Insight

Washed clean - an Easter youth group discussion starter

‘Washed clean’ involves a simple chemical reaction which provides a great object lesson for young people. It can be used as part of an Easter presentation and provide a stimulus for further group discussion.

It’s important to practice this first and build your confidence in the science, to allow you to focus on the talk. I have included a simple outline talk as a basis for creating your own presentation.

For the demonstration you will need a large clean glass bowl, 1.5 litres of water, tincture of iodine, spray starch, photographic fixer, a clean white cloth, a piece of clear plastic and a table on which to conduct your science!

Tincture of iodine is readily available from most chemists. Spray starch from a supermarket. Photographic fixer is available from good photographic stores or can be purchased on-line. In the UK, Ilford rapid fixer (ammonium thiosulphate) is a good choice.

Consequences - a youth group discussion starter

A simple group discussion starter based on the party game of consequences i.e. his name/ her name/ where they met/ he said/ she said/ where they went/ what they did/ and the consequence was?

This exercise assumes your young people have some background knowledge about the life of Christ. Invite them to sit in a circle of 9 people and give everyone a piece of paper and a pen. If you have a large group, break into two or more circles.

Explain that you are going to play the game consequences and ask a series of 9 questions. They write their first answer at the top of the paper and then fold it so that the answer cannot be seen.

The paper is then passed to the person on their right. This is repeated for each question, until all 9 questions are asked. If someone can’t answer a question they simply write a question mark, fold the paper over and pass it on.

The church - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter on the church. Exploring the New Testament images of the church and discovering the importance of each person playing their part in the life of the church. A themed night of icebreakers and activities can also be found in the earlier post The Body of Christ.

TOWER BUILD

Don’t say too much about the theme of the session at first. It is introduced through the object lesson that follows the tower build exercise.

Divide your group into teams of four. Explain the task is to work together to build the tallest free standing structure or tower they can with the materials provided. Give each team an identical selection of materials which they can use to build the tower. This can include a limited amount of,

Cardboard, newspaper, plastic straws, pipe cleaners, lollipop sticks, plastic cups, paper plates, paper clips, cardboard tubes from toilet of kitchen rolls, tape.

Encourage each team to use all of the resources they are given and to involve everyone in the planning and building process.

Give each team 15 minutes to construct their tower. Then ask each group to step away from their free-standing tower to determine the winner. Depending on the size of your group, come back together as a whole (or divide) to discuss any lessons learned from the project.

Trinity - a youth group discussion starter

'Trinity' is not a word found in the Bible, but it’s used to describe the essential Christian belief that there is one God who exists as three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person equally and fully God.

How can we help young people to begin to appreciate and understand this foundational and yet mind boggling Christian belief? How can three persons be one person? Sometimes it helps to think outside the box.

NINE DOTS PUZZLE

Draw nine dots on a whiteboard. The challenge is to connect all the dots by using only 4 straight lines, connected end-to-end. See if your young people can complete the puzzle. Most will only be able to connect 8 dots. The last one seems impossible.

What is God like? - a youth group discussion starter

People have different views about God. What do your young people think? What is God really like? What does the Bible tell us about his character? What does that mean for us?


SYMBOLS QUIZ

Draw, photocopy, or present a number of brand symbols which represent retailers, consumer products, computer or telecoms companies, transport or car manufacturers, banks, record labels, national flags etc. Around 20 brand symbols should be enough.

Invite the group to participate in a quiz to identify each of the symbols. This can be completed individually with pen and paper or as two teams competing against each other.

Ask the group why they think symbols are so widely used? (Symbols are used to represent, identify or associate with larger pieces of information.)

GOD IS

Give everyone a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Invite the young people to draw their own symbol to represent their own understanding, belief or unbelief in God. They cannot use words, lettering or numbers. The picture should represent what they think about God. Emphasise that you are not looking for a work of art!

Allow three minutes to complete the symbol and ask the young people to reveal their picture to the rest of the group. Invite the youth group to guess what they think each symbol represents about God, after which the 'artist' can confirm if anyone got it right.

Salt and light - a youth group discussion starter

Jesus’ words about being ‘salt and light’ to the world is a challenge to think about discipleship. How do we help young people to be ‘salt and light’? What does God want us to be like and to do as his representatives in the world?

BLIND TASTE TEST

This is a fun icebreaker based around a blind taste test. It will require some preparation (see your taste test items below) and you will need some small disposable bowls and a teaspoon for each volunteer. The food must be kept hidden until the volunteers are blindfolded.

Invite three volunteers to participate in the taste test where they will compete with each other to demonstrate their knowledge of food and tastes from around the world. Blindfold each volunteer and bring the numbered (1-15) food samples out for the taste test.

The first contestant selects a number from 1-15. They are fed a small sample of the chosen number with a teaspoon and asked to guess what it is. Aim to have a five rounds and give the contestants a drink of water between each round, especially if they have just swallowed the curry paste! A point is given for each correct answer. Select 15 ‘tastes’ from the sample list below,

Orange juice, Ice cream, Cold coffee, Tomato ketchup, Vinegar, Cold rice pudding, Toothpaste, Yogurt, Salad dressing, Mustard, Bolognese sauce, Brown sauce, Milk, Mayonnaise, Curry paste, Marmite, Golden syrup, Cottage cheese, Beaten raw egg, Water, Cold baked beans, Branston (sweet) pickle, Cold chicken soup, Soy sauce, Cold tinned custard, or anything else you can think of!

To keep the rest of the group engaged with the icebreaker, use a flipchart to write up the food item chosen by each contestant, and let them hear the groans and laughter.

First impressions - a youth group discussion starter

Image is king in today’s culture. Perfect people populate the teen magazines. Appearance is everything. But what can we know about someone from only their outward appearance? How do we accept or reject people? How does God view us? A youth group discussion starter on image.

IDENTIKIT

Collect a selection of glossy fashion magazines and teen magazines for this activity. Provide scissors, glue and some large pieces of white card. Invite the group to divide into pairs and ask them to cut out and create an identikit picture of the perfect man or woman. This may be only a face or the whole body.

Display the pictures for everyone to see and encourage the group to discuss the questions below. The conversations may go in different directions, so be flexible. Add your own supplementary questions where appropriate.

• What are the common factors in the pictures?
• Do you think glossy images of ‘perfect’ looking people in magazines make you more or less happy about the way you look? Why?
• How important is image to you?
• Can we do or say things which damage people’s image of themselves?
• How important do you think your looks or outward appearance are to God?

Before moving to the next activity, ask the group to quietly consider if they think it is right to accept or reject a person, only by the way they look?

Who am I? - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter on identity.

Begin with one or two icebreakers on the theme of ‘who am I?’ and ‘identity’ i.e. ‘Fact or fiction’, ‘If’, ‘Would you rather?’, ‘Masks’, ‘Flags.’

These can all be found in my previous posts Icebreakers for small groups and More icebreakers for small groups.

Alternatively, download the free eBook ‘40 Icebreakers for Small Groups’ from the sidebar, where you will find these and many more icebreakers.

Lead into the next activity by explaining how the icebreakers remind us that everyone is different. We each have a unique identity and there is no one else like us with our blend of looks, personality, character and background.


THIS IS YOUR LIFE

Ask for a volunteer. When they come up announce dramatically and solemnly, (Grahame) this is YOUR life. Reveal a previously hidden folder and proceed with the description of early human development. Stress the statistics. Pause between each and emphasise the final paragraph.

• From the 266 days from your conception to your birth, one single fertilised call became a staggeringly complex organisation of some 200 million cells.
• Your growth rate was such that if you had continued to grow from birth at the same rate, then you would be 75 feet tall and weigh several tons by the age of 16.
• Each cell as it divided exactly copied your unique genetic code, so that each cell would now be uniquely you.
• To view the code from just one cell would require watching 5 million frames of a TV.
• Each one of us has between 10 and 15 billion brain cells. If each cell were a person, then they would populate two planets the size of earth.
• Your heart began beating after about 21 days when you were only 3mm long.
• You could hear your mother’s voice after 16 weeks and also had your own unique fingerprints.

YOU ARE SPECIAL. There is no one else in the whole world like you.

Just another number - a youth group discussion starter

Are we important? Are we special? In an impersonal world this youth group discussion starter helps young people to consider their value and significance to God. It’s the first of three discussion starters on value, identity and image.

THE AMAZING SQUARE

Explain to your group that you are going to perform an amazingly complex mathematical problem without the use of a calculator, or a computer, or a safety net! This first activity helps to introduce the initial theme of numbers. It’s optional, although it will impress your group! Also a great party piece if you ever need it!

download The Amazing Square (pdf)

LIVING BY NUMBERS

Numbers are important. Ask the group if they can think of ways we use numbers every day? What about the rest of their family? How are numbers used to identify us? Write the responses on a whiteboard.

You can probably think of many examples of number use, but here are a few to help you get started - dates, time, speed, distance, computers, scientific equations etc. Numbers are also used to personally identify us – birthday, mobile phone number, passwords, driving licence, credit card, bank account, tax, health insurance, electoral (voting) number, personal measurements etc.

Numbers identify us, categorise us and in some ways define who we are. We hear people complain that they are ‘just another number’ in some big computer and no one really cares about them as a REAL person. It’s tempting, too, to think that if there is a God who is looking after millions and millions of people on earth we cannot really be very important. We’re just another number in God’s cosmic filing cabinet.

Sin and forgiveness - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter helping your group to understand the way sin operates in our lives and God’s solution.


THE S WORD

Ask the young people to call out the first word that they think of when the word sin is mentioned. Write the answers on a whiteboard. Usually they will come up with a list of actions: stealing, adultery, murder etc. Make the point that these are just some of the results of sin, but the Bible reminds us that the cause of these actions lies deep within the nature of everyone (Mark 7: 21-23).


THE GRAVITY GAME

Stand a volunteer on a chair, holding one end of a broom or pole. Another volunteer stands on the ground, behind a line drawn a metre in front of the chair, holding the other end of the pole.

Explain to the volunteers that they must not let go of the stick, but by pulling and twisting, the first volunteer is to try and pull the second over the line. At the same time the second volunteer has to try and pull the first off the chair. Try this couple of times with different volunteers of similar height and weight.

The person on the chair will usually lose. This is because the volunteer on the floor has the extra benefit of gravity, a powerful force pulling downwards. The Bible also describes sin as a powerful force, pulling us down, and separating us from a relationship with God.

Guidance - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter on guidance, helping young people understand that God cares for them and wants to guide them in their decisions and choices. Great for younger teenagers but can be adapted to a wider age group.

TREASURE HUNT

Begin the youth group night with a treasure hunt. The first option is ideal for small youth groups. You will need some coloured wool, an envelope with instructions inside and some ‘treasure.’

Cut the coloured wool into 10 cm lengths. About an hour before the youth night begins, lay out a trail using the wool. Tie pieces of the wool to plants, bushes, trees, fences, gates, signs etc within the vicinity of your meeting place. Each piece of wool should only be a few meters apart. At the end of the trail place an envelope containing further instructions or clues on how to find the hidden treasure, somewhere within your meeting place.

Before you begin, explain to the group that the object of the treasure hunt is to be guided by the trail until they find the clues that will lead them to the treasure. As they find each piece of wool they should collect it and return it to you at the end of the activity. The length of time the treasure hunt takes will depend on the length and difficulty of the trail.

Live to give - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter on money, wealth and Christian giving.

From the wisdom of the proverbs, the parables and teaching of Jesus, to Paul’s letters to the first Christians and churches, the Bible has a lot to say about money, our attitudes to wealth and possessions and the challenges and joys of faithful stewardship and Christian giving.

DOODLES

Have sheets of flipchart paper, pencils, pens, markers and modern translations of the Bible available for this activity. Divide the young people into pairs. Explain that the group will be creating a series of cartoons on money, lifestyle and giving. Each pair can either create a strip cartoon or a single image. Encourage them to make their cartoon as large as possible. The cartoon can either be a simple black and white drawing or in full Technicolor!

Write up the Bible references on a flipchart as the basis for each cartoon. Ask each pair to select a verse or passage, and let the doodling begin!

Living in a material world - a youth group discussion starter

A youth group discussion starter on money and wealth.

Young people are bombarded with TV images, advertising and celebrity lifestyles, all presenting similar messages about the acquisition and ‘power’ of money, the trappings of wealth and the next ‘must have’ thing.

Against this culture, does the Bible have anything to say about money, the pursuit of wealth and our attitude to possessions?


SUCCESS IS..?

Begin by writing the words SUCCESS IS… on a flip chart or whiteboard. Ask your group to suggest words that would show that someone had succeeded in life. Write them up. Is there a common theme?

MONEY MURAL

Provide a number of copies of popular ‘teen’ magazines, lifestyle magazines and ‘celebrity’ news magazines. Ask the young people to get into small groups and choose 3 or 4 articles or adverts that they think make the biggest impact on them. Each group then briefly shares their choices with everyone.

Using a sheet of flipchart paper or wallpaper, ask the group to paste or tape pictures from the articles and adverts to create a montage of images. Leave a black space at the bottom of the paper for the final summary.

Shipwrecked - a youth group discussion starter

Exploring the values we place on people, contrasting with two incidents from the life of Jesus and discovering the value Jesus places on us.

SHIPWRECKED

Divide your young people into groups of 8. Ask them to imagine that they have been shipwrecked, but everyone has climbed into the safety of a lifeboat floating nearby. Unfortunately there is very little food in the rations. You estimate that it is many days journey to the nearest land and there is not enough food to keep everyone alive. For the majority to survive, two people must be cast adrift on a nearby timber beam. They have no food, the waters are shark infested and it will mean certain death! However, each passenger has the chance to plead his or her case to stay in the boat and survive.

Each of the young people plays the role of one of the passengers. After drawing an occupation from a hat to role play, every person has one minute to say why they should stay in the lifeboat.

Pentecost - a youth group discussion starter

Exploring the impact of the Holy Spirit on the lives of the first Christians at Pentecost, and discovering more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives today.

I WAS THERE

Divide the young people into small groups. Explain that each group is going to script and perform a short interview, featuring one of the characters involved in the events on the first Pentecost. Give each group one of these characters;

• One of the believers in the upper room (Acts 2: 1)
• A God-fearing Jew (Acts 2: 5)
• One of those who mocked the Christians (Acts 2: 13)
• Peter (Acts 2: 14)
• One of the new believers (Acts 2:37, 41)
• A member of the early church (Acts 2: 42-47)

Ask each group to read Acts 2: 1-47 together, using a modern translation of the Bible. Then decide who will be the interviewer and who will be the interviewee. The rest of the group helps with the preparation and scripting of the interview.