Fun Sunday School Games: Beach Ball Memory Verse Game

To play the Beach Ball Memory Verse game, I use a brightly colored beach ball. You can purchase an inexpensive beach ball at the dollar store or at any discount retailer like Wal-Mart or Target. The game is very simple to learn and play.

Make sure that your memory verse is displayed somewhere in your Sunday School room where all the kids can see it easily. I like to write it in large letters on the dry erase board at the front of the class. Have your Sunday School class repeat the memory verse a couple times before bringing the beach ball into play.

Once the class has repeated the memory verse a couple times, explain that you are going to toss the beach ball to one of the kids and you want them to say the first word of the memory verse. Then they will toss it to someone else who will then say the second word of the memory verse and pass the beach ball onto the next player. Repeat this until you reach the end of the verse. The last person in the round will say where the verse is found, for example "John 3:16."

Continue to play the Beach Ball Memory Verse game, each time challenging your class to complete the round faster than the last time. You'll find that the kids will quickly get caught up in the fun of tossing the beach ball around the room and saying the memory verse. They'll also be memorizing the memory verse without thinking that it's work.

To make the game a little more challenging, try using one of the variations or twists:

On the last round or two of the Beach Ball Memory Verse game, have each kid who gets the beach ball attempt to repeat the entire memory verse.

Try using two beach balls (or even three, depending on the size of your class), and have each kid who catches the beach ball say the next word of the memory verse.

Have the kids put one hand behind their back and try to catch the beach ball that way.

If you want to make the game really tough, have the kids put BOTH hands behind their back. Then tell them they must use their head to bump the beach ball to the next person.

Change the rules so that the person to the left of the person who catches the ball has to say the next word of the memory verse instead.