Katniss & Rue
Game: The Hunger Games
The kids in our youth group developed their own version of The Hunger Games. It is like a big game of tag where the kids run around the church campus trying to kill each other by throwing whiffle balls or other harmless objects at each other until a student is crowned the victor as the last one standing.
We modified the game to give it a little more purpose to tie in to the Bible study lesson. Also, we have a very small youth group, which works great for this game. It would take some major modification to play with a large group. Here are the rules:
1. The object of the game is to be the last one standing and to have acquired the survival objects of food and water (more about these in a moment).
2. Set the boundaries for the game based on the layout of your meeting area. This game is best played outside, but can be played indoors.
3. Use a large open space on your church campus as the Cornucopia. Place a large basket in the middle of this area with a variety of weapons (i.e., whiffle balls and other soft objects that are safe for throwing at each other). You also can place objects such as pieces of cardboard that kids can use as shields in the Cornucopia, as well as hide weapons around the campus.
4. Around the campus, hide survival objects of food and water. You can use little packets of fruit snacks or granola bars and small water bottles. Kids need to find one food packet and one water bottle in order to win.
5. The game starts with all the kids in a large circle around the Cornucopia. On "Go!" kids can run into the Cornucopia to try to get weapons, or they can run out into the Arena to find shelter.
6. Kids need to find food and water in order to win the game.
7. Kids can kill each other—or take other kids out of the game—by hitting them with the weapons. Once a student is hit, s/he is out of the game. When a kid is hit and taken out of the game, s/he must surrender all weapons, food and water s/he has collected to the one who hit him/her.
8. Before the game starts, give students a strategy hint that it may be beneficial to try to form alliances with other students. Yes, there can only be one winner so they may need to turn on each other at some point, but it can help them get further in the game if they team up with others.
9. When a student has found food and water and has eliminated all the other students, s/he is declared a winner.
Game Debriefing:
After the game, ask students to respond to these questions:
• Did you form an alliance? With whom?
• How did forming an alliance make the game easier? How did it make the game harder?
• What is the difference between an alliance and a friendship?
Film Clips:
Watch the clip in which Rue shows Katniss the tracker-jacker hive. Then skip ahead to the scenes in which Katniss and Rue blow up the Careers' food stash and in which Rue is killed.
Film Debriefing:
After watching the film clips, ask the following questions:
• Are Katniss and Rue allies or friends?
• When do they switch from being allies to being friends?
• Katniss has witnessed a number of deaths in the Arena. Why does she take Rue's death so personally?
• What makes Rue such a popular character among readers?
Bible Study:
Divide students into groups and have them look up the following Scripture verses, then share with the larger group what they learned about friendship.
• John 15:12-15
• Proverbs 12:26
• Proverbs 22:24-25
• 1 Corinthians 15:33
• Romans 12:10
• Ephesians 4:29-32
• Colossians 3:12-14
• Proverbs 11:14
• Proverbs 17:17
• Proverbs 27:17
Conclude by reading this C.S. Lewis quote to the group and asking students to respond to it.
"Friendship is unnecessary, like art or philosophy. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival."
