Treasure hunt
15 minutes
You will need: prepared clues; prizes (depending on the variation you choose)
Young children can have a hunt similar to an Easter egg hunt, where they need to find objects that are hidden around an area - make sure this is done within set boundaries for the safety of the children.
Slightly older children can be split into groups and have a competition to find or source the treasure first. The host must tell each group what they are to find and the group which finds it and takes it to the host first is the winner. The ‘treasure’ can range from something basic such as a fork, to a bunch of trainers tied together that the children have to sort themselves.
Older children or young people could do a photo treasure hunt with clues. Split them into teams and give each team a scene to act out and photograph. Give them a clue where they can find the next challenge, for example: “You bang it during worship!” Leave an envelope with the next photo scene and clue on the drum kit. The aim of the game is to complete all the challenges with epic pictures for the judges to deliberate on at the end of the hunt. Have prizes for the winning team.
Ladders
10 minutes
Ask the young people to get into partners and label one person A and the other B. The As and the Bs should come up with team names. All As should then get in a line with the Bs facing them. They must sit down facing one another with their legs out, soles touching, creating a long ladder with their legs. The host must then number each duo and find out the team names for keeping score. The host shouts the number of a duo and they must run up the ladder, round the outside and run the remainder of the ladder back to their place. The first person back gets a point for their team. The aim of the game is to be on the team with the most points at the end. Risk assess this game beforehand and give the players clear guidelines for playing the game.
Teacups and saucers
5 minutes
You will need: sports cones
Split the young people into two groups and label one group ‘cups’ and the other ‘saucers’. Spread the cones across the ground with some the right way up and the others upside-down. Those that are the right way are ‘saucers’ and those that are upside-down are ‘cups’. In their teams, players must try to turn the cones the way of their team name in an allotted time. At the end of the allotted time the winners are those that have the most cones turned their way up.
Seaweed
10 minutes
Ask a volunteer from the group to be the seaweed and stand in the middle of your playing space. The one rule is that they must only move side to side and not forward and back (like a crab or table footballer). Tell all the group to start at one end of the space. The aim of the game is to run to the other end of the space without being caught by the seaweed. Once caught, you hold hands with the person in the middle and create a wider seaweed. Again, you can only move side to side as a group in the middle and the aim is to be the last person not caught by the seaweed.
Birdies to the perch
10 minutes
Get the young people into pairs and tell them to label themselves A and B. A is the ‘birdie’ and B is the ‘perch’. The ‘As’ must walk in a circle going clockwise - ‘Bs’ must be in a bigger circle around them but walking anti-clockwise. When the host shouts: “Birdies to their perch!” the pairs must find one another and the ‘perch’ should crouch so that the ‘birdie’ can sit on their knee. The last ones in their pair are eliminated. This continues until there are only two couples left. Once only two couples remain the circle must have bigger boundaries for them to race around. The host then shouts: “Birdies to their perch!” one final time to find out who will be victorious.
Lava land
10 minutes
You will need: four pieces of A4 paper and one piece of A3 paper per group
Unfortunately, not the musical... Split the young people into groups of around seven and give each group four pieces of A4 paper and one piece of A3. They should all begin at one end of your playing area. It should be explained that the rest of the space, except the safe part they are standing on, is now red hot lava which cannot be touched with their feet. They must use only the pieces of paper to get across to the other side / set finish line without the soles of their shoes / feet touching the ‘lava’. It is great to see how people can get creative with this game - obviously edit it to fit the needs of your group. It could work to give them five minutes to prepare and plan before the game commences. Feel free to add in extra rules, for example, someone has to remain blindfolded while they do it and be guided by others, or two people could be tied together.
By the youth and children’s teams at Holy Trinity Brompton.
