Do you have a Valentine’s Day social or banquet scheduled? Do you want to add a Valentine theme to a regular group meeting? Then don’t forget the games! You’ll find one of these proven fellowship builders can bring “heart” to any event. Below are four games that can add heart to your Valentine Events.
DO YOU LOVE ME?
Materials: Chairs for all but one player
Appropriate age group: Older children, teenagers, and adults
Time requirement: Players are not timed but must respond immediately. Game lasts as long as desired.
Seat your group in one large circle of chairs, with one chair less than the number of persons in the group. The one person who is not seated stands in the middle of the circle.
To begin the game, the person in the middle goes to a player seated in the circle and asks “Do you love me?” Only one of two responses is permitted. The player must either answer “Yes I love you” or “No, I don’t love you, but I love ____________.”
Yes or No?
If the player answers “Yes, I love you”… the people on that person’s right and left must exchange seats, and the player that asked the question competes with them to get one of the seats.
If the response is “No, I don’t love you but I love _____________” that person then must fill in the blank with a unique response like “I love everyone who wears glasses,” or “I love anyone wearing tennis shoes, or “I love anyone with blue eyes.” Those who match the description must get up out of their chairs and change seats with someone else. The person who asked the question competes for one of these seats.
The player left without a seat then repeats the action by asking “Do you love me?” of another player in the circle, and the game continues.
WHERE IS YOUR HEART?
Materials: Chairs for each player and some questions prepared in advance.
Appropriate age group: Teenagers, adults, and senior adults
Time requirement: Players are not timed but must respond immediately. Game lasts as long as desired.
Players are seated in a circle. A good group is about ten. If you have many more than that, divide into smaller groups.
One player begins by saying to the player on his or her right, “Where is your heart?” The second player answers, “My heart is on the ocean blue.” The first player must now add a line that rhymes, such as, “My, that’s awful if it’s true.”
The second player now turns to his or her neighbor and repeats the question: “Where is your heart?” That player may answer something like, “My heart is in the tallest tree.” Then the second player in return may say, “Well, that’s certainly all right with me.”
If a player cannot think immediately of an answer that rhymes, move on to the next player. You may go around the circle again with each player asking, “Where is your valentine?” The leader can also ask any other question that fits the program.
STUCK ON YOU
Materials: Three or four medium-sized, heart-shaped lollipops; one bag of gummy bear candy; small bowl of water; one blindfold.
Objective: To pick up the most gummy bears off the floor, using a lollipop. Appropriate age group: Teenagers and adults; or children using variation below.
Preparation: Fill a small bowl with water and set it to one side.
Ask for three or four volunteers to leave the room. While they are gone, explain the following:
One at a time, the volunteers will come back into the room. Each person will get a Valentine lollipop. They will place the lollipop in his mouth with the candy portion on the outside. Each volunteer will dip the lollipop (candy portion) into a bowl of water to get it wet and then, while blindfolded, will crawl around the floor on hands and knees gathering as many gummy bears as possible by sticking the lollipop to the gummy bears. The contest will last two minutes.
Here’s the catch:
After blindfolding each player, remove the bowl of water and all of the gummy bears from the floor. Participants will crawl around trying to locate the candy (without using their hands) and won’t be able to find anything!
After explaining the plan to the group, bring the first volunteer back into the room. Scatter the gummy bears on the floor and place the bowl of water in the center of the room. Blindfold the person. Explain the procedure without giving away the trick. Tell him he must rely on the cheering of the rest of the group to locate the gummy bears on the floor.
After a couple of minutes, remove the blindfold and let the player see what has been missing.
Bring in another player and repeat the process. Continue the activity until all the volunteers have had a chance to have some fun. To make the game more challenging and realistic, make up scores for the remaining players, saying something like: “Well, the first person managed to get six gummy bears. Can you beat that?”
Variation (or when children are playing): If you prefer, do not use blindfolds. Conduct as a contest to see who can really retrieve the most gummy bears.
KISS MY FOOT!
Materials: One bag of chocolate candy kisses; paper towels
Objective: To successfully unwrap the most candy in the time allowed, using only the feet
Appropriate age group: Children, teenagers, or young adults
Enlist the help of three to five volunteers. Use groups if you wish, but you will need additional bags of candy. Volunteers sit in chairs, which you have placed side by side at one end of the room. Players remove their shoes and socks. Place several candy pieces on the floor in front of each person.
On a signal, the players pick up and unwrap the candy, using only their feet. Hands may be used only to help brace themselves on their chairs as they unwrap the candy. Allow about three to four minutes for this game. The player who has successfully unwrapped the most candy in the time allowed is declared the winner.
This article is shared with us courtesy the great resource web site of Lifeway.com. Some material adapted from Screamers Scramblers. Additional material adapted from The Recreation and Sports Newsletter.