Using a variety of games, children will memorize the words to Psalm 8.
PREPARATION
Materials List
Ball
Advance Preparation Requirements
A fair amount of floor space will be needed in the room for both games.
PRESENTATION
Open - Introduction
As the children enter, greet them warmly and invite them to sit down. Provide Bibles and ask them to read through Psalm 8 as they wait for everyone to arrive. Encourage the children to think about what words particularly interest them. When class time has come, bring the group together with a brief prayer.
Discover what the children know about the book of Psalms. Older children might read the introduction to the book of Psalms to find out what language they were written in, who wrote them, what their purpose was. Younger children might be interested to know that the Psalms were used as the original hymnal or music book for Hebrews and Christians.
Dig - Main Content
Read Psalm 8 to the children, then invite them to read the Psalm in unison. Allow the children to share the important themes they hear in the Psalm. Tell the class that they will be working on memorizing portions of the Psalm through games today. Assure them that there will NOT be a test, but that everyone is just to do the best they can. Memorization of scripture is a means to helping us keep God’s word in our hearts.
Divide the class into smaller groups of four, and have them sit on the floor back to back, so that no one can see anyone else’s face in their group. The person with the closest birthday to today will be person number 1. Practice with the whole class to say “Oh Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”
To begin the game, person 1 says “Oh Lord, Our Lord”
Then person 2 says “How majestic”
Person 3 says “how majestic”
Person 4 says “is your name in all the earth”
Person 1 says “is your name in all the earth”
Then the game gets harder because the saying of each phrase doubles:
Person 2 “Oh Lord, Our Lord”
3 “Oh Lord, Our Lord”
4 “How majestic”
1 “How majestic”
2 “How majestic”
3 “How majestic”
4 “is your name in all the earth”
1 “is your name in all the earth”
2 “is your name in all the earth”
3 “is your name in all the earth”
After everyone practices passing the phrase around, work on the next portion of the verse. Or select key phrases from the Psalm to work on as a group.
Game 2
Have the entire group stand in a circle. Depending on the size and age of the group, assign each person a phrase or whole verse of the Psalm to learn – but just that portion, they don’t need to know anyone else’s section. Put a sticky label or attach a number to them corresponding to their verse, so that everyone can see what number they are. If you are using phrases instead of whole verses, identify them as 3a, 3b, and so forth. Reserve the first and last verses for children who are likely to have difficulty memorizing anything else today. When the children are ready, have them mix themselves up so that no one is standing in number sequence. Give the child with verse 1 a ball. This child is to recite their verse of the Psalm, then toss the ball to the child with verse two, who recites their section and passes the ball to verse 3. Help the children as much as needed, as the idea is to help them to hear the Psalm over and over and over again. Work with the children to move from a very choppy recitation of the Psalm to a point where the Psalm moves fluidly through the group.
Reflect - Closure
Gather the children for a prayer. Read Psalm 8 and encourage the children to join you as they feel comfortable.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Adaptations - Younger Children
Younger children may need to sit in a line with a leader helping them through each section of the verse. Or they may want to stand up when it is their turn, or when they are pointed at to say their portion. Doubling the phrases of the verse is probably not helpful to them, so much as regular repetition.
Adaptations - Older Children
Older children can triple and quadruple the number of times they say the phrases. Or they could add more verses to pass around. Groups could challenge each other – who can pass the psalm around correctly the fastest?
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