games wearing shoes

• Big Foot – Arrange all the young people in a straight line and blindfold them all or just ask them to close their eyes and keep them closed. The youngsters must then rearrange themselves according to shoe size without telling each other the shoe size.
• Do you like your neighbors? – Young people should stand in a circle with one person in the center. Everyone in the circle removes their shoes and places them behind where they are to mark their place. Someone standing around the circle asks, “Do you like your neighbors?” The participant in the middle of the circle must answer: “No, I don’t like it, but I like people who ______” and fill in the blank with a characteristic. (eg, having a pet, skipping breakfast, etc.) All youth fitting the description must quickly find a new spot in the circle (not next to the one they dropped off, at least five people away) to put on. standing. The last person with no place stands in the middle. Those who don’t fit the description stay in place while others run for a new place.
• horseshoe toss – Play a classic game of horseshoes but wear shoes instead. Each youth team tries to throw one of their shoes closer to the wall from across the room. The closest shoe gets 5 points. Any shoe leaning against the wall scores 10 points. The team with the highest score wins.
• Minefield – Divide into two teams and mark an area to be the minefield. Everyone takes off their shoes and randomly throws them into the minefield area. Teams line up on opposite sides of the minefield and using only words must guide a blindfolded member of their team from one side of the minefield to the opposite side faster than the opposing team. Once the person makes the trip, the blindfold is removed and another team member can wear the blindfold and walk across the minefield. First team to get everyone to succeed. Only one blindfolded person is allowed on the field at any time. If the blindfolded player touches a land mine, a 10 second penalty is imposed on that team.
• musical shoes – Seat the youth in a circle and ask everyone to remove their left shoe. As the music plays, the youngster must pass the shoe to the right while he takes the shoe that is passed from the left. When the music stops, each young man must find the owner of the show he is hosting and return the shoe to him. To break the ice, have them learn the person’s name and another fun fact about them or answer a specific icebreaker question you’ve chosen.
• shoe bucket – Divide the children into teams of four. Children lie on their backs in a circle with their feet raised in the middle to balance a bucket of water or ice. Each team member must remove one of their shoes without spilling the bucket of water. The first team to complete this wins.
• shoe detectives – Divide the young people into two teams. Have each team line up on opposite sides of the room and remove their shoes. Take all the shoes out of the room and put them in a big pile outside the room. The first person on each team is the “detective.” The second person on each team describes their shoes to the detective, who runs to find them in the pile of shoes and brings them back. If the detective brings back the wrong shoes, he gathers more clues and searches again. If the detective brings the correct shoes, the owner puts them on and becomes the detective. Repeat the process until one team finds all of their shoes.
• Footwear identity – Everyone takes off their shoes, tie them and place them in the center of the circle. Someone steps forward, selects a pair of shoes, and makes a statement about the owner of the shoes based on the condition and/or characteristics of the shoes. (For example, “This person loves fashion.”) The owner of the shoes introduces himself and chooses the next pair. Variation: Have each youth retrieve a pair of shoes that represents them and once everyone has a pair, the youth explain what they have in common with the shoes they chose.
• shoe match – Each young man takes off a shoe and throws it in a pile. At his signal, each young man takes one shoe from the pile and finds the owner who is wearing the other shoe. They must learn the name (if they don’t already know each other) and three things about the other person that they don’t know yet. Once everyone has found a match, sit in a circle where each youth shares what they learned about the person they matched.
• shoe prints – As each person enters the room, ask them to create a dirty footprint on a white piece of paper. Mix the tracks and then pass them. Each person must find the shoe that matches the prints. (This works best when people enter the room from the outside. Once they’ve walked on a rug or cleaned the floor, dust often remains and it’s hard to leave footprints.) Variation: Take a digital photo of part of the room. sole of each person’s shoe and print them out and use in place of footprints.
• stomping – Everyone takes off half of their shoe and throws it into the air. See who can go the furthest with their shoe.
• shoe snake – All the youngsters place their shoes one behind the other to create a long snake. The group with the biggest snake shoes wins.
• shoe towers – Youth teams must build the tallest tower in a given time using only their shoes.
• Twister shoe – Each young person takes off one shoe and puts it in the center of the circle. Everyone join hands. At his signal, everyone takes a shoe from the center of the circle and finds the person who owns it, and puts it back on without letting go of the hands of the people next to him.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

He stacks everyone’s shoes in the middle of a circle of young people.

• Ask the young people to share as many characteristics as possible that the shoes in the middle of the circle have in common.
• Ask the youth to share as many characteristics as possible to make each pair of shoes unique.
• What are some of the things we have in common as part of the body of Christ?
• What are some of the things that make us unique?
• What do our shoes tell us about ourselves? To what extent is there a relationship between our personality and the way we walk?
• How is describing your shoes to a friend similar to sharing the gospel? What could happen if we do not present the gospel clearly? How can we be more effective in sharing Christ with others this week?
• When it comes to running the race of life, what lessons can we learn from the games we play with our shoes?

In 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Paul compares the Christian life to a race. Any runner will tell you that the most important piece of equipment for a runner is his shoes. Shoes are very personal things. You cannot run the race in someone else’s shoes. In the same way, in the body of Christ, each one of us must run the race. Everyone needs their own set of running shoes. And while we all need shoes, our shoes will be different as we progress through the race.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

We often talk about a person’s walk with Christ. That’s because feet tell us two very important facts about someone: where they are standing and in which direction someone is going. A firm stance and a steady gait are traits we admire in others. When we talk about our journey in life, we often talk about those times when we slipped and stumbled, as well as those times when we took a step in the right direction.

• What is something you have taken a stand for in your life? What are some things you need to take a stronger position on?
• What are some steps you have taken in the right direction with your life? The wrong address?
• What are some areas in which you have stumbled along your journey?
• What are some ways we can make our walk safer? How can you get back on your feet and take a new step in the right direction with your life? In which areas do you need to watch your steps?
• Taking a stand and finding your footing in life isn’t always easy, especially when you may need to step on a few toes to do so.
• How can you find the balance between taking a stand on the things that are important to you without stepping on your toes too much? Should you worry about stepping on your toes? Why or why not?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

• As a footnote to this lesson, identify at least one area in your life where you need to get back on your feet.
• How can you take a new step in the right direction with your life starting today?
• In what areas do you need to watch your step on the journey ahead?

HOLY SCRIPTURE

• Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV) – “Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, having girded yourselves in her[a] with thanksgiving.”
• Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
• 1 John 1:7 – “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
• 1 John 2:6 (KJV) – “He who says he abides in Him must walk as He walked.”
• Romans 8:4 (KJV) – “so that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV) – “Don’t you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? He runs in such a way as to get the prize. All those who compete in the games go in one strict training. They do it to get a crown that doesn’t last, but we do it to get a crown that lasts forever. Therefore, I don’t run like a sprinter, I don’t fight like a boxer punching through the air. No, I give my body a blow and make it my slave so that after having preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
• Ephesians 4:1-6 (KJV) – “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to walk worthy of the vocation with which you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love trying to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit, as you were also called in the same hope of your vocation, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one who is above all, and through all, and in all.”
• Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV) – “Therefore follow God’s example as beloved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice fragrant smell to God.”
• Deuteronomy 8:6 – “Observe the commandments of the Lord your God, obeying and revering him.”
• Deuteronomy 10:12 – “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul”,