Student Ministry Game - Bomb Squad

This past Wednesday night, we played a great game with our junior high students. I liked it so much, I wanted to share it here with you. Let me introduce you to, Bomb Squad!

When it comes to game time on Wednesday nights, leadership rotates among the leaders. We each take turns planning and leading games. This past Wednesday night, David N., one of our amazing leaders shared Bomb Squad with our students and it went over pretty well. I don't think this is an original game, so you've seen it in a book or on another youth ministry website, let me know.

Here's what you need...

• Plenty of plastic eggs. Take into account the size of your group and figure maybe 5 to 8 eggs per student, depending on how you play the game.
• Inside the eggs place a piece of paper, or as Dave did, a small candy. He used Skittles. 
• You will also need four containers or drop boxes, for the bombs (eggs). Dave used empty paper boxes and their lids. I'll explain more later.
• Stop watch or timing device.
• A whistle of other device for starting and stopping the game.

General Game Play...

The goal is for the students to deposit as many "bombs" into the other teams drop box as possible, within the designated time limit. The team with the most bombs deposited wins. Bombs are defused when a player is tagged on the opposing teams territory and the egg opened and the paper or candy is removed.


Here's how we played Bomb Squad...

Our students were divided into 2 teams of about 10 each. Colored bandanas were given to designate the teams. We divided the room in half with each team claiming one half as their territory.

We placed the large part of the paper box as the drop box. This is where students would drop the live bombs into at the far end of the other teams territory. The lids of the paper box served as the Pick Up area that held the teams live bombs. These were placed off to the side of a teams territory. On "Go" students tried to grab their live bombs from the pick up point, one at a time,  and run them to the the other teams drop box without being tagged.

To defend the drop boxes, players can tag the opposite teams "bombers" whenever they enter the teams territory. Once tagged, the bomb is turned over and diffused. (Open the egg and take out whatever you have placed inside. Since we used Skittles, the students could eat the Skittle.)

We set a time limit for play. This helps to create some urgency for the students. We also assigned points for every bomb that made it to the drop box. (10 points each.)

Depending on how you want to play the game, you can do multiple rounds changing the variables. Play with only guys only tagging guys, or only girls can carry the bombs, or divide the team as bombers and defenders. You can also do a quick reset by adding more paper or candy to the eggs, or simply play till your supply is exhausted. We did not use all of the "live bombs" that had been prepared.

Have fun playing this one!

- jay

​PS - Special thanks to our amazing adult leader, Dave N. for bringing this game to our students!

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​Jay Higham is a 25 year veteran of student ministry; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently the Youth Director at Hickory Church, located in Western PA. Jay has been married to Amy for 20 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, (4 boys and 1 little girl). Jay is an aspiring author, blogger, speaker, and consultant. He is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and sharing with other youth workers. You can learn more about their ministry to the family by visiting their family blog at, www.TheHighamFamily.com!