Kiss or Cry- Scripture Mastery Activity

For the first 2 weeks of class, I have encouraged my students to mark all 25 Scripture Mastery verses.
As part of the "Studying Scriptures" lesson, we discussed various ways to mark scriptures.
Over the 4 years of Seminary, I encourage them to mark all 100 Scripture Mastery verses with a uniform color and method so when they are looking through their scriptures, those verses stand out as Scripture Mastery verses.
I show them several different examples and hope that they choose what works best for them and will develop their own system of marking scriptures as they study.

Today we played "Kiss or Cry", an idea I got from another Seminary Teacher.

How to play:
Call out any Scripture Mastery reference and the students all turn to it.
If they have it marked, they receive a Kiss (Hershey Kiss)
If not, they "cry" and no kiss is received.
Usually, those who don't have it marked start marking and by the time you play this in a few weeks, they don't miss out on receiving a kiss.

A nice aspect of this activity is that you can do it for 1 or 2 verses as a quick review on a lesson day or turn it in to a full activity for a flex day.

Today, I had our Bishop come in and play the game with them, however, you don't need to invite a special guest and this can take as much or little time as you determine to use.

Skateboards and Scriptures

This idea was posted on Facebook by Thomas Mark Olsen
It is a Human Hungry Hungry Hippos game.
I used his idea and off I went to plan and set up the details for a super fun Scripture Mastery activity.
I call it Skateboards and Scriptures.
Who knew...Skateboards and Scriptures would be so fun together!!!
(On another note, this may be adapted for a party-scavenger hunt clues, etc. 
Adapt the balloon colors to match different holidays, seasons, etc. I used Valentine colors)

Other Adaptations for filling the balloons:
Cub Scouts-words to the Cub Scout Promise
Young Men/Boy Scouts- Scout Oath, Law, Promise, etc
Young Women- Young Women Theme
Young Men/Young Women- use the Scripture for the annual theme
Activity Day, Faith In God Activity, Primary Activity: Article Faith words 
Parties: Words to songs, Scavenger hunt clues, clues about the guest of honor's favorites, etc.

Because this is "Love One Another" week in our class and we are studying the
Doctrine and Covenants this year, I used D&C 25:13 as the verse and added two extra papers (see below) for a total of 18 balloons with papers in them.

This activity took about 25 minutes.
Everything was set up the night before
Set up was much easier than anticipated.

See the photos at the end of this post
Materials Needed:

• 1 Skateboard per team
• 1 Small-Medium laundry basket
• Rope - to attach to skateboard. (Use the same length and type for each team- I got 50' nylon rope at the Dollar Store)
• Balloons- enough for one word per scripture verse (1 color per team) 
• Tape for marking off "Team Box" on the floor in the room
• Scripture verse word strips to fill the balloons
• Treats or prizes 

Set up and advance preparation:

• Tape off the corners of the gym to make a "box" for each team to stand inside.
• Choose a scripture verse and write or type it out. (I used the words from D&C 25:13 along with a fill-in-the-blank strip of paper for them to write the reference  "D&C _____:_____" and a strip of paper with the question "To whom was this scripture specifically given to?")
• Cut the verse up so each word of the verse is separate. (I had 18 balloons per team)
• Roll up one piece of paper (with one word on it) and place it inside a balloon, then blow it up.
• Tie rope on to each skateboard
• Before team members go to their "boxed off" areas, place the laundry basket and skateboard with rope tied to in inside their box
• In the center of the room, scatter the colored balloons all over.
• Divide players into teams and have them report to their boxes after you have reviewed the rules for play.

Method of Play:

• When it is time for play, the first player lies belly-down on the skateboard with the laundry basket in hand. 
• They push off and capture a balloon of their team's color. 
• The players in the box hold on to the rope as the player pushes off and captures the balloon. 
• Once the player has secured a balloon,  the team members pull him/her back to the team box where they deliver and pop the balloon, saving the paper inside.
• As the team members pop the balloons. they begin to put the words in order to form a scripture verse. 
• I did not allow them to use their scriptures or Scripture Mastery cards. Once they were done, they called me to ask for me to check to see if it was correct. If it needed to be changed, I  told them, but did not give them a clue as to why/where. Once it was correct, then they could look in their scriptures.
• As the words come in, they are able to figure out the reference and answer the question that is in one of the balloons
• Once all the words are in order, the scripture reference is named, and the question is answered, the team calls out "DONE" and the teacher or leader checks their work. If they struggle to complete, have them use their scriptures as a reference.
• Prizes were given for each team. (I had a large bowl of treats. 1st place chose 4 treats, 2nd place chose 3 treats,  3rd place-2 treats, 4th place-1 treat) 

Rules:

• No touching the balloons with your hands until they have been retrieved with the basket and delivered back to the team box.
• Only one balloon at a time may be retrieved
• Player must remain on skateboard, "belly-on", when searching for and capturing a balloon.
• Basket must be turned upside down- with the open end flat on the floor with the ballon "trapped" inside as the player is pulled back to the Team Box.
• No team member may have a turn twice in a row, yet not all players must take a turn
• Balloon must be retrieved with the basket
• Balloons may be kicked out of your box with feet, but not touched by hands (if balloons from other teams float in to your space)
• If the rope is too short for the player on the skateboard to reach,  the players in the box must form a "human chain or rope" to extend the length of the rope, with one player always in the box. The entire team cannot leave the box all at one time, one person must remain in the box as the connection to the person on the skateboard and those holding the rope and linked together.

At the conclusion, we discussed the application of this scripture and reviewed the counsel from Elder Richard G Scott that to memorize a scripture is to gain a new friend.
Regularly, I encourage them to surround themselves with positive friends and the best friends they ever have will be the scriptures.

There was a concern regarding marking or scratching the wood floor when I was first considering this activity. As I talked with my leaders and a few other people, I came to the conclusion that the wheels on our skateboards are rubberized, just like the wheels on the chair cart that is rolled across the floor regularly. In addition, the tables and chairs are set up on the wood floor regularly and have rubber caps on the bottoms of each leg. I watched carefully, and with confidence, I can say that the floors were not harmed by the skateboards rolling on them. The kids weren't using the skateboards to do jumps or tricks, etc.

A safety note: I did not use helmets, but recommend using them. It was a detail I did not think of, but will add the next time I plan this activity. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Thank you Thomas Mark Olsen for this amazing idea.

Questions: Contact me at shaunahh @ gmail . com
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#Scripturemasteryactivity
#skateboardsandscriptures

The Sacrament Prayer

As we studied the Sacrament Prayers in Moroni, this was a fun activity:
(Adapt it for learning a Scripture Mastery verse or learning the Articles of Faith)

• Divided my class into 2 teams
• In the Cultural Hall, I placed 2 rolling chalk boards at opposite ends of the room- not too close to the walls, but with backs facing each other and far enough away that the teams working on the boards could not easily hear each other.
• Without notes or scriptures, we left our classroom and entered the Cultural Hall
• Each team lined up in a straight line, facing their chalkboard.
• When I said go, one at a time, each team member took a turn going to the board to write, in order, one word at a time from the Sacrament prayer. They could choose the bread or water prayer.
• For example: First player wrote, "O", Second player wrote, "God", Third player wrote, "Eternal" and so forth.
• They were allowed to coach each other only if the person at the board could not remember. They had to at least try before they got help from a team mate. 
• It was amazing to see how much they did not remember-even the Priests who recite this prayer every Sunday. It was also amazing to see how much they do remember. Some of them surprised themselves.

This was a great activity. 

I wish I thought of it earlier and applied it to a Scripture Mastery verse.