ST. GABRIEL GIFT PROGRAM

Get Creative Activities

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Picture Perception (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Matthew 7:12 “The Golden Rule”)

Have everyone write their name on a piece of paper.  Everyone draws a name then has to try and draw the person on their piece of paper.  Collect the masterpieces and try to guess who everyone is.  Although the art will be mainly comical, this is a good opportunity to talk about how we treat others and “do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”

 

Suddenly… (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Matthew 13 / Parables and Speaking in Stories)

Start a story by saying a sentence out loud that ends with “suddenly…”  The next person continues the story with their sentence and also ends with “suddenly...”  Go around the room until everyone has an opportunity to contribute.  Christ spoke in parables to explain to us important teachings.  This gets us to think and look inward.

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Act and React (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Luke 10:29-37 “The Good Samaritan)

Randomly select an occurrence from a sheet of paper and then everyone must react to the occurrence with animated gestures, expressions, and words.  This can be done individually or in teams.  Get creative and possibly even try to recreate some of the scenes using decorations and costumes at home.  No matter what the situation we are presented with in life, we can always react with Christian Charity.

 

Examples:

You have just happened upon a big bear in the woods

You just found out that you won the lottery

You have just been proposed to with an engagement ring

You just made the winning pass in the super bowl

You just hit a grand slam to win the game

You just walked into a parked car

You just found out that you have a long lost relative

You just met your favorite singer

You were just casted to act in a movie with your favorite actor

Your teacher just told you that you won first prize at the science fair

You are hiking in the desert and just heard a rattlesnake

You just got off of the fastest roller-coaster in the world

You are seeing the ocean for the first time in your life

You just ate the biggest steak ever eaten by one person

You won the lead in the school play

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Object Story (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Matthew 13 / Parables and Speaking in Stories)

Place several objects into a bag and have everyone pick one object out.  The leader begins a story using the object they have chosen and the story continues around the room with everyone using the object they chose as inspiration.

 

Human Machine (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - 1st Corinthians 12 “One Body, Many Parts”)

One person comes in front of the family and performs some type of mechanical “operation” or movement.  Include sound effects with the movement.  The “operation” needs to have some type of beginning and end to the movement.  The end of the “operation” allows for the next person to come up and perform another “operation” that feeds off of the first operations end movement, but is different in its nature.  This allows for a third person to add onto the machine.  Let everyone add on at their leisure and without directing.  This spontaneous creation is really a marvel to watch grow.  Video tape the process for great viewing fun later.  Example: an automobile (one person can be the engine, the wipers, the steering wheel, the wheels, etc.)

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Emotional Chores (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Luke 15:11-32 “The Prodigal Son”)

Out of the family, two people select themselves as the players.  These two leave the room or the immediate vicinity of the family.  The family then selects three chores for the two “performers” to act out.  But they also come up with a list of three emotions.  The performers are called back and told they will be acting out some different household chores.  Have one person call out one of the chores and allow the two to begin acting out the chore.  After a couple of moments, have another person call out one of the emotions.  Watch with great hilarity as the two performers act out common chores with a twist.  Examples of chores:  dish-washing, clothes washing, washing windows, doggie doo-doo scooping, hanging a picture, taking out the trash, painting a wall, scrubbing the tub or toilet, sewing clothes, dusting, putting the groceries away, vacuuming, making the bed, moving furniture, sweeping the stairs or floor, raking the leaves, and others.  Types of emotions you can match with these chores are: happiness, sadness, remorse, guilt, melancholy, apathy, love, disdain, loathing, joy, excitement, disgust, jovial, sympathy, mourning, and others.  NOTE: when pairing the chore and emotion, seek to achieve the greatest possible contrast.  An example of this would be to direct a person to act out the task of scooping doggie doo with exaltation.  It is the contrast that will provide the greatest humor to this activity.  This can actually be used as a fun way to really do chores that need to get done around the house.  The story of the Prodigal Son is an excellent way to introduce how each of us lives our daily lives.  The older son that stays home and is obedient to his father continues to do the “chores” that were asked of him.  Who does everyone in the family connect with in the parable the most?

 

Scriptionary

The object is to work your way through drawing famous clues from Scripture (the Bible).  That’s why the game is called Scriptionary.  The game leader will give all of the first artists the same clue.  Use the example Scripture passages below or come up with your own and describe elements of each passage to draw.

 

When the signal to begin is given, the first artist draws their clue until someone in the family guesses the answer correctly.  Once the right answer is given, the artist hands the marker/pen to the person who answered correctly.  The game leader then gives the person the next clue and the person becomes the next artist.

 

Some general rules:

No spoken words or gestures. (You cannot act it out.)

No written letters, words or numerals.

 

Scripture Examples: Genesis 1 - The Garden of Eden, Genesis 5 - Noah’s Ark, Exodus 7-10 - The Ten Plagues of Egypt, Jonah 2 - Jonah and the Great Fish, Luke 2 - The Birth of Christ, John 2 - Jesus’ First Miracle: the Wedding at Cana, Luke 24 - The Resurrection of Christ

 

One Word Story (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Matthew 13 / Parables and Speaking in Stories)

Go around the circle and each person says a word at a time to make a story. The leader can set a theme at the beginning, or just let it flow freestyle. Also, this game can be played alphabetically so the first word has to being with A, the next with B, etc.

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Envelope Game (Scripture/Catholic Teaching Connection - Matthew 13 / Parables and Speaking in Stories)

Prepare at least six envelopes in advance. Each envelope should contain a skit or a story to tell. Some examples are: describe a situation in which a child lost his or her temper and was whining and yelling at his or her parent; describe what honesty means to you; tell a story about a time you either lost your keys and/or locked yourself out of your car or house.  Separate into teams; explain that each team will receive an envelope that contains a skit or story to tell. Each team will be responsible for presenting the contents of its envelope to the whole family.  Participants may do this as a group or individually.