March 6th, 2011

Fun Youth Indoor Games

Teenagers in particular and youths in general have a lot of energy. They simply cannot stay without doing anything – or anything bad. Rainy days might make you a lot of troubles if you don’t find quick, easy and funny ways to keep them busy. Indoor games are one way that can’t go wrong. However, since you can never know when they are about to get bored, you are going to need plenty ideas and here are a few:

As you can guess, this game is all about shuffling shoes and regaining them. Nevertheless, things will not happen under usual circumstances. You might need a large room for this activity, to gather all the participants in a circle. They need enough space to lift their hands without touching each other. And each person should have a blindfold to use. You don’t have to buy them, but you can improvise with anything you’ve got, from ties or scarves to old t-shirts. It is very important for the youths not to see anything. Ask them to take off their shoes and make a pile out of them in the center. Then tie all their blindfolds and go shuffle the shoes. Mix them well, so no one can guess where his or here shoes were left. On a specific signal, they will go get the shoes so the first one to find its pair, re-fasten it and get back into the right position of the circle, will be the winner.

Mine Field
Don’t worry, you shouldn’t blow up anything to play this game. Just choose some surrogates for the mines, like paper cones, cartons, teddy bears or any other objects large enough and display them inside of a specific field. Again, you will need a generous space to draw the square – shaped playing area. And again, you will use some improvised blindfolds. After you have established the perimeter and you have placed the mines, call the players to closely watch the route for a short time. Pair them two by two and start the game. Only one member of the team should be blindfolded and sent on the field. The other one will give him verbal indications on what to do to avoid touching the mines. It is not as easy as it might look, but everyone will have fun, which is what most matters. Only the teams that manage to stay alive and get to the other side of the field will win a prize.

You are one of my friends
This game is less about competing or messing all the things from around and more about getting teens together and help them feel appreciated. You will need one paper sheet and one pen for every single participant. Write down their names on the papers and spread them not without making sure that no one will receive a page to contain his or her name. Tell them that it is forbidden to write on your own sheet and then give them 30 seconds to fill in reasons for wanting to continue their friendship with the person they have received on the paper. “Because you make me happy”, “Because you make me laugh”, “Because you are a model to follow” are a few examples on how their answers should look like. When time is up the papers are exchanged. Do that until everyone will have written answers for all the other participants. In the end, read the papers loudly and let the teens enjoy the good words addressed to them. This will definitely bring them close together.