Overview

Ninja Warrior, the TV show that has taken the world by storm can now be done at your Youth Group. Your teenagers will love this, to have the opportunity to prove themselves as the Ultimate Ninja Warrior.

What you need

This will depend on what you have available and the space you are working with. However just remember amongst all the fun we don’t want to be filling out those accident report forms, so pad everything! But here is a list of what you can do.

  • Ropes – they need to be big, thick ropes
  • Mattresses
  • Thick high jump mat – if you have one
  • A ladder
  • Trussing
  • Milk crates
  • A floating platform – We used a bit of yellow tongue and padded it
  • Carabiners
  • Rope/chain to suspend platform + ladder
  • Foam – for padding anything dangerous
  • Tape – Youth Pastors best friend
  • Traffic cones plus caution tape – fence off the course
  • Helmet

What to do 

This game is all in the setup. Get creative and check out Ninja Warrior for some inspiration.

Monkey bars – Get a ladder and using rope that can take the weight simply suspend it from the roof or trussing. Make sure to have a mattress underneath to catch any contestants that may fall.

Rope Swing – Hang lengths of rope from the ceiling for competitors to swing across without touching the floor. Make sure the rope is thick and again place a mattress below to catch people.

Wall climb – Set up your high jump mat on its side and have people hold it up so that competitors have to scale it and jump down onto a mattress the other side.

Floating Floor – Get a piece of yellow tongue or a stable enough platform that when suspended and there is a teenager running over it, it doesn’t break. Suspend the platform from all four corners about 30-50cm off of the ground. The platform will be shaky and hard to run across. Make sure the platform is padded and you have mattresses either side to catch contestants.

Obstacles – Just add obstacles for them to run over or through, these could include milk crates, a tunnel or tires laid out on the floor. These extend your course whilst being easy to setup and mean you don’t have to have as many epic obstacles and it still looks awesome.

Rules: 

  • Fastest to complete the course is the Ultimate Ninja Warrior
  • If you come off an obstacle that is a 5 second penalty and it must be reattempted
  • Contestants must wear safety gear

Check out this video for inspiration