Product Description

Be ready for fun times at an instant's notice with this big book of games for teenagers! With brain-stretching games, friend-making games and holiday games, kids will have a blast...make new friends, exercise their minds, and celebrate odd holidays, too! More than 300 games are included, so they'll never get bored with the same old thing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #737037 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 332 pages

From the Back Cover
Prepare to be crowned the undisputed youth group game guru

Dazzle your kids. Impress the Church Board. Leave the Senior Pastor speechless. It's easy with this sure-fire collection of: Holiday Games Friend-making Games, and Brain-stretching Games Games last from 2 minutes to more than an hour. And helpful, easy-to-use indexes mean it's easy to find exactly the right game for any meeting-any lesson-any time!

Youth leaders, youth pastors, and camp directors: Don't risk walking into the youth room without this book!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction "Game...Any form of play or way of playing; amusement, recreation; sport; frolic; play."

Play? Amusement? Frolic? Are these worthy pursuits for a Christian youth group? Though fun and games may seem frivolous, teenagers often reap hidden benefits from games. When your teenagers play games, they're not only taking a break from the stress in their lives, but they're also developing social skills. They're having fun with new people. They're learning about themselves.

Search Institute reports that in order to be socially competent, young people must understand how to work with others, hold their own against opponents, and anticipate what's coming (Dorothy L. Williams, "Essential for Survival on the Troubled Journey," Source newsletter, April 1991, from www.search-institute.org). While your regular program material may instruct kids on the fine art of social competence, games can help them develop that competence in a fun, informal environment.

That's why we've developed this second volume of The Gigantic Book of Games for Youth Ministry. This volume offers three categories of games to further strengthen your game repertoire: (1) Brain-Stretching, (2) Friend-Making, and (3) Holiday.

Brain-Stretching Games will challenge your youth in awareness, logic, reason, and creative problem solving. These games will encourage your kids to stretch and exercise their minds.

Friend-Making Games will allow your group members to get to know one another. Search Institute has found that "friend-making skill is one of the major essentials of life; without it, no matter how much else one knows, the journeyer finds more potholes and curves in the road than smooth, straight stretches" (Williams, "Essential for Survival on the Troubled Journey"). These games will break down barriers, provide opportunities for conversation, and allow teenagers to have fun together.

Holiday Games will give your group members reasons to celebrate-even for lesser-known holidays, such as Flag Day! These games will promote understanding about holidays and allow your kids to have a blast.

Use these games during meetings, retreats, outings, and travel. Use them to challenge your students mentally, to promote interaction, and to simply have fun. The three hundred games in this book provide a great variety of styles: active, introspective, competitive, cooperative, team, individual, and so on. You'll find games to enhance almost any situation.

Just like the first volume, this book was created with you in mind. Each game includes several quick at-a-glance references: a game overview, a list of supplies, recommended group size, approximate playing time, and easy-to-understand directions. We've also included useful indexes of game types, group sizes, and times involved. If you need a game that requires no supplies and no preparation, check the game type index. If you'd like some game ideas for those long road trips, check the index for travel games. If you need a game for a large group of teenagers, check the group size index. If you have only five minutes to play a game, check the time index.

The Gigantic Book of Games for Youth Ministry, Volume 2 is a lot about playing, frolicking, and being amused. But right along with all that fun, your students will grow and learn. So let the games begin!

Customer Reviews

GREAT BOOK of GAMES
This is a great compilation of worthwhile games. As a youth minister, I have had the need to find creative, fun games for my groups. Some make a point, and some are fun. The index is helpful, and the games are a quick read. If you need a reference book for game ideas, I highly recommend this one.

not bad, but Youth Specialties is better.....
This book is pretty good- the games are divided into categories, Team Building Games, Bible Learning Games, and Energy Burning Games. To be honest, I like the Ideas Library (Youth Specialties) books better. The games are organized better,more creative, easier to understand and do, and more categories.