Charging down the hallway, one little fellow excitedly volunteered his assessment of our Treasure Hunt: “It’s better than a video game!”
Our Bible Quiz season is coming to a climax with State Finals this Saturday, an event that will determine if we continue quizzing until Nationals in Branson the middle of July.
For months, Hubby has been pushing me to plan a treasure hunt for our Beginners and Juniors, who’ve memorized up to 169 verses and 267 verses, respectively, this year.
I started seriously planning a treasure hunt when I happened upon an 80% off After-Valentine’s Day Sale at Hallmark.
This year is doctrine and the material comes from all over the Bible with section themes that lend themselves to a Treasure Hunt. Here are the details of how it all went down.
Stop 1: God is One. Each quizzer selected a balloon to pop from my bag. Each balloon had a colored piece of tissue inside which corresponded to a certain type of BQ question. Each answered a question related to our theme, grabbed a canvas “treasure collection bag” and headed to our BQ Practice Room. Their clue was “Where we practice hiding God’s word in our hearts.”
Stop 2: God’s Word must be Hidden in Our Hearts. Quizzers grabbed a (stress ball) heart, which were numbered. The numbers corresponded to a list of questions based on the theme. Then they headed to the CROWD room. Their clue was “Don’t let the cares of life CROWD out the Word of God!”
Stop 3: What is Sin? Quizzers tossed a basketball into a hoop, standing at a preferred line, which were marked for 10-point, 20-point, and 30-point types of questions. Upon successfully making the shot and answering a question, each selected a tiny grab bag of toys (Play-Do, a sticker, and a couple of squish toys), and ran to “Where our sins can be washed away,” i.e., the baptistry.
Stop 4: We must be Baptized in the Name of Jesus. Quizzers selected a jewel (pool sinky) from a sand bucket that had a verse location attached. They had to quote the verse before receiving the next clue, which led to our CREW room: “We work as a team, like a CREW on a ship.”
Stop 5: The Word of God is a Light to our Path. Quizzers hunted for an index card taped under the seats. The index card had a word that was unique to our studies. Quizzers quoted or located the verse that contained the word to get a small flashlight and the following clue: “Where we gather to eat and fellowship.”
Between the CREW room and the Fellowship Hall, quizzers had to turn on the flashlight and navigate a maze of chairs in the darkened choir room.
Stop 6: The Word of God is Food for our Souls. Quizzers had to quote/sing/locate verses of our study with the theme. Each was rewarded with a food Squishamallow® and given the clue to the final stop: “Where we pray, worship, sing, and preach,” i.e., the sanctuary.
Stop 7: The Apostle Paul (my brother-in-law) awaited quizzers in the sanctuary. Each had to quote their favorite verse of the year to receive a wrapped gift, which was an Action Bible.
With the conclusion of the hunt, the quizzers retired to the gym for some bouncy fun on the Tsunami Bounce/Slide while we waited for our pizza to arrive.
It rained cats and dogs outside that Memorial Day weekend, but the faces of our quizzers shone with pure joy, a sheen of sweat, and the love of Jesus, relishing a small reward for their year of diligent study.
The bigger reward is the amazing effects of Bible Quizzing on each quizzer’s future!
