Great Game Ideas
96 free games for kids ministry, Sunday school, VBS and youth group. Search or filter to find the right one for your group.
Animal Walk Relay
Teams race down and back moving like different animals: bear crawl, crab walk, frog hop, and more.
Balloon Pop Relay
Players race to a chair and pop a balloon by sitting on it before running back to tag the next teammate.
Balloon Stomp
Pop everyone else's balloon while protecting your own!
Balloon Volleyball
Two teams bat a balloon back and forth over a low 'net' and try to make it touch the floor on the other side.
Beach Ball Review
Toss a beach ball around the group; whoever catches it answers the question under their right thumb.
Beat That!
An easy dice game kids love, with a little bonus math practice.
Bible Review Jeopardy
Teams pick a category and point value, then answer a lesson question to earn the points, game-show style.
Bible Review Tic-Tac-Toe
The classic X's and O's game, except a team has to answer a lesson question before it can claim a square.
Blob Tag
The tagger grows into a giant, hand-holding blob that keeps getting bigger until it catches everyone.
The Boat Is Sinking
Kids walk in a big circle 'on a boat' and quickly group up in the number of people the leader calls out.
Bridge Ball
Hit the ball through other players' legs while guarding your own “bridge.”
Capture the Flag
Two teams guard their own flag while trying to sneak into the other team's side and bring the other flag home.
Categories
Kids take turns naming things in a category until someone gets stuck or repeats.
Charades
Players act out a word or phrase without talking while their team races to guess it.
Chopstick Challenge
Players use chopsticks to move as many small items as they can from one bowl to another in one minute.
Circle Dodgeball
A dodgeball version made for smaller spaces.
Cotton Nose
With a dab of petroleum jelly on their nose, players move cotton balls from one bowl to another without using their hands.
Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone?
A sleepy doggy has to guess which friend sneaked away its bone.
Draw and Guess
A Pictionary-style game where one kid draws and everyone else tries to guess the word.
Dress-Up Relay
Each player races to a pile of silly clothes, puts them all on, runs back, and passes them to the next teammate.
Duck, Duck, Goose
The classic circle chase game. Tap, tap, tap... GOOSE!
Egg and Spoon Relay
Teams race to carry an egg on a spoon down and back without dropping it.
Erase-a-Word
Say the memory verse together, erase a word, and say it again until the whole verse is gone and kids know it by heart.
Everybody's It
A fast, wild tag game where every player is a tagger and every player can get tagged.
Face the Cookie
Players place a cookie on their forehead and try to wiggle it down into their mouth using only their face.
Fly Swatter Review
Two players race to swat the correct answer taped on the wall before the other one does.
Follow the Leader
A simple game that gets kids moving and listening. Works indoors or out with no supplies.
Fortunately, Unfortunately
Kids take turns telling a story that flips between good news and bad news.
Four Corners
Kids tiptoe to a corner while 'It' counts with eyes closed, then It calls a corner and those kids sit out.
Four Corners Quiz
Kids answer multiple-choice questions by running to the corner of the room that matches their answer.
Four Square
The classic playground game where kids bounce a ball between four squares and try to move up to the King square.
Freeze Dance
Kids dance while the music plays and freeze like statues the moment it stops.
Freeze Tag
A classic tag game where tagged players freeze in place until a friend comes to unfreeze them.
Gaga Ball
A fast dodgeball cousin played in a walled pit where kids slap the ball and try to hit each other below the knees.
Going on a Trip
An alphabet memory game where the packing list gets longer with every turn.
Heads or Tails
Kids guess the coin flip by putting hands on their heads or their hips, and the last one standing wins.
Heads Up, 7 Up
A quiet guessing game: who pressed your thumb?
Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Cup
Partners touch their heads, shoulders, and knees as the leader calls them out, and race to grab the cup when the leader says 'Cup!'
Hospital Tag
Every time you get tagged, you have to hold the spot where you were tagged and keep playing.
Hot and Cold
One kid hunts for a hidden object while the group guides them with "warmer" and "colder."
Hot Potato
Kids pass a 'hot' ball around a circle as fast as they can, hoping not to be holding it when the music stops.
Hula Hoop Pass
Holding hands in a circle, kids pass a hula hoop all the way around without letting go.
Human Knot
Kids grab hands across a circle to make a big tangle, then work together to untie it without letting go.
I Spy
A no-prep guessing game where kids find the object someone is secretly looking at.
Junk in the Trunk
Players wear a tissue box on their back and shake, wiggle, and jump to get all the ping pong balls out with no hands.
Keep It Up
Players try to keep two or three balloons in the air for a full minute without letting any touch the ground.
Kickball
Baseball with a big rubber ball: kids kick, run the bases, and try to score for their team.
Kim's Game
Kids study a tray of objects for one minute, then try to remember as many as they can.
Memory Match
Kids flip cards two at a time, trying to remember where the matching pairs are hiding.
Minute To Win It
Ten quick one-minute challenges kids can try with supplies from around the house.
Mother May I?
Kids ask permission before taking funny steps toward the leader. Forget to ask and you go back to the start.
Museum Guard
Kids become frozen museum statues and try not to get caught moving by the night guard.
Musical Chairs
Kids walk around a circle of chairs while music plays and grab a seat when it stops.
Ninja
Kids take turns making one quick move to tap another player's hand, then freeze like a statue.
Noodling Around
Players hold a piece of uncooked spaghetti in their mouth and use it to pick up penne noodles, no hands allowed.
One-Word Story
The group builds a silly story together, one word per person.
Over-Under Relay
Teams pass a ball down the line, alternating over heads and under legs, as fast as they can.
Pac-Man Tag
Everyone can only move along the lines on the floor, just like the classic video game.
Pass the Squeeze
A secret hand squeeze travels around the circle while a guesser in the middle tries to spot where it is.
Penny Tower
Players use one hand to stack as many pennies as they can into a single tower in one minute.
Pin Guard
Kids in a circle roll the ball to knock over a pin while one guard in the middle protects it.
Ping Pong Bounce
Players bounce ping pong balls off a table and try to land them in a cup.
Red Light, Green Light
Move on green, freeze on red. First one to reach the caller wins.
Rock Paper Scissors Tag
Two teams play rock paper scissors as a group, then the losing team runs for safety while the winners chase.
Sack Race Relay
Teams hop down and back inside a sack, passing it to the next teammate.
Sardines
Hide-and-seek in reverse: one person hides, and everyone who finds them squeezes in to hide too.
Shadow Tag
Instead of touching players, the tagger tags by stepping on someone's shadow.
Sharks and Minnows
Minnows try to swim across the ocean without getting caught by the sharks in the middle.
Ships and Sails
Everyone is a sailor on the Captain's ship. Listen for the orders and act them out fast, or you're out!
Silent Ball
Kids toss a soft ball around the room without making a single sound. Talk, drop it, or make a bad throw and you sit down.
Simon Says
Only follow the command if Simon says so!
Sleeping Lions
Kids lie perfectly still like sleeping lions while a hunter tries to get them to wiggle or giggle.
Snowball Fight Review
Kids wad up paper questions into "snowballs," have a quick snowball fight, then answer whatever question they grab.
Spaceman
Guess the hidden word one letter at a time before the spaceman drawing is finished.
Sponge Relay
Teams race to move water from a full bucket to an empty cup using only a soaking-wet sponge.
SPUD
One kid tosses the ball high and calls a number, and that player has to catch it and yell 'SPUD!' to freeze everyone.
Stack Attack
Players race to stack cups into a pyramid and then back down into a single stack before time runs out.
Steal the Bacon
Two teams race to grab the bacon from the middle and get it home without being tagged.
Stuck in the Mud
Tagged players get stuck in the mud with arms out wide until a friend rescues them.
Suck It Up
Players use a straw to suck up small paper squares and drop them into a cup, all without using their hands.
Sword Drill
Kids race to be the first to find a Bible verse when the leader calls out the reference.
Telephone
A whispered message travels down a line of kids, and everyone laughs to hear how much it changed by the end.
Three-Legged Race
Partners tie their inside legs together and work as a team to race to the finish.
Trash Can Basketball Review
Answer a lesson question correctly and you earn a shot at the basket for bonus points.
True or False Stand Up
Kids stand up if a statement about the lesson is true and sit down (or squat) if it's false.
Tug of War
Two teams pull on opposite ends of a rope to drag the other team across the center line.
Twenty Questions
The group asks yes-or-no questions to figure out what one person is thinking of.
Upset the Fruit Basket
Swap seats when your fruit is called, and watch out when someone upsets the whole basket!
Verse Scramble Race
Teams race to put the words of the memory verse back in the right order.
What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?
Players sneak up on Mr. Fox step by step until he shouts "Dinnertime!" and chases them home.
Who Am I?
Each kid wears a secret name on their back and asks yes-or-no questions to figure out who they are.
Who Started the Motion?
One secret leader changes the group's motions while a guesser in the middle tries to figure out who it is.
Wink Detective
A secret winker knocks players out with a wink while a detective tries to figure out who it is.
Word Chain
Each word has to start with the last letter of the word before it.
Would You Rather
Kids pick between two silly or thoughtful choices and share why.
Zip Zap Zop
A fast pointing-and-shouting game where kids pass 'Zip,' 'Zap,' and 'Zop' around the circle in order.
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