Tower of Babel Tower Challenge

Hello Friends!

A few weeks ago our study in Genesis came to the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. 

To set the stage, I gave each student approximately 50 3oz Dixie cups and instructed them to build the tallest tower that they could create without any type of extra support. They were given 5 minutes.

As you can see from the photos below, they type of towers varied.

At the conclusion of the 5 minutes we had a lightening fast demolition.

After reading and discussing Genesis 11:1-9 we related the text to the building challenge. Here are some key connections:

• Whatever plans we have for ourselves, they can be easily destructed by outside forces.
• If we attempt to elevate ourselves in our own power, we'll never reach the heights that God would like for us to reach in His power.
• If we do have direction from God to go and build something (whether it be an actual building, creating a ministry, or beginning a new relationship) having a strong foundation and providing support (through prayer) will insure it lasting much longer than without those things.

For whatever reason, students of all ages never seem to get bored with building towers. I'm sure that your students will also appreciate this simple but effective object lesson.

What other connections did you students have with this lesson? With what other Bible stories would you be able to use with object lesson? Can you suggest modifications to be applied for a different lesson?

Blessing to you!

-bethany.

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First Post

HI!

Thanks for visiting this blog. Let me introduce myself...I'm Bethany and I find myself teaching junior and senior high school students Sunday School in a church in Arizona. I've been doing this for about nine months now and have found that I want to document some of the lessons and activities that are presented to my students. 

Right now we're slowly working our way through the book of Genesis and maybe eventually through the Old Testament. I'm using David Lynn's book Middle School Talksheets: Epic Old Testament Stories to guide which scripture passages to study each week as well as questions for discussion.

While this resource has been very helpful, I was observing that the students in the class were wanting to be a bit more active. So I began incorporating hands-on/minds-on object lessons to coincide with the big idea of the lesson. 

Either I'm a bad "googler" or there just isn't all that much out "on the line" for 13-17 year olds when it comes to having active Bible lessons. If I do come across something that might be good, I usually end up tweaking it a bit anyway to fit the groove of my students. So when the lesson finally comes together, I feel as though I've had a "Eureka!" moment. And that's how the blog was named! So I thought I would share what's going on in our class to maybe be of help to what's going on in your class. 

If you find what's being posted here to be of use, let me know and make sure to pass it along to fellow youth workers. 

Thanks for checking this out! 
Blessings!
-bethany

Directions for posting a comment:

1) Choose "Comment As" first. If you don't have a Google/Blogger account, you can choose Name/URL and type in your name, then place the web site that best describes you in the URL (i.e. www.ajusd.org). Or, you can choose "Anonymous".

2) You may need to press "Post Comment" more than one time.

It is always wise to copy your comment before pressing "Post Comment" just in case something happens. 

3) Type in the word verification.

4) If you did everything correctly, it will state, "Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval." If you do not get that message, please try again. 

5) Many thanks to Tracy Watanabe for these directions to post. 

And thank you for commenting!