Several different people contributed the following ideas.  Plant a few of them in your head and watch them grow into
full-scale, planned-out,  totally fun activities.  Right now, these ideas are just seeds; but if you add the water
of your imagination and the ground of a willing youth group, some of these seeds could blossom.

Alien Invasion—Find the aliens before they destroy the youth room. Your sponsors probably will not have to dress up much.

Big Barn Blow-Out—activities such as bobbing for apples and hayrides.  At the end, sit on hay bails and watch an old movie projected off a white sheet.

Bigger and Better—Each group starts with a penny and goes from place to place asking to trade for something bigger or better than what they have.  (Do not let them bring back anything that is alive.)

Bike Hike

Billboard Blizzard/Marquee Madness—Make clues that go along with businesses or signs (“Mexican Phone Company”=Taco Bell).

Bowling

Blue Gnu—Sponsors dress in one color and teens try to find them at different locations. (Examples are Blue Gnu—someone in all Blue, Red Rhino—someone in all red.)  For a little more fun, add a couple people the teens may not know so that they have to talk with strangers.

Board Game Musical Tables—Split everyone into 2-4 teams.  Have 4-10 board games going on, and have the teams rotate every 4 minutes.

Breakaways—Have your youth group organize a night of outreach activities for a sister youth group so that that youth group can invite and host their own visitors instead of having to help with the running of an activity.

Brown Bag Relay—Have teams race to eat whatever is in the brown lunch bag first.

Burger Bash—cookout

Camping Trip—overnight in the outdoors

Canoe Trip

Capture the Flag—A fun twist to this game is to have a Run for the Border theme.

Car Scavenger Hunt—Follow clues to find a car.

Chicken Olympics—barn games, races, egg carrying relay, egg toss

Christmas in July—Decorate a tree and do Christmas things in the summer.

Climbing Wall

Clue—Have seniors dress up like Clue characters, and have each one go to a different room of the church.  (They can decorate the room however they would like to.)  Pass out a couple of Clue cards to each of them (all but three).  The rest of the teens may ask each senior one question when they enter the room and must go to another room before returning to the one they just left.  If the senior has a card, he must show it—like the game CLUE!

Coliseum Chaos—Play Greek games.  For added effect, decorate like a coliseum and wear togas over clothes.

Craft Night for Girls—can use the crafts for ministry visits

D.U.—Destination Unknown—a scavenger hunt with clues to reach the final destination

Fast Food Progressive Dinner—Order food ahead of time and go to different fast food restaurants for dinner (Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, McDonalds).

Fifth Quarter—after ball games

Food Fight Night—Messy games with food

Frisbee Games

Game Show Spoof—The Price is Right is an easy one to imitate.  Family Feud is also good for a youth/family event.

Go-Carts

Gonzo Golf—Have each group design a hole of miniature golf in the building and then play a round.  Give prizes for the most creative, best/worst score.

Hawaiian Happening—Hawaiian-style food and decorations

Horse Back Riding

Human Hunt—Find a construction worker, policeman, etc.

Ice Skating

Jello-Bowl

Kidnap Breakfast—Snatch people out of bed and haul them off to breakfast.  Take digital pictures of them as you yank them out of bed.

Lemon Putt–Putt—Use lemons for golf balls and #10 cans for the holes.  Lots of cardboard duct tape and 2 x 4’s will create a championship course.

Lifesize Monopoly—game board in gym; lights out in rest of church; deeds hidden somewhere in the church; super soakers hiding out.  You can also play this game as a family event—families in the church against each other.

Make a Float for City Parade—Promote your youth ministry or upcoming event.

Major Motion Picture—Divide your group into two teams and let both “studios” re-enact an old Little Rascals video.  Videotape everything.

Mall Mania 1—From a list of 20 items, choose 12 for which you will find the lowest and highest prices.  The difference between the cheapest and most expensive price is your score.

Mall Mania 2—Teens are given a list of stores, prices, and items which they must correctly match together.

Mall Masquerade—Sponsors or parents disguise themselves, and teens try to find them in the mall.

March Marshmallow Madness—Use marshmallows for every activity.

Messorama—messy games galore

Midnight Madness

Million Dollar Madness—Give teens $1,000,000 (not real) and have them try to spend it in an hour at the mall.  They can only write down one item per store and cannot give any away.  Each item must be something that could be purchased and has a price on it.

Mini-Golf

Mock-mercials—Pull out the video camera and make your own commercial for an imaginary product, or bring in a few products and let the youth be creative.

Mr. and Miss Ugly Contest—a non-talent contest

Mud Bowl

Nerd-o-wimpics—sized-down Olympic events (tinfoil toss, straw javelin, nerd shuffle, etc.)

Nerf Night

Paintball—Rent your equipment, and let the youth build their own scenarios (i.e., crazed assassin, S.W.A.T., hostage situation, medieval knight and kings, traitor in the camp, A.W.O.L., king of the hill)

Pickle Party—pickles and a candy cane for everyone; pickle king and queen

Picnic Dinner—complete with fireworks

Picture Panic 1—Take pictures with your group doing different things—pyramid in front of McDonalds, in a shopping cart, etc.  Use a Polaroid camera or give them a roll of film and take to a one-hour photo while they eat.

Picture Panic 2—Take pictures ahead of time of different locations, and mark with a pen an “X” on the spot where you will hide another picture.  Each group must go to the spot with the “X” that their picture shows; and at that location, they will find the picture of the next location to which they are to go.

Pizza Pig-Out

Pizza Pizzazz—Make your own pizza.  Give prizes for best designs.  Let teens eat the pizza when done.

Planet Putt-Putt—a variation of Gonzo Golf.  This time, have everyone dress up in all black and have black lights everywhere.

Progressive/Regressive Dinner

Pumpkin Olympics—Fall activity centered on pumpkins—pumpkin toss, pumpkin relays, carving, Hide and Seek, etc.

Pocket Mirror Duel—use small pocket mirrors or the backs of CD’s

Pirate’s Quest—Teens must go to different locations and find clues to lost treasure.  This can be done around the church, at a farm, or around the city.  Have sponsors dress like pirates.

Roller Skating

Signature Search—Teens try to get different people to sign their paper—fireman, 10-year-old, Wal-Mart employee, etc.

Sound Scavenger Hunt—Tape record different sounds in a certain amount of time.

S.N.A.C.—Sunday Night After Church—time of fellowship

Snow Skiing

Spud Olympics

Teddy Bear Football—Have fun tearing up old teddy bears.

Underground Church—all lights out except for emergency lights; true churches, false churches,
and a jail

White Water Rafting

Notes:

Take pictures at your activities and trips.  Put them up in your youth room or office.  Teens love to look at themselves.  Have candy in your office.  Use the opportunity to chat with teens as they come in to grab some.