These are two rock star games to play just for fun in your preteen ministry. Enjoy!

Written by Nick Bremmer

Shoes

Goal: Be the team with the most points, not shoes. To get points, you need to have shoes in your team’s possession. Each shoes is worth 2 points. However, each pair is worth 10 points. (You can add bonus mystery point shoes into the pile as well.)

Set-Up: Everyone takes off their shoes and places them in a giant pile in the center of the playing area. Break up the group into four teams. Each team goes to one of the 4 corners of the playing area.

Game Play: On go, the first player from each team goes to the pile of shoes. The player grabs a shoe and returns back to their home. Once home, the next player then goes. Continue through this rotation until each player has gone one time. After the whole team has gone once, they may begin stealing shoes from other teams. Remember to go one at a time, only take one shoe and DONT THROW SHOES!

 Variations: Change the shoes out for random junk or themed items (Easter – Easter eggs; Christmas – wrapped presents, Halloween – candy, Pancake Day – pancakes, etc..). Take it outside in the summer and play on a giant slip n’ slide. Add nasty things to the pile and on the slide (whole pickles, pudding, lettuce, spaghetti, etc.)

Here’s another preteen church game:

 

Tube Sock Elimination

Tube Sock Elimination is a great hour long game best played at a preteen event, camp, retreat, etc. The more space you have to play, the better. You might be able to tweak and shorten it for use at another time (midweek, weekend, etc.).

Everyone needs to bring a pair of tube socks (or you provide them).

Take one sock, ball it up and stuff it in the other one. That’s your weapon.

Everyone registers their game name (they make up one) and their real name on a slip of paper and one the elimination white board (just a board with all the player names written on it). When the play is out of the game, they take their name off the board.

Mix the names up in a hat, box, bucket, bag, coffee can, etc. and have every student come up and draw one name. It’s important that they keep the name drawn a secret.

Explain that the person on their slip of paper is their target to be eliminated. To do so, you must sneak up on them and whack them with the tube sock anywhere except the head or other sensitive areas.

After the successful attack, they take the name card that the eliminated has and they become their new target.

Eventually it will get down to one on one. Winner gets a good prize.

Allow the eliminated players to become spies, helping those still in the game find their targets.

Tips

  • Play a get to know you name game beforehand, so everyone knows each others names. Or have players wear a name tag on a visible place on their shirt.
  • Take a tour of the facilities to show what’s in bounds and out of bounds.

Retreat option: Make the game last the whole retreat. It’s constantly being played. The only safe areas are indoors. Once you are outside, the game is on and you are no longer safe.