well, no one actually lost an eye tonight at XStream, but we did have our first spillage of blood.
I’m a youth pastor with 20+ years of experience. I know how to lead games with students. I know when things are clicking and when they’re a flop. I know how to build excitement, generate buy-in, and sense when it’s time to shift gears and try something new. I can generally tell which games will work with our group and which ones won’t.
Line-Pull is about the simplest game possible. 2 even teams, one on either side of a line. On “GO” team A tries to pull B over the line and vice versa. Once you get pulled over the line your allegiance switches and you start pulling for the team that pulled you over. At the whistle, the side with the most people wins.
Game on! It was pretty fun to watch the big 8th grade boys assert their dominance, and the game was pretty evenly matched. Then someone told me that Sarah had just made a beeline for the bathroom with a bloody nose. I thought, “Man, what a bummer of a time to get a nosebleed. Poor kid…” Turns out it was a bloody lip, and as of the time of this posting I’m still not sure if it was an errant elbow or a headbutt that brought on the bloodletting. I’ll call tomorrow to check in.
We may put this one on the shelf for a while. I want to be creative and make space for active play, but I’m not too into bloody lips. At the same time, I’m not going to wrap any kiddos in bubble wrap to keep them from harm! There’s a happy medium in there somewhere.
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