One of our most successful activities was a game night. This required quite a bit of advanced preparation but it was a huge success. We played Jeopardy, Win, Lose, or Draw, and Family Feud. This is a great way to spend an evening with the youth in lieu of a dance or other activity as well as for a combined YM/YW night.
The cultural hall was divided into three sections. Each youth was given a number of a team, two teams per game. This number was drawn on their hand with a washable marker as they entered the cultural hall to avoid any changing, switching, or "forgetting." The games were played round robin with rotation every 15 min.
Jeopardy: The Jeopardy board was placed on both sides of a chalkboard with 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper containing the Jeopardy "answer" for both Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy, and Final Jeopardy. A Jeopardy grid was set up including the headings for the topics containing general history, math, Church history, movie trivia, books, etc. and geared to their age level (Twilight and Harry Potter trivia for example). Tape was used to attach the papers to the board that had been previously covered with butcher paper to prevent damage. Another sheet of paper was placed over this, attached with Velcro, that represented value of the question. Two leaders supervised this game. The one that played the "MC" was familiar enough with the Jeopardy game to supervise and preside over the game. Another leader acted as a time/score keeper. Each team was given a set amount of time to answer the question and the team had to agree. (They were allowed to confer on an answer.) The team with the most "money" was the winner.
Win, Lose or Draw: A large news print tablet was placed on a easel and markers were used. This allowed for quick elimination of one page of drawings without erasure. Two leaders supervised the game. One was the "MC" and the other a timekeeper. The youth was given a category stack of papers such as "Things of Halloween" including candy, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, etc. Letters and numbers could not be used. A youth was chosen by his team to draw and could rotate or not, depending on how they wanted to proceed. The artist then began drawing the pictures as fast as he/she could with the teammates making the effort to guess was depicted. A time limit was set. As each picture was drawn and guessed, that piece of paper was cast quickly off to the floor. Ones that were not guessed, remained in his/her hand. The leader counted the papers left in the hand to determine the score (Ex. 2 out of 10). The next team then proceeded with a new set of papers and a new topic. The ones with the most answers was the winner. In determining a overall winner in this game for the night, a running tally was kept. With the discovery of a tie, a run off game was played to determine the Win, Lose or Draw champions of the evening.
Family Feud: Family Feud games were played on line previously to obtain "Survey" questions. Chairs for each team were placed according to game designs. Two leaders supervised this game, one to be the "MC" and one as time/scorekeeper. A small table was placed between the teams, in front of the game board for the face off. In this case, whoever slapped the table first, got to answer first. The youth representing his/her team with the correct answer began. Each team was asked their answers to survey questions, amassing points. If they were stumped, the other team had the opportunity to try to answer the questions and steal the points. The team with the most points at the end was the winner.
After all teams had a chance to play each game, winners were announced and rainbow sherbet floats were served. This evening was such a large success because of the effort put in by the leaders. Also, each game required the help of almost all the adult leaders. It was a large production. The games needed to be fast and the questions interesting to hold their attention. We all had a great time!
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