More Ways to Virtually Connect with Middle Schoolers
a collective

Here are a few ideas pulled together via the WyldLife Thread on the FaceBook page, Alongside Young Life Leaders. Join that page for even more ideas, and continue reading for a few of our favorites in one easy collection.

Celebrity Heads (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
To play this game, you should get the youth to download the app ‘Heads Up’ to their phones. Then you can play a fun version of Celebrity Heads, taking turns via your video call!

Bingo (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Send out a printable bingo card to your youth group, and then call out the numbers or words, or to make sure they’re paying attention, get them to tick off their bingo card throughout group.

Trivia (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Obviously you can run your own trivia game over Skype, Zoom or Hangouts (or whatever software you choose!) but this site (Trivia Maker) allows you to make an awesome next-level trivia game. It’s free for basic access or just $6.99 for six months of premium.

Charades (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Yes charades might be a little challenging with lagging internet, but it can also be a lot of fun! Simply private message the acting participant with their assigned charade and then everyone else guesses.

Pictionary (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
You can play this in the same way you would play Charades, by simply getting the artist to hold their drawing up to their webcam.

Jackbox Games (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Jackbox offers really fun group games played using a computer or TV. You can normally only play in person but this article explains how you can play Jackbox together online by sharing your screen. Note: this will only work if you have the games on a computer, not on a console. But good news – their best game Drawful is currently free on Steam!

20 questions (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Assign one person to think of an object, and the rest of the group has 20 questions to figure out what it is! Keep track of questions in the group chat or simply get one leader to nominate the next question asker.

One Word Stories (shared via Fervr by Robb Schrieber)
Take it in turns to share one word at a time and try and create a logical story! This game is tons of fun when people hijack the direction of the plot and suddenly beloved characters are exploded, the world is turned inside out or a plant starts talking!

House Party App (shared by Natalie Tapia)
You can play games like apples to apples or a guess-what-I’m-drawing type game with middle school friends while still seeing everyone’s reactions!

Scavenger Hunts (shared by Robb Johnston)
Using a video call platform, have kids get __(insert item)___ and first to bring it back gets a point. Most points wins the day – points will accumulate for as long as we do this and at the end of quarantine, winner will be announced.

Quarenteen (re-shared by Crystal Kirgiss)
Super simple. Kids send videos of what they’re doing at home. You post them. Really. That’s all. Headstands. Cheeto snacks. Legos. READING TOLKIEN ON MARCH 25. Whatever. It gets kids ‘up front’ – always a win. You get a sneak peek at home life. Also a win.