JUNIOR HIGH GAME ON PRIORITIES

Here’s a junior high ministry game on Priorities, based on Matthew 22:37-39.

Students have a lot of priorities to balance. There’s homework, sports practice, exams, after school activities, family, friends, etc.

It can be hard to balance all of them. If they’re not careful, they’ll end up dropping the important stuff.

Use this game to help students stay focused on what’s most important – Loving God and serving others.

Enjoy!

The Junior High Ministry Team

DOWNLOAD PDF OF THIS GAME

JUNIOR HIGH GAME – PRIORITIES

Bible: Matthew 22:37-39

Topic: Priorities

Use this back to school game & lesson to remind students how important it is to protect their priorities during the school year.

Students will have to balance both a tower of legos and a water balloon while simultaneously trying to knock down everyone else’s.

After the game, they will learn that the two biggest priorities they should have are to love God and love others.

Supplies

• Water balloons
• Legos
• Paper plates

Give each student a water balloon, a small tower of legos, and two paper plates.

Have them put the water balloon on one plate and the tower of legos on the other, balancing the two plates on their hands as if they were a scale.

The goal of this game is to keep your two plates balanced while trying to knock the other students out of the game. When a tower breaks or a water balloon pops, that student is out of the game.

They can use whatever methods they can think of to knock the other students’ plates out of their hands, but since their own hands will be busy balancing their items, they’ll have to get creative.

The last student standing with both a water balloon and a lego tower wins.

Ask:

• How hard was it to balance not just one fragile thing, but two?
• Wasn’t it so much harder to do because you didn’t just have to balance them, but you had to worry about other people trying to knock them down?

Teach – Priorities

Say: We’re going to talk about balance. Something that, based on this game, you guys could learn a thing or two about.

Lucky for you, I’m not talking about the type of balance that involves water balloons and legos. I’m talking about balancing your priorities.

Just like you had to balance and protect your items in the game, you also have to balance and protect your priorities.

As a junior higher, you have a lot of priorities to balance. There’s homework, sports practice, exams, family, friends, after school activities, etc.

When you have so many priorities, they can get really confusing really fast. It can be hard to balance all of them, and if you’re not careful in protecting them, you’ll end up just like you did in the game: dropping the important stuff.

Ask:

• What are your biggest priorities?
• Do you have a hard time keeping your priorities straight during the school year?
• Do you think God cares about what your priorities are?

The amazing thing about the Bible is that it’s the Word of God…so when we read something in it, we know it’s something that God wants us to know and take seriously.

When it comes to our priorities, the Bible is very clear on what the biggest ones should be.

Read: Matthew 22:37-39

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Say: There you have it—your two biggest priorities. Isn’t it kind of a relief to know they’re already laid out for you?

Sure, you’ll have tons more than that. And not everyone will agree that these are the most important things in life. But you know they are, because it’s written in the Bible.

Loving God and loving your neighbor should be the two most important things to you. And at school, you’re going to have quite a few neighbors, so you’ll have plenty of chances to practice.

Ask:

• What do you think it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?
• What are some ways you can show that you love your neighbor as yourself this school year?
• Would you say that these are the two top priorities in your life right now?
• Do you think it’s possible to make these two things your top priorities?
• How can you balance and protect these priorities with everything else you have to do during the school year?

Wrap up

There will always be a lot of things fighting for your attention. Just because something isn’t a top priority doesn’t make it a bad thing, it just means there are other things that are more important.

Your probably always going to be busy. If you don’t set your mind on these two things now, they’re going to be crowded out by all of your other priorities.

When life gets overwhelming, just sit back and remember what’s really important.

Once you get those two things straight, everything else will fall into place much easier.

End lesson.

Liked this lesson? The be sure to check out the Spring Junior High Bundle: