This game is based on the familiar English idiom to be “left holding the bag.” “Left holding the bag” refers to a situation when a person is abandoned by others involved so that they bear the blame or responsibility. Example: Everyone rushed home after the party left the room in a mess so the youth leader was “left holding the bag”. The phrase is a variation of one which dates back to about 1600 — to “give one the bag (to hold)” in which a person was left with an empty bag while others took all the valuable contents.

1. Christian
Icebreakers -
Left Holding
the Bag
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2. Game Description
This game is based on the familiar
English idiom to be “left holding the
bag.” “Left holding the bag” refers
to a situation when a person is
abandoned by others involved so
that they bear the blame or
responsibility. Example: Everyone
rushed home after the party left the
room in a mess so the youth leader
was “left holding the bag”. The
phrase is a variation of one which
dates back to about 1600 — to “give
one the bag (to hold)” in which a
person was left with an empty bag
while others took all the valuable
contents.
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3. Game Materials
• A bag (You can use just
about any bag for this but
the game is more fun if it is
a cloth bag that makes very
little sounds when
dropped.)
• You’ll also need solid chairs
for everyone as things
usually get a little wild with
youth diving for chairs.
There should be one less
chair than the number of
participants.
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4. Game Preparation
• All the youth are seated in
a circle and one youth
stands in the middle
holding a bag.
• Safety Tip: Place the chairs
in a tight circle with no
gaps or you might have
some youth miss the chairs
and end up on the floor!
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5. Game Play
• Select one youth to be in
the center of the circle,
“Holding the bag”.
• The youth in the middle of
the circle must then walk
around the circle and take
the hand of another seated
youth. (If you have an
almost equal mix of girls
and guys you can ask them
to grab the hand of
someone of the opposite
sex.)
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6. • That person then leaves
his/her chair and takes the
hand of another youth and
so on.
• This continues until the
first youth drops the bag
and everyone runs to a
seat.
• The youth left without a
seat picks up the bag and
the game begins again.
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7. Variations
• Play a few rounds and then
add some items to the bag:
• Slips of paper, each with
icebreaker styled questions
like: “what is your Favorite
Ice-cream? Most
embarrassing moment?
Happiest memory? Best
vacation? Favorite movie?
Favorite book?” etc.
• Slips of paper with a forfeit
on each one. You can find
examples of forfeits
here: Game Forfeits
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8. • Slips of paper with review
questions from a previous
lesson.
• Slips of paper with personal
questions to introduce the
topic of the next lesson.
• Charades that youth will need
to act out for the rest of the
youth to guess. (Can give
points and have girls vs guys
teams for the guessing)
• Items of clothing in the bag
(pillowcase) – youth must pull
something out and wear it.
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9. Take it to the Next Level
• In real life, have you ever
been left “holding the bag?”
What happened?
• What feelings might a person
have when they are forced to
take the blame for someone
else’s actions?
• Are there times when we let
others take the blame for
things we have done?
• Was Jesus “left holding the
bag” when the disciples
abandoned him at his arrest?
Is it the same thing? Why or
why not?
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10. While we have to take
responsibility for our own sins,
Jesus wants to take the blame –
He has stood in our place to take
the punishment for us. There
may still be consequences, but
through His death on the cross
we receive God’s forgiveness. He
took the punishment for us!
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11. www.CreativeIcebreakers.com
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This EBook not only provides 52 of the
world’s most popular group icebreaker
activities, but also includes lesson ideas and
questions to smoothly transition into
discussions about issues common to most
groups.
Click here to find out more!
Icebreakers Ahead: Take it to the next Level