It’s that time—and “Move Up Day” for Kid’s Church is a special time of graduating older kids and welcoming new kids into the group. It’s a chance for your children’s church workers to help kids feel welcome in a new atmosphere. That’s where large group and team-building games can be especially useful for welcoming newcomers, getting everyone involved, and building camaraderie among your students.
To get you started, here are five group and team-building games just for kids.
Team-Building Game #1: Up & Down
- Supplies: One package of large plastic cups, like the SOLO brand cups.
- Players: 2 teams of 3-4 players per team.
- Object: To turn cups either up or down depending on your team. The team with the most cups facing in their direction wins.
- Set up: Place the cups in a rectangle, alternating half the cups facing up and half the cups facing down.
- Rules: Assign Team A to turn the cups up. Assign Team B to turn the cups down. When a leader says, “Go,” players will race to turn as many cups as possible in their team’s direction within 30 seconds.
Team-Building Game #2: Hot Potato
- Supplies: Ball, one chair per player, music.
- Players: Up to 10 players at a time.
- Object: Be the last player remaining.
- Set Up: Place chairs in a circle.
- Rules: Have players take a seat. When the music starts, kids pass the ball to the left, sending it around the circle. At any point, stop the music. The player holding the ball is eliminated. Remove that player’s chair, making sure to close in the circle. Start the music again, have the kid’s pass the ball and repeat until there is only one player left.
Team-Building Game #3: Untangled
- Supplies: None.
- Players: Two teams of 5-8 players per team.
- Object: Be the first team to untangle into a complete circle.
- Rules: Players stand in a circle. Each player reaches across the circle and grabs someone else’s hand. Then they do the same with their other hand, grabbing someone else’s other hand. When the leader says, “Go,” teams race to untangle until they are standing in a complete circle.
Team-Building Game #4: Scripture Bag Relay
- Supplies: Two trash bags, paper, scripture.
- Players: As many players as there are words or numbers in the scripture.
- Object: Be the first team to assemble the scripture correctly.
- Set up: Write the scripture on pieces of paper, one word or number per page. Crumple each one up and place them all in a trash bag. Fill the rest of the bag with blank, crumpled papers and mix them all up. Then repeat the process with a second bag.
- Rules: Place each bag at end of a relay lane. When a leader says, “Go,” one player from each team must race to the end of their lane, grab a paper and un-crumple it. If he or she finds a word, they race back to the start with the paper. If he or she pulls out a blank page, they must recrumple the paper, stuff it back in the bag, and try again. They continue until they find a paper with a word on it. Back at the starting line, each team assembles the papers in order until one team wins.
Team-Building Game #5: What Animal Am I?
- Supplies: Small Post-it notes or 3”x5” cards cut in half, tape, pen/marker.
- Players: No limit.
- Object: Be the first player to discover their animal.
- Set up: Write the name of one animal on each Post-it note. Tape one Post-it to each player’s forehead without them seeing it.
- Rules: When a leader says, “Go,” players must mingle throughout the room asking yes/no questions about the animal on their own head, such as “Do I live in Africa?” or “Can I fly?” All players ask questions at the same time, but they can’t ask the same person two questions in a row, ensuring that they talk to as many others as possible. Once a player believes they knows which animal they are, they must go to the leader and ask, “Am I a ____?” When they’re correct, they get to sit down.
These games are sure to bring new students out of their shells and get everyone involved. They’re a lot of fun too!
Of course, don’t forget to remind parents about your church’s Move Up Day. Hand out refrigerator flyers the week before, place notices on your church’s social media sites, and send text reminders to your students’ parents.
Click here to see for yourself in a free demo how Church Management Software like FellowshipOne makes text updates seamless and easy for ministry staff and parents…making your next Kid’s Church Move Up Day that much more successful!
