"Guess What!"

HERE'S A GAME for a small group to play while out for a walk on Sabbath. Someone goes out of hearing range while the rest decide on a Bible object, for example, the coin in the fish's mouth. The guesser is called, and he starts to ask questions about the object. First he will ask "Is it in the Old Testament?" The other players will say no.

Then perhaps he asks, "Is it anything to do with a miracle of Jesus?"

The answer will, of course, be yes.

The answer must always be either yes or no and the guesser goes on asking questions until he guesses—or gives in!

When he has guessed correctly another boy or girl is chosen to be the guesser,

"Guess Who!"

Do YOU KNOW this game?

Someone thinks of a Bible character. Let's say it is Gideon.

He calls out, "I'm thinking of someone whose name begins with G."

Everybody thinks hard, and then someone who has an idea suggests something about the person he has thought of. He must not give the name. Perhaps he has thought of Goliath, so he asks, "Did he try to kill David?"

That is the wrong guess, of course; so the player takes a little time to recall the name the one who guessed has thought of, and after thinking a bit says, "No, it wasn't Goliath."

Then perhaps someone else has thought of Gideon, and he asks, "Did he have a brave army of three hundred men?" which is, of course, the correct guess, so the answer is, "Yes, it is Gideon."

The one who guesses correctly then has a chance to take a turn, and so the game continues.

Linked Names

HERE'S A GAME to play at the dinner table or while on a Sabbath afternoon walk. The first player calls out the name of someone in the Bible.

The next one takes the last letter of that name to make the first letter of the name of some other person in the Bible, the third person taking the last letter of that name and thinking of someone in the Bible whose name begins with that letter, and so on.

Like this:

First person says: J aco B

Second person says: B oa Z

Third person says: Z acharia H

Fourth person says: H ama N

And so on.

Bible Character Bookmarks

CUT A NUMBER Of strips of paper to look like bookmarks.

Everyone takes a few strips and writes at the top of each one the name of a character in the Bible, some easy names, like Joseph, Daniel, John, Paul; and some harder ones, like Nebuchadnezzar, Rhoda, Mary Magdalene, Japheth.

Place the bookmarks on the table where everyone can see them, and then you are ready. The players look at a name, but they don't take hold of the bookmark. Instead they search for the name in their Bibles, and the first one to find the name may take the bookmark and place it in his Bible. Everyone tries to get the most bookmarks, of course.

Jumbled Verses

FOR THIS GAME you will need some cards, pencils or pens, scissors, and Bibles.

Everyone sits down quietly with his Bible and finds four short, easy verses that most of us know by heart, like, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Each one writes the words of his verses on some cardboard in clear letters. Then he cuts the card so that there is one word to a piece. He mixes the four verses up well, and then all exchange their collections of words and try to make up the verses they receive from another.

Find!

THIS WILL HELP you find places in your Bible quickly. Get some shells, counters, beads, or other small objects with which to keep score. Each player must have a Bible.

The first player takes his Bible and turns quickly to any chapter he likes and finds an article mentioned, such as "rubies" in Proverbs 3:15. Rubies are precious stones, so he calls out:

"Find some precious stones in Proverbs 3:15."

The first one to find the verse and the precious stones, and to call out, "Rubies!" gets a scoring token.

Then the next player looks quickly for something. Perhaps he turns to Matthew 6, verse 2, and sees the word "trumpet," so he calls out:

"Find a musical instrument in Matthew 6:2!" and everyone hurriedly searches for the verse and the musical instrument.

By the way, it is best for the one giving the clue to keep the others from seeing the place he is turning to in his Bible, or they may start the search a little beforehand.

The winner is the one who gains the most tokens.

Names Lists

ALL TAKE pencils and paper. Bibles are allowed in this game.

The leader calls:

"You have three (or five) minutes in which to make a list of kings" (or prophets, Bible animals, cities, converts, healed persons, and so forth). In the given time all proceed to make as long a list as they can of the names in the class asked for.

At the end of the time the first player reads his list slowly, pausing after each name, and as he reads each name the other players call out if they have that name in their lists. If two or more players have the same name, it is crossed off their lists.

After this player has read his list the next one reads his aloud, leaving out the names that have been crossed off. If any of the other players have names that he has, they must be crossed off.

When all have read their lists the score is counted on names that no other player had put down.

Bible Names

THIS IS a pencil-and-paper game that may be played on the Sabbath.

Everyone takes a sheet of ruled paper and makes a column on the left-hand side of the page. The first person calls out, let us say: "A king."

Everyone writes on the top line of the left-hand column the word king.

The second player may call: "A river."

On the second line in the column everyone writes the word river.

The third may call: "A healed person."

And so it goes around the circle until ten or twelve classes of names of people or things are on the list.

The next step is to select a letter. The youngest player does this.

Then everyone proceeds to fill in on the space at the right-hand side of the paper a name beginning with that letter. There will probably be a few blanks, especially if the letter is a difficult one.

This is what it may look like:

Letter chosen—H

Bird—Hawk

Book—Habakkuk

King—Hezekiah

Servant—Hagar

Mountain—Horeb

A people—Hivites

Enemy —Haman

Healed one—Hezekiah

Wife—Hannah

Prophet—Huldah

When everyone has had a fair chance to fill up his paper, the leader reads out each word in the left-hand column in turn and the players call out what they have written.

For every name that no one else has chosen two points are scored; for each name that more than one player has chosen, one point.

"In My Hand I Hold—"

THE FIRST PLAYER thinks of a Bible character and an object connected with him. When he is ready he calls out:

"In my hand I hold___ [naming the object]. Who am l?"

The first to guess correctly who the character is takes the next turn.

Here are some examples to start you off:

"In my hand I hold a golden scepter." Ahasuerus. "In my hand I hold a wedge of gold." Achan. "In my hand I hold a viper." Paul. "In my hand I hold five stones and a sling." David. "In my hand I hold a moneybag." Judas.

Jumbled Places

EACH PLAYER requires a Bible, a pencil, and five slips of paper about 1 by 4 inches. Each player takes his Bible and selects five names of places. They may be of cities, villages, rivers, mountains, countries, or anything one might find on a Bible map.

Taking his slips of paper, he copies the letters of each name, one name on each slip, but not in the proper order. For instance, he might write it in this order:

ABBLYNO

He has to be very careful that he copies each letter and does not copy any letter twice! In a corner of the slip he puts his name or initials.

When all are ready the name slips are placed on a table and everyone tries to puzzle out the names. No one tries to get his own, of course. As soon as a player thinks he has worked out a name, he takes it to the one whose initials it bears for him to check it; and if he has guessed it correctly, he keeps it. All try to get as many jumbled names as they can.

Numbers

ONE OF THE players thinks of a number in the Bible, such as:

6, for the days of creation.

40, for the number of days it rained during the Flood.

99, for the number of sheep that were safe in the fold.

150, for the number of psalms.

5, for the number of loaves used in Christ's miracle of the feeding of the multitude.

When he is ready he calls out:

"My number is [giving the number]."

The rest think of something connected with the number, and the one guessing correctly has the next turn.

Books of the Bible

THIS GAME will help you to learn the order of the books of the Bible.

The first player thinks of the name of a book in the Bible, points to someone, calls out the name, and slowly counts out loud up to twenty.

Before he has counted up to twenty the one at whom he points must name in their proper order the three books that follow the one named. If he fails to repeat the books in the right order, the first player calls out another book and points to another player. If he says the names of the books correctly, he gets a turn.

If one of the last three books of the Bible is named, the player must use the first book or books of the Bible. For instance, if someone calls out 3 John, the correct list is "Jude, Revelation, Genesis."

"That Reminds Me!"

THIS IS A GAME to play when you are out driving or walking on a Sabbath.

Someone sees something that reminds him of a story or of a verse in the Bible, so he says: "That reminds me of____[naming the person, or part of the Bible in which the reference is made]."

The others look around and try to make a guess at the thing he has seen.

Here are some possibilities:

Grass reminds one of Nebuchadnezzar, who ate grass. A bit in a horse's mouth reminds one of what James wrote in his epistle about the tongue.

A cow reminds one of the dream Pharaoh had about the seven fat and seven lean kine.

A tree reminds one of Zacchaeus.

A barn reminds one of the parable of the man who said he would pull down his barns and build greater.

"I'm Eating—"

ONE OF THE players thinks of some food mentioned in the Bible and the person or persons who ate it. He tells the others:

"I'm [or, "We are"] eating___[naming the food].

Who am I? [or, "Who are we?'?']"

The one who guesses correctly takes the next turn. Some examples are:

"We are eating quails." The children of Israel.

"I am eating locusts and wild honey." John the Baptist.

"I am eating a little cake made of meal and oil." Elijah.

"We are eating pulse and drinking water." Daniel and his companions.

"We are eating loaves and fishes." The multitude Jesus fed.