Note to the Teacher

The key ideas from this scripture for this lesson concern “wisdom characteristics.” The icebreaker invites youth to get silly about choices. The discussion encourages students to talk about what they know about Proverbs 31. The activity allows youth to practice wisdom through a team-building project. Times are based on a fifty-five-minute lesson period but may be adjusted.

Shuffle Your Buns (15 minutes)

In this game, have everyone sit in a circle. Then, select a person to go into the middle. When you say “go,” the person in the middle tries to get back to the seat. Everyone shuffles their buns to block the person from sitting in the empty chair. The person will run around the circle to get to the rapidly moving empty seat. If he/she sits, then the person on his or her left is the person who has to go in the middle. Work to be inclusive in this activity, as it does require physical movement and can result in accidental physical contact.

Modification Option:

Consider having your leaders play or spreading the chairs out wider to make the game harder.

Read Scripture (5 minutes)

Our scripture reading today involves the idea of “holding onto wisdom.” Read Proverbs 31:10-31.

* A fun fact about this passage: Verses 10-31 in the Hebrew is an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Sadly, that pattern doesn’t translate to English!

Discussion (15 minutes)

Which characteristics listed would you consider praiseworthy?
Which of the characteristics listed do you think you possess?
Which of the characteristics do you wish you had more of?
Which of these characteristics do you wish other people had more of?
What about these characteristics makes a person “wise”?
How would this being an acrostic change the way you understood it?

Activity and Discussion (20 minutes)

Take this lesson to the next level by involving students' imaginations as they build a bridge. Create teams of four to five people. Hand each group a roll of masking tape and a box of linguini. Give them ten minutes to build a bridge that can hold a tennis ball from one edge of a table to another. At the end of the ten minutes, test the students’ bridges. The team's bridge that holds the tennis ball the longest wins.