source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Devotions, Themes, Ideas and more for Youth Work
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Lawn Games

Various games on the lawn, simple team games, tournaments, wrestling matches, or heated battles on the field, provide an outlet for fun when the weather warms up or when inside space is limited.

Rugby

Play using the official rules or freestyle- the main point is to get the rugby ball to the goal. In the Fall you might find a field that has been harvested to play on if it isn’t wet from a recent rainfall…
Fox Hunt or Lazy Egg

Well known but still appropriate with young groups. With older groups you may add variations and levels of difficulty. For example double teams can be made, where both players must take to the chase, or start in opposite directions.

For those of you who don’t know this game, here are the rules. Everyone in the group stands in a circle. One player is the fox. He walks around the outside of the circle and drops an item (handkerchief, package of tissues, etc.), behind one of the players. Players are not allowed to look behind their backs while the fox is behind them. When the player notices that the item has been dropped behind him, he must run after the fox and tag him. If he does, the player may go back to his place and the fox must try to fool another player. The fox runs around the circle and takes the empty place in the circle. If the fox can successfully run around the circle and take a place, the person where the item was dropped is the lazy egg and must go into the middle of the circle until another player becomes the lazy egg.

Tag With A Twist

One player is “it”. He must try to tag the other players. When tagged, that player becomes “it” and must try to tag other players. When tagged, that player must hold his hand on the spot where he was tagged until he can tag someone else.
Come With Us / Run Away

Everyone stand in a circle holding hands. 2 players run around the outside of the circle and randomly pick a place to break the circle by hitting the joined hands at that spot. They then call out either “Come with us” or “Run Away”. The 2 people who were “tagged” either go with the first two or by run away, run in the opposite direction and try to get to the free spaces before the others can. A funny kindergarten game which is also well liked at family parties or in mixed groups.
Beating Eggs in a New Way

For this game you need raw eggs, a newspaper to use as a stick, old nylon knee stockings and blindfolds. 2 people make a team. The smaller player is blindfolded and sits on the shoulders of his teammate. He holds the rolled-up newspaper in his hand. A raw egg is placed on either the head or forehead of the other player. He put the nylon stocking on his head to hold the egg in place. Each team tries to break the egg of the opposing team without getting their own egg broken. The loser is of course the team whose egg breaks.
Inner Tube Relay

Each team gets a tire inner tube that has been inflated. The tire tube is rolled back and forth over a distance of about 30-50 meters in relay fashion. At Balloon Days this has been a discipline for decades.
Piggyback Battle

2 players make a team. One sit on the shoulders or on the back of his teammate. Each team tries to knock over the other team. Attention should be paid that the game is played fairly, no kicking with the feet, no hitting and no pulling on t-shirts. This game is a little rough and not suitable for all group members.
Field Combat

3-4 playing fields measuring 3x3 meters are marked next to each other with sawdust. The entire group stands in the first field. They try to push each other into the next fields. Whoever is in the first field at the end of the round is the winner. The player in the 2nd field is second. Whoever is thrown out of a field or steps over the line must go to the next lower field. This game is pretty rough and is not good for all group members. Additional rules may be agreed upon. It is interesting to observe how some of the participants behave – at first joining forces but then they are pitted against each other.
Tug-O-War Without a Rope

Everyone holds the waist of the player in front of him.
Black or White

2 teams (or just a partner) stand opposite each other about 2 meters away. A card is drawn or a coin is tossed. If the card shows the black side, then the black team must catch the white team or vice-versa. The winner is the player who can run to the other side without being caught.
Breaking Chains

2 teams stand opposite each other and make long chains. Each team alternates sending one player to break through the opposite teams chain. If successful, an opponent (one of the two who let go – when unsure who, the player o the right is chosen) is “caught” and must join the victors chain. If unsuccessful, then that player must join the opposing teams chain.
Kings Game

The playing field is divides in 2 halves with a border. Each group has a King. Each group tries to grab, pull or carry opposing players into their own field. These players must join that group to defeat the King. Each King may stay in his own field or if he may go to the other side, trying to defeat that King and thus defeat the entire team.
Astronaut Training

Each person runs around a bottle 20 times. Then he must throw a dart to a dartboard, or knock down a soda can with a ball.
Crabwalk

Walk on all fours – except with the stomach facing up. This can also be played as a relay race.
Ant game

There are 2 teams, who each make up an ant tribe. One member of each team is the killer ant and is marked with a ribbon. 4-5 blankets are laid out in the playing field which represents the ant hills.

The killer ants now try to get as many ants from the opposing team as possible by tagging them. If an ant is tagged, he must lie on his back with arms and feet in the air. A dead ant can be transported by two other ants to an ant hill. As soon as an ant is laid on an ant hill (=blanket), the ant is alive again and is allowed to continue playing.

The killer ants are not allowed to kill any ants when they are on an ant hill or when 2 ants are transporting a dead ant. Ants are only allowed to spend a maximum of 10 seconds on the ant hill (=in safety).

The winning team is the team with the most living ants at the end of the game.
Octopussy

The team stands in a circle, with their backs to the inside of the ring and linked at the elbows. The team must now run a race in this formation.
Always in contact

The team stands next to each other with their feet touching. They are only allowed to move forwards when all feet are in contact. The person on the far right or far left obviously only has contact on one side. One referee per team checks that they all stay in contact.
Snake

All members of the group lie on their stomachs in a line and hold the ankles of the person in front. The snake now tries to move forward without losing contact to any of the team members. This can be an arduous race.
Over the border

2 teams are put together. One team is a group of smugglers the other team members are customs officers, who have to guard a corridor (3/4) of the length of the hall and the width of the hall. The smugglers have the task of making it to the other side of the hall. Once they arrive, they receive a point (ball, ribbon) and are allowed to come back without being hindered. Anyone who is tagged must go back to the starting point and try again. The relation of smugglers to customs officers should be based on the space available.

Judging: which smuggler has the most points after 10 minutes?
Booty

The group is split into two teams. Each team has a camp. Each member of the team has a marker hanging out of his waistband. A box of treasure (apples, sweets etc.) is lying in the middle of the playing field. On the start signal, one team tries to bring treasure back to their own camp. The opposing team can stop them by stealing the treasure directly from them on the way back to camp or by pulling their “life band” from their trousers. Without a life band, the person must drop their treasure immediately and return to their own camp. They will receive a new band in the camp. The points are counted up after 5-10 minutes playing time. Each piece of treasure (apple, sweet etc.) is awarded with one point; each stolen life band is awarded with 5 points.
Supermarket game

The group (approx. 20 players) is split into teams of 4. Each team is a supermarket with a specific name which the team must think up themselves at the beginning of the game. The teams then make up a square, one team in each corner. In the middle is the wholesaler who sells his products to the four supermarkets. You should make sure that the four teams are at least 10m away from the wholesaler and all four are the same distance away. Each of the 4 supermarkets has a special offer this week. Any materials which are available such as bottles, ropes, balls, towels can be used. It is important that each supermarket has a different special offer. The game can now start. The first aim is to collect all special offer items (approx 5 items) and bring them to your own supermarket. The problem is: only one player can to go the wholesaler and can only bring one item at a time. It is also possible to collect special offers from the opposing teams. They must try to get their items back from the „thief team“. (How to get the items back should be agreed in the game rules). The winning team is the first team to have all special offers (it is not important if they have special offers from other groups or not). This idea was sent by Lisa A.

Option: The way to the supermarket can have obstacles or tasks. The players must hop or crawl to the supermarket, for example.
The circle of power

If the group leaders need a good night’s sleep, this game for 6-20 players should tire the kids out. The following is required: A round playing field (approx 60m diameter) and a 12-15m long rope.

The group is split into two teams with equal strength. However to avoid any danger of injury, children and adults should not be in the same group. Both groups should now stand in the centre of the circle. The rope is tied together at the ends and is wrapped around both groups. The rope should be held at hip level. The aim of the game is to be the first team to pull themselves out of the playing field. If the two teams are equally strong, the team who is better organised will win. A referee should watch game so that it does not get out of control and nobody gets injured. (This game idea was sent by Michael S. from Portugal)
Conveyor Belt

The group members lay next to each other on the ground. One person lays crossways on the group. The conveyor belt starts, so that everyone rolls in the same direction and „moves“ the player on top. A game with a lot of bodily know-how.
Chain Links

Two playing fields are divided by a border. Each group tries to pull members of the other team onto their side of the field. The opposing field can be entered so long as a connection to the players own field can be kept, i.e. he has a foot touching in his field or a player is holding him. If the chain breaks, the players who are in the opposing field must stay there.
The bone man

All of the players hide themselves somewhere within a limited area. The catcher (bone man) now looks for them. If he finds one of the other players, he tags them and takes them back to his cooking pot. The other players must now try to free their fellow player from the cooking pot. After a certain amount of time, and if he is freed, the player is only around to move around on one leg or crawling. If he is not rescued, the player is thoroughly cooked after a while and is out of the game. An entry from Christopher M.
"Freeing friends"

This outdoor game is great for children between 6-8 years and is suitable for a group of more than 14 players. It is a mixture of running, searching, combination and "memory", which is a lot of fun but does not have a specific competitive streak. It is also suitable for "taking over" a large, strange terrain and can also be used as a warm-up for further icebreaker games. You will only need one game leader who has everything under control without having too much work

Short description:
The participants are split into two teams, however one team has two more children than the other. The children in the larger group occupy a station in a circle (radius 50-100 m), the game leader stand at the centre of the circle. The stations are marked out with a playing card and the game leader has a matching card for each station in his hand. You will need two cards more than the number of players. On the start signal, each child in the smaller group receives a card and must run to relevant station where the child who has the same card is waiting to be freed. The first child hands over his card and takes the second child's place in the circle. The second child is now freed. The freed child runs to the game leader and swaps his card for a different one. He can then free another child and cycle begins again. Recommended playing time: 15-20 minutes. Size of group: 14+. Age: 6-8 years. Choose pairs of cards which are more difficult to recognise for older children.

Detailed version:
You will need the playing cards (e.g. clubs and hearts) in both colours. There are pairs of cards which go together (e.g. Duke of hearts and duke of clubs). You will need two more cards than the number of children taking part. All of the same coloured cards are fixed onto the a station (e.g. stuck to a post), while the other cards in the other colour are held by the game leader, who is standing in the middle of the circle of stations.

The stations all lie within a circles (with a radius of 50-100 m) somewhat hidden but recognisable as a station. The children are split into two teams. One team has two more members than the other team. The children in the larger group are now each allocated to a station.

The children in the smaller group receives a card from the game leader on the start signal and must try to find the station with the matching card as quickly as possible. They hand over their card to the child who is waiting there and take their place. The child who is now "free" runs to the game leader with the card, swaps his card for a new one and looks for the station with the matching card to free the next child.

In this way, the game can be become an "endless game". However the children become more effective at playing the game as the time goes on because they will remember the positions of the stations and will help each other with tips. You should try and restrict the length of the game to around 15-20 minutes due to the exhaustion of running from station to station, although the kids usually want to play for longer. In this time, each child will run 3-5 times.

Obviously you can make the difficulty level higher for older children if required, by use of different cards: English vocabulary, countries/ places of interest, song/artist, etc. You can, of course, build in competitive aspects to the game by awarding the kids with a point for each card handed to the game leader. I would, however, advise against this if you are starting a camp off and focus on the co-operative aspects of the game.
An entry from Bernhard Stengel-Rutkowski (YMCA Wiesbaden, Germany)
Shark and fisherman

A circle is marked out on the ground with a rope (vary the size according to the number of players). Half of the group enter the circle and are the sharks. The remaining players stay outside of the circle and are the fishermen. The two teams now try each other onto their own side; a fisherman then becomes a shark and a shark becomes a fisherman. The game lasts for a specific amount of time or until one group has pulled all of the others over the line. Take care: remove all watches, rings and bracelets etc before the game and select a safe ground to play on. This game can be played on a lawn or in the woods.
Sent in by Oliver N.
Crab wrestling

2 crabs compete against each other in that they move on all fours – without letting the buttocks touch the floor; precisely what the opponent should try and do.

This can also be played as a team game.
A contribution from Carola