Write the memory verse on cardboard and then cut it up to form a jigsaw puzzle. Split everyone into groups and give one jigsaw puzzle to each group. The team that pieces the memory verse together first is the winner.
Any size group
This activity will work with any size group, any number of people.
Pass the Parcel
Hide a word of the memory verse in each layer of the parcel (with or without prizes). With music playing, pass the parcel around the group till the music stops and then unravel a layer of the parcel. Repeat till all layers are unravelled and all words have been revealed. Have the group place the memory verse in order and say out lout together.
Note: If you have lots of people, this activity will require lots of space.
Eat Out! Memory Verse
Write each word of the memory verse on a disposable paper bowl (one memory verse word on each bowl, or if it’s a long verse write a few words) so that there is a set of bowls with the complete memory verse. Split into teams of about 5 people and give one set of bowls to each team (obviously you’ll need to have one full set of bowls with the memory verse written out per team; eg. 5 teams = 5 sets of bowls). Have each bowl filled with some sort of food (eg. Cereal, crumbled dry weet-bix, chips, custard, etc.) so that the word/s cannot be read underneath. Do a “ready, set, go!” and the team that finishes their food first, arranges the memory verse in proper order, and read it out is the winner.
Warning: You will want to check for food allergies among the contestants first, and let people sit out who really don’t want to be a part of it.
Chinese Whispers
This operates just like the Chinese whispers you played at school. Split into 2 teams and have each team form a circle or a line. Tell the memory verse to the first person in the group and then they have to pass it on to the next person by memory, and so on… At the end of the group, see who has the memory verse most accurate. This activity will work as an introductory memory verse activity as well.
20+ Note: If you have more than 20 people, split into smaller groups and have the last person in the group write out the verse on butcher’s paper.
Application Pictures
Ask the group “what situations would it be useful to know this memory verse?” and then draw pictures of those situations on the white board/butchers paper. The aim is for them to see how memorising the bible is useful in life.
-20 Note: If you have time on your side, you can split into small groups and have each group come up with their own situations and pictures, then present it back to the group. Add approx 5 minutes per group to the running time for this activity (eg. 4 groups will add 20 mins)
Memory Verse Song
Split into groups (approx. 10 people) and have each group do the memory verse in a different music genre (eg. Advertising jingle, high school musical, rap, soap opera TV theme song, Opera, Country and Western etc). Record the songs if you have the technology and use them in the coming weeks to remember the verse.
50+ Note: If you have 50 people or more, just use a memory verse song already written (eg. Colin Buchanan) to teach the memory verse. You can play the song on CD and sing along or play it live! (playing live might be best, because the CD can be a bit lame).
Pass the Parcel revision
Teach the memory verse to the group. Make a parcel with prizes in each layer. Have the group sit in a circle and pass the parcel around the group while everyone says the memory verse out loud, whoever has the parcel when the memory verse has been said through gets to unwrap a layer. Repeat the process saying the memory verse each time until all the layers have been unwrapped (some kids will miss out on a prize, but this will teach them that life isn’t always fair… they’ve got to learn somewhere!).
Total Recall
See who can recall both the memory verses for the term. For an extra challenge you can see how many verses they can recall from the year! Do this activity near the end of term, and even get them to do it in groups sometimes so they can work out the memory verses together by writing down as many as they can recall on a piece of paper.
Target Prayer
Draw 3 circles on a white board with the circles representing world issues, local issues, and individual issues respectively. After the group comes up with some prayer points for each category, pray one point each out loud as a group.
40+ Note: If there’s more than 40 people, then select just 1 person per category to pray the prayer points in each circle.
Prayer Barrel
(We made a lucky dip barrel for this at our youth group)
Ask the kids to each come up with a prayer topic (eg. Youth group, government, Africa, non Christian friends, war, etc.) Write the topics on pieces of paper and put them in the barrel (or on the wheel). Choose someone to come and spin the barrel and then pick out a topic. Repeat the process till you have 3 or 4 prayer topics and then ask the group for prayer points under those topics. When there is enough prayer points, pray through them as a whole group out loud.
40+ Note: If there’s more than 40 people, you can either: 1) limit the to just 2 topics; 2) select just a few of people (maybe 1 for each category) to pray the prayer points on the board; or 3) split into small groups to pray.
Bite Size Prayer
Bite size is designed to help people who don’t usually pray (or have never prayed), to pray out loud. Bite size prayer works by writing up two categories on the white board (usually ‘thanks’ and ‘ask’) and when the group has enough prayer points on the board for each person in the group to pray one, delegate the prayer points to everyone in the group. Go around the group and pray one bite sized prayer each – that means short i.e. “Thanks God for the rain, amen.”
30+ Note: If there’s more than 30 people, then select just a few of people (maybe 5) to pray the prayer points in both columns.
Prayer Card Shuffle
Prayer card shuffle is designed to help people who don’t usually pray (or have never prayed), to pray out loud. Give everyone a card and ask them to write a prayer for themselves in the 3rd person (eg. Mike writes on his card “dear God please help Mike…” etc). Then shuffle the cards and redistribute them. Pray out loud by going around the group one after the other, so that everyone ends up praying for another person. Ask the youth group to hold onto the cards and prayer for that person during the week.
40+ Note: If there’s more than 40 people then after the cards have been shuffles and given out, just allow 5 minutes for people to pray through their card in silence rather than out loud.
Bible Secret Sounds
This activity takes a bit of preparation!
This works much like “Who am I?” except the clues are given as sounds, and you use Bible stories instead of characters. Choose a Bible story. Prepare about 12 audio clues (starting with harder clues and getting easier). Split everybody into groups and play the audio clues pausing after each clue in order to give the groups a chance to guess. Once a group has made their guess, that’s it for the game. Have a range of prizes to give out depending on how many clues were heard before the Bible story was guessed.
Bible Charades/Pictionary
Just like the game charades or pictionary. Divide the group into teams. Make list of about 10 scenes, things, or people from the Bible. Each team nominates one person to go up first and be told the first item on the list. They return to their group to act out or draw the Bible scene, thing, or person that was given. When someone guesses what it is, that person then goes back to the leader running the game and gets the next item off the list. The process repeats until all the listed items have been guessed. The team that finishes the list first is the winner.
Variation: Can also be done with playdoe – sculptionary.
Draw your swords
The aim of this game is to help everyone navigate their way around the Bible better. Give every person in the group a Bible to tuck under one arm. Call out a Bible passage to the group (eg. Jeremiah 31:31) and the first person to open their Bible, find the passage and read it out is the winner. Repeat again until satisfied.
World Map
Split everyone up into groups. Give each group a massive round weather balloon (preferably filled with helium for some extra excitement!) and a couple of textas. In a time frame of about 5 minutes, each group needs to draw (and label) a world map on their balloon as accurately as possible. The group with the most accurate world map is the winner.
Important! Have information sheets prepared before hand that focus on a particular country and perhaps a missionary there. Give an information sheet to each group to discuss the country, find out about its environment, politics, issues, religion, and then pray for that country.
Hot Chocolate
Get together the four ingredients you need to make hot chocolate ie. Mugs, spoons, packet of hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows (make sure you provide hot water and milk). Divide everybody into four even groups. Give each group only one hot chocolate ingredient and enough for each person in the group to have 4 each. Group 1: each person is given 4 mugs. Group 2: each person is given 4 spoons. Group 3: each person is given 4 marshmallows. Group 4: each person is given 4 packets of hot chocolate mix.
Once all the ingredients are handed out, get everybody to form new groups that have all the hot chocolate ingredients. There should now be newly formed groups of 4 people which now have enough hot chocolate ingredients to make one cup of hot chocolate for each person in the group. When each group has made their hot chocolates ask them to sit down and give a sharing question for them to discuss.
Variations of this mixer could be: Banana splits (bowls, bananas, chocolate toping, ice cream), spiders (glasses, ice cream, soft drink, spoon/straws), Milo (glasses, Milo, spoons, milk), the list goes on and on…
Note: Allow at least 25 minutes for this mixer.
Appointments
Each person in the group is given an appointment card – that is: a card which has space for 3 names on separate lines (with 1 extra line underneath each name) and 3-4 sharing questions at the bottom or reverse side of the card. Give everybody time to go and make an appointment with someone else in the group.
Make it very clear that appointments are with each other (ie. if person x makes an appointment with person y, then person y also makes an appointment with person x).
Allow about 10 seconds for each appointment to be made and then have everybody sit down (or you may want to sing a song or do something else). Then when you’re ready say “it’s now time for your first appointment!”. Everyone in the group goes to their first appointment and asks the other person the 3-4 sharing questions written on the appointment card. Allow about 2-3 minutes for each appointment and then finish the mixer by asking some in the group to share who the met and the answers to the questions.
Secret self-portrait
Each person in the group is given a piece of A4 paper and a pen or pencil. Each person draws their own self portrait without showing anyone else their drawing, and adds one unknown fact about themselves. The activity leader collects the portraits and then randomly redistributes the unnamed portraits to the group (if anyone gets their own they should choose again). Everyone in the group then tries to find who the self portrait belongs to. A name is placed on the portrait once the subject of the portrait has successfully been found, and then put up on the wall.
Portrait Bingo
Give each person a ‘Bingo sheet’ – a piece of paper with a 6 squares big enough to draw a small portrait. Write a question for each square. The goal of the game is to find someone who can answer the question or statement in the box (eg. Someone who went to the beach in the holidays, someone in year 7, someone who has a dog etc). when you’ve found someone who fulfils the category, you draw their portrait in the square provided, then move onto another person. You can’t have the same person again on your bingo sheet.
(x) christian (m) ministry (2) to (y) youth 