LHOP for Kids & Families: Retell Activities & Descriptions
These activities can aid you as you work through the LHOP Kids booklet, available here. The activities below are graciously provided by KidStory.
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DRAMA/ARTS
Act it Out: Assign different characters of the story to each of the children. Let them practice before actually acting out the story. See if there are one or two children who want to be the person telling the story while the other children act it out.
Retell through a character’s eyes.
Create a Song: Create a song that will retell the Bible Story. You might use a song that the children are very familiar with and then change the words so it retells the Bible story. They can create an original song or possibly a rap song.
Partners: Have the children get into smaller groups of 2 to 3 children. Each child will take a turn retelling the story. If someone gets stuck and can’t remember the next part, the others in the group can help them.
Hand Motions: Go back through the Bible story and have the group come up with different hand motions that would help them remember each part of the story. Keep going back through the story adding more hand motions until the story is retold.
Pantomime: Divide the group into several smaller groups. Have one group act out the first part of the story without using words. The other groups have to say what is happening. The next group has to act out the next part of the story and the remaining groups tell what is happening. Continue till the story is retold. You may remind the group acting out the story if they don’t remember what the next part is.
Puppets: Create simple puppets from things like socks, paper plates, paper cups, sticks, etc and retell the story using these characters.
Objects: Give each group 3 different objects. The group needs to use the different objects in the retelling of the story. They can add other objects but they must at least use the 3 objects given to them.
Wire & Clay: Use these or other available craft items to build and retell the Bible story.
Charades: Without using words, the kids act out the different scenes while the audience has to guess which part of the story they are doing.
Sound Effects & Motions: Re-read the Bible story and come up with different sound effects and/ or motions for words or actions that repeat throughout the story.
Object(s) (ie: scarf, rope), See how many times they can use the object to tell the story. Another way is to give each group 3 different objects and they have to use them in retelling the story.
Motions: Use different motions to illustrate each segment of the story. You can assign one motion to each child or small group and they need to demonstrate their motion in the order in which it comes in the story.
Human Slide Show: Find a big cloth to use as a curtain. Two children will can hold it up and then drop it when you tell them. Pick several children to be the characters in the story. For each story segment, while the curtain is up, have the children get into a position as though there were a picture or painting of that part of the story. They are to remain perfectly still and then have the cloth dropped so the rest of the group can see it. Each scene changes as you tell the story.
Dance: Retell the story through a dance with or without music and words.
Top Ten: Have the kids, either as a group or individually, write out the top ten events of the story.
Journals: The children are given the opportunity to just quietly sit and journal what was in the story and what it meant to them.
GAMES
Ball Game:
Several different games can be played with a ball. Have the children get in a circle. When you say “GO,” or start playing the music, the children pass the ball around the circle until you say “STOP” or stop the music. When that happens, the person who has the ball has to say the next part of the story. When you say “GO” or start the music, the children start passing the ball till you say “STOP.”
Rope Game:
Get a piece of rope that is 15 feet long and tie the ends together. Have the children get in a circle with everyone holding on to the rope. Start moving the rope in one direction. When you say “STOP,” the person closest to the knot has to say the next part of the story. Continue doing this till the story is told.
Movers & Shakers:
Tossing a ball from one person to another while the music is playing. When the music stops, the person holding the ball (or knot in the rope if you are using a long rope that the child are holding and moving around in a circle) has to say the next part of the verse in the way you specify. Some examples could be:
• At a normal pace
• In fast forward while jogging in place
• In a whisper while tiptoeing
• Shouting while marching
• In slow motion while jogging in slow motion
• In a normal voice while walking backward
Musical Chairs:
Put enough chairs in a circle for each person in your group except one. The chairs should be facing out. Everyone gets to sit in the chair except the one person remaining. When the music starts, the children start walking in a clockwise direction around the chairs. When you stop the music, everyone needs to find a chair. The person remaining has to say the next part of the story. Continue doing this until the story is retold.
Timing the Retell:
See if the group can retell the story in a specified amount of time.
Tingo Tingo Tango:
Have the children get into a circle. Pass an object around as you are saying “Tingo, Tingo, Tango.” When you get to “Tango,” whoever has the object has to say the next part of the story. Vary the amount of time between the words so the children do not know who will be next.
Line Up:
Have the children get in line from shortest to tallest or youngest to oldest. The first person starts by sharing the first incident of the story. The second person tells the next thing that happened and so on till the story is retold.
Balloon or Ball Toss:
Have the children get into circles of about 8. Have them toss the balloon or ball from one to another either as the music is going or when you have said, “GO.” When you stop the music or say “STOP,” whoever has the balloon has to say the next part of the story. For some added fun, try adding a marble or small round pebble in the balloon before you inflate it.
Balloon Pop “Surprise”:
You will need enough balloons per group as there are segments to the story. Before doing this activity, write out the different segments of the Bible story on slips of paper. Put one slip in each of the balloons. Blow up the balloon and tie it off. Have the children get in a circle with the balloons in the centre. When you tell them, have the children sit on a balloon until it pops. The children then take the slip of paper in the balloon and put them in order of the storyline.
Whisperings:
Have the children sit in a circle. Whisper the first part of the story to one child. He or she will then whisper that phrase and the next part of the story to the next person and so on until the last person who will tell the story to the group.
Dice:
Each small group has one dice. The first person rolls the dice. If they get a “1” or “2” they can pass the dice to the next person and do not have to t.ell any part of the story. If they roll a “3” or “4” they have to tell the next part of the story. If they roll a “5” or “6” the dice goes back in reverse to the person who just had the dice and they have to tell the next part of the story.
Story Cards:
Write or draw the different segments of the Bible story on separate sheets of paper. Give them to different children in the class and have the children get in order of the story line. You could also give them a certain amount of time to do it in or write out 2 or more copies of the story line and have several groups of children trying to be the first group to finish.
Sign Language:
Pretend as though you and the person you are trying to tell the story to are deaf. What would that look like?
Bible Story Relay:
Divide the children into teams. They run to a designated spot and back. When they return they have to shout out the next part of the story. Then the next person runs to the spot and back and shouts out the next part of the story till every team has retold the story.
Graffiti Style:
Write the different Bible story segments on the board in graffiti style (phrases jumbled). Ask one child to find the first phrase and draw an arrow to the next part of the story repeating both phrases. The next child draws an arrow connecting the second phrase to the third one and repeats all three. Continue until the Bible story is retold.
Hide and Seek:
Write phrases of the Bible Story on cards or strips of paper. Place them around the room. Send the children out to find them and as they do, they should gather in the front of the room and place themselves in the proper order. Have someone read and retell the story. You could also do this activity by not hiding the cards but randomly give the cards out to the children and have them get in the right order to read the story.
Story Chase:
Write each part of the story on small cards. Randomly tape one card on the back of each child. Have the children assemble the story on their own. They should line up so that each child can see the phrase in front of them. Have the children retell the story by reading the card on the person in front of them.