4.22.2014

"Cash Cab" LDS Youth Activity

I was recently called as a Laurel Advisor in my wards Young Women's program. I am terrified of this new calling. Girls Camp, Activities, Personal Progress... am I even a fun enough person to do all these things with a bunch of cute teenage girls??? Time will tell.

I received a "welcome" to Young Women's and a "the Laurels are in charge of the combined activity next week" all in the same day. Luckily, the Laurel in charge already had an idea of what she wanted to do, I just needed to follow through with the rest. And luckily, there was a website that already had the general idea, I just needed to fancy it up a bit. Because I couldn't just print off a bunch of black and white printed instructions with no color and without all the extra details.

Clearly, that's my OCD talking.

If you haven't seen the actual show "Cash Cab" visit YouTube. This link includes a video of a great example. The general idea of the game is that passengers answer trivia questions {in this case, mostly LDS related} and earn money along the way. There were $25, $50 & $100 dollar questions as well as a few bonus questions, and the money was used to purchase ice cream & toppings after the game is over.

***PLEASE NOTE*** We chose not to kick kids to the curb if they "strike out," meaning, they missed 3 questions, as the rules are in the real Cash Cab. Instead, they were just sent straight back to the church with whatever winnings they'd earned to that point.

TO GET STARTED...
I coordinated with 12 leaders -- 6 to drive, and 6 to conduct the games/questions while driving -- 6 cars total. Each car would take 4-5 of the youth, depending on how many they could fit. Obviously, you want as many youth in one car as possible, so talk to leaders with larger vehicles. This part shouldn't be difficult...

Each car was given the following {all printouts link available at the end}:

GAME INSTRUCTIONS & TRIVIA QUESTIONS

RED LIGHT CHALLENGE / PICTURE CHALLENGE ENVELOPES  

WINNINGS TRACKER
STRIKES / MOBILE SHOUT OUT TRACKER

ROUTE MAP
 

CAR ASSIGNMENTS
 
The winnings tracker was used to identify the amount a youth earned, and could then use to buy their ice cream and toppings once the game was over. Each car used the Strike Out/Mobile Shout Out form to track the number of Strike Out's {missed questions} & Mobile Shout Out's. If 3 questions are missed, it's game over and they must head back to the church. 2 Mobile Shout Out's are given if they need help with a question. They could call a friend, parent or whoever they know that could help. 

I took the time to create 6 different routes for our area. It was time consuming, but worth the effort. This ensures that no one travels the same route and that all routes are of equal distance and time. All cars should generally arrive back at the church at about the same time. Each of our routes were roughly 10 miles long, taking about 22-25 minutes.

To make sure we had younger youth with older youth, we randomly assigned them numbers that coordinated with a car & driver. I know that some will complain because they want to be with their friends, but it's only a short time, and they'll enjoy it regardless. Each group piles into their car, and instructions for the game are read before leaving the parking lot. Make this part as fun and as loud {while still being safe} as the leaders in the car are comfortable with.

Start with the $25 questions and work your way up to the $100 questions. You only have so much time, so encourage the youth to answer quickly. When you pull up to a red light, you'll pull out the envelope labeled "Red Light Challenge." Alternately, at your discretion, you can pull out the "Picture Challenge" at any time during the game. Both give the youth the opportunity for extra winnings and an extra challenge.

When you get back to the church, the game is over! Winnings were calculated based on the number of youth in the car and divided evenly. We provided lots of ice cream, sauces and toppings -- but they all came at a price! The youth used their winnings to purchase what and how much they wanted.

I had a really fun time putting this activity together and I think all the youth and leaders alike really enjoyed themselves. It was relatively inexpensive, a great learning experience and we had a lot of fun!

Click the following links for printables of all the forms I created.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a question....If all the youth are in one car, wont they hear the question and answer asked before it is their turn?

Wanna-be-Cowgirl (aka Emily) said...

If you click the links for all the documents, I've made enough for 6 different vehicles, all going at the same time. Obviously, the map is going to be different for each vehicle, but that part you'd have to do on your own. In our activity, we had 6 cars, 4-5 kids per car, the driver and another leader (who wasn't driving) to ask the questions and facilitate the game. Hope this helps!