Here are someGames that are lots of fun.  With proper planning your youth will
really enjoy these games.

Peanut Patch Olympics

 

Peanut Patch Olympics Is a Potpourri of Competitive Group Activities,
usually consisting of two types of events:
 “team events” like softball, basketball, flag-football, volleyball, bug-but;
 “Individual events” like tennis, horseshoes, chess, checkers, archery,
and Ping-Pong.

 

The Use of Peanut Patch Olympics is especially appropriate for week-long camps, the shorter time-span of retreats, or just a one-day fellowship feature at the neighborhood park.

Teams and Individuals participating in the Peanut Patch Olympics are given the names of the characters in the "Peanuts" comic strip. Divide the participants into teams with the names of the Peanuts characters:

       (1) Charlie Brown             (2) Lucy                                (3) Snoopy

       (4) Red Baron                   (5) Linus                               (6) Schroeder

       (7) Patty                           (8) Shermy                           (9) Great Pumpkin

      (10) Violet                         (11) Sally                              (12) Pig Pen

 

You may not need all twelve teams if enrollment is not large enough to demand it.  Team size is determined by the number of players needed to play the largest game selected for the Peanut Patch Olympics.  It is best to have more in each
group than is actually needed to field a team because substitutes will be needed,
and some team members will participate in the individual sports and games
which will be conducted at the same time as the other activities.

 

The teams should be balanced, both in terms of total number of members and in
the number of male and female members on each team. Each team should elect a captain. This is the person who leads the group in the assignment and scheduling of events.

 

The scoring system is simple. Team events score 15 points for a win, 10 point for a loss, 15 points for winning by forfeit, and minus 10 points for the team which
loses by forfeiting. The individual events score 2 points for winning an event
and 1 point for playing.

 

In arranging the Peanut Patch Olympics schedule, see that each team has an equal number of opportunities to play each sport. Individual games are arranged on a
show-up basis. The time and place for an individual event is announced or posted,
and all who show up are allowed to play against individuals from the other groups.
An individual is allowed to participate only once in each individual event.

 

A chalkboard layout or a poster of the daily team schedules and the locations of the contests should be put in a prominent place. If you print up a schedule of the daily contests, it could look something like the following:

 

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

 Team Events –

·        Volleyball (Boys) Court #1

                        1:30 Great Pumpkin vs. Red Baron

                        2:30 Linus vs. Charlie Brown

                        3:30 Schroeder vs. Snoopy

·        Softball (Boys) Field #1

                        1:30 Lucy vs. Sally

                        2:30 Great Pumpkin vs. Red Baron

                        3:30 Linus vs. Charlie Brown

·        Basketball (Boys) Tennis Court

                        1:30 Schroeder vs. Snoopy

                        2:30 Lucy vs. Sally

·        Volleyball (Girls) Court #2

                        1:30 Great Pumpkin vs. Red Baron

                        2:30 Linus vs. Charlie Brown

                        3:30 Schroeder vs. Snoopy

·        Softball (Coed) Field #1

                        1:30 Schroeder vs. Snoopy

                        2:30 Lucy vs. Sally

                        3:30 Great Pumpkin vs. Red Baron

·        Bug-out (20 players maximum) Coed Field #2

                        1:30 Linus vs. Charlie Brown

                        3:30 Lucy vs. Sally

·        Individual Events (Coed) - 1:30

                        Ping-Pong

                        Chess            Indoor Recreation Area

                        Checkers

                        Archery          Archery Range

·        Tennis (Boys) - 1:30, Tennis Courts

·        Tennis (Girls) - 3:00, Tennis Courts

 

Playday

 

Are you looking for that special event which will complement the other recreation activities of your church? Or perhaps there is a need to provide an opportunity for fun and fellowship for the elementary, youth, or adult groups of your church with like groups of other churches. A playday, or variation of it, is the thing!

 

Churches throughout our Convention and many civic organizations are having much success with this type of activity. Church members, young and old, are getting to know one another and forming new bonds of friendship as a result of extended recreation activities. Others have been attracted to the "way of life" of a Christian by having joined in the activities of a church -sponsored playday.

 

A quick check will reveal no set pattern for a playday. Although it was originated as a day-long affair, it has been adapted in many different ways to serve varied needs. Even though there are "57 varieties" of the playday, there are some identifying characteristics of such an occasion.

This is a "special event," not a weekly or even a monthly activity. One of the appeals is that it is something special. There is no long term commitment. If the playday activity is used too often, it loses its appeal.

A playday is a result of a need. It may be a need for one or more age groups to become acquainted with similar groups from other churches in the association.

Perhaps it's a need to provide a special time of fellowship and fun for one specific age group within the church.

Maybe there is a need for the youth of the church to better realize that many of the activities in which they normally compete may be enjoyed when playing just for the fun of it.

Those participating in the activities should enter with the attitude of playing with and not against other groups. The thrill of winning or the satisfaction of doing one's best is adequate reward, and the desire to win should not be
over stimulated by trophies or other expensive prizes.

·        The activity is considered a leisure activity and is scheduled at a time when the age group is free to come.

 

With these characteristics in mind, look at some of the possible forms a playday may take.

One church had a bicycle derby, inviting all bike riders in the church and community to come and enter the scheduled events. Each event stressed
skills and deemphasized speed and trick riding. Also included in the day's activities were a bicycle inspection and a short talk by a representative of
the police department.

Another type of playday is the "Sports Day" or "Track and Field Day."
Several church groups join together to spend an extended period playing
team and individual sports. A day such as this should not find one church playing against another, but each team should have on it a few players from each church, with care being taken in selecting teams to make sure they are balanced. Often these days are combined with a short clinic period, when a coach or well-known sports star comes to give instruction in playing skills.

For elementary age children, a "Field Day" might be conducted. Activities
such as races, tug or war, kickball, dodge ball, swimming, and skating would appeal to this age group.

Young people and adults enjoy team sports such as volleyball and softball, as well as croquet, badminton, miniature golf, and shuffleboard. An evening of activity usually meets the needs of these older age groups.

Other playdays might center around bowling, swimming, boating, a pet show, or roller skating. The only limitations in range of activities for playday events are the interests and creativeness of the age group and its leadership.

For all age groups the program may be climaxed with a social recreation period and a devotion tying together the ends of a wonderful time spent together. Oh, yes, do not forget refreshments!  No playday would be complete without them.

 

Toppleball¹⁶

 

Toppleball is a teamwork game in which all players participate equally.  It can be played with seven to twenty-four players for age eight through young adult.  It can include all male, all female or be a mixed group

.

An area sixty feet by sixty feet is sufficient to play the game outdoors. It can be played indoors on a half basketball court.

 

Here's how the game is played.

          Batter's objective:  to get maximum number of runs before the toppleball .is   knocked off the batter's post by the playground ball.

          Fielder's objective: to get the batter out and reduce his runs by knocking the topple ball off the batter's post. Fielders rotate at bat.

          Runs: The batter earns runs by hitting the playground ball over through the players, allowing him to run to the edge of the playing circle and back, leaving the post unprotected.

 

Bug-out¹⁷

 

 

Equipment:

·        One utility ball (volleyball, basketball, soccer ball, or some other type large inflated ball)

·        Eight markers (these may be knotted rags, plastic bottles filled with water or sand to keep them from being blown over

·        The lines may be drawn in the dirt and no markers used at all).

How to play the game:

·        Any number can play this game. Usually it is best not to have more than fifteen players on each side.

·        Simply divide the group into two teams

·        Mark off a field 50' x 80' (see diagram). Two end zones are marked off across the field 15' from the end boundaries, leaving a 50' area in the middle.

·        One team stands in the field; the other team is up to bat.

·        The "batter" must kick the ball, which is rolled or pitched by the pitcher on the opposing team.

·        To be a fair ball, it must go past the 15' line and between the two end markers of the 15' line at the batter's end of the field.

·        The "batter" stands behind the boundary line (outside the end zone)
and the pitcher must stand in the field outside of the 15' marker.

Rules of the Game

·        The object of the game is for one team to score more runs than the other. This may occur by a person kicking the ball and running to the far end zone and returning.

·        The team in the field tries to catch the ball

·        a fly ball that is caught is an automatic out

·        a kicked ball that does not go outside of the end zone is an automatic out

·        When a ball goes behind the 15' marker it is an automatic out

·        The fielders must throw the ball hit the runner to tag him out.

·        A fielder may not take more than three steps after he has
touched the ball before throwing it at the person who is running, or passing it to another of his teammates.

·        After a person kicks the ball, he has four options:

1.    To run to the far end zone and back

2.    To run to the far end zone and wait until a teammate
kicks the ball.

3.    After the batter kicks the ball the runner  in the end zone may run home

4.    After kicking the ball, the kicker may step to the side and wait until another batter has kicked the ball and run in with
that kicker.

·        Three "outs" constitute one half of an inning, and the teams change places.

·        An inning is completed after both sides have "batted."

·        Seven innings constitute a game.

·        If time is a factor, any number of innings may be played.

·        With small children, the playing field may be reduced and a lighter ball used.

·        Also, remember that once a player leaves either safety zone, he
cannot return to it, but must run and dodge and try to make the other safety zone.

 

Bug Out Field Diagram
Four Square ¹⁸

 

Equipment

Volleyball court, kickball field, or any kind of floor or outdoor area.

 

How to play the game:

·        Draw a 14' to 20' square on a floor or outdoor area. (The most
common size seems to be a 16' square.) This square is divided into four
squares of equal size.

·        The object of the game is to get into the server's square and stay there as long as possible.

·        There are four players, each one standing in a square with any number up to 30 waiting their turn outside and away from the playing area.

·        The player in the serving square (No.1) starts the play each time by hitting the ball underhand to square 2, 3, or 4

·        After it has bounced once in the server’s square, the server can use
one or both hands to hit the ball into an opponent’s square.

·        The player who receives the serve tries to keep the ball in play by
hitting it underhanded, after it bounces once, to another square other than the square from which the ball was received. (This will keep two players from monopolizing the game by playing the ball only to each other.)

·        The game can be made more challenging by adding a one-foot square in the center of the four squares.  This area of the playing court is called "sudden death." Any player hitting this square with the ball is out of
the game and goes to the back of the waiting line.

·        Play continues after each serve until a player misses the ball or fails to return it properly. The players who miss are out of the game and go to the end of the waiting line of players. The player behind the offending player
moves up one square.

·        Fouls are committed when the player:

·        fails to return the ball after one bounce

·        fails to keep the ball in motion

·        hits the ball down, or with the fist (the ball should be arched up)

·        plays in someone else's square

·        lets the ball touch one's body (except the hands, of course)

·        hits any line, except on a serve

·        hits the ball too hard or causes it to go outside the playing area

·        returns the ball to the same square from which it was received

·        steps over the server's line while serving

·        Waiting players will line up behind “square 4” since this is the square where new players must begin.

FOUR SQUARE COURT DIAGRAM

16’ X16’

1 SERVER’S COURT 4’ X 4’	2     4’ X 4’
4      4’ X 4’	3     4’ X 4’

        X
        X   Line of 
        X   Players
        X   waiting their turn 

It would be impossible to share in this brief time all types of sports and games and ways they may be used by churches and other groups.  
Footnotes  

¹ Danford, Howard G. From Creative Leadership in Recreation (Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc.)

² Gardiner, E. Norman. From Athletics of the Ancient World (Oxford, The Clarendon press, 1930)

³ Danford. Ibid., p. 189

⁴ Sessoms, Bob. Adapted from "Sports Base Design," The Sunday School Board of the  Southern Baptist Convention, 1976 .

⁵ Wilkinson, Bud. Adapted from "Sports for a Lifetime," from Church Recreation Magazine, The  Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission.

⁶Pylant, Agnes. Church Recreation (Nashville: Convention Press, 1959),

⁷ Menninger, William C. "Recreation and Mental Health," Recreation. November, 1948,.             \

⁸ Price, Marshall. "Sports in the Church," from Church Recreation Magazine, The Sunday School    Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission.

⁹ The Recreation Program (Chicago: The Athletic Institute, 1954

¹⁰ Wilkinson, Bud. Ibid.

¹¹ Shows, Bobby. Adapted from "Sports Comradery," Church Recreation Magazine, The Sunday  School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission.

¹² Sessoms. Adapted. Ibid

¹³ The Recreation Program

¹⁴Raus, Robert. From "Sports and You," Church Recreation Magazine, The Sunday School Board      of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission.

¹⁵ Raus, Robert. Adapted from "Playday - That's the Thing!" Church Recreation Magazine, The  Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission.

¹⁶ Church Recreation Magazine The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention  Used by permission.

¹⁷ lndoor-Outdoor Recreation Pack Ibid.
Back to Plan Youth Activities