Youth Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics are coming and soon will be upon us. What better time to host a Winter Olympic Themed Game Night with your youth group. You could set a side one night to do a bunch of games or spread them out over your series.
We have been doing a Winter Olympic night for the past 4 years. We get in the spirit with Olympic and competitive music playing through the system, we decorate the youth center. Some times we have made medals for individual events and others we have kept a cumulative score and awarded a team Gold, Silver and Bronze at the end.
We have many games we have played. I’m including the top 8 games, which should be plenty for one night or one series.
Items Needed to Play All Games –
Sled Events –
We have done these events in two different ways. The best way is to make a track with cones or chairs around your gym floor so they have several turns to navigate. We have also lined teams up and had them roll the length of the floor, around a cone and back. This could even be done in a hallway and also results in less chance of contact between the participants.
Event #1 – Skeleton
Items Needed – Automotive Creepers, Cones to Mark the Course
Event #2 – Bobsled
Items Needed – Automotive Creepers, Cones to Mark the Course
In our version of the 2 man bobsled one person is in the cart and one is pushing the whole time. One member of the team sits down on the automotive creeper and the other person stand behind them and guides / pushes them through the course.
Skate/Ski Events
The following events use sheets of wax paper to act as skates or skis. You may also use paper bags, news paper or even towels depending on how slick your floor is. The purpose of using something like this forces participants to keep their feet on the ground as they shuffle along the course.
Event #3 – Speed Skating
Items Needed – Sheets of Waxed Paper, Cones for the Course
For added fun and to involve more people make it a relay where the first skater tags the hand of the second skater when they return and continue till the last skater (usually 4 per team is good) returns.
Event #4 – Biathlon
Items Needed – Sheets of Wax Paper, Cones, Nerf Guns, Paper or Plastic Cups
Use teams of 4-6 for this competition. In this version we participants had to “skate” down to one end of the gym. At the end of the gym was a table for each team with 5 cups on it. Participants used a pre loaded nerf gun and had to knock down as many cups as possible. A judge keeps score of every cup knocked down. After the racer uses all of the ammo they return to the start and tags the next person in line who continues the process. The race is timed. At the end of the event judges deduct 1 second off of the time for every cup that the team knocked down.
Other Games
Event #5 – Hockey Skills
Items Needed – Pool Noodles, Small plastic ball for each team, Chairs to mark a course
In this relay, set up a course with chairs. They should stretch from one end of the gym or facility to the other. The chairs should have some zig zag or randomness to them and place them about 5-8 feet apart. The participant starts off with the pool noodle and the plastic ball. When you say go they must begin by hitting the ball along the ground with the pool noodle. They must hit their ball through each chair on the way to the other end of the course and then back again before passing off to the next participant. The team that finishes the fastest wins.
Event #6 – Hockey
Items Needed – Pool noodles for each person, Small plastic ball to use as a puck
Divide teams evenly. We suggest 10 – 15 per team. Set a goal on each end of your gym floor. We used a table turned on its side. Throw the ball in the middle and team members have to use their pool noodles to hit the ball and make it hit their goal, just like hockey.
Event #7 – Office Chair Curling
Items Needed – Rolling Office Chair, Painters Tape to Mark, Target such as free throw circle of a gym You could draw a square on the floor with painters tape if needed.
Each team picks 8 representatives who are paired up. You will play 4 rounds and the closest of the 4 rounds wins. One person from the pair sits in the chair. The other person pushes them from one end of the gym toward the target on the ground. Once the chair stops their place is marked with a piece of tape. Every team continues sending their first pair. After that round you send the second round of participants. In the end you take the best roll from each team to determine first second and third.
Event #8 – Sleeping Bag Bob Sleigh
Items needed – Unzipped Sleeping Bag
Event #9 – Figure Skating
Items Needed – Judges, Appropriate Music Playlist
Bonus Event #10 – Snowball Fight
Two teams at a time one per side. On go you throw as many snow balls (wadded up prices of paper or rolls of toilet paper) as you can. After a certain amount of time yell stop. Count the snowballs on each side. Team with least amount of snowballs on their side wins.
Russell Martin
Author
Russell Martin is the Senior Pastor at Lake Houston UMC and the co-host of the Student Ministry Conversations Podcast. He is a gifted communicator and loves talking with and coaching student pastors through the many challenging aspects of ministry. He loves listening to other podcasts, cooking and growing plants in his own garden.
