COLOR WARS: A New Game for Your Student Ministry

By Dennis Tinsley

We all want our leaders to connect with our students. Games and recreational activities are the perfect opportunity for those connections to take hold.

Recently we held our first annual COLOR WARS event, and it was a big hit! Give it a try!

Here’s what you need:

• A big thick roll of heavy plastic (25’x100′)
• Shaving cream and dishwashing soap
• Buckets
• Acrylic craft paint
• Water Blasters (The kind you pull back to fill up and push to squirt)
• And maybe a big hill (We have one but you don’t need one)

Here’s how this works:

Think: massive slip-and-slide with kids shooting crazy rainbow colored liquid at other students as they slide past.

• Lay out the plastic somewhere where kids can get a running start.
• Cover the plastic in shaving cream and dishwashing soap.
• Mix acrylic paint (one color per bucket) and water in 8-10 buckets.
• Place the color buckets along each side of the slide. Make sure the paint isn’t too thick or the water blasters won’t be able to squirt it.
• Each bucket gets a water blaster.

Students were teamed up with their group leaders and told that their goal was to get the other groups as covered in colorful shaving cream as possible. We let two groups get on each side of the slide to man the color buckets. When the air horn went off, two groups up top slid down and were greeted by their opposing color warrior peeps who let them have it.

The two groups that were on the buckets then rotated in for their turn down the shaving cream color-gauntlet. The two teams that slid, now took up arms at the buckets. And the rotation continued until everyone was thoroughly colorful.

What’s the payoff? This night gave our small group leaders an amazing, memorable night with their students. We told our leaders two things on the front end of the event.

1. Expect to have a blast – your attitudes are contagious!
2. Your win is to have fun with your students.

Leaders simply enjoying their students has enriched the time they spend week-in and week-out in their group time. They still look back, even a couple months later, and talk about how much fun they had in the Color Wars event. So much so, that we are planning to do this again in the Fall for our kick-off.

I hope this little idea can spark your imagination and lead to great connections for your leaders and students!

Dennis loves D, Mac, Park and Em – his wife and kids. Buffalo wings, smoking barbecue, and his motorcycle are a distant second. Dennis has been faithfully serving families, students, and parents in Dahlonega, Georgia at Dahlonega Baptist Church for over a decade. You can connect with Dennis on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.