Are you a leader or pastor of a Church Group or Youth Group? Are you in charge of the Youth Ministry for your congregation? Perhaps you are a Scout Leader or Summer Camp Instructor? No matter what group or organization you are part of, are you looking for a fun, interactive game that the youth can play and enjoy? Below is one of many extremely fun group games that everyone will love. It is called “Bottom Ball” – and as the name suggests, it is not necessarily a religious game or a Christian game if you will, but it is certainly a lot of fun, and Church Groups, Scout Groups, Youth Groups – or any group – will enjoy playing this fun game!
BOTTOM BALL
# of Players: 4 or more
Objects Needed: Balloons, 4 chairs, Yarn
In preparation, set up the playing field by placing two chairs about 20 feet away from each. Take a long piece of string (or yarn) and tie one end to the top of one chair, and the other end of the string to the top of the other chair. The string is the net for the game, thus it needs to be tight and about 3 feet high off the ground. Now place the other two chairs perpendicular to the first two, also 20 feet apart, and also tie a string between those two chairs as well. The two strings will thus be intersecting in the air, and will form 4 different sections between the chairs. Divide everyone playing into pairs, and 4 pairs will begin the game by having one pair sitting in each of the 4 sections. Each player has to sit on their bottom, and remain on their bottom throughout the game.
At “go,” about 6 balloons will be thrown into the middle of the playing area (between the 4 chairs, into any section). Each pair is simply trying to prevent the balloons from falling into their section and hitting the ground. Players will both protect their section by preventing balloons from hitting the ground, and try to offensively hit balloons and make them land in other pair’s sections. In this game, points are not good – and a point is scored if a player’s bottom leaves the ground or a balloon lands in their section. It may be necessary to have an independent judge (perhaps for each pair) who will watch and count how many points each pair gets.
These 4 pairs will play for 3 minutes, and the pair that has the least amount of points at the end of the round (3 minutes) will receive a point. This is a good point! If there are more than 4 pairs playing, have them rotate in and replace the pairs who lost. The first pair to win 5 rounds is the winner!
Matt is the founder of http://www.Tips4Families.com/ – a website full of helpful parenting advice, fun games and activities, traditions and holiday ideas, and tips and articles for families everywhere. Matt is also the author of: “Great Games! 175 Games & Activities for Families, Groups, & Children.” To view the book and learn more, visit: http://www.GreatGamesBook.com/