Four easy icebreaker youth group games (from real youth groups!)

Simple and fun youth group games to help everyone get to know each other better.

Newspaper run

A simple game to help remember the names of everyone in your group.

Everybody sits in a circle
One person stands in the middle of the circle with a rolled up newspaper
A chosen person begins the game by calling out the name of someone else in the circle (e.g. 'Alice!'). The person in the middle runs towards Alice.
Before being hit on the leg with the newspaper, Alice has to call out another name (e.g. "Jim!")
The person with the newspaper then runs towards Jim
If Jim gets hit with the newspaper before saying another name in the circle (it can't be Alice), then he becomes the person holding the newspaper

Thanks Joni from The Teenzzz, Unity Ministries

An easy and fun way to help youth get to know each other and their Bibles better.

Form two teams. You will need two Bibles and at least several people.
Choose an announcer who will bring two people to the front and give each a physical Bible to hold. These people introduce themselves to the rest of the group.
The announcer says a Bible verse they have to find (e.g. "John 3:16").
When announcer says 'Draw your sword', the players can either use the Bible index or just flip around to try and find the verse.
Whoever steps up to the announcer first and reads the verse aloud, wins that round and gets one point for their team.
The team that has more points after 10-20 rounds wins the game.

Thanks Andrea from Bethel Campus Fellowship

Possibly the world's easiest no-prep game

Thanks Douglas from Hillsong Sydney

A super-easy game to help youth members get to know each other.

Split the group into two equal groups
Have the groups stand in two concentric circles with the outside circle facing in and the inside circle facing out (each person should be facing a partner).
Give the group a big list of questions to ask each other (ie. What's your middle name? Where were you born? What’s three things you’d take into the Big Brother house? Etc.).
The partners have 1-2 minutes to ask as many questions as possible and find out the answers before the leader of the activity rings a bell (or similar) and the partners must change (ie. Inside circle moves one person to the right or outside circle moves two people to the left, etc.).
Repeat the process till everyone has met each other or till time allows.
Select people to share with the group who they met and the answers to the questions.

Thanks Jeffrey from Ampo Kids and Youth Ministry