That’s exactly what we’re here for. Every aspect of ActuallyFun, including our products, is designed to deliver as much value to you as possible, and we do that by saving you time. You don’t want to figure out all of the little logistics about planning an activity, you just want to find material and run it. We’ve done all of the work so that you can spend less time planning and more time making connections.

Everyone doesn’t need to be sprinting around screaming for a game to be fun, in fact, variety is good. That’s why ActuallyFun has games that are diverse and elevate different people based on their skills. Sure you’ve got games like Giant Gaga where physicality is an advantage, but there’s also Knight Moves which is all strategy, or games that require communication like The Camera Loves Me. Our Game Index breaks games into high-energy and low-energy, but experiment with both types because you might be surprised which ones your group loves most! 

My favorite part about games is that, when used effectively, they enhance your message. When people are a part of something, they’re more committed to it, and your youth are much more likely to remember a message if they can tie it back to an experience that they’ve had. Consider Pan Bang, a game where the leader hits a pan with a spoon, and however many times the pan was hit is how many people you need to get into a group with. It’s one thing to say to your youth that it’s bad to exclude each other, but it’s another thing to show them why. In Pan Bang, people inevitably get shoved away when groups have one too many people, so you can ask those people what it felt like to be pushed out. This leads to a much more personal and memorable conversation that helps you communicate your lesson in a way that’s taken seriously.

Every young person not only wants deep relationships, they’re hungry for them. The problem that they face is that they’re never normally given a chance anywhere else to be themselves, because to be vulnerable means opening yourself up to getting hurt. But your group is a place where people build each other up, and where the members are intentional about looking for each other’s strengths. If you establish a space like that for them, they’ll start thinking of it as home.

Leaders come in all different forms from all different walks of life, but there’s a few things that all good leaders have in common. One of those things is that they have a desire to serve, and just by being the kind of person that’s on this website, you’ve already got that. If you lead with your heart, everything else falls into place.

I hope that with some practice, the games become the easy part for you. There’s planning that goes into leading them, but the most important part is that you have fun yourself. If the greatest game ever created is led by someone who isn’t having fun, it won’t be good, but just having enthusiasm for what you’re leading is contagious.

Additionally, hosting a game is the perfect first step on a young leader’s journey. If you’ve already got the details figured out, there’s no pressure to find the right words or be mistake-free. If you’ve got young people in your group that you see potential in, allowing them to take control  instills a level of confidence that’s hard to mimic.

That’s exactly why we let you filter by Room Size in our game index. There’s a ton of games intended to be played in a small space, but a lot of the games can also be adapted to fit any environment.