A church picnic presents an opportunity for the members of your congregation to get to know one another. When deciding on fun game ideas to fill the day's schedule, consider safe activities capable of engaging a group of 10 or more people made up of children and adults. Choose well known games or simple variations, so participants can spend their time relaxing and enjoying the activity.
Water Balloon Toss
A water balloon toss is fun for participants of almost any age. Even adults can join in the excitement of this outdoor game suggested by the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis. The materials required for a water balloon toss are inexpensive and easy to acquire. You need balloons, a water source and a bin or box to carry the filled balloons to the picnic site.
Play in teams of two. Place teams opposite each other, and form two lines. Put toddlers who are sturdy enough to be hit by a water balloon, but have not developed sufficient coordination to catch one, next to their parents or siblings as duos.
Hand out balloons to everyone in one line. Blow the starting whistle, then every participant holding a balloon should toss it to their partners in the other line. If your balloon breaks for any reason, you and your partner are eliminated. Those with intact balloons take one step backward, wait for the whistle and toss the balloon back to their partners.
The Big Squeeze
Warm weather offers the perfect climate for a fun water game at your next church picnic. Try the Big Squeeze, suggested by Ahreita Griffin on ChristianCrafters.com. You need two buckets and one sponge for each team. Place each team in a line with a bucket of water at the front and an empty bucket with a sponge inside it at the back.
The object of the game is to move the water from the front bucket to the back bucket faster than the opposing team, using only the sponge. At the starting whistle, the runner at the back grabs the sponge, runs to the front of the line and dips it in the bucket. The runner steps into the front position and passes the wet sponge to the next player and on down the line. The last player squeezes the sponge out into the second bucket and runs to the front to repeat the process until the water in the front bucket is gone.
Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt gives your congregation a competition game idea that does not require athletic prowess. Teams of two to four players work well with this fun game idea recommended by the Activity Idea Place. Make a list of at least 10 small items, for example a maple leaf, a writing pen with green ink and a 1978 quarter, to be distributed to each team. The teams have a limited time to find as many items on the list as possible.
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