Baby Backpack Bronco
Baby Backpack Bronco
A Fun Youth Group Game
Watch the Tutorial Video
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Baby, Backpack, Bronco is played in teams of two and is all about who can get into the correct pose the fastest.
Overview
Ideal # of Participants: 4 or More
Where to Play: Indoors / Outdoors
Age of Participants: Elementary School / Middle School / High School
Approximate Time to Play: 10 to 30 Minutes
Materials Needed: Nothing!
How to Play Baby Backpack Bronco
Before the game starts, explain to the pairs that the leader will call out different commands. When this happens, partners must find each other and complete the action as quickly as possible. For example…
- Baby → One partner jumps into the other’s arms and is cradled like a baby
- Backpack → One partner gives the other a piggy-back ride
- Bronco → One partner gets on the ground while the other sits side-saddle on their back
To start each round, you have two options. You can have everyone walk around the room, making sure they’re not standing still and not walking with their partner, or you can have partners start on opposite sides of the room.
When the leader calls out a command, everyone rushes to find their partner and get into position. Your goal is to find your partner as quickly as possible, and get into the pose as described by the leader. The last team to complete the action is out, but if it’s a close call, just allow everyone to stay in. Play continues like this until only one team remains.
Bonus Poses
Once the group gets the hang of the game, you can add more poses to increase the difficulty:
- Toilet → One partner kneels on one knee with their arm out, the other sits on the knee and “flushes” the arm
- Canoe → One player lays face-down with knees up while their partner sits and rows
- Shoe-Shine → One partner kneels while the other puts a foot up to be cleaned
- Back-to-Back → Partners stand back-to-back and link arms
- Toe-to-Toe → Both players sit with the bottoms of their feet touching
- Wheelbarrow → One partner holds the other’s feet while they walk on their hands
- Troll Under the Bridge → One partner forms an arch while the other lays underneath
Introduce these gradually so it becomes harder to remember what to do under pressure, leading to even more chaos.
Leader Reference Sheet
With so many different poses to choose from, it can be hard to remember all of your options. That’s why we created this reference sheet that you can print out and keep with you when you play. Alternatively, if you want to remember all of the rules, you can print out the Lesson Handout below.
Lesson Handout
Want to make this easy to share with your volunteers or students? Download the “Baby Backpack Bronco” Lesson Handout (PDF) below!
More Youth Group Games
Looking for more creative youth group ideas? Explore our free Youth Group Game Index — it includes 80+ short, easy-to-lead tutorials that you can filter by group size, location, and materials.