Salt Youth Group Segments
1/21
Group Formations
Would You Rather…? [works with any number of people]
Cinderella’s shoe [works with any number of people]
Hot chocolate [works with any number of people]
Lolly Gangs {30+} [works with any number of people]
Mixer
Your Room [works with any number of people]
Whose bin? (Mixer Version) [works with any number of people]
Quotable Quotes [works with any number of people]
Fongo Bingo [works with any number of people]
Skittles mixer [works with any number of people]
Find your twin [works with any number of people]
Speed meeting [works with any number of people]
Portrait bingo [works with any number of people]
Secret portrait {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Secret self-portrait [works with any number of people]
Appointments [works with any number of people]
Hot chocolate [works with any number of people]
People Pictionary {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Guess who {-15} [works best with 15 people or less]
Memory match card game {-10} [works best with 10 people or less]
Bible game
4 Pics 1 Word [works with any number of people]
Get your story straight {20-60} [works best with 20-60 people]
Bible Blunder! [works with any number of people]
Bible or What? [works with any number of people]
Bible Balderdash [Max 8 groups of about 8]
Guess who? Bible Characters [number of people limited to the amount of cards you have]
Quotable Quotes [works with any number of people]
Group verses Guru [works with any number of people]
Don’t forget the Bible verse! {-40} [works best with 40 people or less]
Bible Skit {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Bubble gum sculpture [works with any number of people]
A Perfect Match {-50} [works best with 50 people or less]
Props {-100} [works best with 100 people or less]
Bible Taboo [works with any number of people]
Protect the truth {-50} [works best with 50 people or less]
Bible charades/Pictionary [works with any number of people]
Who am I? [works with any number of people]
Bible Secret Sounds [works with any number of people]
Whose bin? (Bible Version) [works with any number of people]
Draw your Swords! [works with any number of people]
Share
Jesus Tweet [works with any number of people]
Bible spot [works with any number of people]
Spotlight [works with any number of people]
Testimony [works with any number of people]
Represent [works with any number of people]
Voice [works with any number of people]
The Download [works with any number of people]
Reflection Section [works with any number of people]
Expression Session
Victories and Arrows [works with any number of people]
The Lord’s supper [works with any number of people]
Memory Verse
Introducing memory verse activities:
Name That Tune [works with any number of people]
Engrish Memory Verse [works with any number of people]
SMS memory verse [works with any number of people]
Mad Gab memory verse [works with any number of people]
Buzzer blanks [works with any number of people]
Jigsaw puzzle [works with any number of people]
Pass the parcel [works with any number of people]
Eat Out! [works with any number of people]
Balloon Darts {-14} [works best with 14 people or less]
Revision memory verse activities:
Name That Tune [works with any number of people]
Engrish Memory Verse [works with any number of people]
Chinese Whispers [works with any number of people]
Application pictures [works with any number of people]
Memory verse skit {-60} [works best with 60 people or less]
Memory verse relay {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Pass the ball {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Newspaper slice {-20} [works best with 20 people or less]
Memory verse song [works with any number of people]
Pass the parcel revision [works with any number of people]
Total Recall [works with any number of people]
Prayer
One Point Prayer Tree [works with any number of people]
Confession [works with any number of people]
World map [works with any number of people]
Prayer card shuffle [works with any number of people]
Bite size prayer [works with any number of people]
Prayer Barrel [works with any number of people]
Target prayer [works with any number of people]
Small group [works with any number of people]
Prayer leaders [works with any number of people]
Popcorn [works with any number of people]
AAPB [works with any number of people]
Psalms [works with any number of people]
Teaching activities
Clothes peg opinion
Application badges/tattoos…
Jesus Tweet
Salt Youth Group Segments
1/21
Group Formations
Would You Rather…? [works with any number of people]
The idea is fairly straight forward, make a series “would you rather” propositions with multiple choice answers so that people have to choose which answer out of the available options they would prefer. If you want to form your large group into 4 smaller mixed groups, give 4 possible answers to your “would you rather” proposition and designate 4 areas of your room to correspond with each respective answer.
So for example, you say to the group “Would you rather:
a) Heavy Metal;
b) Pop music;
c) Classical;
d) Dance music.
All the participants then move to that part of the room that represents their preference. Participants may not like any of the choices, but they have to choose which they’d prefer out of the options they’ve been given.
Repeat the process a few times with different propositions and by the end of a few rounds you should have 4 smaller mixed groups and some valuable insights into the preferences of your young people . If you want to make more smaller groups just make more answer options with of course more areas of the room to equal the number of answer options.
There’s a pre-prepared .ppt file attached with 3 rounds of propositions.
Cinderella’s shoe [works with any number of people]
Get everyone in your group to take off one of their shoes/footwear and put it in a pile in the middle of the room. If you want to form small groups of 6, for example, then get each of your leaders to go in and grab a random selection of 6 shoes each. All the participants then have to go find their missing shoe and join the group of the leader who had their shoe.
Hot chocolate [works with any number of people]
Get together the four ingredients you need to make hot chocolate ie. Mugs, spoons, packet of hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows (make sure you provide hot water and milk). Divide everybody into four even groups. Give each group only one hot chocolate ingredient and enough for each person in the group to have 4 each. Group 1: each person is given 4 mugs. Group 2: each person is given 4 spoons. Group 3: each person is given 4 marshmallows. Group 4: each person is given 4 packets of hot chocolate mix.
Once all the ingredients are handed out, get everybody to form new groups that have all the hot chocolate ingredients. There should now be newly formed groups of 4 people which now have enough hot chocolate ingredients to make one cup of hot chocolate for each person in the group. When each group has made their hot chocolates ask them to sit down and give a sharing question for them to discuss.
Variations of this mixer could be: Banana splits (bowls, bananas, chocolate toping, ice cream), spiders (glasses, ice cream, soft drink, spoon/straws), Milo (glasses, Milo, spoons, milk), the list goes on and on…
Note: Allow at least 25 minutes for this mixer.
Lolly Gangs {30+} [works with any number of people]
This game works better with groups 30+. Gather a few different types of wrapped lollies and tape them under the chairs of your audience before the meeting. Keep in mind the different types, and the amount of lollies you use, so that the teams will be as evenly numbered as possible.Everyone looks underneath their seat, grabs the lolly, and then has to find the other people in the room with the same lolly. Once all team members have found their respective "gang", they eat the lollies and turn the wrappers into team badges, and answer a few sharing questions.
Mixer
Download (Mixer Version) [works with any number of people]
Give each person in the group a sheet of paper and tell them to write down (download) everything that they did, or that happened to them during the week (or holidays). Then get them to find another person or other people in the group who’s list has the most similar items to their own. Interview some of the groups or pairs then pray.
Your Room [works with any number of people]
Have a young person (or a few people) from youth group make a 1 minute video (each) of their room, showing things that are on their desk, posters on their wall, the song playing on their iPod, their Bible open at the last passage they read, the clothes in their wardrobe, a musical instrument or any other quirky thing they might have (a pet snake for instance!). The whole idea is to give a snapshot of their life and what they’re interested in. After watching the video at youth group, quiz the group on what they saw in the video (questions like: what poster was on the wall? What passage was their Bible open on? What was on their doona/quilt cover? etc). Reward those who make a correct answer (with chocolate or something). This game can be played in pairs or groups where you would have each pair/group make a list answering the questions about the video. Repeat the process if there’s more than one video.
The aim of the activity is simply to better know someone at youth group.
Whose bin? (Mixer Version) [works with any number of people]
Decide on a person from your church (not from youth group because it won’t work). Collect about 5-8 items/clues that are related to the person and put the items in a bin (you will want to make them a little cryptic, with the first clue the hardest, and the final clue more or less giving away the answer). Note, you can just get pictures of the items and put them on the powerpoint rather than find the actual props for clues.
Split into smaller groups (mix it up with those who go to church and those who don’t). Bring the bin out the front so that all groups can see it(or the use the powerpoint slide).In the game, each group gets to have only one guess at who the person is, their guess should be made to the leader of the game in quiet so that other teams can continue to play without knowing the guess of other teams. If the person is guessed immediately after the first clue, maximum points are awarded. With every clue that is revealed less points are awarded for a correct guess.
At the conclusion of the round give info about the person from church or play a video interview of them before moving on to the next round.
#1 Alternative game play: Split into teams and give each group a bin with clues to a different person. Each team is given 5 minutes to rummage through the clues in the bin and then make their guess. In this alternative game play all clues should be a bit cryptic with no “give-it-away” clue.
#2 Alternative game play: Instead of using group members, use bible characters or stories and use it as a Bible Game.
Quotable Quotes[works with any number of people]
This game should help people get to know characters from the Bible, from Christian history and to know each other.
Compile a range of quotes (can be bible quotes, Christian quotes or quotes from someone in your group). Split the group into teams and then read out the quotes in character. Teams buzz in to have a guess when they think they know who said it. Award points for each correct guess.
You may need to give clues if quotes are hard to guess.
Alternative:No teams needed. Compile a range of quotes and write them on separate pieces of paper with the answer included (can be bible quotes, Christian quotes or quotes from someone in your group). Place the pieces into a container and select one at random. Read the quote in character. Whoever guesses the quote correctly comes to the front and draws another quote from the container at random and reads it out in character. Continue this cycle until all the quotes are finished.
Fongo Bingo [works with any number of people]
(from the famous James Fong!)
Each person is given a piece of paper and a pen. Everybody is given about 5 minutes to go around the room and collect the names of 6 people in the room they don’t know so well. They must find out 3 things about each person on their sheet (eg. Name, school, about family, pets, worst hair cut, etc.). When everybody has 6 people on their sheet they take their seats again and we play Bingo! The leader up the front will have a list of everybody in the room and their names (if you don’t have a roll, you will need to collect everyone’s names as the enter). To play bingo the leader up the front will read names of the sheet in a random order. People tick off the names on their sheet as they are read out. Whoever is the first to tick off all 6 of the names on their sheet and yell Bingo! Wins. That person will receive a prize and should be asked to introduce all 6 people on their sheet and say what they found out about them.
40+ Note: If there’s more than 40 people then reduce the number of names you need to make bingo (eg. Gather 6 names but you only need to tick off 3). This increases the odds and shortens the game.
Skittles mixer [works with any number of people]
Pass the bag of skittles around so students can take a handful skittles. Each person can eat their skittles but has to keep one skittle left over. Each colour (normally 5 colours in a skittles bag) represents a different question (ie. Green- What do you want to be when you grow up? Red- last part of the Bible you read or heard? Orange- Sing a verse of your favourite TV show theme song. Purple- What is your favourite subject in school and why? Yellow- how many people in your family). Go around the group as each person answers the question that corresponds to their colour skittle. After they have answered the question, they can of course eat their skittle.
30+ Note: If there’s more than 30 people then just let people keep one colour skittle only. Ask everyone with that colour to stand but only pick 3 to answer the question.
Find your twin [works with any number of people]
This game is played in rounds, and in each round members of the group need to find their twin and ask 3 or 4 set questions. The leader of the activity gives direction for how each person is to find their twin in each round ie. Round 1- find someone the same height as you, round 2- find someone who is in the same year at school, round 3- find someone who like the same type of music, etc. When everybody has found their twin they ask each other the 3 or 4 set questions (ie. What’s you’re name? How would you spend your last $10.00? What’s the best thing about youth group? Etc.).
Variation: Swap.
After finding you’re twin and asking the questions for that round, swap one item with each other (ie. shoe, sock, necklace, hat, keys, etc.) and then move on to the next round. At the conclusion of all the rounds you should have a collection of items from the people you met. Ask a few people in the group to stand up and share what items they have, who they’re from, and the answers to the questions, then return the items to their owners. After a few people have shared, make sure everyone returns the items.
Speed meeting [works with any number of people]
Like speed dating. Split the group into 2 equal groups. Have the groups stand in two concentric circles with the outside circle facing in and the inside circle facing out, each person should be facing a partner. Give the group 3-4 questions to ask each other (ie. Name, place you were born, what’s 3 things you’d take into the Big Brother house? Etc.). The partners have 2-3 minutes to ask the questions and find out the answers before the leader of the activity rings a bell (or similar) and the partners must change (ie. Inside circle moves one person to the right or outside circle moves two people to the left, etc.). Repeat the process till everyone has met each other or till time allows. Select people to share with the group who they met and the answers to the questions.