Recommended Group Size
6+ persons
2 - 6 per team
Estimated Time
25+ minutes
Purpose
To increase Bible knowledge
Objective
To list as many words related to the topic as quickly as possible
Materials
1 small, individual whiteboard per team1
1 dry erase marker per team
1 erasing tool per team
Topics for 40 seconds, 80 seconds, 100 seconds
Bibles, hymn books
Bell/Timer
Procedure
Divide participants into at least 3 teams of 2 - 6 persons. Provide each team with a student whiteboard, dry erase marker, and erasing tool.
Participants will take turns writing one answer on the whiteboard, passing it around the group from youngest to oldest.
The facilitator tells the participants how much time they have to list out the items related to the topic, then says the topic and starts the timer. The topics marked with an asterisk are open Bible, but the Bible references will not be announced.
When the time is up, the facilitator says, "Time's Up!" and, one team at a time, the participants share the answers they have come up with. The participant who wrote the last item on the list shares the answers.
If more than one team has the same answer, that answer is disqualified and those teams must cross out that answer.
Each team will then count up the number of answers left that were not crossed out. That is how many points each team will earn for that round.
Repeat steps 2 - 6 as time allows. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Variations
One participant lists out the items, while teammates verbally tell him/her what to write. Then, switch writers for every new category. For this variation, the time limits change to 30 seconds for Easy, 60 seconds for Medium, and 90 seconds for Hard.
Notes
Biblical version of "Scattergories"
The point is to get as many unique answers as possible, but writing more obvious answers can help to counter other teams.
If the validity of an answer needs to be checked, the facilitator and/or participants can refer to a Bible or a hymn book.
See the attached document for possible ideas/topics and answers for this activity, but feel free to create your own.
You may use a paper and pencils/pens if you don't have a whiteboard and dry erase markers.1
Devotional
If using this activity as a devotional activity, at the end of each round, a person from each team must share the significance of the answer/topic and how it relates to God/their lives.
You will need to choose topics that are more devotional in nature, or else it will be difficult for the participants to share the question in the bullet point above.