Youth Group Online

During this time of social distancing and virtual/online everything, here are some ideas to do with your youth group or kids' and their friends online. These ideas work best in Zoom but you could do some of them on other online platforms... Have fun!

 Get to Know You Activities:

1. Two Truths & A Lie: Each player thinks of 2 things that are true about themselves and one that isn't true. Everyone else has to guess which one is the lie.
2. Show n Tell: Have kids bring something to show and tell the other kids about. Just like in kindergarten...
3. Have You Ever?-Quarantine Edition: Come up with a list of things that kids may be doing while home on quarantine (read a book, stayed up all night, cooked a meal...). Everyone holds up 10 fingers and puts one down for each thing they've done while on quarantine. The first one with all ten fingers down wins.
4. Would You Rather?: Come up with a list of "would you rather" questions or Google search some for kids. Ask each player a question (or more) or see how everyone in the group would answer the question.
5. Talent Show: Have each kid show off a talent they have. You can limit their time if you want.


Weekly Challenge Activities:  The kids can start off your meeting time with showing pictures or videos of their challenges. It helps if they can send them to the host before the meeting so they can get embedded into the Zoom room.

1. 10 Item Tower Challenge: Using 10 (or more) different items from around the house, build a free-standing tower from the floor to the ceiling. Then take a picture of the tower and one of you standing next to it. This is a good challenge for the whole family to help with.
2. Fork House: Make a small house entirely out of forks (and only forks). You can use metal or plastic forks.
3. Race Car: Build a car from a toilet paper roll and any other materials of your choice. It must be able to travel across a hard-surfaced floor on its own (no guiding it along the floor with your hand).
4. Book Head: Video yourself walking all the way around your house with a book balanced on your head. The person who can go the furthest without letting the book falls is the winner. Also a good way to see other people's houses.
5. Pen Art: Take a whole bunch of various pencils, pens and/or markers and use them to make a picture without drawing with them. Use the actual pens, pencils and markers to make the picture.
6. Random Poem: Take 10 different books. Write the first word on page 10 that is more than 4 letters from each book on a piece of paper. Use those words (and others of your choice) to write a poem. Everyone reads their poem out loud to the group at the next meeting.

Games:

1.Scavenger Hunt: Come up with a list of general items for players to find around the house (something you drink, something from the bathroom, something fuzzy, something that starts with the letter B, something from the kitchen...). Players must bring the item back to their phone/computer (no taking the camera with you). All players show their items. Points are awarded to the players that have items that no one else has. (If more than one player brings milk for something to drink, none of those players get a point.)
2. Hangman: Using the whiteboard, play a game of hangman. The host will need to draw the hangman and the letters chosen.
3. Pictionary: Let each player have a turn drawing something on the whiteboard, letting the other players guess what it is. You can let each player choose their own word or give them a word to draw either in private chat or in the waiting room.
4. Charades: Let each player have a turn acting out a word or phrase, letting the other players guess what it is. You can let each player choose their own word or phrase or give them one to act out in private chat or in the waiting room.
5. Trivia: Choose some trivia questions and put them into a slideshow. You can also find some already made for kids/youth online to import in.
6. Who Am I?: Put one player out of the room into a waiting room. Then tell the rest of the players a famous person assigned to the missing player. Then bring the guessing player back into the room. They have to ask 20 yes or no questions to help them guess who they are. You can give the guesser a hint if you want or need to.
7. The Price is Right Hi-Lo Game: Show the picture of some random items from Amazon with a price you have made up. Give players 3 seconds to guess if they think that price is too high or too low. (You don't want to give them enough time to look up the item.) Then reveal the true price and give points to the players that guessed correctly.
8. Escape Room: There are lots of options for online virtual escape room games you can do as a group.