Preteen Youth Group Game: Messy Scripture Memorization

Supplies You’ll Need:

1. Balloons. Anywhere from 6-10 balloons will work well, depending on the verse you choose.

2. A Sharpie.

3. Balloon Fill Supplies. You can choose whatever you’d like, as long as it will fit inside of a balloon. Be creative.  Here are a few ideas:

• Confetti
• A Small Amount of Water
• Flour
• Whipped Cream
• Cheetos

4. A Needle or tack. Anything that’s sharp enough to pop a balloon.

Prep:
Choose a verse that your group will memorize.
Inflate the balloons with air and put your balloon fill supplies inside.(NOTE: You don’t need to fill the balloon entirely with the supply – a little confetti goes a long way when you pop a balloon. You can fill all the balloons with the same filling, or you can fill each balloon with something different. You could also leave one or more balloons empty.)Write the words of the verse on the balloons, one or two words per balloon.Place the needle somewhere that it will be easy for you to grab during the game without being noticed.

Game Play:

1. Choose 6-10 preteen volunteers to hold one balloon each.

Have them stand in the front of the room, shoulder to shoulder and holding the balloons so that the scripture written on the balloons are in order and visible to the audience.

If you have a small enough group, you can just have everybody in your group stand in a circle holding one balloon each so they can all see each other.

2. Have everybody read the scripture all together.

As each volunteer’s balloon is read, have them hold the balloon up and keep it above their head.

3. Walk behind the students and choose ONE of the balloons randomly to pop with the needle.

The first time you do this, it will be a surprising moment for everybody!

Whatever is inside of the balloon will explode onto the preteen who was holding it, and it also may land on the preteens around them.

4. After the initial shock has worn off, have the volunteers bring the balloons back down in front of them, and have everybody reread the verse.

Again, as each volunteer’s balloon is read, have them hold the balloon up and keep it above their head.

Now, part of the verse is missing (the popped balloon), but the students will still be able to say the entire verse.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4, reciting the scripture and popping one random balloon each time, until all the balloons are popped.

Now, your group should be able to say the entire verse from memory.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS GAME

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Sean Sweet is the Community Facilitator for FourFiveSix.org, and is dedicated to raising the value of your ministry to preteens.

He’s also a leads the preteen ministry at Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, CA just outside of Sacramento.