This is an icebreaker designed to get people focused as you begin.

OPTION 1: KNOCK ’EM DOWN

You might have seen a carnival stand before where participants knock over metal milk bottles by throwing a softball. You might have those same supplies handy. If not, you can purchase a plastic version on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/MIDWAY-MONSTERS-Bottle-Carnival-Balls/dp/B00QT7HRPO. Be sure to obtain a safe backdrop as well, such as gymnastic mats or deadening burlap.

Add a twist o the activity by providing different types of balls to throw at the objects, such as a softball, whiffle ball, volleyball, ping pong ball, foam ball, and a child’s plastic ball. Have the participants roll a die (singular of dice) and make the number they get correspond to one of six options designated ahead of time. For example:

1. Softball
2. Whiffle ball
3. Volleyball
4. Ping pong ball
5. Foam ball
6. Child’s plastic ball

Participants who arrive early to Youth Sabbath School will get more chances. You can provide prizes if you want, or just have the joy of knocking over the bottles be its own reward. Let people know that today’s topic has to do with knocking down the walls of Jericho.

OPTION 2: WHAT’S BEHIND THAT WALL?

One key reason people build walls in the first place is to hide something behind them. Tap into the imagination and artistic side of the youth by asking them to guess what is behind each of the different walls in this video:

You will need to start and stop this 6 ½-minute video multiple times. It’s actually a promotional video about futuristic furniture that folds into walls or come out from behind walls. The Murphy bed (a type of bed that folds down from the wall to save space during the day) has been around for quite a while. But this goes beyond a simple bed to include tables, desks, chairs, and even bunk beds. Watch the video on your own beforehand and be prepared to stop it at key points so you can ask the participants to guess what the next piece of furniture will be and where it come out of (or go back into) in the walls. It’s often hard to guess what might be behind a wall!

TRANSITION

As we consider our lesson for today, keep in mind that the purpose of Jericho’s walls was to keep the people living inside safe from the Israelites, who had just entered Canaan. If you were living in Jericho at the time, would you have felt safer inside the walls or outside the walls?

This is a short video clip you can show your Youth Sabbath School to illustrate this week’s topic, plus a few follow-up questions to spark discussion afterwards.

OPTION 1

Create a video clip that relates to walls. Some people use walls to keep things in, and others use walls to keep things out. In addition to physical walls, people can also surround themselves with social or emotional walls that others may not be able to see, but can feel or experience in some way. Remember to create a list of follow-up questions based on the video as well.

OPTION 2

Compare the two walls in these short video clips based on a part of history the parents of the youth in your class probably observed earlier in their lives. The first is about the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany on November 9, 1989, which signaled the unification of Germany after 28 years of being divided.

The second, taken on June 5, 1989, is about a man who acted as a human wall during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China by continuing to place himself in the path of a tank.

QUESTIONS

• What have you heard about these events that happened 30 years ago?
• What role did young people play in them?
• What role do you think God played in them?
• Are there any walls (either literal or figurative) that you think need to come down in your lifetime?
• What role would you play in this? What role would God play in it?