Category: Uncategorized

Use YouTube for Interactive Storytelling

December 1, 2010 Uncategorized

Neil Cicierega’s Haircut (choose-your-own-adventure-song) was three years in the making, but you might say it was worth the wait. The clever upbeat story is inspiring…what other interactive stories could you tell using YouTube?

(Note, the interaction doesn’t work terribly well in the embedded version above. Check out the video on YouTube’s site to choose your own ending.)

Game of the Day: Mummy Wrap

August 26, 2010 Uncategorized

Wrapping people in toilet paper is a youth group standard. Give people an incentive to be creative and “Mummy Wrap” can a fun, interesting way to get a lesson started.

Divide into groups of three or four. Give each group one roll of toilet paper. Have each group wrap one of it’s members like a mummy. Judge the mummies according to style, creativity, neatness. Award valuable cash prizes.

Bible Applications:

Joseph, Moses, Egypt; Lazarus, Jesus, first century burial preparation; Earth stewardship: save the toilet paper and reuse it to clean up after another activity; Body life: each of us has a gift to contribute.

Game of the Day: Human Scavenger Hunt

August 25, 2010 Uncategorized

This is a great all-church game that you can play at potlucks or in the pews, or with any large group. First divide the group into teams – four teams works about right. Next have each group choose a runner. This person will bring objects up to the front.

Game play is simple. You start with a list of odd but plausible items that your group might have. Give each group a time limit to find the item and get it up front. Keep the action snappy – 30 seconds is a good amount of time in a large setting.

When you’ve reached the end of the list total up each group’s “spoils” and the team with the largest take gets a valuable cash prize.

Two thoughts about returning items: either return the item immediately after it has been tallied up front (probably the best approach) or have the owners claim their goods at the end of the event.

Here’s a sample list, have fun making your own (just don’t choose anything that would be embarrassing or incriminating.)

Apple
Banana
Rubber Band
Paper Clip
Safety Pin
Pencil
Playing Cards
Picture of a Sweetheart
Paperback Novel
Walking Stick
Licorice Gum
Onion
Squirt Gun
1957 Penny
Map
Carabiner
Hacky Sack
Beach Ball
Paper Airplane
Wig
Bandana
Flag
Catalog
Screwdriver
Lego Brick
Dinosaur

Bonus: make this a regular feature of your group meetings and see what people bring!

[Photo by visualpanic]

Dorodango – Mud Pies for Older Kids

May 13, 2010 Toys, Uncategorized

Dorodango, a mud pie polished to perfection

There is something uniquely Japanese about taking a handful of mud and patiently refining it until it takes on the gemlike quality of a fine ceramic.

Dorodango, or shiny mud balls, have been preoccupying Japanese youth for about a decade, after nearly becoming a lost art.

These marbley marvels take more perseverance than talent to make. Bruce Gardener details the steps, which can be summed up as:

1. Mix fine dirt with water to make a doughy ball.

2. Squeeze and shake the ball to remove moisture and air pockets.

3. Add a layer of fine, dry dirt and gently shape the ball into a spherical shape.

4. Remove excess moisture by placing the dorodango in a plastic bag for a few hours.

5. With very fine, dry dust shape the outer capsule of the ball until perfectly smooth.

6. Polish with soft cloth.

Fumio Kayo has even more detailed instructions including a short video clip on his very busy website.

Photo – Bruce Gardener

Hello World

April 27, 2010 Uncategorized
Hello World | Photo by Rosan Harmens

Hello World | Photo by Rosan Harmens via Unsplash

The other day I was thinking about our High School guy’s small group ministry. We have a lot of fun, particularly in the form of beating each other black and blue.  But I can’t say that I’ve created a really good faith-based experience. I’ve tried a couple of promising studies (ie. The Gospel according to The Simpsons ) but every time I bring a book into the room the guy’s eyes glaze over and their tongues unroll. It’s more like Zombie school than Sunday School.

Rick Bundschuh once offered a little insight. “Most curriculum is written – or edited – by women. And most women think very differently from men.” Bundschuh went on to describe a seminar where the leader asked the people in the room to describe their day using a color. The women in the room found the task easy and enjoyable. Their days were mauve or peach or kiwi, amber or blush. The guys on the other hand were “huh? A color? I guess it would have to be blue because that’s the only color I can think of.”

Most curriculum is designed around two goals. The first goal is to drive home some bit of knowledge. The second goal is to generate discussion. Asking a group of women what color the day was is something that works. By and large most women enjoy discussion and the question simply provides a framework. Guys on the other hand are more likely to be energized by a challenge. Who can think of the most names for the color blue? The person who succeeds is 1) the winner and 2) recognized as having a special power and a special place in the group.

All this got me thinking. If guys (on the whole) aren’t motivated by learning information and aren’t interested in discussion for the sake of talking then how do I get more Bible knowledge into the group? Well, let’s rephrase that. Guys are motivated by learning new skills and they are interested in a challenge. They want to compare themselves to other guys and see how they stack up. They want to discover their own unique “super powers.”

And then I had an idea. What if, instead of another small group study we rolled out something entirely different. What if Thursday night Guy’s Group wasn’t centered on a study guide, but was based on a game?