Youth Olympics |  |
When the olympics were on recently, we ran an Olympic Theme for a Youth Group night.
At the moment the Youth Olympic Games are on in Singapore so potentially this is a good time to be running an Olympic-themed night.
Some ideas:
- Split people into groups prior to the night and assign them a country. The members of the group should come decked out in their country's colors.
- Have medals on ready to hand out (you can generally buy chocolate medals at confectionery shops)
- Decorate the place with flags from other countries
- Incorporate relay games or a World Record type night
- Be sure to include a mix of individual and team building activities
- Finish the night with a reflection or discussion on the values of the Olympics. Some are admirable - all the countries of the world joining together as one, athletes striving to be their best. But with that comes a down side - drugs, corruption, greed, etc. Competition unfortunately can bring out the worst in people.
- The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." These Latin words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger." Again these can be admirable goals. A similar motto of the Christian faith would be "Faith, Hope, Love".
What are some of the things you guys did for the Olympics? Share via the comments below to help build up this page.
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Comments
Hey this is a very nice site.I am writing from Jamaica.I am the leader for my youth fellowship.I am 19 and I just wanted to get a few ideas of what to do in my fellowship.- Troy (15 Nov 2008)
I am in youth ministry as well, working with younger youth (grades 6-8). I am always looking for ideas also, especially to make lessons interesting. A couple of ways I tried to make the lessons more interesting were by staging a court case (which the kids participated in) to show how Jesus' paid our fine (from our sin) to satisfy the Law and set us free, and using a scavenger hunt to show how the Word of God guides us. Here is a website that is useful for all the questions they may have and for your own benefit: www.christiananswers.net. God bless!
- Jennifer (7 Jan 2009)
Wow... i absolutely love this site. I am 16 and lead the youth group at my church and this is AMAZING
- Cody (15 Jul 2009)
Part of our 2009 YGO being held at our ballpark, were including a speed pitch, kids zone race, home run derby, dizzy bat race, hot dog geating contest, bible trivia and name the books in the bible in order as some of our events.
- Lake Erie Crushers (29 Jul 2009)
YOUTH OLYMPICS NORMALLY CONSISTS OF JAVELIN THROW (STRAWS), SHOTPUT (TOILET PAPER IN BALL), LONG JUMP (WITH BOTH LEGS TIED TOGETHER), RUNNING (3 LEGGED RACE), ETC.LOTS OF FUN TO SEE KIDS FACES AS YOU UNREVEL EACH "DIFFERENT" COMPETITION:)
- AURIEL PETERSEN (5 Jul 2010)
I had a youth Olympics at my church several years ago and the kids loved it. We did it for our New Years Lock in. I used some Hula Hoops to make the Olympic rings and hung them high up on the wall so the kids could see them as soon as they walked into the gym area. We broke the kids up into groups and gave them team names of all the countries we have missionaries in. I scheduled all the events days before and had the kids moving around all night to each event. We played floor hockey, basketball, ping pong, dodge ball, soccer, Missing in Action, carpetball, each team also made their own team banner that was judged by leaders, we also incorperated some competition with the Wii. The kids had a lot of fun and they were always playing something. They were given points for each game or event they won and in the end we gave out medals that I purchesed on line for cheap. If you look on line for medals believe me you can get them cheap. The kids had a blast and they were all tired by the end of the night. We did have an intermition for some great food that the leaders supplied. Hot dogs, meatball sandwiches, chips, pretzels, soda, The lesson for the night was about resolutions we make every year and fail to keep. Something els I did was get a few of the kids who play music well and sing well and have them prepare some great praise and worship songs that we used right before the devotional. The kids loved it. You can do all this for really cheap especially if you get parents to volunteer to bring in crock pots of food for the night. Let me know if you try this stuff and how it goes. robhev@yahoo.com
- Rob Heverling (17 Nov 2010)
Have done Youth Olympics once a year for the past 3 years. It's one of the only times where our Jr. and Sr. High Groups compete together. As the kids comes in, they are divided into one of the five teams. We have five events every year - and change them each year, but typically keep one or two the same. This past year our events were
1. Trivia Contest
2. Blender Of Doom
3. Bucket of Nasty
4. Grapes N Onions
5. Name That Tune
The Trivia game had five different categories and was fairly tame. Blender of Doom was a bunch of gross food pureed together and each team had to eat it - play that one outside! Bucket of nasty was a running game where they collected canned goods, opened them up, dumped them in a bucket, put a foot in the bucket then scoot the bucket back out into the yard to collect another canned good (Have leaders open the cans when they bring them back). Grapes and Onions - make a large tray of jello and drop in peeled grapes and baby onions before it sets. Kids run across the yard, stick their face into the tray, grab one of the balls of food with their mouth then come back to the team and spit it into the appropriate bucket labeled onion or grape. Hilarious to see the reactions. Name that tune was just a bunch of Christian music playing and whichever team could guess the right artist got the points. In the end, reveal who won, give them a prize!
- Mark Willand (20 Nov 2010)
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