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Review Activities

Gameboard  a game board that can be used with any lesson, and instructions for its use. See the bottom of the page for ways to deal with common review game problems.
 
Alphabet Game
055115: Outburst, Bible EditionPick a letter from the alphabet. Give the students 5 minutes to write down or call out as many Bible people or places that start with that letter as they can. Set a goal of 5, 10, etc. for the class. See Outburst and for similar professionally produced games.

Bible Baseball

Encourage students to complete their homework: allow them to use their workbooks to answer questions

Make questions from the lesson or use homework. Divide the class into two teams, (permanent ones are good). Make a baseball diamond and 2 sets of markers to represent the two teams, Pattern for game pieces. (4 markers each).
 
Flip a coin to see which team goes first. The first person up to bat must answer a question correctly by himself. Team members cannot give the batter the answer. If he answers correctly, his marker goes to first base. If he answers incorrectly, the question goes to the next batter on the team. Each incorrect answer is an out; three outs and it's the next team's turn. Determine the number of innings per game by the size of the class.
 
(Let the students personalize their game piece if they want. Long games can be played on a continual basis, just set the game aside at the end of class and pick up next time.)
For a professionally made gameboard with pre-written questions, see below.
Bowling

submitted by a reader
We play a game similar to the baseball game on your site, except bowling. I set up 10 plastic bottles, (I use baby bottles, but empty 2 liters or 20 oz are quieter). Each time a student answers a question from the lesson correctly they get a chance to bowl. If they can't get the answer then I will let one person help them from their team. I give them two chances to bowl (with a rubber ball) and then move to the other team. We usually play boys vs. girls.
Campfire

(submitted by Wendy)
During the lesson we sit around a fire (like a camp fire). We ask questions about the lesson. Then as each child got the question correct, we allowed them to throw a small piece of wood into the fire. After all the children had a chance to answer a question and through wood in the fire, the class roasted marshmallows. They really enjoyed this and if was like us having an altar like Abraham, Noah or other Patriarchs.
 

Concentration

sample 

Good for primaries. Draw or cut out pictures relating to the lesson in fifteen matching pairs. Mix up the cards and place them face down on a table or the floor, or tack to the wall (with adult help).

Students take turns turning over two cards. If the cards match, the student keeps them, and gets another turn (if group small enough). If the student does not match a pair, the cards are replaced face down and his or her turn is over. The student with the most pairs wins. For larger groups, make several sets or break into teams.
Crossword with a Twist
Make a crossword grid of words from the lesson. Make small cards of alphabet letters that are in the words and place them in an envelope. Ask review questions of two teams. If the question is answered correctly, pull a letter from the envelope and fill in that letter wherever it is on the grid and give that team a point. Teams can use a turn to guess a word correctly, which earns them extra points.
Find the Verse
Juniors. Use this activity to familiarize students with books in the Bible. Write a list of Bible verses, concentrating on relevant verses or specific books you want students to find.

Have students sit with their Bibles closed in front of them. When the teacher reads the citation, students look for the verse. The first student to find the verse reads it. Then that child can pick the next one. This can be done in teams or pairs as well.

Available from Christian Book Distributor 
NLT Hands-On Bible, Softcover
By Tyndale House

337692: NLT Hands-On Bible, SoftcoverJesus taught with hands-on lessons and illustrations. The Hands-On Bible uses the same experience-based learning to communicate God's Word in an active, understandable way. This new edition features updated tip-ins, a more portable size for kids, an attractive cover, and online parenting helps. With hundreds of fun, memorable activities (A "do it" activity in EVERY feature!) and the full New Living Translation text, the Hands-On Bible is packed with activities and experiences that invite kids to crawl inside the Scriptures and "do" God's Word!

Fishing
Draw or make a simple fish on paper, and a fishing hook. (see sample) Place the fish on a bulletin or flannel board. Place a drawn wave with nine troughs in front of the fish. Place the hook over the fifth trough. Ask the students questions from the lesson. For each correct answer, move the hook closer to the fish. For each incorrect answer move the fish further away. If the students catch the fish, they win. Adjust the beginning place of the hook for the difficulty of the questions.
Jeopardy
Write questions about the lesson, or use the workbook's questions. Divide the questions into 5 categories, assigning a value to each question. Divide the class into teams, giving them points for each question they answer correctly. For incorrect answers, subtract the points, then let the other team attempt to answer the question.
Just Like Us

(submitted by Jenny Hartnett)
Here's a game that you can play with kids who are familiar with many Bible stories. It works well with groups up to 20 students. Materials: two pieces of sturdy paper that can be run through your printer; cube pattern from this link; tape; marker. Run the pattern through the printer to make two squares. Write adjectives in the middle of each square that describe personalities. Include both positive and negative traits. You'll need 12 words. Some suggestions are: vengeful, depressed, friendly, helpful, sullen, kind, generous, wise, thoughtless, selfish, trustworthy, pure in heart. Cut out the patterns. Tape the squares together to make a cube after writing the words on the sides. You may want to stuff them with something lightweight but filling so that they do not collapse. I use crumpled paper on the insides. Introduction: Bible characters, although they lived long ago, are not so different from us. God included. 
Mix and Match
Having students sort items into categories can help reinforce the lesson, and can be used for readers and preschoolers.

Examples
Sort books: Draw a large Bible on a poster, and put a pocket on the left for the OT and a pocket on the right for the NT. Write the names of the books of the Bible on 3x5 cards. Have students place the books in the correct pocket.

Sort situations: Write in colored ink "Golden Rule" "Silver Rule" & "Iron Rule." Give each student a token. Describe a situation or action and have students place their token on whichever rule they think was used.

Sort people: you can divide Bible characters by good and bad; new and old testament; apostles vs. non-apostolic NT author, etc.
Musical Blessings
Good for primaries, requires space. Lay several pieces of colored construction paper on the floor in a circle. Have at least as many papers as you have students. Have students stand one per paper. While you sing, students follow each other around the circle. When you stop, they end up on a color. Have each student name a blessing that relates to the color they are on (e.g. green=trees).
 
Variations:
Relate the activity to the lesson; mix an equal number of black in with the colors - when the students land on a color, have them state a positive; on black, a negative. (e.g. good vs. bad behavior in church, nice vs. mean, etc.)

Use as a memory aid. List a subject category and have them name 1 or more people, places, items in the category. (e.g. apostles, NT books, miracles of Jesus, tribes of Israel, prophets, Kings of Judah, etc.)

Play like musical chairs, eliminating one piece per round. Have the paperless student recite the memory work, answer a lesson homework question, name a blessing, etc. Let eliminated students take turns doing the singing.
Musical Review
Write review questions on cards and put into bag or box. Pass the bag around the room while singing. When you stop singing, the child with the bag pulls out a question. If he or she can answer it, they keep it. If not, it goes back in the bag.
Name That Object
Pick an object and give students clues as to what it is, starting with difficult up to easier clues. You can have the whole class guess, or give students turns, with the next student getting to guess on the same clue. Or divide the group into teams. Examples are on the worksheet. For a game that already has made up these questions, see below.
 
Available from Christian Book Distributor

501617: Choose Your CluesChoose Your Clues

Learn the Bible with this exciting game! Simply identify the Bible person, place, or thing with as few clues as possible. You try: "I'm liked by a donkey. Sometimes I'm empty. Angels spoke of me." (A manger.) Over 2,000 "hints" help you discover Bible facts you never knew existed! Includes rules for three fun-filled variations. Ages 8 and up. From Christian Book Distributors.

Name that Word
Choose two students as contestants and give them each a score of 50 points. Use the rest of the class as audience. Pick words from recent lessons and whisper one to each contestant in turn. The student them must try to get someone in the audience to guess what the word is without saying the word. (e.g. camel It has humps. It doesn't need much water. It is hairy.) Subtract from each student's score the number of clues it took for the audience to guess it.
Pictionary
Write the names of people, objects, songs, and places from the story on 3x5 cards. Have one student at a time pick a card. The student will try and draw the word on the chalkboard, while other students guess what it is. You can divide the class into teams if you'd like, or simply award tokens to the first student to guess. Or do the drawing yourself and have the students guess.
Question Matching
Write questions and their answers on separate cards. Place the answers around the room and hand the questions to the students. Have the students hunt for the answer.

Variation: Give a question and an answer to each child. Have them find the student that answers their question and the student whose question matches his or her answer.

Rapid Fire by Patti Barker

Obtain swizzle or craft sticks. ( I buy them at Target) Choose sticks that are sturdy, hard to break and colorful. Buy at least 30 to 50.

Compile a list of questions from Bible class. (See her list or use review questions within each lesson on this site). Keep the questions simple and to the point. Print the answers and the verses to each question. I use tree colors when compiling my list: black for questions, pink for answers and orange for verses.

The object of the game is to be the first to answer a question and acquire a stick. The first one to 10 sticks wins! The children shout out the answers in rapid fire� fashion. The game is loud and lots of fun. The rules are simple:
The first one with an answer shouts it out ahead of the others and has the floor, the other children have to be quiet while the answer is given. If the answer is wrong, the child forfeits a stick. If right, he/she gets one!

Keep the game fast paced. The first person with 5 or 10 sticks wins, depending on what we determine at the start of the game. At the end of the game, all the sticks are counted and then returned.

Print out ALL the questions every few weeks so the students can study at home if they want to. You can also give the parents copies so that they can help their children learn.
Review Race
Write the answers to the lesson's questions on two sets of cards. Post each set separately, perhaps surrounded by a border or picture. Divide the class into two teams. Ask team number 1 a question. One member goes up to select an answer from the board. If it is correct, the team keeps it. If not, the answer is replaced. Alternate between teams. The team that removes the most answers wins.
Variation: Give each team a set of answers. Have the team place the answer on the board. If it is correct, it stays. If not, they get it back. The team with the most correct answers wins. The answers can be printed on pictures, e.g. fruit, and the bulletin board have two trees.
Tic Tac Toe

Small groups. All ages. Write or use questions based on the lesson, or as a review of several lessons. Have at least twenty for two games. Break the class into sets of two, Xs and Os. Read a question for the Xs. Whoever gets it right gets to place his or her X. If he or she does not answer correctly, no X is placed. Then read a question for the Os, and so on.

Variations: A single student can play the teacher, who can flip a coin to determine whether or not a letter is placed. Or, divide the class into two teams, and let them answer the question together. If team X answers incorrectly, let team O answer the question.

True and False
Ask true/false questions relating to the lesson. For small groups, label one wall true and another false. (I use a smiley face and frowney face for preschoolers). Have students move to the side they think is right. For larger groups, give each kid two cards, T and F. Have them raise the card they think is right for each question.
Twenty Questions
Have in mind a person, place or thing related to the story. Explain to the students that they have 20 yes-or-no questions to ask to find out what it is. Let students take turns asking the questions. For younger students, tell them if it is a person, place or thing, and guide them through the process. Use as an opener to introduce the story. Variation: Have an item in a bag and play 20 questions to guess what's in it.
Mother Knows Best
Contributed by Jerri Fusch
This game can be used with review questions or general Bible knowledge. Choose two to three older girls to be "mothers." The "mothers" sit on chairs in front of the classroom facing the other kids. Divide the rest of the class into two to three teams. The team members will take turns answering questions. They will each have a choice of answering it themselves or asking a "mother." If they answer it correctly by themselves, their team gets 200 points. If they ask a "mother" and she answers it correctly, the team gets 100 points. If the answer is incorrect, the team gets 0 points. In any case the turn then goes to the other team with a new question.
Who Has...?
(contributed by reader Paula)
With the books of the Bible cards, after they have been passed out (depending on class size, each student can have at least 3 cards), the teacher can name a book, a story that is found in one of the books, an animal, a place, etc. and whoever has it puts it down on the table. It can be done in teams and the team that gets all cards on the table first wins. Of course, don't give out all the cards and randomly give info. Can also be used with Bible Trading Cards.

Dealing with Embarrassment

If you are dealing with pre-teen students, you likely have at least one student who doesn't want to answer or ask questions for fear of embarrassment. One way to elicit answers from students in this environment is to get them to write the answers on a blank piece of paper, and pass a bowl around to collect the answers. Have students write (No Answer) if they don't know. That way, everyone looks like they have written an answer and contributed. No one knows whose answers are wrong, right, or non-existent. Thanks to a workshop attendee for this great idea!

Dealing with Overeager Students

What do you do with the student who knows all the answers? You can't punish her for being good, but you want to encourage everyone to try. Here's a great solution contributed by a seminar attendee: At the beginning of class, issue each student a set number of tokens (craft sticks, chips, whatever). During the class, each student will have to answer as exactly as many questions as they have tokens. Each time they answer, they turn in a token. This keeps the active student from monopolizing the conversations, and encourages the reluctant student to participate. Since everyone is in the same boat, the shy student is not being highlighted. Great idea!

Related Pages on Activities

Use the included questions or substitute yours in the following games.

     570051: Bible Blurt! Card Game
Don't think long and hard, think fast and fun! Find out if your brain can keep up with your mouth and if your mouth can keep up with your brain! The words are taken from the NIGV Bible and the play of the game is lightning-quick. Relax and enjoy all the funny things people blurt! For 3 to 5 players, ages 8 and up.

Available from
Christian Book

Do U Know? Game
    502559: Do U Know? Game
Turn playtime into Bible-time with this fast-paced family card game! It's similar to Uno---but in addition to matching colors and numbers, players must answer questions about Bible facts, characters, and stories. Perfect for long road trips and rainy afternoons---it's so much fun, your kids won't even realize they're learning! Ages 5 and up.

Available from Christian Book
224739: Outburst: Bible Edition, 2nd Edition Outburst: Bible Edition, 2nd Edition

Test your Bible knowledge with the Bible Outburst Game. Designed for ages 12 years and older, this fun party game features over 320 topics---players have 45 seconds to match as many top ten answers as they can before time runs out. For 2 teams. Includes 162 cards, card reader, timer, 6 pass chips, 2 dice, score pad, and instructions.