The Amazing Race (to heaven)

Four teams....

Five pit stops....

Eleven tasks.......

Only ONE winner!

The Amazing Race--Youth Group Style!

Our youth group here is so small that instead of doing things where the two high schoolers get together and the 4 junior high mingle, we do activities as families. This works out great because participation is always good, the kids get to practice patience and kindness, the parents participate, and you don't have everyone running in a million places. So, our family (along with our extremely awesome neighbor-who goes to our church) planned the event for the month of May.

Activity One: Birdie on a Perch

Object: Break the ice and have fun

Rules: Get a partner. Decide who will be the perch (kneel with one knee raised) and who will be the birdie (person who sits on the knee). All birdies form an inner circle. All perches form an outer circle. When music plays, each circle rotates (one clockwise, one counterclockwise). When music stops, you scramble to find your partner and set up--birdie on the perch. Last team to get assembled gets eliminated.

God Bless those parents and grandparents that get involved!!

Here we made them walk like a ballerina!

Here they were walking like gorillas! Hilarious!

Activity Two: Four on a Couch

Object: Get all the guys sitting on the couch or all the girls sitting on the couch.

Rules: Too complicated to explain, but it's mentally challenging and it gave everyone the sitting break they needed. Needless to say, the guys beat the girls.

Activity Three: The Amazing Race to Heaven

Object: Be the first team to make it to all the pit stops and complete all the tasks.

Rules: Do what your task card says and go out of your way to play with a Christian attitude. **Bonus prize was given to the team that behaved most Christ-like**

Drinkable Jello? Apparently, but it took A LOT of patience and fortitude.

Build Me A House. Build a house of cards at least two stories high. This took A LOT of self control, not to mention patience and perseverance.

You're so pretty! Each team had to work together to create a team symbol to wear. One team in particular was very kind and good to each other as they listened to the different ideas and in order to make sure they included everyone, decided to make the more creative and time consuming art. You can see the "angry bird" being constructed on the table.

Spread the Sunshine. Each team had to use the Bible to find an appropriate verse to be used on a banner to be delivered to a sick parishioner. They had to copy the verse onto the banner and sign it. I thought each team did a GREAT job showing concern and kindness.

We had three quizzes. Ten is Enough (list the ten commandments in order), Bible Brainiac (how well do they know their Bible stories), and Catholicism for Dummies (how well do they know their Catholic faith). Each of these quizzes took knowledge and understanding. It was so great to hear the discussions at these tasks.

It's a long shot baby! Each team member had to make a basket. For most of the teams, this was an easy and needed break from the other tasks, but it did take some gentleness, as these balls were EXTREMELY light!

After finishing the two tasks at each pit stop, the teams would receive letters. In the end, they had to work together to put the letters together and form a banner with the correct saying. The winning team not only had the message right, but they had it displayed! Talk about joy! It was hilarious listening to the things they were coming up with.

Here's hubby making attempts, away from the draft of the air conditioner, on his house of cards.

Here's Bubbles making a good effort with her jello.

One of the judges came by and said that for the sake of time, this team could chug it! Yee-haw!

Precious Prez has the right idea--more straws!

Puzzle Pro. This task required that the teams complete a 24 piece puzzle together. Fast and furious for sure!

The finished banner!

Finally finished, we gather to talk about the bonus prize! We discussed how each task (not all are pictured) featured a different gift or fruit of the Spirit. Jello took patience, house of cards took self control, Bible Brainiac took knowledge etc. etc. We also voted on the one team that played with the most Christ-like attitude. This particular team put aside their personal gain at times and helped other teams, were patient with each other, and were inclusive. They got to eat first and all other teams had to clean up.

The finale was a potluck lunch and ice cream sundaes! It was an AWESOME afternoon and everyone had a blast! Next month I think we're going swimming! Easy-peasy!