Getting to Know You Ball

For the children to explore the favorite things of the other children in their group in order to develop new friendships

The children will understand that God wants us to make others feel welcome.

• Beach ball
• Permanent markers

• Using a permanent marker, write one of the following categories on each panel of the beach ball: favorite color, favorite food, favorite animal, favorite game, favorite subject and favorite season.
• Have the children form a circle and sit down on the ground with their legs crossed and knees almost touching one another.
• Explain that they are going to play a game with the beach ball to get to know each other better.
• Roll the ball to a child on the opposite side of the circle. When that child touches the ball, whatever panel he or she puts his or her hand on is the category he or she must share with the group. For example, if his or her hand touched the panel that said favorite food, that child would tell the group what his or her favorite food is.
• Continue to roll the ball across and around the circle until all the children have had an opportunity to catch the ball and share their information.

Body Smart, People Smart

Try to encourage the children to roll the ball in different directions so that everyone gets the opportunity to participate. You may even have to stop and ask all the children who have not had the ball rolled to them to raise their hands, so that everyone can see who still needs to get a chance.