Do As I Sayn’t
Do As I Sayn't
A Fun Youth Group Game
Watch the Tutorial Video
- Do As I Sayn’t is a hilarious and surprisingly deep youth group game that will challenge your students’ ability to listen, think, and react — all while highlighting an important Biblical truth.
Overview
This Christian icebreaker game is perfect for youth nights or Sunday school, combining laughter, confusion, and meaningful reflection in under 15 minutes.
Ideal # of Participants: Any
Where to Play: Indoor / Outdoor
Age of Participants: Elementary School / Middle School / High School
Approximate Time to Play: 10 to 15 Minutes
Materials Needed: Nothing!
How to Play Do As I Sayn't
Form a Circle:
Have your group stand in a circle, leaving about an arm’s length of space between each person.Round One – Say and Do:
Explain that players will follow one of four commands: Step Left, Step Right, Step In, or Step Out.
When you call out a command, everyone must say and do the same thing.Example: When the leader says “Step Right,” everyone says “Step Right” while stepping to the right.
Round Two – Say but Do the Opposite:
This time, everyone still says what the leader says, but they must do the opposite.
Expect laughter, chaos, and lots of bumping into each other.When the leader says “Step Left,” everyone says “Step Left” but steps right.
Round Three – Do but Say the Opposite:
For the final round, flip it again! Everyone does what you say but says the opposite.When the leader says “Step Right,” they actually step right but say “Step Left.”
It’s easy to get discombobulated, which is exactly the point!
Lesson Tie-In
You can use this game as a powerful lesson on how our words and actions don’t always line up.
Ask your group:
What did it feel like to say one thing but do another?
How often does that happen in real life?
Then read Romans 7:15-20 (CSB):
“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.”
Talk about how even the Apostle Paul struggled with doing what’s right — and how we all face that same tension between good intentions and real actions.
Encourage students to think about the people they surround themselves with and how that influences their decisions. As the saying goes, you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Go Deeper
We actually used this game in one of our recent Game-Driven Lessons called Desire. Game-Driven Lessons are ActuallyFun’s curriculum series that takes a fun game, and ties it into a meaningful discussion you can easily lead with your group. It gives you all of the questions you need to lead an excellent youth group meeting, so that you can spend more time building relationships in your group!
Lesson Handout
Want to make this easy to share with your volunteers or students? Download the “Do As I Sayn’t” 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.