Christmas OMC... the #1 way to make your Christmas party a blast!

It’s that time again… time to make your Christmas event the best Christmas event ever in the history of the world by playing the official OMC game! Our Christmas tasks were introduced last year, but only a few churches took us up on using them. So, here’s how it works…

During the game, everyone works to complete different task cards, but all at the same time.  It’s organized, but it feels like complete chaos.  Just for Christmas, we created task cards relate specifically to your favorite holiday season.  Combine these task cards with the official game pack to make OMC the perfect fit for your kids ministry Christmas pary, parents’ night out, game night or other event!

We’ve included instructions, a supply list, decorating ideas, and unique OMC task cards for Christmas.  Just print off several copies of these cards and combine them with your official OMC game cards.  Don’t have the OMC game?  Order a game kit for your church online at lifeway.com or pick one up at your local LifeWay Christian Store.

Questions? Email centrikid@lifeway.com or post your questions here in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them!  We always love to see your OMC pictures, so post them on our facebook page. Come experience the real OMC at camp this summer – check us out at lifeway.com/centrikid.

Rainy Day Games

Rain tends to throw a wrench into church happenings on occasion, especially if kids and games are involved. If your church doesn't have a gym or large open space to move games to, it can be challenging to think of something to do for your group. Here are two games that can be played outside, in a gym, or even in a classroom with tables and chairs.

Paper Plate Tag

Equipment: Paper plates (enough for 1 per child)

Set-up: Give every child (excluding 3-5) a paper plate. Kids without plates are "taggers."

Objective:The object of the game is to not have your plate knocked off of your hand. You are not allowed to hold onto it, however. You must balance the plate on the palm of your hand so that it is not impossible to knock off. If your plate gets knocked off or if you drop it, you are now the "tagger" and have to knock some else's plate off. If you knock someone's plate off, you pick it up and you are now  back in the game.

Variation: Every child gets a plate and everybody is it. Each student is the "tagger." Once they drop their plate, they are out.

Shields

Equipment: Sheets of newspaper (enough for 1 sheet per child)

Set-up: Everyone, except 3-5 kids,  needs 1 sheet of newspaper (children without paper are taggers). Hold the open piece of newspaper flat against the torso and begin walking quickly. Let go of the paper while walking so the force of the wind holds the paper on the body.

Objective: The taggers go around and try to pull off another student's newspaper. Once they pull another's a newspaper, they put it on their torso and start walking quickly. The student that lost their paper then becomes the tagger and has to walk quickly to chase down another piece of paper to pull. If a student's newspaper drops without the tagger pulling it, they still become a tagger.

Variation: If the newspaper drops without a tagger pulling it, that child has to do some sort of activity (10 jumping jacks, say a Bible verse, recite the ABC's, etc.), then they can pick up their paper and are back in the game.

Hope you are able to use these the next time it looks like rain is in the forecast. Feel free to comment with other variations/adaptations that would make these games even better!

GAME IDEA: Back to School OMC

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!  We can't believe it's already here. While we hate to see summer go, we've made a way for you to enjoy the fun of OMC all year long. This time around, we've created some fun back-to-school tasks that you can use when you play the game at your back-to-school event.

PREP:
Download and print the Back-to-School OMC Instructions and Tasks. Make several copies of each task. Add those to your Official OMC Game, and gather supplies listed on the instructions page.

SETUP:
Setup your No Fly Zone, stations (if you are using them), playing area, and any extra props or decorations.

PLAY:
Invite kids to come, and enjoy this new edition of OMC! In the instructions, we also provide an options for kids to dress up in fun clothes for the big event. 

Visit our OMC Page for even more great OMC ideas... and we always want to see and hear your success stories from our special edition OMC games!

Helium Stick | Game

Helium stick is a simple problem-solving game we’ve used in training leaders for our CentriKid Camps staff.    It is one that you can use with your Kid's Ministry leaders or with kids, as it is easy to  understand and can be discussed with any age group.

Set Up:

1. Split your group in half and have one half of the team facing the other half.
2. Stand shoulder to shoulder, elbows at your waste, forearms extended to the person in front of you.
3. Your index fingers should be extended toward the person opposite you, and your fingers and hands should be even with the person standing in front of you and parallel to the ground.

 Instructions:

1. Imagine you are a chemical waste company contracted to replace the chemical piping for a plant that produces Clorox bleach.
2. In removing all the old piping you have come upon some unlabeled piping, and because you are unsure of what’s in the piping, you cannot spill its contents as you remove the piping.
3. Unfortunately, you are unable to secure a suction devise to remove the liquids so you have to gather your team to remove it manually.  Say: I am going to place the “pipe” over your fingers.
4. All fingers must maintain contact with the pipe at all times to provide stability.
5. You are not allowed to hold your fingers at an angle. They must remain parallel to the ground.
6. You are not allowed to curl your fingers around the pipe – the pipe may only rest on the tops of your pointer fingers.
7. You will have 3 attempts to complete this task. After each attempt, you will be given some time to discuss a better course of action.
8. You have just a few minutes to set this pipe on the ground. – Go!

Possible Debriefing Questions:

1. How were you limited?
2. Did you feel like you were able to act upon the instructions I gave you? Why or Why not?
3. Was the majority of your group leaders or followers?

Application: Rest assured that despite the fact that this activity seemed impossible – it really is possible.  The same is true with God – noth­ing He calls us to is designed to make us fail. Romans 8:28 states that God has good purposes and plans for those who have faith in Him. Despite our limitations, God has given us everything we need. We need to have faith to go despite the obvious obstacles.

I'm Puzzled | Game

Today's game is an inside game designed for kids to be paired up and work together.  The objective is to help children work together and lead up to a lesson on serving or helping.

This game requires partners (in a situation with an unequal number, it is OK for a group to have 3 people).  One partner is blindfolded and will be completing the task at hand, while the other partner can see and give instructions, but is not allowed to touch any of the puzzle pieces.

The goal of the game is for partners to work cooperatively to complete a puzzle.  They are to take turns working on the puzzle – one blindfolded and one sighted.  The facilitator can determine when the partners will alternate.  They may trade places after 2-3 minutes have passed or trade places after successfully connecting or placing 4 puzzle pieces.

Variations of this game could be used as separate tasks to be completed or additional stations in a rotation around the room.  The variations are only limited by your imagination.  A couple of activities that utilize this same blindfolded partner setup are coloring in the lines, cutting simple shapes out of poster board, tying a shoe, moving an item from one place to the other.  There are also games or competitions that can be played by asking one partner to lead the blindfolded partner to a certain location. 

OMC | The Official Game Kit

Every Thursday of this summer, kids will be playing OMC at  CentriKid Camps.  It is the signature game of our recreation program that involves the whole camp!  You may have seen the recently released OMC special editions .... but here is where it all starts...

OMC stands for Organized Mass Chaos, and that is just what it is.  Every player knows exactly what task he is doing, but each player in the game is doing something different.  Players attempt to complete as many tasks as possible (one task at a time), but players are interrupted to help other players complete their tasks during the game. 

One description of OMC that I love is that it "looks like an ant bed was stirred up!"

OMC is best when played in a large space outside with a few hundred participants, however it can be adapted to play inside if weather or darkness do not allow outside play.  Plan to use a big space like a gym or large fellowship hall.  This is not a classroom game!

Inside the package for OMC | The Official Game are playing cards and a DVD with videos to help get you prepared.  All the rules, a setup diagram, and a supply list are included on the DVD-ROM portion of the disc. And something left off the disc, but available for free download here or at facebook.com/CentriKid is a t-shirt design for scoring OMC that you can use at your VBS or DNow event.

You can get OMC | The Official Game for $39.99 online, through your local LifeWay Christian Store, or at the CentriKid Camp Store this summer.

We love feedback!  Contact us with new task ideas, pictures of your event, stories about the gameplay, etc by emailing our camp office at centrikid@lifeway.com.

GAME IDEA: Summer Kick-Off OMC

SUMMER IS HERE!!!
...Well, almost. Here at CentriKid, we absolutely LOVE summer! WHY? Because it's camp season! We all know that kids love summer too, so we are celebrating summer with our Summer Kick-off edition of the official OMC game!

PREP:
Download and print the Summer Kick-Off OMC Instructions and Tasks. Make several copies of each task. Add those to your Official OMC Game, and gather supplies listed on the instructions page.

SETUP:
Setup your No Fly Zone, playing area, and additional sprinklers or water activities.

PLAY:
Invite kids to come, and enjoy this new edition of OMC! Use this game to help kids get excited about CentriKid Camps this summer!

Visit our OMC Page for even more great OMC ideas!

GAME IDEA: Scavenger Hunt

This game idea can be used with young or old groups.  A "simple" scavenger hunt can be a fun break in the middle of a long teaching session, or it can be a great introductory game.  I used it recently at our CentriKid Camps director training weekend to stretch our legs while working through the Director Notebook.

Contrary to a "normal" scavenger hunt, the simple scavenger hunt is easy to prepare and doesn't have to take very long.  In fact, it can all take place within the classroom if you desire.

For the CentriKid camp directors, I had 4 teams leave at the same time to find 4 different clues.  This picture shows my preparation:

• 5 envelopes per team
• the first envelope has only a clue, but I made sure each team got a different clue, sending them to a different area to find the next clue
• the clues were staggered so each team started with a different clue, but went to each clue in the same order (of course they didn't know this)
• the last envelope contained a duplicate clue because with all the clues hidden in the same area, it wouldn't matter which envelope they grabbed.  Teams were instructed to gather 4 different envelopes and then return.

The clues can be tricky or they can be very direct, depending on the group.  With elementary kids who are very concrete thinkers, you could make a simple scavenger hunt that just tells them where to go look for the next clue, and it would serve the purpose of getting them up and moving.  Your goal issimply to create a guided activity that challenges the kids to work together and communicate.

How could you use a "simple" scavenger hunt in your programming?

GAME IDEA: Easter OMC

Last Spring, our friend Jared told us about an incredible idea! Change your same ole' same ole' Easter Egg Hunt into an exciting activity that will keep even your preteens involved!  It's called...
EASTER OMC.

Simply place your OMC tasks into eggs, in place of candy or other prizes.  Once a kid finds an egg, he has to complete the task inside.  It's no longer about finding eggs, but completing the fun tasks found inside the eggs!  The team, or child, with the most completed tasks wins the game!

Remember the 3 Rules of OMC.
1. You can't say, "NO!"
2. Don't enter the NO FLY ZONE.
3. Return equipment to the NO FLY ZONE.

This year we've added a few EASTER TASKS that you can use alongside the Official OMC Game. Simply print several copies of these 8 new tasks and use them as part of your Easter OMC activity.

Visit our OMC Page for more details... and, as always, send us your pictures or videos of this fun event!

GAME IDEA: Mosquito Tag

SUPPLIES: 2-3 Pool noodle halves and 15-30 kids.  If you have more kids, just assign more mosquitos. If you have 15 or fewer kids, you'll want to only assign 1 mosquito.

SET UP: Create boundaries for your play area, similar to any other tag game. Remind kids that they aren't allowed to run outside the game boundaries. We recommend that you use soft cones, rope, or some other physical barrier that's not too dangerous!

PLAY IT: Assign 2-3 mosquitos (or taggers) who have to hold the pool noodle on their forehead.  They can only use the pool noodle to tag people, and it cannot be removed from their forehead at all.  Then...

DEBRIEF IT:

The only way players are "safe" from being tagged is when they are yelling, "DEEP WOODS OFF!" (Another great debrief idea... helping one another out!)  Got questions? Don't understand? Post your questions in the comments and we'll be happy to answer them for you!  Have fun out there!