Baseball game

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.

Bowling game

We play a game similar to the baseball game on your site, except bowling. I set up 10 plastic bottles, (2 liters or 20 oz). 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.

Camp fire

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.

Fishing game

Draw or make a simple fish on paper, and a fishing hook. Place the fish on a white board 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 game

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.

Musical chair game

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.

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.

Questions 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.

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.

True or 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.

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 workshop attendee for this great idea!

Dealing with a Know It All

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.