Archives by: Matthew Thomas

Don’t Forget Your Spoon

I constantly have to remind and pressure my teens to bring their Bibles to church. One Wednesday afternoon, I sent out text and Facebook messages to all the teens asking for their favorite cereal. Before class, I went to the store and bought the top 4-5 choices of cereal, milk, foam bowls, and plastic spoons. I then setup everything in the teen room, but I hid the box of spoons.

When the kids came in to class, I announced the number of votes for each cereal. I let them all fix a bowl, but did not provide any spoons. Several kids asked if there were spoons, but I ignored them until everyone had cereal. Then I asked them why they did not bring spoons to class, which they all gave me puzzled looks. I said that I had asked them about cereal earlier in the day, so they should have known we would have it and class and brought a spoon.

I then applied the lesson to how we need to bring our Bibles to class. Coming to eat cereal without a spoon is like coming to church Bible study without a Bible. I then pulled out the spoons and let the teens eat. Now, almost every week the kids tells one another “Don’t forget your spoon!” meaning to bring their Bibles to class. It was a simple but effective lesson, and I hope it works for you.

by Matthew Thomas in All Youth, Bible Study & Prayer Comments are off
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Diet Coke and Mentos Eruption

Items Needed:

Masking Tape
Ladder
Tape Measure
Sharpie
Several 2 Liters of Diet Coke and packs of Mentos
Paper, Foam Cups, Tape, Scissors, etc.
Camcorder and Tripod

This was a great game for our youth. There is some kind of science principle that makes Diet Coke erupt like a volcano when you drop Mentos in it. This only works with “diet,” not regular. The more Mentos you can drop in at once, the bigger the eruption.

Before the game, find a spot next to a wall where the Diet Coke can spill everywhere without creating a mess. Grass is good, because sidewalks and parking lots can get sticky. On this wall, make a vertical line with the masking tape. Use the tape measure to mark off 1 ft. 2 ft. 3 ft. etc. on the tape and draw thick lines at those intervals with the sharpie. You’ll need the ladder to get up high, and 9-10 ft. should be plenty. The lines need to be dark enough that your camera can see them from a safe distance away.

Divide your youth into several teams of 5 or so members. You need as many 2 liters of Diet Coke and packs of Mentos as you have teams. Give the teams 5 min. to use the paper and items to create a cone or some object to deliver the most Mentos into the bottle. Set up the first bottle in front of the tape, and position the camera a safe distance away and start recording. Let the first team go to drop their Mentos in the bottle and make an eruption. Move the used bottle away, and put another one there for the next team. Each bottle needs to be in the same place, so you may want to mark that spot with a piece of tape. After the last team, head inside to watch the footage and see which team won with the highest eruption.

by Matthew Thomas in All Youth, Outdoor Youth Group Games Comments are off
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