Wednesday, June 25, 2014

H.S. YOUTH: Amazing Text Race

Somebody recently asked for scavenger hunt ideas and it reminded me of the time I had kids participate in The Amazing Text Race.

The kids get their first clue at church and it's a riddle so they have to figure it out before they can start and after that everything is done by text. They had a riddle to get to their destination and when they figured that out I replied with the task they were to complete there. They then had to either text back an answer to a question about the place or a photo of something specific. When I got the right answer I texted their next clue and they were off. Here are a few of the things they were required to do:

  • Take a photo of a cross on another church in town.
  • Write a Bible verse on a public sidewalk outside a mall.
  • Text back the quote on a specific church's sign. 
  • Ask a stranger in a local park what s/he knows or believes about the Bible, Jesus, etc.
  • Perform a specific random act of kindness.
  • Find a quote in a C.S. Lewis book on a specific page. 
  • Perform a mini flash mob singing a hymn or other church related song.
  • Visit a youth group parent and find out his/her baptismal date.
  • The final clue to get them back to church was take a picture with the pastor.

Some of these are general because every town is different and obviously some tasks had to be set up ahead of time. If you're doing it at night you might want a final clue that brings them back to church and not to the pastor's house. There are tons of other clue ideas that depend on your location.

Monday, June 9, 2014

EDUCATION: Memorizing Bible Timelines

Timeline
On My Heart Lutheran Memory Program

A pastor recently shared this great idea with me. He had all the young kids in his congregation learn the Old Testament Bible timeline. He got the timeline cards from On My Heart, a Lutheran memory work program. During children's messages he would teach the children (and adults if they were participating) the timeline with motions and every week he would add a few more. The kids can now tell the whole Old Testament story of God and His people in order with motions. HOW COOL IS THAT?

There are a number of ways these resources can be used and there are three sets of cards available:  Books of the Bible, Catechism (doctrines of the faith), 60 commonly memorized Bible verses, and the main events of both Old and New Testament timelines.

As kids get older (and definitely in or by confirmation) they should actually read the Bible so that they start learning the accounts in more detail but what a great way to start getting kids familiar with the whole Old Testament story of God and His people!

LOVE IT!!!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

EDUCATION: Cool Bible Infographics!

Every once in a while when you're teaching a particular book of the Bible or want to have some kind of character analysis it's nice to have a quick infographic. Wouldn't it be fabulous if you didn't have to create them all yourself? You don't!

The Quick View Bible
Jacob’s Family
thequickviewbible.com
I found this great website called The Quick View Bible that has more than 360 infographics and 20 maps. They're all connected to Bible verses in the NIV Bible online  via Bible Gateway. There's also a book that can be purchased.

Remember that when it comes to learning a picture really is worth a thousand words. People remember far more when a picture is attached to any words shared than by words alone and this is a great resource to help people visualize and understand the events recorded in the Bible.

You've got to check it out yourself to see how totally cool this resources is!

There's also a book that can be purchased: