12 Ways to Encourage Scripture Memory (and Earn Points)
We all know how to give points out for teams who line up quickly, who win games and who show good sportsmanship. But Handbook Time also provides many ways to motivate with points and encourage your clubbers at the same time.
Here are some suggestions for giving out Handbook Time points. (Points are free … and can be motivating.) My personal favorite is #10. Kids (and adults) often don’t look verses up anymore. Scripture is put on a screen and even personal Bible reading is often done on a screen. To have a child look up the verse he is saying and show it to his leader is a great way to teach kids where verses are in the Bible. (Yes, the resurrection is in the New Testament, a long time after Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land. Yes, Noah’s flood happened before Esther was queen.)
Have you done something that’s not listed? Let us know.
1. Extra points for saying sections word perfectly (no helps).
2. Extra points for completing a Discovery/Challenge (or similar achievement in Sparks/Trek).
3. Extra points for having a parent sign that the child said the verse to him/her.
4. Extra points if the child catches the pastor using a verse from a handbook in his Sunday message. (You could allow kids who attend other churches to do this too – you will need to trust them though, since you won’t be there to listen to their pastor.)
5. Extra points if the child said the verse to someone other than a relative.
6. Extra points if the child can relate sometime during the week when he applied the verse to something in real life. For instance, she saw some sheep grazing in a field and it reminded her of Psalm 23:1 or he was about to disobey and remembered Ephesians 6:1.
7. Extra points when the child completes the entire book.
8. Extra points if children can explain what the verse means in their own words.
9. Extra points if he finishes saying his own sections and helps an unprepared child learn a verse. (Kids helping kids can be a powerful teaching tool.)
10. Extra points if the child can look the verse up in the Bible and show it to the leader.
11. Extra points for having a parent sign that the child practiced his verses at least 10 minutes each day. (You can hand out index cards with a space for a parent’s initials each day of the week.)
12. Extra points if a child brings a friend to club … more points for each week that the friend returns … and even more points for each section the friend says. (This is to encourage visitors to continue to come and not just show up for one week so the child can pass his bring-a-friend section.)
