Interactive Youth Bible Study Lessons
Throughout the world, about two billion people follow the Christian faith. In churches, homes or faith-based camps, teachers and parents pass their religion on to their children and oftentimes plan activities in conjunction with reading the Bible. The activities help to reinforce important lessons as children and teens associate stories with role playing exercises, playing games and making crafts while learning how to make life decisions.
Other People Are Reading
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Stories
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The Bible includes many stories of courage, love, sacrifice and miraculous deliverance that youth can apply in some way to life as it is today. Some well-known Old and New Testament stories that work well with interactive study lessons include Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Moses and the Ten Commandments, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, the Nativity, Passion and Passover. In class or at home, teachers, parents and youth can read the stories out loud prior to discussing and participating in activities.
Role Playing
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To reinforce the roles that characters played in various stories, youth can take turns reading passages, with simpler translations used for younger children. In a classroom setting for elementary children, teachers can organize a play, musical or group role-playing session in which children dress up and act out scenes from their favorite stories. Children may also color and put together hand puppets to play with as they listen to their teacher read the stories out loud. Teens may recreate Bible figures and adapt stories as they would exist in today's society, and their teacher or leader may ask them to share with the class.
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Crafts, Games and Focus Groups
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During craft time, children can create many different crafts that depict their interpretation of characters and scenes. They may draw pictures of stories or create masks and puppets using construction paper or paper plates. They can also play games that help them to remember characters' names and roles. For example, teachers can create a simple memory game in which children match scenes or a scene with the name of the story. Teenagers can clip pictures from magazines and newspapers and craft a collage that represents what the Bible means to them. Furthermore, teens may break into small focus groups to discuss various scenarios, surveys and quizzes that the teacher or leader provides. They can also participate in a "treasure hunt" in which they look for key words or phrases in various passages or books of the Bible.
Praise and Worship Music
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Praise and worship music is typically upbeat, with youth and adults following along by singing, clapping, dancing and swaying. A class may listen to a song or group of songs that interpret various Bible stories and then discuss. The teacher or leader may ask them to pick out certain phrases and match them with various verses or stories from the Bible. Additionally, with instructor-led choreography, youth may use various hand, body and leg movements to "act out" certain parts of songs as they listen and sing.
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References
Resources
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