Masked?

Masked

It’s not just Halloween that people wear masks. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us put on masks from time to time. We put on a mask any time we are not honest with others or don’t want to reveal some aspect of who we are. Anytime we try to make ourselves come across as something we are not, we are putting on a mask.

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Games using masks

  • Masked Games – You can play just about any favorite youth game but add masks to the game for a twist and to tie into the lesson. The mask limits your vision and adds an interesting twist to the favorite game.
  • Find the masks – Hide various masks around the youth room. Youth must search the room and note the locations of all the visible masks. First youth to get the correct answer and identify all the locations wins.
  • Masked Man Relay – Buy a variety of hats, wigs and masks or maybe some sunglasses or other fun eye wear … anything and everything your guests can use to decorate themselves. Use non-offensive costumes like superheroes, hobo, clown, farmer brown, a prince or princess, scarecrow, hippie, animals, disney characters etc. Clothes should be large enough to fit easily over what youth are already wearing. Have one set for each team. Place all the props on a table. One by one each team member must run to their team’s table, put on all the props, and then return team and remove them. The next player then puts them all on, runs to the table, removes them and places them back on the table then returns to the team. First team to complete the relay wins. (Note: be sure to take a photo as each one gets costumed up.)
  • Quick Change Artists – Get a veriety of costumes. Use non-offensive costumes like superheroes, hobo, clown, farmer brown, a prince or princess, hippie, scarecrow, animals, disney characters etc. Have one set for each team. In this relay each team must use all the costumes givem to them to dress up their team members. One costume is in each bag. First team to get all the costumes onto team members wins.
  • Create a Mummy Challenge – All you need to play this game is a roll of white crepe paper, toilet paper works in a pinch. Divide the youth into teams of two and have one person be the mummy and one person be the mummy wrapper. Time the kids and the first group to completely wrap up their mummy wins and receives a prize.
  • Masked Bobbing for apples – Put a large tub, baby bath, or small kiddie pool full of water on the floor – it will be very heavy when it is full, so either do this outside or have some method of emptying it. If you are doing this inside take care to cover the whole area with plastic otherwise the floor will get very wet. Float the apples in the water, pulling all the stalks off the apples makes the game harder. The size of the apples is important, if older youth are playing then you will need big apples, small ones fit into their mouth too easily. The contestants have to wear masks and kneel beside the tub and grab the apples with their teeth. The water must be deep enough or some people will cheat by pushing the apple against the base of the tub. It’s simple! The first person to get an apple out – WITHOUT USING THEIR HANDS – is the winner.
  • Masked apples on a string – You will need apples and string. Tie the string to the stalk of the apple. Tie the other end of the apple to something high; you could hang these from the banisters of your stairs (only above a flat surface, it’s not safe to play games on stairs), or pin the strings to beams. On the word “GO” the winner is the first person to take a big bite out of their apple without using their hands.
  • Monster Mash – Pick an area that free of obstacles and dangerous corners. You can do it in a room with leaders blocking off any dangerous areas. The monster wears a monster mask and monster hands. They also have a mask with the eye openings covered up placed over their eyes, they aren’t supposed to see. This is a hearing and touching game. All players have to stay within the game area while the monster wanders around with their arms reaching out to catch the players. When the “monster” moans or growls, all the players must moan or growl back and extend their arms. This is how the “monster” finds his/her victims. When a player gets tagged, they becomes the next “monster” and gets to wear the mask.
  • Guess the Ghost – This game is guaranteed to be great fun. Sit the youth in a circle, put some music on and get them to take it in turns to be blindfolded with a mask with the eyes covered over so they cannot see. The masked person walks around the circle touching the other youth on the head. When the music stops, the youth who is currently tapped on the head has to let out their scariest ghostly wail. The masked person then has to guess who they think it is. Hand out rewards to people who guess correctly.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

  • If you could be any superhero who would you be?
  • What is it about this character that attracts you?
  • Why do most of the superheroes wear masks?

MAKE IT SPRITUAL

The word for an actor is the word ‘hypocrite’ in the Greek language. It means ‘the person who wears a mask’ (or covers on his face). In the original Greek plays, actors pretended to be someone else by putting on a mask.

Jesus used the word ‘hypocrite’ to describe the Pharisees and in a parable teaches us an important lesson about masks… (see Luke 18:9-14)

  • Why was the Pharisee called a hypocrite – one wearing a mask?
  • Why do you think the Pharisee ‘acted’ this way?
  • Have you met people like the Pharisee? How did they make you feel?
  • In what ways are you like a Pharisee? What are some of your masks?
  • Why is the Tax-collector unwilling to even look up to heaven? Have you ever been so ashamed that you wanted to hide your face from heaven? How is this similar to wearing a mask?
  • How is it different from the mask of the Pharisee?
  • What is Jesus’ main point in this story?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL 

  • What are examples of the different masks people put on?
  • What are some of the reasons people wear masks?
  • How do masks help or hinder us?
  • In what situations do people hide behind a mask, afraid to reveal who they really are and what they really feel?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  1. Give each participant a piece of paper cut into a mask shape.
  2. On one side, ask them to write or draw characteristics of how they want people to see them.
  3. Then, on the other side, ask them to write down some true characteristics of who they really are and some of the things about their life that they don’t want other people to see.
  • Is there a difference between the two sides of the mask?
  • What are the risks of revealing what is hidden behind the mask?
  • Are there certain things about yourself that you prefer to hide?
  • What are the benefits of hiding behind a mask?
  • In what areas of your life do you need to be honest with God?
  • How would being honest with God make a difference in your life?
  • Is there a mask you would like to remove?

Action Point
Let participants crumple up their mask and toss it away. Name one truth about yourself that may be hidden, but that you would like people to know.

SCRIPTURE

  • Matthew 23:27
  • Luke 18:9-14

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Candy Corn Choices

Candy Corn ChoicesCandy corn is the top-selling Halloween candy and the most talked about candy during Halloween, but it is also talked about as the worst candy for you. Candy Corn isn’t real corn. It is almost pure sugar – a sweet imitation of the real thing which isn’t good for us in any way. So it’s good, but it’s bad. How do we decide what things are good for us in our Christian life? The most difficult decisions are often not between what is good and bad, but between what is permissible and what is beneficial to us.

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Candy Corn Games

  • Candy Corn Cluckers – Fill a bowl with dried corn kernels or peanuts and add several pieces of candy corn. Blindfolded youth must retrieve the candy corn from the bowl within a designate amount of time without eating the dried corn kernels / nuts. The teen that retrieves the most candy corn in the designated time limit wins.
  • Candy Corn Pitching – Youth take turns pitching ten to twenty candy corn kernels, one at a time, into a bowl from a set distance. You might choose to have various bowls of different sizes and at different distances. Display the points based upon difficulty. Keep score of how many kernels end up in the various bowls. The winner is the youth with the highest score after three rounds.
  • Odds or Evens  – Each player starts out with the same number of candy corn kernels. Players rotate about the room pairing up with others. When they find a partner, one youth hides a few kernels of candy corn in his hand. The other youth must guess if the number of corn kernels is odd or even. If guessed correctly, the player can add the kernels to his own collection. Youth take turns hiding and guessing, until one player has all the corn or until a specified time limit! [With this game the candy corn can get a little messy 🙂 to avoid the mess use individually wrapped mints or other candy.]
  • Candy Corn Drop – Have the youth stand on a sturdy chair or other safe elevation and drop the pieces down into a person’s mouth who is lying on the floor. The youth who gets the most candy corn into the person’s mouth in a given time frame wins.
  • Candy Corn Toss – Place the pieces of candy corn into a small sealed sandwich bag or similar cellophane bag and have a “candy corn bag” toss. Number pails, bowls, or plastic pumpkins, placing them in a row perpendicular to A start line, pail number one being closest. youth stand behind the line and throw candy cord bags into each consecutive bucket. Keep score or issue prizes for hitting each target.
  • Candy Corn Bocce – On a smooth surface like a table, one youth acts as the referee, sliding out the first piece of candy corn. He then marks this piece with a toothpick. Contestants take turns sliding 4 different pieces as close to the referee’s mark as they can. The referee determines which piece is the closest, awarding that youth or team a point. Play until someone gets ten points.
  • Candy Corn Hunt – Fill small plastic bags with candy corn and hide them throughout the yard. Send players out into the yard to find the bags until every bag has been claimed. You may also divide the players up into groups and see which group can find the most bags. This game can also be played inside, or at night with flashlights.
  • Corny Scramble – Toss handfuls of candy corn onto a large table clear of obstacles. Give each youth a treat bag and make the scramblers wait until you say “Boo!” On the signal, the players must run forward and collect as many pieces of candy corn as possible. Once all the kernels have been picked up, see who has the most candy in his bag.
  • Guess the Kernels – Fill a decorated jar or Halloween treat pail with pieces of candy corn, making sure you count how many pieces you put into the container. Set the container up on a table supplied with slips of paper, pencils and a bucket to put the paper slips into. Each participant may take one guess at how many pieces of candy are inside the container. The player who guesses the closest to the actual amount wins all the candy corn.
  • Kernel Relay – Mark a starting line and a finish line with masking tape on the floor roughly 15 feet apart. Set an empty bowl for each player at the finish line and a bag of candy corn and a spoon at the starting line. Have each player stand at a bag of corn and take the spoon in hand, placing a single kernel on the spoon. The youth will then carefully race a piece of corn to an empty bowl at the finish line, trying not to let the candy fall off the spoon. Each player will continue to race from the bag of corn to the bowl to see how many pieces of candy she or he can get into the bowl within the allotted time of one minute. If a player drops a kernel from the spoon, that youth must then run back to the bag of candy corn and get another piece to start over again.
  • Candy Corn and Straws Relay – Divide the youth into teams and give every person on a team a plastic straw and a paper cup. Place a piece of candy corn in the first team member’s cup. The youth must create a vacuum in the straw to pick up the candy corn and place it into the next person’s cup. First team to get the candy corn into the last person’s cup wins. If the candy corn is dropped on the floor, the team must start completely over at the beginning.
  • Where’s the Corn? – Line up three plastic cups out on a tabletop in front of a youth. Place a single piece of candy corn under one of the cups, allowing the player to see which cup the corn is under. Begin to change the cups’ formation around for five to ten seconds. The youth then must try to remember which cup is hiding the candy and will continue to play and collect candy corn until he or she chooses the wrong cup. Give the earned candy corn to that player, and continue on with the next player until every youth has won pieces of candy.
  • Candy Corn and Spoons – Divide into teams, have each team to line up single file, and have a cup with one or more pieces of candy corn for each team. Give each player a spoon. The first player on each team picks up a piece of candy corn with the spoon, spins around in place 3 times, then passes the candy to the next person on the team. Candy Corn can only be touched with the spoon. If the candy is dropped the team must start over again from the beginning. First team to get all the marbles down the line wins.
  • Chopsticks and Candy Corn – Using a pair of chopsticks and a couple shallow bowls or saucers, each youth is given one minute to move candy corn from one bowl to the other using only the chopsticks. Only one hand can be used to hold the chopsticks. The youth to transfer the most candy corn wins.
  • Tick-Tack-Corn – Pair the youth up into groups of two and sit them down at a table across from each other. Give the pair a tick-tack-toe board, and one player a handful of regular candy corn pieces. The other youth will receive a handful of the chocolate variety of candy corn, making one player the yellow team and the other player the brown team. Have the players play tick-tack-toe using their corn until one player wins, or until there is a draw. This may continue for as many rounds as desired.
  • Musical Candy Corn – Fill treat bags with candy corn for as many youth as are playing, minus one. Set the bags up in a circle on a tabletop or floor. Have the players circle around the bags at a steady walking pace while some music plays. Stop the music at random, at which point each player tries to grab the bag closest to him. Whoever fails to grab a bag or candy corn in time is out of the game, and the players still in must set the bags back up in the circle. Remove one of the bags from the circle, then start the music up again. Continue this until the game is down between two players and one treat bag. Whoever snatches up the last bag is the game winner.
  • Candy Corn Foosball – Have two youth stand at either end of a large table. One youth throws candy corn (or a plastic bag of it) to the other end of the table, and the other youth must block it from going through and making a goal. Use a dry sponge for blocking making sure it is one that will not scratch your table.
  • Candy Corn Straw Relay – Race to see who could move the most candy corn from the table into a bowl in sixty seconds using only a single straw.
  • Candy Corn Catch – You’ll need one plastic pumpkin with a handle for each team, one bag of candy corn per team, and a belt or length of rope for each team. Use the rope or belt to secure the pumpkin around the waist of one player per team. Have the team member who is wearing the pumpkin stand about 7 to 10 feet away from the players who will be throwing the candy corn. The player wearing the pumpkin may move around to try and catch the candy corn as it is thrown without using their hands to deflect the candy corn in any way. Once everyone has thrown the candy corn, take the pumpkin and count the candy corn inside. The youth with the most candy corn wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What are some of the differences between real corn and candy corn?
  • Which is good for you? Bad for you?
  • What other things in life are good for you? Bad for you?
  • How do you know the difference?

Candy corn may not kill you, but it most certainly is not the best for you. It may taste sweet, but the sugar rush doesn’t last and it really isn’t something that is good for you. Corn is healthy and good for us, but candy corn, is really just sugar. It’s a sweet imitation of something good. In life there are many things which may seem good, but are not good for us. BUT how can we decide what is good for us and what is not?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

Some decisions are not simply a matter of right and wrong, but a choice between what is permissable, what is good, and what is best. These are often the toughest decisions.

Here are some guidelines:

  • Is this action Scripturally based–does Scripture support or condemn it (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; I Timothy 3:16-17)?
  • How would this affect my witness for Christ if others knew about it (Matthew 5:13-16; I Thessalonians 5:21-22)?
  • Would Jesus put his name on this for a stamp of approval? (Colossians 3:17)
  • Does this fall into the classification of good thinking? (Philippians 4:8)
  • Will this degrade or defile my body (the temple of the Holy Spirit)? (I Corinthians 6:19)
  • Will this sooner or later make a slave out of me? (I Corinthians 9:27, 2 Peter 2:19)
  • Does this have the “smell” of evil on it? (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
  • Will my indulgence in this tend to weaken someone’s faith? (I Corinthians 8:13)
  • Does it benefit us or others? (I Corinthians 6:12a, 10:23)
  • Can you do it with a clear conscience? (Romans 14:22)
  • Does it bring Glory to God, meet his approval? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 10:31-33; 2 Corinthians 5:9)
  • Does it help lead others to Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:33)
  • Would I be ashamed to be doing this thing when Christ returns (Matthew 24:42-46)?
  • Does this action hurt others (Romans 14:20-21; Galatians 5:13-15)?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What are some of the things I allow as substitutes in my life for the real things?
  • Which of the above considerations is new to me?
  • Which of the above considerations is most difficult for me?
  • What can I do this week to be more Christlike?
  • How can I allow Christ to have more influence in the daily decisions of my life?

SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

ROMANS 12:2 – “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

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Christian Pumpkins? – Games and an Object Lesson

Christian PumpkinsPumpkins are closely associated with Halloween, Harvest, and Thanksgiving and are most likely native to the Americas. In this week’s lesson you’ll find a lot of game ideas using pumpkins, and also a reminder that God looks at the inside and not merely whats on the outside. He wants us to have a clean heart. Like a like shining from inside the pumpkin, he also wants us to shine out to the world.

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Pumpkin Games

  • Capture the Pumpkin – For this Pumpkin-themed version of capture the flag, divide the teens into two teams, each with a territory, a jail and a pumpkin. The teens can choose to place the pumpkin anywhere on their territory, but it must be visible. While teams can assign people to guard the pumpkin, you must set a perimeter around it that they cannot enter to give the other team a chance to capture it. The goal is to steal the other team’s pumpkin and make it back to your own territory without getting tagged. If anyone is tagged on another team’s territory, they are sent to jail. Other team members can free them if they can manage to tag them and both make it safely back to their territory. If no one has captured a pumpkin within a certain time frame, determine a winner by the number of prisoners a team has. This game is best played in a large park with plenty of hiding places.
  • Card Ninja – Players must throw playing cards at a pumpkin trying to get one card to stick in the pumpkin before one minute is up.
  • Connect The Pumpkin – This game is especially good around Halloween but can be played any time. Purchase some pumpkins and cut them up into pieces (make sure the pieces are not too small). Next to the pieces of pumpkin place a set of wooden toothpicks. Once everyone is ready instruct the group to put the pumpkin together using the toothpicks. Give the group a set time limit and ask them to begin. The team with the pumpkin that has been best put together wins.
  • Elephant March – Knock over plastic bottles filled with sand using a small pumpkin hanging from panty hose worn around the head.
  • Pass the Pumpkin – This game is a variation on “hot potato”. Seat the youth on the floor in a circle. Give them a small pumpkin to pass around. Play music as they pass the pumpkin, and periodically stop the music. Whoever is holding the pumpkin is out. The game continues until one person is left with the pumpkin.
  • Pass the Pumpkin – Youth tuck a small pumpkin under their chin and shoulder, race to their teammate, and pass the pumpkin to them without using their hands. If the pumpkin is dropped, it can be put back into place using hands.
  • Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin – Using a Black Marker, Draw a face on a pumpkin but leave off the nose. In turn, blindfold each youth and give them a black cutout shape of a nose with double-side tape on the back. Youth must pin the nose on the pumpkin. Closest wins. (You might want to have the nose draw as well. The one who pins the nose most accurately over the drawing wins.)
  • Pumpkin Bocce Ball – Place the big pumpkin several feet away. Give each player a small pumpkin. Each player rolls (No tossing or throwing) their pumpkin and tries to be the closest to the big pumpkin. The player closest wins …
  • Pumpkin Carving Contest – Working as teams, youth create the winning carvings for categories such as funniest, spookiest and most beautiful pumpkin. If you have young kids without adult participation, hold a pumpkin painting contest instead.
  • Pumpkin Golf – Played just like miniature golf where you use putters to hit the golf ball into the pumpkins mouth rather than a cup. To create a pumpkin golf pumpkin, you’ll need to cut off the bottom of the pumpkin and then clean out the inside of the pumpkin and then add the mouth to the pumpkin. The pumpkin’s mouth will also serve as the entry point for the golf ball so the mouth must be at the bottom of the pumpkin. Then create the eyes and nose just as you would a normal pumpkin.
  • Pumpkin Penny Toss – Carve out a large pumpkin, making a wide opening at the top. Give the youths a limited number of pennies. Have them stand an appropriate distance from the pumpkin and try to toss the pennies in, one at a time. Whoever gets the most inside wins.
  • Pumpkin Relay – Teams race to be the first to pass the miniature pumpkins to the end of the line without using their hands. If the pumpkin is dropped they must start over again.
  • Pumpkin Ring Toss – Toss rings over pumpkins with stems.
  • Pumpkin Roll – You need two large pumpkins and two sturdy sticks (or brooms). The racers, line up on the starting line with the pumpkins turned on their sides. On the signal, the racers use the stick to roll the pumpkins to the finish line. Since pumpkins are uneven, they rarely roll straight.
  • Pumpkin Roll Icebreaker – With a permanent marker, write some icebreaker questions on a pumpkin until the surface is covered. These can be simple things like your “favorite fall vegetable?” or more personal things like “the scariest moment in your life?”. Then sit the youth on the floor in a circle. Youth roll the pumpkin to each other, but they rarely roll in a straight line. The person closest to the pumpkin must catch it. When caught, the question your thumb lands on is yours. Answer the question then roll it on to someone else, so they can take a turn.
  • Pumpkin Seed Count – Divide the class into teams of two to four and cut the top off of a pumpkin for each team. Tell the teams that the first team to scoop out and count 50 pumpkin seeds is the winner.
  • Pumpkin Stackers – Stack five pumpkins on top of each other without them falling in the quickest time.
  • Pumpkin Toss – Ask the first player to stand 3 to 4 feet away from a deep wicker basket and give him or her 10 to 20 mini pumpkins. See how many can be tossed into the basket in 30 seconds. In the event of a tie, let the finalists compete for the win by determining which one can make 10 baskets in the shortest time.
  • Pumpkin Transport – Tie five to eight long cord/string pieces (4-6 feet long) to a large ring. Place the ring on the ground with the cords coming out from it like rays of sunshine. Place a small pumpkin on top of the washer. The challenge is for the youth to pick up the ring and pumpkin by hanging onto the strings only without the pumpkin falling off.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • How can pumpkins represent us as Christians?

Just like us, pumpkins are different. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then he carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

  • How do the following verses relate to Pumpkins and to our lives as Christians?
    • 1 Samuel 16:7 – “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”
    • Matthew 23:25-28 – “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
    • Jeremiah 17:10 – “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind to reward according to conduct and deeds.”
    • Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a pure heart, O God.”
    • Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
    • John 8:12 – “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
    • 2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
    • 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
    • 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 – “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • How is the way we clean out A pumpkin like the way Jesus cleans us out when we confess our sins?
  • What happens when we hide our light so others can’t see it?
  • What lessons can we learn from Pumpkins?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What can you do to maintain a clean heart?
  • What can you do this week to have your light shine brighter for Christ?

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan not only your next Fall Festival or Halloween Alternative event, but also most of the other common holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for the holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Living Skeletons

Living Skeletons
Even if you don’t want to be involved with Halloween, you’ll want to grab at least one of those plastic or paper Halloween skeletons for this object lesson and games.

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Skeleton Games

Preparation: Purchase one or more plastic skeletons commonly found during the Halloween holiday season. You can also use a paper skeleton that is already cut into parts or make your own. Separate the plastic skeleton parts into pieces or cut them out if they are on paper.

  • Build the Skeleton – Obtain one skeleton for each team. Place all the parts for each skeleton in its own sack and give one sack to each team. When you say ‘Go’, each team must take out the skeleton parts and correctly reconstruct the skeletons. Award prizes for the fastest times. You can also give additional prizes for weirdest skeleton, etc.
  • Skeleton Scavenger Hunt – Hide the skeleton bones before the lesson starts. Let the participants search for them and then reassemble the skeleton. For older youth, you can hide the bones and then write out clues for them to follow to find them. You can also get a few skeletons and break the kids into teams. You can have it as a free for all (i.e. hide all parts and award the first team to find one of each part and put the skeleton together), or you can add a spot of color or a colored ribbon to identify which skeletons belong to which team. Team members must first find a complete set of parts… then they must assemble it correctly.
  • Skeleton Hoop Toss – This game requires a plastic-molded skeleton, positioned upright, and three plastic hula-type hoops. Mark a place where youth teams must stand. Each youth attempts to toss the three hoops over the skeleton. The player who tosses the most hoops over the skeleton wins.
  • Blind Skeleton Assembly – Place all the parts for each skeleton in its own sack and give one sack to each team. Each team chooses one team member to be blindfolded. When you say ‘Go’, the blindfolded person must correctly reconstruct the skeleton according to directions given by his or her team. First team to finish wins.
  • Skeleton Posers – Hang a Skeleton up and then using poster tape, pose the skeletons in different positions and take a picture of each pose. Have fun by placing all the Skeleton’s hands in the air, holding hands, legs positioned like doing a split and so on. You’ll want 20 to 30 different skeleton poses for the game. Take the photos and print out the pictures to create your Skeleton posing cards. When a card is drawn, the first team to pose the skeleton in the correct position wins. Variation: The team chooses one person (who is not allowed to see the photo) to help pose the skeleton according to directions given by the team, so it matches the photo. Variation: Teams are given 3 minutes to see how many Skeleton Poses they can create, the team with the most Poses made in 3 minutes wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

One of the scary things about Halloween is the skeletons. A lot of people are afraid of death. When they see bones it reminds them of death and they become afraid. But they are just bones and there is nothing to be scared about. They can’t come to life right? Or can they?

The prophet Ezekiel might have had the first Halloween scare! We don’t know what day it took place, but it probably wasn’t October 31st. Let’s look at Ezekiel 37 to find out more!

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Read the key verses from this vision. God’s question to Ezekiel, “Can these dry bones live?” (v3) might be a question a lot of youth ask on 31st of October.

God was talking about more than a skeleton in a closet. He was giving Ezekiel a glimpse into the future when Jesus would conquer death and bring life to us. Jesus did conquer death on a cross. He also resurrected Lazarus from the dead.

Yet God was giving Ezekiel a picture of something more.

The bones represented the house of Israel and their dryness and loss of hope. (v11) The spirit of God would enter their bodies and they would experience restoration and life.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

There may situations in life when people feel like a pile of dry bones. A new life may seem impossible.

  • What are some of the seemingly impossible situations youth / people face in life?

Like Ezekiel’s response to God when asked “Can these bones live?”, we can answer “You alone know.” God knows all and with God all things are possible. God can breath life into any situation we are in. Not only can he bring you a new life, but he can also give you a new heart: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

  • We are all dead in our sin, like a pile of dry bones (Ephesians 2:1)
  • But God, because of his great love for us, makes us alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5)
  • We experience new life through faith in Christ! Doing good things doesn’t get us eternal life, but we are made alive in Christ that we might do good things for Him. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Have there been times in your own life when you feel like a pile of dry bones?
  • How can knowing that God can bring even piles of bones back to life give you hope in hopeless situations?
  • How can Christ’s resurrection give you hope in hopeless situations?

SCRIPTURE VERSES

  • Ezekiel 37
  • Ezekiel 36:26-27
  • Ephesians 2:1
  • Ephesians 2:4-5
  • Ephesians 2:8-10

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Clay in the Potter’s Hands

Clay in the Potter’s Hands

A Lump of clay is chosen with a purpose in mind. The potter envisions a vessel that will be useful to its final owner and a credit to the potter’s craftsmanship and experience. The potter applies pressure to the clay in different ways shaping and forming it until the final product he imagined is realized. The Bible tells us Adam was made from clay. God describes his relationship to us as a Potter. We are the clay. Like clay we can be mouldable, or we can become hard. The choice is ours.

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Games Using Clay or Playdoh

Note: Playdoh, while generally easy to remove can get mashed into carpets and leave bihind residue on some objects. You’ll want to make sure you use it in a way so that cleanup presents no problems.

  • Best impressions – Give youth some playdoh and send them on a scavenger hunt to obtain impressions of various objects in the clay/ playdoh. You can put things on your list like 5 different size coins, comb, leaf, key, button, pen cap, bottle cap, can tab, fork, shell, dog-tag, chess piece, cross, earring, paper clip, tweesers, action figure, bug, small lightbulb, lego, marble, battery, chain, rope, pencil, pair of dice, monopoly piece, checkers, wrench, nail, screw, watch, belt buckle, thimble, safety pin, whistle, lifesaver, golf ball, a letter, word from an engraving, etc. Add your own.
  • Clay Bowling – Have youth make balls from the clay / playdoh. See which one can get their ball to roll the farthest, or the straightest…. Or get closest to a target.
  • Longest snake – Which team can roll our the longest snake given the same amount of clay.
  • Great Minds Think Alike – Provide each of the youth with a tub of play dough. Have all the youth sit in a circle with their backs to each other. Call out a theme; example Animal, Shape, Candy, Letter, Pastry, etc. Give the players 1 minute to create something with that theme. When the time is up everyone turns around to face the center of the circle and shows what they have made. Points are determined by how many youth thought of the same thing to make. So, for example if the theme was ANIMAL and four teens made cats, two made fish, six made dogs, and one made a penguin then all the youth who made cats would get 4 pts, all who made fish would get 2 pts, all that made a dog get six points.
  • Pass the Clay – Divide the youth into two or more teams, sit them in a circle, and then give one person on each team a large lump of clay/Playdoh. When you shout out an object, scene or word, the person holding the clay begins to shape it as fast as they can. After a few seconds blow a whistle or use some other loud noise to indicate a change and then the clay must be passed to the next person who picks up where the first person left off. Continue to change sculptors every few seconds. Shout a final “STOP” after which each team shows off their creation. You can award points for the most realistic, the funniest, etc. You can use Biblical objects, people, and ideas or everyday objects like a hotdog stand, a clown, a barn with animals, A plate of spagetti with meatballs, etc.
  • Pass the Clay Mystery Object – This is played just like pass the clay, but the first person must start making something without communicating to the rest of the group in any way what the object is. You can assign an item to the first person or let them choose the item on their own. Once you yell the final stop, have the first person express what they started to create and then compare this to the final object. It can make for lots of laughs.
  • Playdoh Pictionary – Divide the youth into 2 or more teams. Each team chooses one member to start the game as the sculptor. It’s played just like pictionary, but instead of drawing the word, the youth must shape it from the Playdoh/clay. The first team to correctly guess the word wins a point. After a word is shaped and guessed, the next person on the team becomes the sculptor. The team at the end of the game with the most points wins. The sculptors may only mould the clay to represent the word and cannot say anything, make noises, use actions and gestures or represent the word in any other way. They also are not allowed to shape any letters or numbers. The words can be people, animals, objects, concepts, Adjectives, etc. VARIATION: Instead of going through the whole bowl of words to win, you can set a timer. When the time is up, the team with the most words guessed, wins.
  • Playdoh Pictionary Race – Played the same as playdoh pictionary, but this one is a race. Each team sends one “sculpter” up to get the first word. They then run back to the team and sculpt the word. As soon as their teammates correctly guess the word, a new person from their group who has not gone yet runs up to the person with the list and they are given the next word. The team who successfully gets through the whole list first, wins.
  • PlayDoh Pong – Set up plastic cups at one end of the table in a row of five, a row of four, a row of three, a row of two, and then one to form a triangle of cups. In the bottom of each cup write a different point value – In some cups put 5, others put 10, and in others put 15. To play have each youth stand and the other side of the table. Provide them with a can of Playdoh and a plastic spoon. Give them two minutes to create as many Playdoh balls as they can and use the spoon to try and flick them into the cups. At the end of two minutes count up their points. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
  • PlayDoh Treasure Hunt – Mix about 50-100 coins and pennies into a large amount of Playdoh and roll the Playdoh into a thick, flat mass on a table. At your signal, they can use plastic spoons to dig into the playdoh and collect as many pennies as they can in a given amount of time. The person with the most value coins wins.
  • Ring toss – Youth make coil hoops and do a ring toss over objects for various points.
  • Tallest tower – Give each team a lump of playdoh. The team that builds the tallest standing tower in the given time wins. Add some dried spaghetti for a little more excitement. The tower must be standing with no help from the group members or any other devices.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What does it mean to sculpt, shape, or mould something into a particular shape?
  • What are things that might be molded, sculpted, or formed?
  • How does something that’s molded become changed from its original form?
  • How did you decide what your creation was going to look like?
  • Did you come up with a plan before you started or did you just start and make changes as you went? Was this a good or bad method? Why?
  • What can this activity tell us about God working in our lives?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • Why do you think God wants to mold us?
  • Why is it better for us to be like clay?
  • What are some things in life that try to mould us and shape us?
  • What are some typical molds that students at your school get squeezed into?
  • Why do we give way to pressure to be shaped by things and people around us?
  • Is conformity good or bad? Explain? What makes the difference?
  • Why do we give in so easy to allow us things to force us to conform?
  • Why is it difficult for us to allow God to mould us?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What are some of the things you are you being squeezed into?
  • What things are shaping your life?
  • How would you describe the work of the Divine Potter in your life?
  • What can you do to be more yielding to God’s hand to shape your life?

SCRIPTURE VERSES

  • Genesis 2:5-7 – “In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground—then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
  • Job 10:9 – “Remember that thou hast made me of clay; and wilt thou turn me to dust again?”
  • Jeremiah 18:3-6 – “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!’ “
  • Isaiah 45:9 – “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter,’What are you making?’ Does your work say,’The potter has no hands’?”
  • Isaiah 64:8 “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
  • Romans 9:21 – “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?”
  • Romans 12:1-2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
  • II Timothy 2:20-26 – “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble [those practices which appear just before this in the context —wrongful attitudes, contentiousness, ungodliness, doctrinal aberrations, iniquity] then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work.”

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HOME MADE PLAYDOH RECIPE

You can find various alternative recipes for this on the internet

1 cup cold water
Food coloring of your choice
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup table salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp cooking oil
Scented oil or extract (optional, just for scent)

Combine the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and stir to mix and review the color. The color will deepen when the playdough is cooked. To get really good purples and colors like black I bought gel food coloring. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the Playdoh pulls away from the sides of the pan. About 3 to 5 minutes, or until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes or well, Playdoh. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 1 minute before kneading the dough. Store, after cooling, in a plastic container or resealable plastic bags. If stored in an air tight container or bag it can be kept for months.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

Bruised Bananas – Object Lessons from a Banana

Bruised Bananas

Bananas are enjoyed all around the world. They are full of goodness, but they are easily bruised and can quickly turn to mush. Like many fruits, they can be extremely sweet and a delight. But they can also be easily bruised and turn rotten. They make a great object lessons on how we look at the outside to judge the inside and also on how we treat one another, how we express the fruits of the spirit to others, or we cause hurt to others.

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Games using Bananas

Warning: Bananas are easily bruised and can quickly become a pile of mush and peel. These games have a tendency to be messy so you will want to play them in an area where it is easy to mop up the mess. You’ll also need a lot of bananas. You can also use plastic or toy bananas for some of the games as this will reduce the number of bananas and can tie in to the later discussion. But real bananas are so much more messy and fun! Green bananas will last a little longer and be a little less messy.

  • A Peeling Bananas – Youth must peel a banana and eat it with hands tied behind their backs.
  • Banana Bites – Give each youth a banana, or choose a representative from each team. The objective is to peel and eat the banana while holding one hand behind his/her back. In other words, the youth must peel the banana with his or her teeth, then eat it. The first to do so and whistle, is the winner.
  • Banana Circle Race – Everyone takes off their shoes and sits with their team in a circle on the floor. Youth must pass a banana around the circle from person to person using only their feet. Each successful pass to a person adds a point but teams lose a point if a hand is used or if the banana is dropped. Once the time is up, the team with the most points wins.
  • Banana Duel – Have everyone pair up and tie their left wrist together with a bandana. Give each a banana to hold in their left hand. When you say “go”, they peel the banana with only their right hand and try to push it in their partner’s face/mouth. You may want to do this blindfolded to add excitement. First to do so wins!
  • Banana Eating Contest – This is the typical peel the banana and eat it contest with a twist. Youth must put one leg of a pair of new nylons over their face. The first person to eat the entire banana through the nylon wins! It can be done but be prepared for a mushy mess!
  • Banana Footrace – Girls must peel a banana and feed it to their team mate using only their feet. You can break the stalk so that the start is easier.
  • Banana Grab(Played like the game of spoons but with bananas) – Have everyone sit around a table and put one banana for each person in the middle of the table. Take one Banana out so there is one less banana than the number of people. Have one person deal four cards to each player. The goal with the cards is to get four of a kind (4 Aces, 4 Kings, etc.) To start the game the dealer will take one card from the remaining deck. They must decide if they want to swap the card out with one of theirs or pass it to the left. If they swap it out, they must pass one of their previous cards to the left, leaving them always with four cards. The person to the left does the same thing with the passed cards and the cards continuously go around the table. When someone has four of a kind they can grab a banana. Once one person has four of a kind everyone else can grab a banana at the same time. Shuffle and deal again, removing one spoon each time and eliminating a new player!
  • Banana Mascots – Each team is given a banana and a bag of random items (felt, foil, beads, etc… BE CREATIVE). They must create a personality and appearance for their banana with the items they get. One volunteer from each group gets up and introduces their banana mascot to the group. It’s better if each group gets different items for variety.
  • Banana Necking – Youth line up single file in teams. Without using hands, they must pass the banana down the line by trapping the banana under the chin.
  • Banana Olympics – Prepare a copy of the tasks for each team and place them in a bag in the middle of the room. The teams should sit at the side of the room. Allocate a bag to each team. Give each team four bananas. One player from each team runs one after the other to their bag and pulls out a piece of paper with a task written on it then runs back to their team. The player reads out the task and performs it. One leader per team should make sure that this is done correctly. The first team to complete the tasks has won. Sample tasks: Drop a banana under your clothes from collar to ankle, Hold two bananas like horns on your head and act like a bull, Tickle a players bare feet with a banana, Throw a banana to the ceiling and catch it again, Sit on a banana and squash it, Walk out of the room with a banana between your knees, Balance a banana on your finger for 5 seconds, Balance a banana on your face for 5 seconds, etc.
  • Banana On a String – Tie strings around several peeled bananas and hang them from the ceiling. Ask for volunteers to race to see who can eat the banana first without touching it with their hands. Increase the difficulty by using unpeeled bananas.
  • Banana Relays – There are a lot of different relay ideas you can do: Carry the banana under your armpit and hop on one foot, Hold the banana between your knees, two teammates toss the banana back and forth down the field and back (designate a minimum number of tosses), Leapfrog formation and first player hops over players while holding banana and then tosses banana to next player in line to do the same. Do them as individual races or combine them all together for each person in line to do something different
  • Banana Rugby – Teams of youth must score goals by throwing a banana into a bucket which is guarded by a goal keeper. Split the group into two equal sized teams who each choose a goal keeper. The keeper will be placed on a stool holding a bucket on the opposite side from his team. Players may not run with the banana. You cannot touch the player in possession of the banana. You can only pass the banana with your hands. A team loses possession of the banana if a member takes more than one step before passing it. Players have a 10 second count to throw or it is an automatic turnover. If a pass is intercepted, is batted to the ground, or goes out of bounds it changes possession. The opposing team starts their turn from where the banana comes to rest. More than one banana in the game means more action! You can also make sure the girls are included by requiring each pass from a guy to be made to a girl and vice versa or only allowing girls to score.
  • Banana Scavenger Hunt – Divide the youth into teams and give them a list of items that can be measured with bananas. Alternatively, you can provide the measurements and they have to find out what was measured in banana lengths. You’ll want to use bananas of the same size, but you can adjust a little by cutting the end of the stem. You can do it at the church, or with permission you may also be able to do something in a public park or shopping mall. You’ll need to get permission for management for shopping malls or places of business, but some will be happy to allow you to do so. (By the way, you can use a tape measure to measure all the items yourself and just divide it by the measurement of your standard banana to get the banana lengths.) Give extra point for the team that eats the mushed banana at the end. You can measure signs, streets, sidewalks, objects, people, places, buildings, etc.
  • Banana Shuffle – Divide your youth group into relay teams with 3 or for persons per team. the first person on each team must run to a designated location and back, holding the banana like a runner’s baton, then pass the banana off to the next team member. Continue until you have a winning team. Variation: Before each runner begins to run they must peel a section of the banana, break off that section and eat it. Enough banana must be left for the last member of the team. You can make it more difficult by turning the race into an obstacle course in which they have to go over, under and around various objects.
  • Banana Slap – Peel a bunch of bananas and hand out the strips of banana peels to everyone. Then you have them partner up and grab a hand of a partner. Play some music. When the music stops, the object is to slap someone in the face with the banana peel before someone slaps you. The winners move on and the losers are eliminated. Last standing wins!
  • Banana Split Bonanza – Create a giant Banana split using a rain gutter. be sure to clean it with soap and water or line it with plastic wrap first.
  • Bobbing for Bananas – Follow the same rules as you would in bobbing for apples, but use bananas instead.
  • Behind the Back Banana Peeling Contest – With hands tied behind their backs using a bandana, team members must race to a pile of unpeeled bananas, select a banana and peel it completely and drop it in a bowl. No hands are allowed. Youth then return to the line where the next member’s hands are tied and sent off to peel a banana. These peeled bananas can later be used in the banana splits-as long as they don’t touch the ground!
  • Doctor Banana – Each team peels and cuts up a banana into equal pieces. Then tell them they must put the banana back together using string, toothpicks, sticky tape, rubber bands, etc. The team that produces the best reconstructed banana wins.
  • Head over Peels – Teams must lie down on their backs in a long line (one persons head at the other persons feet). The person at the front starts with a banana in between their feet and must lift their legs up to pass it on to the next persons feet. The first team to get the banana all the way back to the end of their line wins!
  • Hidden Banana – The youth must stand in a circle with their hands behind their backs. One stands in the middle of the circle. While the person in the middle’s eyes are closed, walk around the outside of the circle and quietly place the banana into someone’s hand. The person in the middle is then allowed to open his or her eyes. The banana is secretly passed from person to person around the circle. The person in the center must study people’s faces and work out who has the banana. If caught with the banana, the person holding it must then replace the person in the center.
  • Instant Banana Splits – A girl from each team makes a banana split in in a teammate’s mouth (guy). Cut a hole in the garbage bag and put it over him so only his head is exposed. The guy lies on the on the floor. Girls stand above him and with hands straight out must drop a slice of banana, a bit of chocolate syrup, some whip cream, chopped nuts, and a cherry into the guys mouth. First guy to eat it and whistle wins. You’ll need some wet towels to clean up.
  • Quickdraw Bananas – Two teams face each other in parallel lines. The people have to put their banana in a pocket. When the signal is given, the people must draw their bananas like guns and instantly peel it and eat it as fast as they can. Whoever has their banana eaten first wins.
  • Steal the Banana – Divide the youth group into equal teams on opposite sides of the room. You can play with more teams so that one team is on each wall of the room. Within each team ask the youth to number off. Place a banana in the middle of the room, halfway between the two teams. Teams must start out touching the wall. Call out numbers and the youth on each team who has that number must run to the banana grab it and bring it back to their team. The first team to collect three banana’s wins.
  • Tallest Tower – Each team of youth sits in a circle with 6-10 bananas. Within a given time limit the team that builds the tallest tower using the bananas wins. You can make it more challenging by requiring that only one banana is allowed to touch the table.
  • Whole Bananas – Divide into teams and then members of each team pair up with a partner on the same team. Provide one banana for each pair who will peel it and then place opposite ends of the banana in each persons mouth. Then they run together around a chair placed about 10 feet away and back to their team. Then the next two people peel their banana and the relay continues. Each pair scores 3 points for the team for completing their run without breaking their banana and 1 point for making the run with a broken banana. The first team to have all its pairs complete their runs gets 5 extra points. Highest score wins!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

For added spiritual application you can prepare one or more of the following props. These can each represent a possible spiritual condition as indicated in the parenthesis. Keep it simple for younger age groups, or expand it for those who are more mature.

  1. Place a banana in the fridge for a couple days, the skin will turn black, but it will still be fine inside. (Outside it looks a mess, but inside it is still wholesome.)
  2. Just before your meeting, carefully squeeze and bruise a banana so that the inside is bruised and mushy, but the outside skin is still whole and unbroken. (Outside looks fine but inside it has been bruised)
  3. Add a plastic or fake banana (It’s fake)
  4. Let one banana rot (Rotton both outside and inside)
  5. Green Banana (Fruit is not fully expressed yet… it is still growing)
  6. Ripe banana that is perfect for eating (Sweet and enjoyable)
  7. Banana that which was used in the games and is now quite a mess. (Abused, injured, bruised by others)
  8. Label from some other fruit on a banana (Labels, name calling, not true)
  9. Before the lesson, get a banana & a sewing needle. You insert the sewing needle into several spots through the banana skin and sort of “swish” it back & forth, so that you cut the banana into pieces inside its skin. (Looks fine on the outside, but is all cut up on the inside.)

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What was the key ingredient of the games?
  • What is a banana?
  • What are some characteristics of a banana?
  • In what ways could what happened to the bananas, be similar to what can happen to people?
  • Have you ever been hurt or injured by someone? Even if it was just a game, can people still be bruised and hurt?
  • What does this tell us about how we treat people?
  • Scripture says that Christians are known by their fruit. (Matthew 7:20) How do we evaluate whether fruit is good or bad?
  • How can these Banana’s (refer to props) represent spirit conditions of a person?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • What are the first things that come to mind when you consider the question: “How is your spiritual life going these days?”
  • What are some of the things that people use to determine the quality of a person’s spiritual life?
  • How do you know if a person is a Christian or not?
  • What are some of the things that people use to evaluate if a person is a Christian? Of the things that you have listed, which are actions, words, thoughts, values?
  • Are the things in the list mostly internal or external things?
  • What are some of the fruits of a Christian’s life? (see Galatians 5:22-23)
  • Are these internal or external, or both? Explain.
  • Which traits of the fruit of the Spirit are easiest for you?
  • Which ones are the biggest areas of growth for you?
  • The list in Galatians was not meant to be the total list as other qualities are also mentioned in scripture like holiness, humility, compassion, generosity, contentment, thankfulness, mercy, grace, sincerity, and perseverance. Which trait(s) on this “expanded” list of the fruit of the Spirit come easiest and hardest for you?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Take time to discuss ways youth have shown the fruits of the spirit or have experienced them. Also, discuss experiences that have bruised us and hurt us. How did each of these experiences make us feel? What can we learn from them? How does it affect you or others?
  • Which of fruits are lacking in your life? why?
  • What do you need to do to grow and become more fruitful?
  • What can you learn from this lesson in how you personally treat others?

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM BANANAS

Be Careful How We Treat Others
Bananas are really fragile fruits that need careful handling and preparation. You have to handle bananas gently so you don’t bruise them. The same holds true for the way we treat others. Our words and actions towards others can leave bruises upon their hearts just like bruises on a banana that has not been handled with care. Sometimes, a person who has been treated unkindly for a while can become angry and bitter inside. He starts to decay from the inside. But even if the fruit becomes rotton, the seeds can be planted in good soil and new and wonderful can grow out of it. God has the power to come into our lives, to give us new life, and the opportunity to abide in him and produce good fruit.

Don’t Judge by the External
Unfortunately there are also those who try to fake the fruit of the spirit in their lives. Fruit is a natural product of drawing from the source (John 15) You don’t force fruit. It is the outflow of abiding in Christ. Some people pretend that they are loving, kind people, but they are really angry bitter people on the inside. Some people try to pretend that they have joy because of material things, but really they are unhappy miserable people. You can’t always tell the quality of fruit by it’s outside. What you look like on the outside is not what is important to God. What your heart and life look like on the inside is what is important to God. How do we know if a banana is good? First we look at what we can see. Then we open it up and look at the inside. How do we know if a person is a Christian? We look at their lives that we can see, but that doesn’t always tell us accurately. As Christians we should not only have good outsides, but we should have good insides. People we are around look at what they can see so we need to be sure we are acting the way Jesus wants us to. God looks at the inside so we need to make sure that we are acting the way Jesus wants us to!

SCRIPTURE VERSES

  • Psalms 34:8 – “O taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him”
  • 1 Samuel 16:7 – “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
  • Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
  • John 15

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Teddy Bear Faith

Teddy Bear Faith

When you were younger did you have a teddy bear or another cherished possession? Did you hold it, talk to it, hug it close? Did it comfort you, give you courage? If you couldn’t find it, did you turn everything upside down looking for it? Teddy Bears remind us of a childlike faith. They remind us of the sense of security and comfort we gained simply by their presence. God loves us more than any beloved Child’s possession. And His constant companionship reminds us of the comfort, the security, and love that can only be found in Him.

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The Story of the Teddy Bear

In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the United States, went hunting in the woods but didn’t kill anything. Before he left, one of his aides found a lost bear cub and offered it to him. But Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear, saying it would be unsporting. The next day a cartoon depicting the president having mercy on the cub appeared in newspapers across the US. A New York candy shop owner, Morris Mitchtom, saw the cartoon, asked his wife to make a toy bear to put in the shop window alongside the cartoon, and gave him a name: “Teddy’s Bear”. Mrs Mitchtom’s bear proved so popular that within a year she and her husband closed the candy shop and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, now one of the biggest in the world.

Games using Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals

Note: Get teddy bears and stuffed animals cheaply at the nearest Goodwill or Salvation Army store. You can always donate them to a children’s charity or back to where you got them after your event. Giant stuffed animals and bears increase the level of fun!

  • Back to Back Bear Race – Split the youth up into partners however many as necessary. The players have to put a teddy bear between both of their backs and walk to the finish line and back to the team. First team to finish wins. You can make it more difficult by making it an obstacle course rather than a simple race. If the bear is dropped they must return to their team and begin again.
  • Hot Teddy Bear Attack – This is a variation on the old “Hot Potato” game. Give each youth one of the animals and have them stand in a circle. One or more Teddy Bears are the hot potato. Use more than one if you have a large group. While the music is playing, the youth must pass the stuffed animals in one direction around the circle as fast as they can. When the music stops, the people who are left holding the Teddy Bears are out. All of the rest of the people at that time get to attack the ones who are out with their animals by hurling them at high velocities. (Make sure the animals have no hard eyes etc so that no one get’s hurt) Once everyone who is still in picks up an animals, start over again. Make sure you include the Teddy Bears back in the game for each round.
  • Stuffed Animal Charades – Place a variety of stuffed animals in a box or king-sized pillow case. As each player takes their turn, in another room or away from all the other players, he or she blindly reaches into the box or pillow case and takes out a stuffed animal. The player acts out the animal while the other players try to guess what animal is being portrayed.
  • Stuffed Animal Personalities – Place a large collection of stuffed animals in the center of the youth group. Begin the conversation by asking your participants to share with you personality traits of each animal. During the discussion ask the participants to be thinking about which animal reflects some traits of their own personalities.
  • Teddy Bear Dodge Ball – Play a traditional game of dodge ball, but with Teddy Bears.
  • Teddy Bear Flag Football – In flag football, instead of tackling, you pull the flag from a person’s pocket. A flag can be a piece of cloth or a bandana. If your youth don’t have pockets, you can also attach a strip of cloth to a clothespin and it can easily be inned to a shirt tail. You’ll need a room large enough for running and passing. Place goal posts made from crepe paper on opposite walls. Field goals are awarded if the bear hits the wall inside the goal posts. You can use masking tape or crepe paper for goal line markers as well. You may want to include a girls-only quarter, follow boys-only quarter.
  • Teddy Bear Hat Trick – Position teddy bears or stuffed animals of various sizes and point values on the other side of a starting line. Teams toss a hat onto the targets. Team with the most points wins.
  • Teddy Bear Pass – Played just like Hot Potato, youth must pass a teddy bear around the circle when the music starts. When it stops whoever is holding it is eliminated.
  • Teddy Bear Pinata – Get a Pinata in the shape of a teddy bear and tie it to a rope that is hung between two trees. Youth are blindfolded, given a plastic baseball bat, and get three swings to break the pinata.
  • Teddy Bear Rescue – All youth stand around a blanket holding an edge. When you toss individual bears high into the air, the youth must try to catch the bear in the blanket.
  • Teddy Bear Targets – Position baskets or rings of various sizes and point values on the other side of a starting line. Teams toss stuffed animals or teddy bears into the targets for points. Team with the most points wins.
  • Teddy Bear Toss – Divide the youth into pairs. Each pair is a team. The winning team is the team who can throw and catch their bear over the greatest distance. Giant Bears make the game much more fun! Have participants start 10 metres apart. After each throw each member will move further apart. The team members alternate their throwing and catching roles after each throw. A bear catcher may not move from his/her starting position until the bear to be caught is in the air en route to that catcher. The pair that manages a successful toss of the greatest distance is judged to be the winner.
  • Teddy Bear Volleyball – Divide into teams of two, each person holding a towel at the corners. Teams stand on opposite sides of a volleyball net or some kind of divider. Each team must use the towel to toss a bear back and forth with another team. Continue playing until the bear is missed and a point is scored. You can play according to traditional volleyball rules on serving and scoring.
  • That’s My Teddy – Ask each youth to bring a teddy bear or stuffed animal to the party. (At the end you can even donate some of them to a needy children) At one point, put all of the stuffed animals into a pile and bring in each youth one-by-one and blindfolded to identify his/her stuffed animal from the pile, using only the way it feels as a guide.
  • Ultimate Bear – Play like this like Ultimate Frisbee but replace the frisbee with a bear. Form two teams. Players must move the bear by tossing it from one player to another until the bear can be passed and caught across the goal line. You cannot run with the bear and must plant one foot and pivot when you are holding it. If the teddy bear is intercepted or falls to the ground, the other team takes possession.
  • Warp Speed Teddy – Arrange participants in a circle, not too close, not too far from one another. Toss a teddy bear to someone else in the circle. If you receive it, toss it to someone else in the circle not immediately on either side of you. That person will toss it to another person who has not yet received it and again not immediately on either side of him or her. Once you have received the bear and passed it on to someone else, put your hands down to your side to indicate you have already received it. Throwing continues until the last person tosses the ball back to the first person. They must remember who they tossed to because they will try to recreate the pattern in the next run, only faster.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL – Lessons from Teddy Bears

1. Love

God Loves you more than a Teddy Bear – When you were younger did you have a teddy bear or another cherished possession? Did you hold it, talk to it, hug it close? Did it comfort you, give you courage? If you couldn’t find it, did you turn everything upside down looking for it? You loved it in precious, innocent way that a five-year-old loves things? You always wanted it with you. God loves you far more than you ever loved your teddy bear. God has so much more love for us than we could ever imagine. In fact, he loved us so much he gave himself for us, to pay our debt of sin, by dying in our place that we might live with him in heaven. As we have grown out love has grown as well. But the truth is we can never love more than God.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • In what ways do we underestimate God’s love for us? Why?
  • In what ways does God show his love for us?
  • How should we respond to God’s love for us?
  • Explain, “We love God, because he first loved us” 1 John 4:19
  • What lessons about love can we learn from 1 John 4:7-21?

2. Value

The Bear’s value wasn’t based on its cost. In fact, you probably had no idea of the cost of the bear. It may have cost very little, but in your eyes it had great value. It’s value was not based upon what it was made of, how nice it looked, or how what it cost to make it. It’s value was based on how much you as a child cherished it and loved it, how dear it was to you. You loved it because it was yours. In fact, in time the bear probably lost a lot of fur, became tattered, dirty, and maybe even started to fall apart. But you loved it all the same. The same is true of you. God loves you and your worth is found in how dear you are to him. He made you, he bought you, and he loves you. Sometimes your life may become a little tattered, dirty, and even seem to be falling apart. But God loves you even more than you loved your teddy bear. To the world you may seem insignificant, worthless, falling apart, but to God you are everything, you are cherished, you are loved, simply because you are his.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • How do you decide if something is valuable?
  • What decides the value of something?
  • How valuable are you to God? What was he willing to pay for you?
  • How does knowing that God CHOSE you make you feel?
  • How can realising God’s value for you and the price he paid for you motivate your life?

3. Comfort and Security

As children, a Teddy Bear gives us comfort and security. It is a constant companion. We cling to it in times of fear. We cherish it, and give it a special place in our lives. But as we grow older, our simple faith matures and the comfort and security is found in parents. But soon we also must move beyond that and we realise we can only find true comfort and security in God. True security and comfort can only come from our relationship with Him.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • When are times that Jesus can be a comfort to us?
  • How can we be a comfort to others?
  • What comforts you and gives you security?
  • Why are we safe in God’s hands?
  • How can knowing that God is always there for us help us to live a better life?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • How can you rest in God’s Love? His Comfort? His security?
  • Knowing that you are precious and valuable to God, what does this knowledge motivate you to do this week?

————————————————

SCRIPTURE VERSES

————————————————

  • 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
  • Psalm 62:1-2 – “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
  • Psalm 112:8 – “His heart is secure, he will have no fear.”
  • Psalm 16:5 – “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.”
  • Isaiah 41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
  • Romans 8:15-16 – “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
  • Ephesians 1:4-8 – “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will– to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
  • Hebrews 13:5 – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
  • See also PSALM 91:1-16

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MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Lego Instructions for the Christian Life

LegoInstructions

LEGOs are one of those toys that are universally loved around the world by all ages. They are simple building blocks in a variety of shapes and colors, but with a little creativity and imagination they can be put together in unlimited combinations to create masterpieces. They are a great metaphor for each of us in the body of Christ. And if we follow God’s instruction we can be used to create and do incredible things.

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Games using LEGOs

  • Blind Builder – A player is blindfolded and must construct the item solely from verbal directions from the team. First to team to complete it wins.
  • Blind LEGO Construction – Blindfold each team and ask them to build a Lego sculpture using a pile of Lego pieces in front of them. Give awards for the most like a real object, funniest, tallest, longest, most creative, etc
  • Fast As You Can – In this game you call out a simple object that can be created from LEGO’s. Each team has three minutes to make one as fast as they can. At the end of the three minutes have a judge decide who sculpture most resembles the object. Play a couple of rounds so there are more chances for winners.
  • Guess How Many LEGO Bricks – Guess how many bricks in a lego jar? The winner could go home with the jar of LEGOS.
  • I Spy The LEGO Guy – Get several LEGO guys and hide them in various places around the room. The youth or team to locate the most wins.
  • LEGO Car Race – Divide the youth group into teams and provide each team with a duplicate pile of plastic LEGO building blocks and four LEGO wheels. Within a given time limit, the team must build a car, create a nickname for the car, a racing team name and choose a mascot. Allow each team to line up their racers on a starting line and race them down a makeshift ramp. Your ramp can be a long table propped up on one end, or even a wide board or two. Have challenges or race all at one go.
  • LEGO Chopsticks – Place two bowls in front of each team: one filled with LEGO blocks, and the other empty. Give the youth one minute to move as many LEGO blocks as they can from the full bowl to the empty bowl using only the chopsticks
  • LEGO Identity – Give each group an assortment of peices with the instructions to build something that represents them as a group.
  • LEGO Me – Have youth select a specific lego piece that represent them as an individual and explain it’s significance. Then have them use all the pieces to build one object.
  • LEGO Memory – Before the game, build a structure with Legos (the more complex the structure, the more difficult the activity). Then put the youth in small groups, each group with a bag of Legos (each bag contains the same size, color, and quantity of Legos and has identical stock as that of the structure you built). The group has to exactly replicate the structure you already built. But, the structure to replicate is located outside the room or behind a screen, only one person from each group may look at the structure at a time. They cannot draw or take a picture of the structure to communicate it – they have to use their memory. Each team can look at the structure as many times as they want, but only one person can look at it at a time. The first to replicate the structure – exactly with the same size and color Legos wins.
  • LEGO on a string – Have the youth form a circle, facing inward, with one youth in the middle. String a LEGO piece with a hole in it on a long piece of string and then tie the ends of the string together. Place the string inside the circle and have each youth hold it with both hands . The idea is to pass the LEGO around the circle from hand to hand, unnoticed by the youth in the middle . He tries to guess where it is by pointing to the hand he thinks is holding the LEGO. If he is correct, the LEGO holder goes to the middle and the guesser takes his place in the circle . The youth in the middle must keep guessing until he locates the LEGO.
  • LEGO Scavenger Hunt – Hide an assortment of LEGO bricks and the youth search for them. You can award point values to the different brick colors and have them compete for a high score.
  • LEGO snapshots – Take pictures of simple LEGO structures, and have the youth try to duplicate it from the picture only. You might need a photo from more than one angle to get all the pieces.
  • LEGO Tongue Tower – To win this game, the a youth must first put a tongue depressor (or plastic spoon) in their mouth then build a tower of five loose Legos on the tongue depressor (still in their mouth) and then keep the LEGOS balanced for ten seconds.
  • Lose the LEGOS – Tape an empty tissue box the rear of each player with the opening facing away from the player. You can do this with team representatives or individually if you have enough tissue boxes. You can also have timed trials to determine the fastest. Once the tissue box is taped on, the time will start and the player must shake their rear to be the quickest to get all of the LEGOS to come out of the tissue box.
  • Quickest LEGO Builders – Get a brand new small box of legos, with a picture on the front of the completed set, for each team. Pass it out to the teams and on go they must build the set. Quickest to do so wins. You can also find blueprints for a variety of lego projects at www.letsbuilditagain.com
  • Strongest LEGO Bridge – Give each team of youth a set amount of time to build the strongest bridge. Then line up and test them. You can use ziplock bags filled with rice (250grams), soft wrist weights or anything which will not damage your floor when in falls. Amazingly they have been known to hold 5kg (11.02 pounds) so make sure you have enough weight to test them.
  • Tallest LEGO Tower – See which team can build the tallest tower in a predetermined time limit without the tower falling over.
  • What am I? – Divide the youth into teams and supply each team a pile of Lego parts that include pieces to make cars, trucks and people. Have everyone write down a name of a person, place or thing on a small slip of paper (tell them not to show anyone else). Ask each youth to fold his or her slip of paper and place it in a hat. Mix the slips of paper and ask one member from each team to randomly select one slip of paper. Tell the team member not to show the paper to his or her teammates. Set a kitchen timer for 10 minutes and tell the team member who chose the slip of paper to build whatever was on that slip of paper. It is up to his or her teammates to guess what he or she is building based on his or her creation. No talking or gestures are allowed. The first team to correctly guess the right answer wins that round.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Debrief

  • What do we need that will help us turn a pile of pieces into a specific shape?
  • Do you have to build exactly what is on the LEGO box or in the instructions?
  • Can we use the pieces to build other good things as well?
  • (If it has step by step instruction) Do you have to follow the instructions?
  • What is the advantage of instructions?
  • How does a photo, an example or instructions help?
  • What could have happened if we didn’t follow the manual?
  • How did the groups go about assembling their Lego project? How did each person participate?
  • What was frustrating about this activity?
  • Why was it difficult/easy to communicate instructions?
  • What are other situations that happen in your life where you have to rely on others to communicate information or instructions to you?
  • How do you make sure that you understand them completely? What can you do as the person with the information to get your message across to others?
  • How do you know where a brick belongs and how it fits into the overall plan?
  • Is it sometimes possible for more that one brick to fit in the same?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What spiritual lessons can we learn from LEGOS?
  • What could happen if you don’t follow the instructions?
  • How is this like the choices we have in life?
  • Were you created with a purpose?
  • What other projects or things have you done that require an instruction manual?
  • Are there instructions for us to follow in life? As a Christian?
  • What are some of the world’s instructions? Those from the Bible?
  • How is a lego set like the body of Christ?
  • How is the Bible like an instruction manual?
  • How is Christ a model for us to follow? (1 Corinthians 11:1)

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

A LEGO manual shows how each piece fits together to form the completed shape and the order or sequence.

How is a lego set like the body of Christ? the youth group?

  1. made up of many parts.
  2. Christ is the cornerstone
  3. The parts fit together to make a whole
  4. if one part is missing, the whole suffers – to be complete they need each other
  5. no piece, is more important that the others.
  6. some relationships are closer than others
  7. together they form a picture / object
  8. they didn’t have the instructions or a picture on a box so it was sometimes difficult to know what they were forming
  9. different people acted as leaders to help them form the picture
  10. The pieces support each other
  11. there are different connections – shapes – that connect each
  12. each piece is different / unique
  13. Each piece is identified by where it fits into the whole
  14. Some pieces are easily identified but not more important

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • How can we learn where we belong in the church and the role we each should fill?
  • After this activity, ask each youth to take back their LEGO piece as a reminder of the lessons.

SCRIPTURE

  • 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 – “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
  • 1 Peter 2:4 – “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual housea to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
  • Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

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Spiritually Measuring Up

Spiritually_Measuring_Up

It’s back to school time. Time to get all your school supplies and meet new friends. These games all have a ruler as the central prop and serve as a discussion start for measuring up to God’s standards. I remember the days of using a ruler to create a growth chart on the door frame. But how do we measure our growth as Christians?

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Games using a Ruler

  • Back Flip Rulers – Back flip rulers is a variation of the minute-to-win-it game “Back Flip” The objective is simple – palms down, rest several rulers on the back of your hand. Now flip them up and catch them all in the same hand. Person who can catch the most rulers at once wins.
  • Dice it Up – Another Minute-to-win-it game, youth must place a ruler into their mouth and stack a die on the end of the ruler. The die is not allowed to touch a youth’s nose or face. If the die falls off, the youth must choose another die to put on the ruler. Once the first die is in place, the player can pick up another die and put it on top of the first die. He has to continue adding a die until he’s stacked six die on top of one another. The dice have to be balanced for 3 seconds at least. First youth to be successful wins.
  • Feather Relay – Give individuals or teams a ruler with a feather, leaf or some other light object on it. The idea is to see who can go across the room and back again, keeping the elusive object on his or her ruler. If the object blows off, it must be replaced before the contestant can continue.
  • Herding Cats – Ever tried to herd a cat? They have a mind of their own. Give each team of youth one ruler and a cat (a lemon or raw egg.) Teams line up at the starting line, than at the signal, the first player pushes the cat to the goal and back using only the ruler. That player passes the ruler to the teammate who is next in line, and so on until all youth on a team have run. The team that finishes first wins. Other variations are to set up an obstacle course.
  • Longest Line – Give each group a ruler and a few school supplies if you have some. Then give the following instructions – “Using what you have, create the longest line possible.” The key to this game is they have more than the objects you have given to them. They can use a belt, a shoe lace, keys, coins, paper money, etc to create a long line of objects. We often look to God to give us resources to get things done, but we often have more than we realise if we expand our thinking.
  • Peas on a Ruler – Place a pile of peas (equal number of peas in each) for each team at one end of the room and an empty bowl for each at the opposite end. Give the first person in each line a ruler. Youth must run to their pea pile and scoop up as many peas on the ruler as they can, and bring them back and dump them into the empty bowl. They then give the rulers to the next person in line, who repeat the process. The first team to transfer its peas from the pile to the bowl is the winner. Any peas which fall along the way must also he picked up on the ruler and brought to the bowl. Players may have more than one run until all the peas are transfered, but must continue in the same order as they inititially began. They may not put the experts at the beginning of the line the second time through.
  • Ruler Catapult – Take a ruler and a square rubber pencil eraser. Place the ruler on the edge of a book or table. Place the eraser at one of the ruler and slam the other end of the ruler towards the floor. HARD. Whoever can get the eraser to fly the furthest wins!
  • Ruler Delivery – Choose a collection of objects of increasing size to be passed from the front of the line to the back of the line for each team using a ruler in each person’s mouth. First team to pass all the objects to the end of the line wins. Here are some ideas for objects: Cotton Balls, Ping Pong Balls, an egg (raw or hard boiled), marbles, lemon, apple, inflated balloon, ice cube.
  • Ruler Fencing – Players hold a ruler with a square rubber eraser on it in one hand. In the other hand the players hold an empty ruler. Then they try to knock the opponents’ eraser off the ruler without losing their own eraser.
  • Ruler of the world – roll a marble down a ruler and into a bowl. First team to do it successfully wins. Make it more difficult by using a yardstick or meter ruler.
  • Rulers – This is the game of spoons but played with rulers. Depending on the number of players, you need at least one deck of cards, and one ruler less than the number of players. Players sit in a circle with the rulers in the middle of the circle with their ends touching. To begin, each player is dealt 4 cards. The first player picks up a card from the top of the pile, and can choose to keep it, or pass it to the person on his or her left. Players can only hold a maximum of four cards. When someone gets four of a kind, he grabs a ruler. Once one person grabs a ruler, everyone else also grabs one until all the rulers are gone and 1 person is left without a ruler. Play resumes with one less player and one less ruler. Play continues until there is only one player left, the winner.
  • Standing Broad Grin – Measure everyone’s grin with a ruler to see who has the widest smile. Offer first, second, and third place prizes to the biggest smiles.
  • Tallest Tower – Bring in a variety of school supplies, including a ruler. Each team of students must create the tallest tower using the supplies you have provided. Then bring the school supplies back together and command the them to create the tallest tower. Of course the tools will simply lie where they are put. NOTE: These tools are very useful, but only when they are in someone’s hands. The same thing is true of us. We can be useful to God, and be used to teach others life changing truths, but only when we place ourselves in God’s hands.

Main Lesson Idea – Measuring Up

Measuring Up – Participants must scour the room and use a ruler find objects that match the measurements they are given… first to get them all correct gets a prize. You must first of course, make a list of measurements of various items found in the youth room or throughout the church.

Rules

  1. Teams must stay together as a group. You may not split up.
  2. Stay within the designated game area. Any group found outside the game area or in banned areas will be disqualified.
  3. No communicating or collaborating with other teams.
  4. Be respectful and courteous in everything you do. Crude language, inappropriate behavior, and offensive actions are not allowed. Respect other people’s property. Do not destroy things. When the hunt is over, there should be no sign that it took place.
  5. Respect each other. Do not cheat. Do not hinder other teams.

Scoring

  1. Only one submission for each item on the list. Multiple submissions are not allowed. Label submissions with corresponding numbers so the judges know which items are intended for which things on the list. You are not required to complete every item on the list.
  2. Teams can only qualify once for each item on the list.
  3. Stick to the Time Limit. A penalty will be imposed for each minute after the deadline that you are late. In case of a tie, the first team to finish wins.
  4. How to Win? Points will be assigned to these based on the difficulty to accomplish each, creativity and the fun factor. The team with the most points wins!

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What are some things people use to measure or evaluate living a good life?
  • What are some things people use to measure other people?
  • What are some things people use to measure themselves?
  • How do we measure a person as a success or failure?
  • What are some of the standards of measurement from God’s Word?

You might give them some helpful scriptures to write on their rulers:

  • Love – I Corinthians 13:4-7
  • Holiness – Hebrews 12.14; Revelation 21.27
  • Righteousness – 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:23
  • Christian Living – Romans 12:10-21
  • Maturity – Ephesians 4:1-13

Discussion: If your ruler had been marked wrongly, you would have found it difficult to find any of the objects. When our measurements of obedience, ourselves (pride), expectations (jealousy), comparisons with others, and timing (patience) are wrong it messes up our results. Our standards for measurement must be exact and based on God’s Word or every measurement we make will be wrong. God’s Word is to be the ruler for our life. When we use other things as rulers our measurements come out wrong.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

In the Old Testament, the focus on godliness was living by God’s Laws and commandments. But as a Christian, the focus of the life is no longer the laws and standards, but instesd focused on a person – Christ. It’s not a set of rules but a relationship. We are to follow Christ and live for Him.

  • Romans 6:14 “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
  • Romans 8:1-17
  • What difference does it make in the way you live your life to know that you are no longer under the law, but under grace?
  • Under the law you are fearful of making a mistake, but under grace you are focused on pleasing God and acting out of gratitude. How does this make a difference in how you live life?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • How do you measure your life? How do you measure up?
  • What are some of the things you use to measure your spiritual growth? Your spiritual journey?
  • In what way does Grace give you freedom to live more effectively for Christ?

SCRIPTURE

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” – We don’t measure up to God’s standard.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Because we don’t measure up, we cannot boast. This free us to advance in good works, not out of striving to be worthy.

Ephesians 4:11-12 – “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” – our goal is to measure up to the life of Christ.

Galatians 2:16 – “know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

Hebrews 12:1 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race MARKED OUT for us.” God still marks out a direction for us to strive toward as Christians.

2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – We don’t have to measure up to righteousness because we wear Christ’s righteousness.

Colossians 2:13-14 – “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” – God wiped away the shortcoming so that before him we measure up in Christ.

2 Peter 1:3-9 – “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” – Now we are measure by growth in the our journey to becoming more and more Christlike.

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Spiritual Hoopla?

Spiritual Hoopla

Is the excitement of serving God a whole lot of Hoopla – unnecessary excitement and fuss? These games using Hula Hoops are sure to create excitement but can also be used to create discussion on living as a Christian youth within God’s boundaries.

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Games using Hula Hoops

NOTE: If you can’t find hula hoops, plastic tubing can be shaped into a circle and secured with duct tape. For some of the games a circle of rope will also work.

  • Antigravity Hula Hoops – 5-10 youth form a circle, putting their hands out in front of them parallel to the floor – index finger extended (as in a kid making a gun). Tell them you will be placing a hula hoop on their fingers and everyone’s index fingers must stay in contact with the hula hoop. The task is to lower the hula hoop to the floor. It will inevitably go up immediately. The only way this works is if they remain calm and there is no blame.
  • Hula Hoop Hand Tag – Choose one player to be “It” and 4 additional players for each hoop. Have “It” stand in the center of the Hula-Hoop and the other players outside the circle. The players alternate holding the Hula-Hoop first with one hand and then the other while “It” tries to tap a hand. Those on the outside try to avoid being tapped. The game is over if players drop the hoop. Three rules: 1) the holders must each have one hand on the hoop at all times, 2)the person who is “It” cannot tag a hand that has been lifted from the hoop, and 3) whenever a person is tagged, he or she becomes “It.”
  • Hula Hoop Stuff – How many youth can get at least part of their bodies into a Hula Hoop? Count fingers, toes, ears-whatever. Better yet, how many youth can fit inside a Hula Hoop so that their bodies don’t touch the ground outside the hoop?
  • Hula Hoop Tag – Spread a few Hula hoops around the ground. The hoops are safe zones where youth cannot be tagged. The idea is to run between the safe havens without getting tagged. Set a time limit on how long people can stay in the safe zones, and make sure you have plenty of space between the hoops.
  • Hula Relay – Each youth on a team must take a Hula Hoop and hula while walking or running to a certain point 20 feet or so from the team and back. If the Hula Hoop drops, the player must stop, get the hoop going again, and continue. First team to finish wins.
  • Hula Slide Relay – Put the youth in groups of up to four and have each group step inside a Hula Hoop. The youth must move their hoop on the ground from one point to the other. If someone trips and steps out of the hoop, the team has to start over from the beginning.
  • Hula Tangled – Gather the participants in a circle and make them hold hands right at the center. Let one person wear the hula hoop on the arm. Without letting go, youth must pass the ring to one another, until it comes back to the person who first had it. Variation: do it without talking.
  • Keep the Hula Hoops Up – Every youth needs their own hula hoop. The goal is to keep the hula hoops spinning as possible using the traditional method of swinging it around the waist. A youth is out of the game when their hula hoop completely hits the floor. The last person with their hula hoop moving wins the game. This can also be played in teams.
  • Lava Flow – Scatter hula hoops around in a large open space. Everyone playing has found out that the floor has become covered in lava, but only when the leader calls out “lava flow.” In the meantime, the youth are supposed to wander around the room. When “lava flow, 3-2-1” is called, the players need to find shelter inside a hula hoop before the countdown ends. As time goes on, the leader removes hula hoops and the game gets more and more difficult as there are more people per hoop. Feet must touch the ground inside the hoops to be safe and everyone must be safe in order for anyone to win.
  • Lion tamer – Youth step through a hoop that get’s progressively higher off the ground – It is similar to limbo but keeps getting higher rather than lower.
  • Musical Hoops – This has the same basic rules as the traditional game of musical chairs except no one is ever out. Spread hula-hoops on the floor and play lively, fun music. As you remove the hoops, let the group know that no one is out. Let them figure out that they may share the hoops in order to remain playing. It’s fun to see how many people can share a hoop.
  • Sharks – Hula Hoops represent islands. Everyone mills around the sea until SHARKS is called out – then everyone has to get onto an island (in a hoop) to be safe, anyone not on the island is eaten by a shark and so out of the game. Remove islands at your pleasure forcing more and more people out of the game until you have a champ!
  • Simon Says – Play traditional Simon Says, but using the hula hoop as a prop. “Simon says• jump in/out of the hula hoop, lift it over your head, put your hand in the hoop, balance it on your foot, etc..”
  • Shoes in a Hula-Hoop – You’ll need 4 or more hula-hoops depending on the number of groups you want to have. Each group is given one Hula Hoop. The 4th hula-hoop is placed in the middle of the room and all of the participant’s shoes are placed inside of it. Announce: “The purpose of the game is to have ALL of the ping pong balls in your hula-hoop.” On “go” all the youth will scramble to collect as many shoes as possible. In the midst of the chaos, the leader will stop the game and send people back to their groups to deliberate on how to better capture all the shoes. Continue the game as before. After a while, stop the game again and mention teamwork, and the need to join forces in order to have all the shoes in one’s hoop. The answer to the game is that all of the teams put their hula-hoops together, on top of the Shoe filled hula hoop in the middle of the room.
  • Up, Down, Under, Over – This hula hoop game is also for a group of players. Have three or four youth stand inside a large hoop, holding it up at waist level without using their hands. Challenge them to lift the hoop up to their necks or down to their ankles – hands-free. Or, see if they can get the whole group from inside the hoop to outside, without grabbing the hoop or letting it touch the floor.

Main Game – Hula Hoop Circle

Ask the youth to stand in a big circle, slip a hula hoop onto one youth’s arm, and have them all join hands. They then must find a way to move the hula hoop all the way around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands.

Basic rules:

  1. The object of the game is to pass he hoop around the circle as quickly as possible.
  2. Youth may not let go of the hands they are holding at any time. If they lose their grip or let go, the hula Hoop must start back at the beginning again.
  3. Fingers cannot be used to grip or move the Hula Hoop
  4. The youth must remain in a circle. Players bend and twist their bodies through the hoop to get it around the circle.
  5. The fastest group wins.

Important Notes:

  1. Glasses may sometimes fall off and break so those youth wearing glasses need to remove them before the game starts.
  2. Make sure the hula hoop you use is big enough for everyone in the group to fit through so that there are no awkward moments for larger sized youth.
  3. Youth should be in generally good shape as some flexibility and balance will be needed to complete the task.

Youth may question whether this challenge is possible, but assure them that it can be done. Repeat the process until the team is satisfied with their time and their system. Generally, groups get it down to less than 2 minutes. The people directly involved work together to fit their body into the hoop and those waiting for the hoop to get to them, watch, give suggestions and encourage. Once it has made it around the circle, the task is complete.

Variations:

  1. Provide two Hoops for each team. Start the Hoops in the same location but ask the group to pass one in a clockwise direction and the other in a counterclockwise direction. When they get to the midway point there is usually some confusion.
  2. Time the group as they pass the hoop to see how long it takes them to get it all the way around. Allow another attempt to break the “record”.
  3. Try to do it as one big group.
  4. Ask players to stand with their back toward center of the circle.
  5. Ask the youth to complete the task without talking or while blindfolded.
  6. Do it sitting down
  7. They have to pass it 2 persons at a time, 3 at a time?

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Have you ever heard of the phrase “Jumping through Hoops”? Know what it means?
“Jumping though hoops” has typically meant “going to great lengths” or “much effort” in order to accomplish something.

People jump through hoops on a regular basis. Either to fulfill some kind of requirement to gain acceptance into a group, to meet some kind of standard to satisfy others, to follow some set of rules.

  1. What are some of the hoops in your life that you have had to jump through?
  2. Are there hoops we jump through as Christians? In the church? In the youth group?
  3. What are the expectations for each of these groups?
  4. Are these hoops good or bad? Explain.
  5. Do some people have more to deal with than others? If so, why?
  6. Are hoops necessary? What hoops would you add/remove from/to your life if you could?
  7. What is the purpose of rules and expectations? How are they useful / harmful?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

In the Old Testament, the people of God went to great lengths to be accepted by God. To be accepted by God required jumping through a lot of hoops – following a long list of God given laws, and requirements in order to be accepted by God. To make matters worse, by human standards, it was impossible to be accepted by God, because the hoops were beyond the ability of the people. And on top of that, tradition added even more rules and expectations so that by the time Christ had his encounters with the Pharisees, it was an even more impossible burden.

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4)

I wonder if any of these hoops sound familiar? Christians must not drink. They must not smoke. They must dress appropriately (according to a myriad of opinions of what is proper). They must be timid, and peaceful and submit when others want to walk over them. Youth cannot have tattoos, or earrings, or unnatural colors in their hair. You must be in church every time the doors are open. You must give to every cause. You must put on a smile even though you are deeply hurting and tired and weary. The list goes on… We sing about grace, yet are quick to condemn, proclaim the blood of Christ in forgiveness, yet hold grudges, preach of freedom in Christ, but add a plethora of rules and expectations. The Bible is full of imperfect people resting in the loving care of a perfect God, many of which would never be allowed in any kind of public position in the church of today. But is a list of rules what defines the Christian? What does define a person as a Christian?

A look at Ephesians 2:1-10 and Romans 5:6-8 makes it clear that Christ loved us and died for us even though we were ungodly, sinful, and dead in our trespasses. We were unworthy, yet God reached out to us.

“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  1. What are some of the things that you do simply for show?
  2. In what ways do you conform to expectations?
  3. How can you personally focus more on the relationships rather than the rules and expectations?

Most people would prefer to follow a bunch of rules, to “jump through hoops” as it were, than to actually give up their own lives and follow Christ. Yet Jesus did not call us to a set of rules, but to a relationship. He asked people to take up their cross and follow Him. But it’s so much easier to carry a hoop than a cross.

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

More Spiritual Lessons from Hula Hoops:

  • A circle is a symbol of eternity. It has no beginning and no end.
  • Staying in your hula hoop can represent minding your own business and protecting your boundaries.
  • We are only responsible for the things God places in our circle of influence.
  • When we are properly focused on our own lives, our energy is used to keep our hula-hoop spinning. When we drop it and step out to try to control someone else’s life, our life suffers.
  • Will you trust God to take care of the stuff that is outside of your hula-hoop?
  • God is inside with us at all times
  • In hula hoop you have to find a rhythm to keep it going. We must understand that God has a perfect rhythm set up for our lives. Pushing ahead too fast or lazily moving breaks that rhythm and things fall apart.
  • It takes energy to get started
  • Momentum helps it keep it going

SCRIPTURE

  • “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
  • “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”- Luke 9:2
  • “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” – Matthew 23:4
  • “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”- Ephesians 2:8-10
  • “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6-8

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MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

Creative Youth ideas: 1700+ Resources for youth leaders, pastors, ministers to help plan camps, retreats, and meetings using games, illustrations, Children's Worship, Bible Studies, object lessons, sermons, creative ideas,creative activities