If you're looking for exciting activity ideas for your youth group, this one is a winner! It is a Color Run/War on a Budget.
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I serve in the Young Women's Youth Group program at my church. We meet to worship together on Sundays and then again during a mid week activity. The YW love to be together and as their leaders, we love to be with them. The youth of today are funny, resilient, hard working, smart and kind.
Since we gather for a mid week activity, each week, we like to keep the activity ideas fun and exciting. Recently we did a Color Run/War Capture the flag activity that was a total hit. And of course, we did it on a budget.
How to Do a Color Run for a Youth Group Activity
As with any activity that we do with the young women, we want it to involve one of the 4 youth areas if Spiritual, Social, Intellectual and Physical. This activity almost covered them all. They were able to run around (physical), hang out with their friends and teammates (social) and while defending their Title of Liberty flag (spiritual)
Explanation of Capture the Flag element
Since we studied about Captain Moroni in Come Follow Me, we decided to add a "Capture the Flag" element to this activity. As Moroni was leading his troops, he hoisted a flag or Title of Liberty to inspire his people. We split the yw into teams and had each team decorate a fabric flag with fabric markers. They were instructed that they would need to defend their own flag while also searching for the flag of the other team. We walked to a near by park to play. I think the YW enjoyed the walk part, just as much as the activity.
Paint and Waterbottles
While some of the leaders were helping with the flag decorating at the church, the other leaders were at the park getting the color war ready.
I researched for days trying to find a way to have a color run on a budget. I thought about chalk, but it was out of our budget. I thought about using tempera paint. I even considered making the very time consuming DIY chalk powder. Ultimately I decided to use regular old water bottles and craft paint.
Since both are readily available, I experimented until I found a good consistency. I put 6 squeezes of craft paint into the water bottle and shook it up. It colored the water well without it getting gloppy.
Once the paint was mixed well, I used a large nail and a hammer to make 3 small holes in the cap of the water bottle.
The 3 small holes were just enough for the colored water to spray out gradually but not come out all at once. We asked our young women to wear clothing they didn't mind getting dirty and wet in.
Color Run/Capture the Flag
Once the young women got to the park we explained the rules and sent them on their way. Some of the girls defended their flag and some of them were seekers of the other team's flag. But everyone carried a water bottle and squirted as many of the other girls as possible.
There were other groups in the park but once they heard the squeals and saw the colored water flying around, they stayed away. I wish I'd taken more photos at this point but it's hard to have your camera out when you have a water bottle in each hand trying to defend yourself.
Helpful Hints:
- Have some extra water on hand in case someone gets squirted in the eye
- Remind the yw to bring towels for themselves
- Bring trash bags for the girls to sit on in their cars
- Have a safe place for everyone to place their phones and other items they don't want to get wet. It's also a good watching place for those who don't wish to participate.
Once the war was over, we ate some cookies and walked back to the church. Everyone had a wonderful time. We were tired, wet and dirty and very happy!
