HOW TO HAVE FUN AS A BIBLE QUIZ TEAM

This topic is more light hearted and all together a bit more fun! Hopefully you are already spending quality time with your team(s) outside of actual quizzing. There should be time set aside for you and your team to bond with each other and have fun together with no scripture portion, quiz boxes, etc. allowed. This can be as often as after every practice, once a month, or just before or after a league match. These should be times when you just have fun together. It doesn’t matter if everyone spends a lot of money or if the time is free. When you and your team spend time together, be it you and a quizzer one on one, or as a whole team, the respect level goes up amongst everyone. Your team will want to do better for you and for themselves. Hopefully these ideas will inspire you to do more with your team and get to know them better starting now. You can use the ideas given here or use them to spark your own creative fun! In the end it doesn’t matter what you end up doing to have fun together as long as you are taking this time to get to know your kids and disciple them. Letting them know that quizzing is important but that you care about them outside of how well they do at the buzzer will stay with them much longer than any trophy they might achieve. So, on to the fun:

 

1. Know what your quizzers enjoy doing besides Bible Quizzing! Every quizzer enjoys something else that is not Bible Quiz. You might have a team full of jocks, or you could have matheletes! You could be the lucky coach of metal heads!! Whatever your quizzers enjoy doing and excel at beyond quizzing is one of the best ways to show you care. If you have a quizzer who enjoys reading, take them to the local book fair, or perhaps borrow one of their favorite books so you have something new to discuss with them. Have your whole team get out and cheer on the hockey player or tennis player at their next game. Bring flowers to the actress of the group when she plays the role of “tree” in the next school play. Most events that your quizzers enjoy are going to be free or cheap to attend and will go along way to make their day and even affect their quizzing positively

 

2. Take advantage of after practice while the whole team is still assembled. You already have everyone together in one place, so why not extend the time to do something fun together. Most churches have a gym with a basketball hoop, you could all go in for a round of “PIG”. Do you have enough cars at your practice to have everyone pile in and go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch together? Maybe your team is hooked on the board game Risk, have someone bring theirs and show them how to win wars by winning the game (this could take hours and hours and hours). Again, it doesn’t matter what you end up doing together or how much it cost, it matters that everyone is having a good time and getting the chance to bond, minus chapter analysis.

 

3. Have a “CARB NIGHT”. I grew up in a family where everyone played many different sports. Tradition held, that the night before a swim meet or soccer game, a team members’ family held a “Carb Night”. The entire team would pile into someone’s kitchen to stuff themselves with spaghetti or lasagna or some other high carb meal. The objective being that not only was this good fuel necessary for lots of energy to burn while running, swimming, etc. but the team was given time to bond, ensuring that you would want to do your best to help the whole team the next day. Would I recommend carbs the night before a long day behind the buzzer? Probably not, but you can take this idea and make it Bible Quiz appropriate. Perhaps host a bonfire and hot dog roast at one of your quizzers’ homes (or yours). Have a night of board games or Xbox. Try to have each quizzer’s family volunteer to host one of these nights just before each league match. This guarantees that your team multiple opportunities to bond throughout the year.

 

4. Invite them into your world. Have your team over to your house for Sunday lunch once a month. Nothing says family and friendship like lunch after church. Are you fortunate to have a pool, hot tub, lake, trampoline, etc. at your house? Share the wealth with your team. Rent an appropriate movie one night and have everyone over to watch with you. You know your home better than I do, but decide what will work and have them over already!!

 

5. The Old Standbys. Of course you can always rely on some classic get-togethers. If you live in the north go sledding, ice skating, skiing/snowboarding, have a snowman building contest. Live where the weather is always a perfect 75 degrees? Visit the beach, have a pool party, build sandcastles, enjoy a picnic and a game of flag football. Bowling seems to be a favorite of our team, this can end up costing some money but at some point you are going to have to open your wallet, so choose wisely. Indoor rock climbing is a popular event and fun to do as a team. Do you have a National Park or other tourist attraction near your home town? Why not visit it as a team? You could go horse back riding, or for more risk go four wheeling, snowmobiling or jet skiing.

 

6. Try a teambuilding experience. Most YMCA’s and camp grounds offer a “team building experience”. This is sometimes a hike up a mountain to zip cord across a canyon, and other times it is an obstacle course for your team to challenge one another with. There is usually a charge, however it can be a lot of fun and build a great bond with everyone working together.

 

7. Get to know their friends. Some kids may not like this one, so you will need to feel out your own quizzers, but for me it has always been very successful. You can learn a lot about how your quizzer ticks by getting to know their friends and how they interact together. One of my favorite ways to do this is to visit them at their school. Most schools will allow a visitor at lunch with a note of permission. If you don’t want to go into their school, you can always take them and their best friend to Burger King. Of course, get permission from all parents and school first!! Another way is to allow them to host their birthday party or a sleepover at your house. Parents love this one too because you get all the mess! Hopefully as you have read this, something jumped out to you that is achievable with your team and quizzers. Don’t worry about making sure everyone “loves” what you are doing. The metal head of your group may not think he enjoys a hockey game, but in the end he will have had a great time.

 

Two other quick things to hit on:

1. Feel free to invite potential quizzers to hang out with your team. If they see you having fun together they will note that Bible Quiz isn’t just hard work.

2. Also, you could invite alumni quizzers back if they are around. We all know that an extra experienced hand at practice and matches is always very welcome! Enjoy the time with your team and feel free to pass on any great ideas for bonding your team may have!

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Kate Martin is a coach from Crossway Church in Valencia, PA. If you have any questions or have any activities you would like to see added to this list, please feel free to contact her at k30472@yahoo.com.