Bounce Game

Our SuperTruth says: “I will obey God, even when it’s hard.” Our Superbook challenge for these three lessons is to memorize the Old Testament books, right? Well, we have an activity to give us a little head start on the next group of books, which are from Job to Daniel! We will begin to learn the next group of ten books.

The first five books in that group are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. They are sometimes called Wisdom books. The next five books are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. They are often called the Major Prophets because their books are longer than the Minor Prophets, which we will learn next time. The book of Lamentations was written by the Prophet Jeremiah.

Put children in groups of three. Give each group a ball. Have each group stand at least 6 feet apart and form a triangle. Each group will bounce the ball between them as they each say the ten books in order. Players may look at the posters as needed. The first player says aloud “Job” and bounces the ball to the second player, who catches the ball, calls out the next book, “Psalms,” and bounces the ball to the third player, who catches it, calls out the next book, “Proverbs,” and then bounces the ball back to the first player. This continues until all ten of the books are called out in order. If a ball is dropped, the group must start over at Job. Groups can play several times and challenge themselves to go longer without looking at the posters.

After they become confident reciting these 10 books of the Bible, encourage them to start the game again from Genesis, using the Genesis to Esther Poster on the wall, and continuing through Daniel.

This activity is not designed to be a race but rather to familiarize the children with the books as they appear in their Bible to help them feel confident navigating it.

Optional: Help the class memorize the books of the Old Testament in order by singing them to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me.” The sheet music shows how the list of books fits with the tune. The first verse includes the historical books—Genesis to Esther—and the second verse includes the wisdom books, plus the major and minor prophets—Job to Malachi.