games ytfers play

growing up,  i wasn't a regular attendee of youth fellowship at church. i really only attended my senior year of high school and it was there that i learned this glorious game:

four on a couch!

i think we played this nearly ever week and i have very rose-colored, fuzzy, and lovely memories of playing. without boring you all, essentially all game participants sit in a circle and a "couch" is designated for four players to sit. there are two teams, usually guys vs. girls. as a girl, the object of the game is to fill the four seats of the couch with four girls, and if you are a guy, to fill the four seats with four guys. everyone writes their name on a piece of paper and a hat is passed around so that everyone can pick a name and take on a new identity, (the identity i have chosen is "john," i am now "john). there is one extra chair and the person to the right will call a name. let's say she calls "john." per the sheet of paper i have drawn, i am "john" so i get up and sit in the empty seat. to make things more fun, i switch papers with the person who called my name, so that she is now "john" and i have taken on the identity that she had previously. it's great fun! 

one of my dreams as a ytf sponsor was to instill this same love in the youth so that in 15+ years, they too would also be passing on this game with glee. i introduced it with great fanfare a few weeks ago and i would say the reception was mild at best. "ISN'T THIS FUN?" i demanded, returned with wan smiles. last night some of the youth requested it and my heart grew several sizes. we played one round, and sadly everyone was ready to move on after that. : (((((

a game that is always a crowdpleaser, and one that we could play for HOURS if we could, is pineapple tag. one of the youth introduced it and we play nearly every week! everyone is "it" and if you get tagged, you have to sit down. per the official rules, you need to put your hands on your head like the leaves on a pineapple, but we've kind of scratched that rule. if the person who tagged you is tagged himself, then you are "free" and back in the game! we've all gotten pretty good at the game so we know to hang out right at the walls because it's very dangerous to be chilling in the middle like a sitting duck. another pseudo-rule we've developed is that if there's a stalemate, a countdown can be started, where at the end, everyone is free and the game resets if a person is not tagged by the end. the hilarious part is that there is no "official" count downer, and so anyone can start the countdown, you just need to be loud enough. 

my favorite (even more so than four on a couch!) is when they come up with their own games using things they find in the room. the other night they invented this game with a red foam ball that was a combination of basketball, soccer, and baseball and lasted for at least twenty, thirty minutes. it was cool to watch. sticks make me nervous though. there's this broomstick that keeps on resurfacing and apparently is really fun to swing around. i keep on hiding it but it always comes out. 

fun times!!