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# Stop the Bus
- URL: https://thepulse.org/en/stop-the-bus/
- Published: 2026-08-07T15:00:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-07T15:45:43.000Z
- Description: The classic categories game at racing speed: the fastest team stops the bus for everyone else.
- Author: Andy Fronius
- Tags: Games, #age-teens, #games-genre-knowledge, #games-location-indoor, #games-group-small, #games-group-medium, #games-group-large, #games-skill-logic, #games-skill-creativity, #games-skill-communication, #age-children, #age-young-adults, #target-educators, #target-leaders, #target-parents, #context-youth-night, #context-home, #context-school, #translation-pending

🎲

****Group:** 6+ · ****Where:** Indoors · ****Materials:** paper and a pen per team, a letter die (optional) · ****Skills:** logical thinking, creativity, communication

Stop the Bus is the classic categories game with a built-in turbo. Teams of two to five people each get a sheet of paper and a pen. You choose five categories, for example movie title, book, store, restaurant and animal.

Then the letter is chosen: go through the alphabet in your head until someone in the group calls “Stop,” or roll a letter die. You call “Start the bus!” and all the teams look for a word with that letter for every category.

The first team to finish calls “Stop the bus!” Everyone else puts their pens down right away, and you check the answers out loud: one point for each correct category, double points for double initials like “Peter Pan” for P. No word can be used twice, so “Lion” as a movie and as an animal doesn’t count.

If something is wrong, you call “Start the bus!” and everyone keeps writing until the next team stops it. After a few rounds, freshen up the competition with a new category, such as car brand or sports team.

🎁

We found this game on the [Ministry Coach Podcast](https://youtu.be/K8jI2NB--D0?ref=thepulse.org) by Jeff and Kristen Lascola.