GROUPING LARGE NUMBER OF YOUTH
Clusters (Duct Tape game)
Call out a number and all make a cluster of that many youth. Example: Call out 6, then 10, then 18, then call out 1 just for fun. Then call out 3, then call out the number of how many youth you want in each group.
Grouping for Sardines
Make 8 copies of these five groupings. Cut each out.
A total of 40 youth will have one of these.
Luke 15:3-7,10 Luke 15:3-7 Luke 15:3-7
100-1=one lost soul 100-1=one lost soul 100-1=one lost soul
100-1≠99 100-1≠99 100-1≠99=sorrow
Lost one found=joy Lost one found=joy & Lost one found=joy
Rejoicing
Luke 15:3-7 Luke 15:3-7
100-1=one lost soul 100-1=one lost soul
100-1≠99 100-1≠99
Lost one found=joyJ Lost one found=JOY
All other youth will have these. Number of copies needed depends on number of youth:
Luke 15:3-7
100-1=one lost soul
100-1≠99=sorrow
Lost one found=joy
Pick a Scripture Book
We anticipate about 120 youth coming. Make up 8 books and 15 sheets of paper that have the same book written on each paper. Not knowing if all 120 will come, reserve 16 papers to put into the basket if needed as more youth arrive. (This reserved 16 will be two sets of all the books to be added as needed if more youth arrive.) As you distribute the pieces of paper, ask your group not to show them to other people, nor tell them what is written on it. Then, once all of the pieces have been handed out, explain what it is they have to do. Basically, the goal is for everyone to find others with the same book. Then assign the group to the appropriate station.
Group Themselves
Ask the youth to group themselves into 8 groups and take their group to a designated station. Do the math to figure how many; if 120 youth come we need 15 in each group. Say, “You can only have 15 in each group and you must have a mix of boys and girls.”
Candy Bars (Running Proverb Letters)
Pass out or throw candy bars from the tower, which are eight different kinds. Have youth grab/catch a candy bar and not eat it yet. All with the same candy bar group together. Ask all with Snickers to hold it up in the air. Then ask them to go with ______. Repeat the process with each candy bar group.
Scripture Picture Puzzle Pieces (Friday rotation activities)
Resource: No Props by Mark Collard
Purchase a set of pre-fabricated blank cardboard puzzle sets, or simply make up a set of puzzles for yourself from colored sheets of cardboard. In each case, you will want one complete puzzle set for every group you wish to form, and ideally the same number of puzzle pieces as you have members in a group.
Place all of the pieces into a couple of baskets, mix them up, and when youth are assembling at the tower the leaders with the baskets walk up to each new arrival and offer each youth a puzzle piece. When all have arrived make sure each youth has a puzzle piece. Now, instruct each person to find everyone else who holds a piece of the same puzzle, with a view to re-building the puzzle and follow the instructions on the puzzle.
(Try to make each of the puzzles very unique, and quite distinct in appearance to all the others, i.e., no two pieces should look alike, nor should one piece fit into the frame of another puzzle. One easy way to achieve this is to “paint” the back of each puzzle with a unique color, or to use a “picture.”) We will be using a scripture picture puzzle.
A word of caution – do not make the puzzle too difficult to assemble. Timing will vary, but anything more than five to ten minutes is too long, and will start to diminish the time you had prepared for the “main event” – the reason for wanting small groups in the first place.
Once the puzzle is put back together it reveals where to go to begin rotations and what to be taken to that rotation.
Grouping for the Ites Game/Capture the Flag is part of the game, symbol cards
Have You Ever?
(Questions for grouping and/or to keep youth occupied while gathering in a large body)
Have you ever been beaten with a rod by your brothers?
Have you ever been tied up on a boat?
Have you ever eaten raw meat in the wilderness?