Purpose:
To help members assess their ability to focus and follow instructions, and whether they can endure embarrassing situations.
Materials:
A bowl with pieces of paper (enough for entire group) with instructions written on them
Activity:
Have group members stand in a circle with plenty of space. Each member pulls a piece of paper from the bowl. Tell them not to open it yet. When everyone has a piece of paper, tell group members that at your signal they should follow the instructions on their pieces of paper. When they have completed the instructions, they should pass the papers to the people on their right, then follow the instructions on the papers they've been handed. The activity ends when group members receive the papers they started with.
The following are suggested instructions that you can use:
- Jump 5 times
- Sing a line of a praise song
- Laugh out loud as if you're very happy
- Dance for 5 seconds
- Wave with your right hand
- Smile your sweetest
- Raise your hands up in the air for 5 seconds
- Count to 10 aloud
- Recite the ABCs as fast as you can
- Pretend your hand is a phone and call someone
- Turn around three times
- Pat the shoulder of the person on your right as if you're comforting him or her
- Pretend to comb your hair
- Do the moves from the "Chicken Dance"
- Act like you're giving a sermon
Unpacking Questions
- Were you able to do the instructions without being distracted by others' activities?
- When is it easy for you to focus in life? When is it difficult?
- When is it easiest for you to focus on God? When is it most difficult?
- How did you feel doing these activities? Were you shy, embarrassed, joyful?
- How do you respond when you feel Jesus is asking you to do something difficult, uncomfortable, or embarrassing?
- How would you like to respond?
