GameLife 1-2-3 / Family Focused Church Planting

GameLife 1-2-3 is Bible Discovery for Children using the “Three Thirds Method” Look Back, Look Up, & Look Forward

CREATION TO CHRIST HAND MOTIONS

Creation to Christ Hand Motions
Training Children to Share the Gospel with their Family

Divide and Control
Important: Separate ages into four groups: 4 and under [move to side with helper], 5-8 years [younger group], 9-12 years [older group], 13 and up [leader’s helpers]. If you have 100 children, divide and control. It is very easily if you have helpers divide in 4 groups of 25 and easily control the children. If you do not have 4 adults, quickly recruit additional “coaches” by recruiting young adults or the most mature and oldest of the children you have on hand. We call our helpers “coaches.” Divide into groups quickly, rather than counting all children. Quickly move to the first cluster of about 25 and say, “You are with Coach Jose” and quickly repeat. When you divide into small groups during the last third, have “boys only” groups and “girls only groups”, as you don’t want to mix girls and boys.

“Chocolate-Chip” Principle
Coaches should avoid all gathering together in the same spot. Coaches must spread out and stay close to all Players and maintain control of the Players. Coaches that clump together are like chocolate chips in a cookie that are not spread out evenly.

Guideline: Discipline not Punishment
Punishment is given for past behavior, creating an “us vs. them” mindset. Discipline focuses on future obedience, creating a “we are in this together” mindset. After clearly explaining the rules, share that if they disobey, you will have no other choice but to discipline them to help them mature.

Important: A leader can be both an authority figure and a friend at the same time. If a leader is not passing out “Strikes” [see 3-Strike Rule below] the leader is not fulfilling his/her role as a leader, obviously not harsh, but leaders need to retain good positive control with large groups of children. Explain all the rules below the very first time with the children as soon as all the children gather. Repeat the rules quickly every week and as needed.

1, 2, Silence
This is a way to quickly get control and silence a group that is noisy. Call out “One” very loud and exaggerate the length of “OOOnnnnnne!” with arms outstretched and one finger up. Then, the leader puts up two of his/her fingers. Players then call back “Two.” Finally, the leader takes both hands across shoulders and moves them out like an umpire calling “safe.” Players are instructed to be totally quiet at the silence sign. Any player talking [or in fun calling out “3”] should be given a “Strike” [see 3-Strike Rule below]. Have children sit down or take one knee if you need more control.

1. Warning 1: This is just a verbal warning to the player.
2. Warning 2: If a player continues to disobey or disrupt, he/she is given warning 2.
3. At warning 2, the player is moved away from the other players for 2 minutes.
4. Warning 3: If a player still disobeys or disrupt, he/she will receive warning 3. At warning 3 the player is asked to sit out until they can behave, with the understanding of the importance of listening and respecting their leaders

“Integrity in Everything You Say” Principle
If a leader does not honor the integrity of the rule set, the leader will hurt the integrity of the Bible teaching. Example: If you say you will give out warnings for misbehavior, you must give them out.

Fun Ideas to Engage Children

Use their Whole body – Active children discipling uses methods of discipling that mean children are running around, moving and actively involved with their minds, bodies and using their 5 senses.

Relationships – Build relationships together as children and leaders. The most important thing is to build a positive relationship with them. Be a friendly leader whom they can trust and admire. Pray for them regularly.

Principles for engaging with children actively
Active discipling can be done inside or outside. Jesus used many different places and objects to help people learn.  Active discipling is designed to be fun, engaging and also challenging. When you are working with children keep these things in mind.

• Keep whatever you say short and to the point. 
• Bring the group close together to speak, especially when you are outside. Be aware of other distractions and try to minimize them. 
• Change the type of activity every 5-10 minutes to keep them interested. 
• Ask questions to make them think. Active learning is about being active in our minds as well as our bodies. 
• Use games to create powerful experiences to learn from. The best learning comes when children discover things for themselves. 
• Remember children are not all the same. They learn in different ways. There are many models to describe the styles of learning. This is the simplest. Some children learn better by hearing. Some learn better by seeing. Some learn better by doing things. If your time together has each of these elements then more children will be able to pay attention and learn about God’s word.

Ideas to engage children with the Bible outside or on a sports field 
Often the best active children discipling is done with little or no resources. Many of the ideas here are done with just the leader and the children playing and involved together:

• Experiential Game – Play a game and then debrief it. See examples in the session, ‘Learning through Games’.
• Tell the Bible story then get them to retell it in pairs – The best way for someone to remember something is to teach someone else. So after you have told the group a Bible story, split them into pairs. Each person must retell the Bible story and then swap roles.
• Interview characters from the Bible story – After you have told a Bible story ask for children to volunteer to be characters from the story and bring them to the front (e.g. David and Goliath). Other children can then ask them questions about their part in the story and the decisions they made and the emotions they felt.
• Use objects to tell a story or explain an idea – Use simple objects to help tell the story. (e.g. ball, cricket bat, coins, photo, stick or fruit) You could also tell a story by moving from place to place that would link to the story (e.g. under a tree, beside a stream, beside a building)
• Act out the Bible story – Tell the story by asking children to take character roles. You may give them an object that will help define their role. (e.g. a robe, a sword) As the leader tells the story the children are asked to act out the story as a kind of drama.
• Ask good open-ended questions to challenge children’s thinking:
  • What surprised you about the story?
  • What do you think the main character learned from this experience in the story?
  • How can you apply this idea to your life?