Tag Archives: comfort zone

June 4, 2011 · 9:18 am

Zing, Zang, Zowie! (ICEBREAKER)


Time

10 minutes
Description

This fun icebreaker energizes and adds some silliness to a workshop.  It requires focus and concentration.

Materials

·      None

Preparation

·      None

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

  • “Let’s do an icebreaker!”
  • “I need everyone to come stand in a circle.”
  • “Now, place your hands together like this (demonstrate) as if you were about to say a prayer.”
  • “This is your ‘Zinger!’”
  • “You use it to point to someone and say a word.”
  • “There are three words that you must say in the right order; they are ‘Zing,’ ‘Zang,’ and ‘Zowie!’”
  • “Everyone say them with me….’Zing!’….’Zang!’…..’Zowie!’”
  • “Excellent!”
  • “Here’s how this icebreaker is done…I’ll start and point to someone with my Zinger.”
  • “I’ll say, ‘Zing!’”
  • “Then that person has to quickly point to someone and say, ‘Zang!’”
  • “Then that third person has to quickly point to someone and say, ‘Zowie!’”
  • “The fourth person now starts over, quickly points to someone and says, ‘Zing!’”
  • “It’s okay to point right back at the person who pointed to you if you want to try to catch them by surprise.”
  • “This keeps going until one of two things happens:
    • Someone gets confused and says the wrong word (or a correct word in the wrong order).
    • Someone takes too long to respond.”
  • “If either of these two things happens, that person is out, and whoever used their Zinger on them starts off the new round.”
  • “What questions do you have?”  (Answer questions.  Then, begin a round, or have someone else begin it.  Play continues until you are down to two or three people.  Announce them as the winners!)

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May 29, 2011 · 7:04 am

I’m Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic! (ENERGIZER)


Time

5 minutes
Description

This energizer is fast, easy and takes little preparation, and it’s ideal for right after lunch or when you can sense the energy is draining out of the room.

Materials

  • Flipchart
  • Marker

Preparation

·      Write the words of the song on the flipchart.  They are:

  • “I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic!”
  • “I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic!”
  • “I’m alive, awake, alert…”
  • “Alert, awake, alive…”
  • “I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic!”

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

  • “Time for an energizer!”
  • “I’m going to sing through this song, and then I’m going to have you do it with me.”  (Sing the song all the way through.  It is sung to the tune of ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands!’)
  • “Okay, everyone now!”  (Sing it all the way through.)
  • “Let’s do it again, but this time, I’m going to divide you into four groups.”  (Divide participants into four groups of roughly similar size.)
  • “This group is the ‘Alive’ group.” (Point out which group you mean.)
  • “This group is the ‘Awake” group.” (Point out which group you mean.)
  • “This group is the ‘Alert’ group.” (Point out which group you mean.)
  • “This group is the ‘Enthusiastic’ group.” (Point out which group you mean.)
  • “When we get to the part of the song with your word, you will say it as loud as you can, but the rest of the group will be silent.”
  • “Any questions?”  (Answer questions.  Then, have them sing the song again.  Point to the appropriate groups at the Alive, Awake, Alert and Enthusiastic words in the song.)
  • “One more time, but this time, you have to stand and yell your word.”  (Take them through it one more time and have them stand as they yell their word.  Then they should sit again until their word comes back up in the song.)

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January 26, 2011 · 7:56 am

Comfort Zone (OBJECT LESSON)


Audience

Children, Teens, Adults

Time

10-15 minutes
Description

This game helps participants to understand how important it is to step our of our comfort zones in order to grow.  You can use the story of Abraham (Abram at the time) leaving his country and his family and everything he knew as a reinforcement of the lesson.

Scriptures

o  Genesis 12:1-9

Materials

o  Rope (about 30 feet or more) or a garden hose

o  Balls (about 5 – alternatively, you can just wad up scrap pieces of paper)

o  Laundry basket or trash can

o  Bible

Preparation

o  Tie the rope or garden hose into a loop.

o  Use the rope or garden hose to make a small circle on the ground (about 1 ft – 1 ½ ft in diameter).

o  Coil the excess rope or garden hose on top of this circle so that you have only one circle.

o  Set up the trashcan or laundry basket about 20 ft away from the circle (further if you want to increase the difficulty).

o  Practice the script.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

  • “How many of you know what a comfort zone is?” (Acknowledge responses.)
  • “A comfort zone is a place or situation where you feel safe, comfortable.”
  • “When you are in your comfort zone, you don’t take risks.”
  • “Those are uncomfortable, so they can’t be in the zone.”
  • “In your comfort zone, there is no progress or growth, because progress and growth only occur when you take risks and step out of your comfort zone.”
  • “God asked Abraham (Abram at the time) to leave his comfort zone.” (Have a volunteer read Genesis 12:1-9.)
  • “Abraham had to leave everything that he knew (his family, his friends, his country, his home….) in order to follow God’s leading into a strange country.”
  • “The trip would take months, and it would be full of risk to Abraham, his wife, his nephew, Lot, and their servants.”
  • “They would face dangers from animals, thieves, foreign kings, fatigue, potential starvation and other threats.”
  • “But Abraham could not experience God’s blessing from inside his comfort zone in his home in Haran.”
  • “To experience God’s blessing, Abraham had to take a risk.”
  • “Let me show you a demonstration that will help you understand comfort zones better.”
  • “I’m going to need a volunteer.”  (Select a volunteer from the group.)
  • “Let’s pretend that this is your comfort zone.”  (Position volunteer inside the coil of ropes or garden hose.)
  • “Don’t you feel all comfy in there?”
  • “Now, let’s pretend that you have a goal that you want to achieve.”
  • “Your goal is to get five (or more if you like) shots in a row in that basket/trash can.”
  • “You can take shots only from inside your comfort zone this first time.”
  • “How many shots do you think you will make?”  (Listen to response, and share it with the audience if it was too quiet for them to hear.)
  • “Well, let’s try.  Take your shots.”  (Allow volunteer to take all his/her shots. Share the score with the audience.)
  • “Not so good.”
  • (Ask volunteer…) “What do you think would help you to be more successful?”  (Listen to response, and shear it with the audience if it was too quiet for them to hear. If the volunteer doesn’t mention stepping out of their comfort zone, prompt them.)
  • “Let’s try that.”  (Allow volunteer to take one step, as big as they can, out of their comfort zone.)
  • “But wait.  That wasn’t very scary.  Stepping out of your comfort zone has to have some risk involved.”
  • “Otherwise, every place on earth would be your comfort zone.”
    “Let’s make it more scary.”
  • “Can I get another volunteer?”  (Select another volunteer.  Make him (or her) stand five feet away from the first volunteer.)
  • “This person represents the risk of stepping out of your comfort zone.”
  • “He (or she) has to stand right here and count to ten slowly (“one, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand….”).”
  • “When he gets to ten, he can try to tag our first volunteer, the shooter, as long as he is out of his comfort zone.”
  • “But if the shooter goes back into his comfort zone, he can’t be tagged there.”
  • “However, he still has to make all five shots, either from within the comfort zone if he hasn’t don’t it already or out of his comfort zone if he is brave enough to come out one step.”
  • “Do both my volunteers understand how this works?”  (Answer any questions they have.  Then, let your shooter try to make the shots, stepping no more than one step out of the comfort zone. If the risk person tags the shooter, the shooter can’t shoot anymore shots.)
  • “That looked challenging.”
  • “But something interesting happens when you step out of your comfort zone.”  (Uncoil the rope or garden hose to make it twice as big as it was.)
  • “Your comfort zone grows!”
  • “Now you feel comfortable going further than you went before.”
  • “So, let’s try it again.”
  • “Our risk person will count to ten slowly before he tries to tag our shooter.”
  • “Our shooter can step one, big step outside of his comfort zone and take five shots without getting tagged.”  (Allow them to try this.)
  • “It’s getting easier.  Let’s do it again!”
  • “The comfort zone increases, because our shooter took a step out of it during the last round.” (Uncoil the rope or garden hose another loop or even two (depending on how fast you want to finish the exercise) to make it bigger. Then let the shooter try to make his shots again.  If the shooter makes all his shots, you’re done.  If he doesn’t, you might want to run the exercise a time or two again.  When you are finished, thank and dismiss your volunteers and close with the following comments.)
  • “So, you can see how a comfort zone works.”
  • “Whenever you take a risk and step out of it, it grows.”
  • “The more you do it, the easier it will be to accomplish your goals.”
  • “Remember our story about Abraham?”
  • “He took a huge risk, but every step out of his comfort zone helped him to grow in his faith in the Lord.”
  • “By the time Abraham reached the Promised Land, he had learned to put his complete faith in the Lord.”
  • “He needed that faith to help him wait the 25 years for God’s promise of a son to come true.”
  • “He would need it again to pass the test of almost offering Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord.”
  • “Abraham could never have the faith to do those things if he had stayed in Haran.”
  • “If you want to experience God’s greatest blessings, you’ve got to follow Him out of your comfort zone.”

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January 25, 2010 · 9:26 am

Outer Zebox (ICEBREAKER)


Time
25-40 minutes (depending upon group size)

Description

This fun icebreaker can be an energizing way to get participants thinking out of the box.

Materials

o  Flipchart paper (several sheets for each group)

o  Markers (different colors to allow for creativity)

o  Masking tape to hang flipcharts

o  Prizes for the winners (optional)

Preparation

None

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

  • “We are going to do an activity to help us think out of the box.”
  • “It will get us ready for some possibility thinking.”
  • “Before we begin, I need to separate you into teams.”  (Separate participants into groups using whatever sorting technique you like.  Group size should be about 6-8 people.  Once they are sorted, read the following few paragraphs.  You might want to ask someone with artistic abilities to draw the planet and its characteristics as you tell the story.)
  • “Each group represents a team of scientists who has discovered intelligent life on two planets in a distant galaxy.  The planets are called Inner Zebox and Outer Zebox.”
  • “Your deep space probe has returned findings that have led you to believe that Inner Zebox is a dying planet.”  The atmosphere is stale and toxic and limits the thinking abilities of those who live there to safe, comfortable and uninspired ideas.
  • “Outer Zebox, however, is flourishing!  The atmosphere there is crisp and full of energy, and it gives those living there the ability to think new, innovative and exciting ideas.”
  • “You are a little surprised that life is flourishing on Outer Zebox, because conditions on the planet are quite unusual.”
  • “For example, it has three suns.”
  • “It spins five times faster than the rotation of the earth.”
  • “Strong winds on the planet blow straight up from the surface.”
  • “And the planet is located right in the middle of an asteroid belt, where it receives meteor showers three times a day.”
  • “Your government is very excited (and a little worried) at the idea that another planet has intelligent life, and they have asked you to draw a sketch of the type of being you are likely to meet when you make contact.”
  • “In your groups, discuss and then draw the intelligent life form that would flourish on this planet.”
  • “Your probe has not yet returned photographs, so you will have to make some educated guesses about what it looks like and what it is able to do.”
  • “Use the data you’ve collected about its environment to help you imagine this new life form.”
  • “You have fifteen (15) minutes to complete your drawings.”  (After groups have finished their drawings, have them hang them up on the wall.  Then have each group do a short presentation about their life form.  After all the presentations, invite the participants to vote on the creature that is the most “Outer Zebox” (innovative and most likely to flourish on the planet) by putting a single dot in the corner of the drawing they like best with a marker.  Award a prize if you wish.)

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November 10, 2008 · 6:02 am

Don’t Fumble Your Faith


Time

30 minutes (or longer, depending upon how many rounds of play you allow)


Description

This object lesson helps children understand how much faith it took for Abraham (called “Abram” at the time) to leave his family and friends to go where God sent him. This is a good outdoor activity that gets everyone involved. It is more physical than typical object lessons, so please consider if it is appropriate for your group of children.

Materials

· Ball (preferably an American football if you are going to call the game, “Don’t Fumble Your Faith,” but most types of balls will do – it just needs to be large enough for the kids to try to pull it out of “Abraham’s” grip.)

· Tape or chalk

Preparation

· Use the tape or chalk to mark off a square on the floor or ground. The square should be four to five feet wide in all directions.

· Mark off an “X” in the center of the square.

· Practice the script.

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

· “Who can tell me some things you know or remember about Abraham from the Bible?” (Listen to responses. Encourage and correct where appropriate.)

· “Abraham was the first father of the Hebrew people. He was originally named, ‘Abram,’ which means, ‘exalted father.’ But God promised him that he would be the father of a great nation and gave him a new name: ‘Abraham,’ which means, ‘father of a great number.’”

· “This promise had to be a little hard to believe, because Abraham and his wife Sarah had already learned that they were not able to have children.”

· “What made it tougher to believe was that Abraham was 75 years old, and Sarah was 65 years old when God made the promise!”

· “Let’s read about it.” (Ask a volunteer to read Genesis 12:1-8.)

· “So, there was more to it. God didn’t just promise to make Abraham the father of a great nation; He also promised to:

o Make Abraham’s name great.

o Make Abraham a blessing to other people.

o Bless those who bless Abraham.

o Curse those who curse Abraham.

o Bless all the peoples on the earth through Abraham.

o Give Abraham’s people the land where the Canaanites lived. (This was a later promise – v. 7.)”

· “That’s a pretty big promise! But it didn’t come completely free. God asked Abraham to do something first.”

· “God asked Abraham to, ‘Leave (his) country, (his) people and (his) father’s household and go to the land (God) would show (him).’”

· “God didn’t even tell Abraham where he was going. He basically said, ‘I’ll let you know when you get there.’”

· “That takes a lot of faith! To leave everything you know and go somewhere you don’t! Through wilderness with wild animals and possibly hostile people!”

· “But Abraham (‘Abram at the time’) did it. Right after he got the promise, the Bible says, ‘So Abram left, as the Lord had told him…’”

· “Let’s play a game to help us understand how much faith it took for Abraham to leave his country, his people and his father to go where God sent him.”

Don’t Fumble Your Faith: Game Set-up and Rules

· Pick one volunteer to be “Abraham.” Put this person on the “X” in the center of the square. Give this person the ball.

· Pick one volunteer to be “God.” Place him/her some distance away from the square – at least ten feet away.

· Line the other kids up on the tape or chalk line that you laid down. There should be at least a few on each side of the square, but they will probably want more kids on the side that is closest to “God.”

· Tell the rules of the game:

o Tell the kids that the ball represents Abraham’s faith in God.

o Abraham’s goal is to get to God without fumbling (letting go of) his faith.

o The square outline represents Abraham’s comfort zone. In it, he feels comfortable and safe. Outside it, things are scary and unknown.

o The kids standing on the square outline represent things that make Abraham’s comfort zone comfortable. They are things like:

§ Fear of the unknown (anything that is outside the comfort zone)

§ Family

§ Friends

§ Home / House

§ Familiar foods

§ Familiar customs

§ A comfortable routine

§ A good job

§ Physical safety

§ Favorite things to do

§ Favorite possessions, etc. (After you’ve listed a few of the things Abraham had, you might use things the kids would identify with, like video games, pizza, sports… It adds humor and helps the kids to connect the lesson to their own lives.)

o Tell the kids that these things make it difficult for Abraham to leave his home and go where God wants him to go.

o The goal of the kids standing on the square will be to keep Abraham in his comfort zone. They can do this by locking arms, forming a wall and not letting Abraham through.

o They can also try to make Abraham “fumble his faith” (drop the ball) by reaching in and trying to grab it or pull it out of his grip.

o They cannot, however, take their feet off the marked-off square. If Abraham gets past them, they cannot chase after him.

o If Abraham breaks free of “his comfort zone,” he has only one obstacle left to reaching God, and that’s you (the facilitator).

o Tell the kids that your role is to play Satan / the devil. If Abraham makes it out of his comfort zone, you will either try to catch him and take him back, or you will try to make him “fumble his faith.”

o The game ends when one of the following happens:

§ Abraham “fumbles his faith.”

§ Abraham is unsuccessful in his attempts to reach God after several minutes (you choose the time limit, but three to five minutes should be plenty).

§ Abraham reaches God with his “faith.”

o Whenever one of the Abrahams successfully reaches God, he/she gets to pick the next Abraham, and a new round ensues with the previous Abraham joining the “comfort zone.”

o Whenever an Abraham fails to reach God or fumbles his faith, the facilitator should select the next Abraham.

o Play as many rounds as you like. Most kids will enjoy a turn at being Abraham or God.

o Save some time at the end of game play to debrief using the following script:

§ “Help me remember what symbols we were working with in the game.”

§ “What did the ball represent?” (Listen for responses.)

§ “What did the square represent?” (Listen for responses.)

§ “What are some of the things that make our comfort zone comfortable?” (Listen for responses.)

§ “Who can share with us a step of faith that God has asked you to make in your life?” (Listen for responses, and encourage.)

§ “What do you think it means to ‘fumble your faith?’” (Listen for responses. The general idea you want to hear is that it means that you lose confidence that God will help you or protect you or that you lose confidence that He really asked you do something.)

§ “Has that ever happened to you or someone you know about?” (Listen for responses.)

§ “What can we do to make sure we hold onto our faith like Abraham did?” (Listen for responses.)

§ “Excellent, everyone! Remember this week to hold onto your faith!”

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