Bible Games shouldn't "just" be about information recall and ordering skills. Instead, those recall activities, like quiz questions, can include moments of life application and reflection that traditional lesson plans and teachers leave until the end of the lesson.

It's all in how you design the game and "milk" the information that you're working with.

In these two examples below, I share a simple "key verse" sorting game and two examples of how to get more life application out of the key verses/questions in the lesson plan.

The lesson plan examples mentioned below come from our Abraham and Sarah Stories ~ Games Workshop forum.  You can also find an example of this verse sorting game for the many Jacob and Esau stories.

A Verse Sort Game

The following simple "verse sort" game is particularly good at covering large stories that have several episodes and scenes, such as Abraham and Sarah's story, Jacob and Esau stories, The Exodus stories, Joseph's many episodes, and the story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

For my example below, I'm using the lesson found in the Abraham and Sarah Bible Skills and Games Workshop by the lesson writer known as "St Elmo's Choir."In their lesson they listed the main Abraham and Sarah episodes by chapter and verse. In the following game, after the class briefly reads those scriptures (or sees them in a video, or hears them from an illustrated Bible, etc), they will then sort key verses or phrases you have taken from each story's episode and put them into the correct "story episode basket."   Feel free to narrow down the number of story episodes you read, and thus the number of baskets you need to suit the ability of your students or the scope of the story you want to cover. Keep reading for "how to " details.

You can have students play this sorting game as individuals or teams. You can play it once to get the idea, then time them with your cellphone stopwatch a second time through to create a bit of excitement. After sorting, the verse slips can be randomly retrieved and discussed for their life application potential. See examples below.

HOW TO PLAY

Ahead of time:
Write of these scriptures' story title, chapter, and verse on a sheet of paper and tape it to a container on the table (buckets, baskets, or boxes). For example:

Then write 3 key verses/phrases from each story's scripture reading on slips of paper and place them in a pile on the table in front of the container.

Play:
Invite the class or teams to put the scripture slips in their correct story buckets. If you have more than one team, "time" them to see how fast they can sort the key verses into the correct buckets.

Reflect:
Call a student forward to retrieve a verse slip from any bucket and have them explain its place in the story ("it's what Sarah did when the angel said she was going to have a baby"), then put themselves in the key character's role and ask them how THEY would have responded.

For example, by making Genesis 18:12 "Sarah Laughed" one of your key verse phrasees, when the student retrieves that verse you can ask they "why" Sarah laughed, whether or not people "laugh" at God now, and what promise has God made to you that should fill you with joy?

Tip: In many lesson plans these reflection insights are found in the last step of the lesson. Look for them there and pull them into the quiz game itself.

Here's a version of the Verse Sorting Game that covers the numerous Jacob and Esau stories.

Turning Key Questions & Answers into Moments of Reflections

"Just the facts, ma'am" may have been fine for Sgt Joe Friday, but a Bible story is more than its parts. It's the life application we're driving for, and every question and answer has the potential to offer a moment of reflection.

Below is an example of how to change Question #23 in an Abraham and Sarah Games Workshop lesson plan posted by one of our members to turn it into a "fill in the blank" and then turn it into a moment of reflection during the quiz.

Original Question 23 from Wendy's Lesson:
"Where is Sarah, your wife?” they asked him. “In the tent,” Abraham replied. Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. “How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?” she thought. “And when my master—my husband—is also so old?”

New Question 23, part 1:
WHERE was Sarah when the visitors asked Abraham, "Where is Sarah, your wife?”
WHY do you think she was in the tent? Was she afraid? Hiding?

New Question 23, part 2:
WHAT did the visitor say to Abraham that made Sarah laugh?

New Question 23, Reflection Follow up #1:
WHY did Sarah laugh at the visitor's promise?
WHAT was the visitor's (God's) response to Sarah's laughter of disbelief?

New Question 23 Reflection Follow up #2:
WHAT promise has God made to you that is so amazing and/or unbelievable that you might FEEL like laughing and/or other people might say was unbelievable?

WHAT about God's promises did Abraham and Sarah learn that day that they want YOU to KNOW and BELIEVE?