Review Games and Prizes

[Jean in Newcastle]

I teach/run/organize a Sunday a.m. Bible club at our church. It is organized so that we have Bible verse songs with actions, a Bible memory booklet that they get stamps in as they "pass", a short active lesson. At the start of the class we will have fun review games to review the concepts and verses from the week(s) before.

 

The Bible club that I modeled this off of (a 5 day VBS sort of thing) gave prizes for the games (a sticker, a Hershey's kiss, a small super-ball. . .) The review games were things like the old "shell game" - where there were 3 cups on a table and a prize under each one (of course that's where it would deviate from the old con. . .) If the child got the questions correct (and the questions would range from really easy to hard depending on the age of the child) - then they would pick one of the cups and get the prize underneath. It worked really well for the one week Bible club.

 

But - 1. This club is on-going every Sunday.

 

2. I would go broke if I had to supply even small prizes for a number of kids for every single Sunday.

 

3. As a Mom, I know how much I shudder at all the small "trash" that comes into our house (Happy meal "Prizes" etc.)

 

So - do you know of any fun review type games? And any good ideas of how to reward correct answers? Or is getting it right a reward good enough in and of itself?

[phathui5]

What about a Jeopardy type game with the verses? You could have the reference and the verse as the answer and vice versa.

 

Ex: Gensis 1:1

Answer: What is... In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thanks. That is a good suggestion! I also found some on some teacher websites.

[Radish4ever]

If you do prizes, I'd keep it VERY simple - i.e. getting a big bag of tootsie rolls at Sam's, a large pad of stickers that you can cut up individually, pencils (the ones you can buy in bulk for practically nothing right now or in large packs at the dollar store)

 

My kids love getting prizes, regardless of what it is - and in my experience with older kiddos, it's the same thing too (even up to high school level. lol) - anything that's a prize and different from the norm of daily life is fun! ;)

[TXSusan]

Jean,

 

In my Sunday School class I have a marble jar. Instead of giving individual rewards, children put marbles in the jar and when the jar is full we have a special class treat.

 

In my class they get a marble for attendace, bringing a Bible and bringing offering. They get two marbles for completing homework (Bible reading and comprehension questions) and for reciting the monthly verse. They get 5marbles for their birthday and for reciting the books of the NT or the OT (once each per year).

 

When we play a game, winners add a marble to the jar. That is how you could use this idea. Every time someone answers a review question correctly s/he puts a marble in the jar. This encourages everyone to do thier best, because they all want a special treat.

 

You choose the jar size based on the number of kids and how often you want to give a treat. In my class the marble jar is filled every 2-3 months. We might have doughnuts or cookies. Last week we had ice cream and cake as a marble treat as well as a party for the kids who are promoting to the next class.

 

You can set this up to suit you and your class, and it is very easy to administer, unlike the "Bible Buck" system that we used for rewards in the past. I have used it for 2 years and the kids really like it.

 

HTH,

Susan

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you for the posts re. prizes. The whole prize thing is something I wrestle with - kids like them but sometimes I wonder if we reward too much? This is helpful to have good suggestions for types of prizes and some alternatives too!