Game Ideas

Father’s Business Trip

June 16, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Game Description
In this game, children must remember the business trips of father’s going through the alphabet.

Game Materials
None

Optimal Group Size
Any size group.

Game Venue
Anyplace

Game Preparation
None

Game Play

Choose a student to begin.
This student says, “My father [Name] is leaving on a business trip, and he is going to [a city or country item beginning with the letter “a”].
The next student repeats, “ “My father [name] is leaving on a business trip, and he is going to [place listed by previous student for the letter “a”],” then adds and [a city or country beginningwith the letter “b”].
Students progress through the alphabet, adding a new city or country item each time.
Any student who forgets a place on Father’s itinerary is out.

Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Game Ideas

Father May I?

June 16, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Game Description
In this variation of “Mother May I?” Children ask Father rather than mother for permission

Game Materials
None

Optimal Group Size
Any size group.

Game Venue
Anyplace

Game Preparation
Establish start line and finish line.

Game Play

Choose one student to be the father. This student will go to the finish line.
All other students must go to the start line. Explain to students on start line that their goal is to cross the finish line first; however, they must ask Father’s permission for each move they make toward the finish line.
For example, the first student might ask, “Father, may I take four large steps?” The next student might ask, “Father, may I make five jumps?” And so forth.
If Father responds, “Yes, you may,” the student may proceed. If Father replies, “No, you may not,” the student must wait until next turn and make a different request.

Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Game Ideas, Parents Ministry

Searching for Dad

June 16, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Game Description
Students must describe their Father to others to retrieve a photo of their father.

Game Materials
Photos of all the fathers of students

Optimal Group Size
Any size group.

Game Venue
Anyplace

Game Preparation
Instruct each student to bring a color photograph of his or her father to class. You might enlist the parents of smaller kids to do this.

Game Play

During the first five minutes, students must write a description of their fathers as seen in the photograph. For example, “My father is tall and handsome. He is wearing blue jeans and a white shirt.”
The teacher should then collect all photographs.
Photographs are then shuffled and distributed to various students. No student should have his or her own Father’s photograph.
After photographs have been exchanged, the first student chooses another student and says, “Excuse me, but have you seen my father?” The student he or she asks responds, “I don’t know. What does he look like?”
The first student then reads the first sentence of his or her description. The student being questioned responds with, “No, I’m sorry. I haven’t seen him,” or “Yes, as a matter of fact, he’s right here [returning the photograph],” or “I’m not sure. Describe him further.” If called upon to describe him further, the student reads more of his description.
A small prize may be given to each student upon his or her successfully locating his or her father.

Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Humor

Outhouse Confession

June 15, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Once there was a little boy who lived in the country. For bathroom facilities, they had to use an outhouse. The little boy hated it because it was hot in the summer, cold in the winter and stank all the time.

The outhouse was sitting on the bank of a creek and the boy determined that one day he would push that outhouse into the water.

One day after a spring rain, the creek was swollen so the little boy decided today was the day to push the outhouse into the creek. So he got a large stick and pushed. Finally, the outhouse toppled into the creek and floated away.

That evening his dad sternly told him to sit down. Knowing he was in trouble, the little boy asked why. The dad replied, “Someone pushed the outhouse into the creek today. It was you, wasn’t it, son?”

The boy answered yes. Then he thought a moment and said, “Dad, I read in school today that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and didn’t get into trouble because he told the truth.”

The dad replied, “Well, son, George Washington’s father wasn’t in that cherry tree!”

Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Teaching Illustrations

An Old Question

June 15, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

“Can I be a Christian without joining the church?”
Answer: Yes, it is as possible as being:

A student who will not go to school.
A soldier who will not join an army.
A citizen who does not pay taxes or vote.
A salesman with no customers.
An explorer with no base camp.
A seaman on a ship without a crew.
A business man on a deserted island.
An author without readers.
A tuba player without an orchestra.
A parent without a family.
A football player without a team.
A politician who is a hermit.
A scientist who does not share his findings.
A bee without a hive.

– Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, pp. 115-16.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Teaching Illustrations

Father’s Are Wonderful People

June 15, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Fathers are wonderful people too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises as often as we should …
For, somehow, Father seems to be the man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts and nurses all our ills …
And Father struggles daily to live up to ‘HIS IMAGE’
As protector and provider and ‘hero of the scrimmage’
And perhaps that is the reason we sometimes get the notion
That Fathers are not subject to the thing we call emotion,
But if you look inside Dad’s heart, where no one else can see,
You’ll find he’s sentimental and as ‘soft’ as he can be …
But he’s so busy every day in the gruelling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff to his partner and his wife …
But Fathers are just WONDERFUL in a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments and accolades of praise,
For the only reason Dad aspires to fortune and success
Is to make the family proud of him and to bring them happiness …
And like our Heavenly Father, he’s a guardian and a guide,
Someone that we can count on to be always on our side.

Source: Unknown

Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Teaching Illustrations

The Ballad of the Oyster

June 15, 2006 kensapp 1 Comment

There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into its shell.

It was only a grain,
But it gave him great pain;
For oysters have feelings
Although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate
The harsh workings of fate
That had brought him
To such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government,
Cry for election,
And claim that the sea should
Have given him protection?

No! He said to himself
As he lay on a shell,
“Since I cannot remove it,
I’ll try to improve it.”

Now the years have rolled by,
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate
Destiny–stew.

And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl
All richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral;
For isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do
With a small grain of sand?

What couldn’t we do
If we’d only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin.

Author Unknown

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Food for Thought

Fallen Man

June 14, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement. He is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor – that is the only way out of a hole. This process of surrender – this movement full speed astern – is repentance.

– C. S. Lewis

Drama Ideas

Emotional Charades

June 14, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Activity
This is like normal charades, but the items to be pantomimed are different emotions. Do not announce this beforehand, but let the groups figure it out for themselves. The person who guesses the emotion gets a point.

Some suggested emotions that can be used are: anger, fear, happy, nervous, bored, bitter, overwhlemed, depressed, at peace, embarassed, loved, proud, detached, shocked, hate, and finally, love.

Icebreaker / Crowdbreaker Variation
In larger groups you might give each person one of the above motions. There should be at least two people that have each emotion. The objective will be to display the emotion until you find the other members of your group. When you think you have found your partners/group have a seat. Continue until all groups are seated. Then have each group strike a pose of their emotion.

Photo Variation
Obtain a variety of photos from newspaper clippings, magazines, and advertisements. Have the group identify the emotions displayed on people’s faces. Discuss the difficulty of recognizing love and other emotions.

Couples Variation
couples must perform the charade and whoever guesses it gets the next item on the list to pantomime. The person who guesses the emotion and the nearest person of the opposite sex on his/her right will be the next couple to get the clue. This means the two will have to demonstrate the emotion with each other… (e.g. Anger – pantomime yelling at each other, being upset, etc.)

Application / Debrief
1. What does love look like? What actions show love? How did you find your group? How do we find love? What do our emotions reveal about us? Are negative emotions a sin? Is it easier to control positive or negative emotions? Which emotions are the easiest to show? The most difficult?
2. Discuss the different emotions Jesus portrayed in his life as revealed in the scriptures.
3. Discuss the fruits of the spirit and how they relate to our emotions.
4. Focus in on the emotion of love and use the activity for Valentine’s Day
5. Use this as an introduction to a discussion on God’s Love

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Game Ideas

Spider Soccer

June 13, 2006 kensapp Leave a comment

Game Description
In this variation of soccer or international football, youth are bound together with 3 other persons to play the game.

Game Materials
Soccerball (football) and collored strips of cloth to distinguish between teams. You may also use colored armbands or baseball caps to differentiate teams.

Optimal Group Size
Ideally a minimum of 16 persons on each team. If the group is smaller, you may want to combine them together in groups of three instead of groups of four.

Game Venue
Soccer field or large open field

Game Preparation
None

Game Play

Just as a spider has eight legs, so does this soccer player.
Form two teams.
Within each team, have kids form groups of four. Give each group of four a supply of colored cloth to tie their ankles together so they form a square facing outward. They must also lock arms.
Play a normal game of soccer, normal rules, with each foursome acting as one player.

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