Review … Review … Review
We all know that the more times our clubbers repeat a verse or a concept, the more likely they are to remember it. We all have favorite review games/activities – but here are some other ideas that maybe you haven’t done. You might find them to be a lot of fun!
1. Set up your lessons for review. As you prepare your lessons, summarize the concepts you want your clubbers to remember in a catchy phrase. Or repeat a verse over and over again during the lesson. Summarizing with one verse or concept will make review easier.
2. Play a beach ball game. Clubbers sit in a circle. Throw the ball to one of the clubbers and ask a question. If the clubber answers, he gets to throw the ball to another clubber. If he doesn’t answer correctly, he throws the ball back to the leader.
3. Play a match game. Design a match game with half the cards having references and the other half having the verse.
4. Use a PowerPoint template. The web has several Power Point templates of well-known TV games such as Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. They are designed for teachers to use and some cost a little money – but if you’re interested, check them out.
5. Give out some crazy points. Prepare slips of paper with different amounts of points written on them – 10/25/50/100 … maybe even 1000. Fold up the papers and put them in a container. Start the night with a quiz about last week’s lesson. If a clubber answers correctly, he/she gets to pull out a slip of paper. The amount of points on the paper is added to his/her team. Excitement comes from answering the questions correctly, and from also not knowing how many points you’ll earn.
6. Play hot potato (or cold bean bag). Kids sit in a circle. Give one clubber the beanbag and that child starts the verse. Play music as the clubbers pass the beanbag. When the music stops, the person holding the beanbag must say the second word. For instance, if you are reciting John 3:16 – the first child says “for.” The next person says “God” and so on. You can proceed according to the capability of your group. If most of your clubbers can recite the familiar verses, you can have a child sit out when he misses. If your clubbers aren’t too familiar with the verses, you can have the group help him with the word and continue playing.
7. Play tic-tac-toe. Ask questions. If a child gets the answer correct he gets to put an “x” or “o” in the grid, depending on which team he is on.
8. Play Up and Down. Two teams line up across from each other. Leader asks a question of the first clubber in line. If the clubber gets the answer correct he can choose one of the clubbers on the other team to go “down.” (Clubber sits on the floor.) The leader then asks a question of the first person on the other team. If that clubber gets the answer correct, he can choose a clubber (from the other team) to go “down” or he can rescue someone on his own team to once again be “up.” The team with the most clubbers standing at the end of the game is the winner.
9. Say It. Play It. Put slips of paper with “methods” for saying a verse in a jar. Choose clubbers to take turns pulling out a slip of paper. They then read the “method” from the paper and the group says the verse using that method. For instance, standing on one leg, facing the wall, whispering, shouting, sing-songy, jumping up and down, to their neighbor, etc.
10. Write each word of the verse on a separate craft stick, paper, cup, etc. Give a set (all the words of the verse) to each team. Mix the words up. At the “go” signal, the clubbers must put the words in the correct order. Team that first completes their verse in the correct order wins. You could also have individual kids compete against each other.
