw the party on a Friday night from 6:30pm-8:30pm.
  • Families with kids from birth through 18 were invited.
  • The event was completely free to all who attended.
  • The party snacks were freshly popped popcorn (in one of those carnival machines), drinks, and ice cream sundaes (yes, we sugared them up).
  • We organized an evening of DJ music and large group games led by a team of high-energy college-age kids (blue team versus red team).  Not everyone had to participate in the group games, but you at least had to cheer on your team!
  • We had giveaways throughout the night (I got a stack of free coupons from a local self-serve yogurt shop that wanted to support our Family Connect Night).
  • We simply called it “Family Connect.”

Everyone spoke highly about the event and it seemed to do really well at helping people laugh, connect, and have fun together.  Oh, and those two dads and their families know each other now….

Try it at your church in your family / children’s ministry department and let me know how it goes!