HIDING GOD’S WORD

HOW TO MAKE MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE FUN FOR KIDS

When teaching school-aged children I’ve found that they are usually eager to sing, listen to stories and participate in crafts and games.  But one thing that they watn to put off is memorizing bible verses.

Knowing that this “sowing the seed” into their young lives will impact them through eternity, I asked God to give me some creative ideas that would make scripture time a spot the children looked forward to.  I’ve tried all ten ways and most school-aged children are usually clamoring for a chance to learn more and more.  I hope you can find one that will work for your group!

The Blind Beggers:  Let’s use as an example verse John 15:5.  “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

First, I divide the verse into SEGMENTS – short parts of the verse, usually divided by punctuation marks:

I am the vine

you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in him

he will bear much fruit.

Apart from me you can do nothing.

These five segments I have typed up on separate slips of paper.  I ask for my first five volunteers.  Each of these is sent to different sides of the room and told to memorize his segment silently.  Then he must familiarize himself with what comes BEFORE and what comes AFTER his segment.  I give them 60 seconds for this.

I ask another child to blindfold the five kids and tell them they must walk about saying their segment only.  Nothing else at all may be spoken!  They are to lock arms so that the verse will be in the proper order, trying to extend their right arm toward the person saying the segment immediately in front of them and their left arm toward the following segment.  I give them another 60 seconds and remove the blindfolds.  Now I let them say the verse by asking the person at the beginning of the line to say his segment only followed by the person next to him on down the line.  Usually the verse sounds pretty strange!  If I have a small class, I mix the segments up and allow the same children to go into their corner with their new segments; this time I may limit it to 30 seconds, blindfold them, and mix the bodies around and yell “GO!”

Many times they will have learned to work together but continue to remind them “NOTHING at all may be said except your part of the verse – if it is, give them a new segment and begin again – this time with 15 seconds.

For a small class, see which group of children can get it with the fewest amount of tries.  Competition is always appealing and teamwork ensures no one is left out.  By the end of the class, every student can say the verse and they don’t even know they’ve been memorizing it.  You may want to give a cool down time to discuss what the verse means, choosing each segment to explain how his part relates to the whole verse and asking if they have any personal examples to demonstrate the truth of it or know any other places in the bible which carry the same meaning.

2. Break A Leg. For our second method, let’s use the verse Psalm 20:7:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.”  This verse can be done in only two segments for younger children, but if it is, be sure to give only 20 seconds for each person to act it out.

In other words, let Child A take “Some trust in chariots and some in horses.”  Give him this segment and send him over to one end of the room.  Then Child B takes the last segment, “but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Do not tell them which game you re playing but simply ask them to memorize their segment.  When 60 seconds is up, announce they are to face the class and ACT out their segment, all doing so at the SAME time.  NO WORDS SPOKEN.  Within 20 seconds (more for younger children).  Then ask for volunteers to guess which order it is in.  Usually you’ll get several hands.  Tell them the one who can SAY the first segment perfectly can place that child in the right order.  Give them 30 seconds and ask for hands again.  If someone tries, they can then come up and place one child in the first position.

Repeat this as many segments until all the children are placed.  If someone thinks someone is out of the right order, instead of placing the last child, he can scramble the previously placed children as he thought.  If someone objects to this, only a fully memorized verse can grant him the right to replace the actors to another formation.

After all actors are placed, have them say the verse.  If it is wrong, have another group give it a try, or scramble their segments and let them act it out again.  This is a hilarious undertaking!

3. Quick Draw.  Again, divide the verse into segments.  This time, let’s use a longer piece to memorize:  Matthew 2:37-38.  For teens, you should be using a whole chapter, such a short Psalm, each person taking an entire verse.

Send the kids with the folded pieces of paper with one segment into different areas of the room, spaced so that no one can see each other’s work.  Take to them a piece of paper and then explain they will DRAW their segment as best they can, without the use of any letters or numbers.  Give them 2 minutes for very young and 30 seconds for older kids.  If every child is involved, let them SILENTLY walk about, viewing the other pictures.  He can look at the whole verse as needed, being careful not to allow anyone to see his written segment.  He may place himself somewhere and try to grab others to position them, but must remain quiet.

If one or more people got left out, let one of them attempt to place them in the correct order.  If the remainder of observers agree, let them say the verse.  If wrong, let another attempt to put them in the correct order.  If it all fails, collect the slips of paper, scramble and redistribute.

This version takes a little longer but its advantage is that the students have to make sense out of the verse in order to win.  That is, they have to digest what the verse is actually saying in order to get the right order.  So, the kids will have the meaning of the verse very firmly imprinted in their minds.

4. Stick Like Glue.  Use John 14:21 for this one.  Divide class up into teams of 3-4 kids each.  Arm them with old magazines, glue and scissors.  Explain that when you yell, “GO” they are to work as a team, putting the words of the verse on a piece of paper by find the words in the magazines, cutting them and pasting them on the piece of construction paper you’ve given each team.  The one who brings you the full verse first wins.  They’ll want to do it again several times.

For proper names, they will have to use individual letters cut out and put together.  Words like “whosoever” that are not normally found in today’s publications can be done the same way, or more quickly by finding, “who”, “so”, and “ever”.  I’d be sure even older kids don’t have pointed scissors for this as it gets pretty wild.

5. Cheers!  Use John 8:47 for this one the first time around.  Divide into two teams unless your class is very small.  Have them pick two opposing football teams to represent and tell them they are to go to different rooms (if possible) and come up with a Cheer, complete with cartwheels, pyramids, chants, whatever it takes.  (If your group is rowdy, you may want to supervise them very closely to avoid injury!)  After not over 10 minutes, have each team perform their cheer – it must have all the words in and they must be in the right order, though they can be repeated as needed to set a snappy cadence.  They can see each other’s cheer and sometimes will want to return to work on it some more or add extra touches.  This can be done if time permits or they can just do it again for parents after class.

Many times, the kids will be heard saying their verse cheer leaving the classroom, or out in the church parking lots.  They’ve got it memorized!

6. Chant, chant, chant!  The above idea only for less wildness have them do a chant – back and forth between teams.  This works well on John 5:19  You can break at punctuation (I like King James) or shorter.  Take them out of doors at the end of class if weather permits and have them yell their portion, quickly followed by the other team answering back their portion, building up I speed and volume.

After a few rounds, stop them and tell them they have to reverse parts – with no practice.  It will start off awfully sputtery, but one or two will recall a word here and there – don’t allow the other team to help.  See which team did the best listening by getting their parts right first.

7. Sing, Sing A Song.  A good verse for this is Hebrews 11:6.  For a small class, let the whole class work together.  Since the words are already there, they merely have to come up with a tune that fits.  They can use a song they already know or be more creative.  Let them form duos, trios or quartets to present it, or put the shy ones in a large choir.  If you can, tape it and let them listen.  Or, even better, video them; but if you do this, they need to add motions and choregraph themselves to make a grand production.
8. RaceWay.  Cut up the words of Luke 4:33 and keep the first word aside.  This can be done outdoors or in a large carpeted room.  Line two teams up, giving them each one WORD of the verse.  They are not to tell their word!  Explain that the first person will be given the first word and on GO will race to the far end of the building, touch the wall, and run back.  He must upon returning say his words.  The person who has the next word must KNOW he is next – again – no coaching from teammates.  He must take off running and return to do the same.  Tell them the only way to do this is if they know the verse.  As each runner returns, check to see what their word was to make sure they are in order.  If not, they forfeit the game.  As they return, have them line up so that they can say the verse completely.  Then have them try to say it WITH EXPRESSION.

If you don’t feel they’ve learned it, have them do this race with variation, such as first person skip, next hop, next crawl, etc.

9. It’s a Puzzlement.  Cut words out separately, giving one word to each team member.  John 14:23 is good for this.  You need to be outdoors or have a very large facility available.  Have each person a distance away from the other.  Upon GO, have them race to put their words in the correct order, timing them, silently.  Speaking, such as “No, this goes here!” disqualified the team.  Tell them in order to do it quickly, each team member needs to be sure of every word of the verse.  Allow them 2 minutes to learn it separately.
10. I Had It MY Way. As you can see, only your own imagination is the limit.  Take whatever parts work, eliminate the parts that don’t and add your own touches – the kids will have plenty of ideas here.  Have them pantomime verses, write skits that illustrate the principals or choregraph a dance to translate the meaning to an audience.  When you find something that works, by all means, let the other teachers know about it.  Write it down and update this article – I’m eager to try your ideas soon!