Ice-Breakers

• Ice-breakers are great activities for the first few weeks of catechism, when the faces and names are new. At the start of class, arrange the students in a circle. Starting with yourself or starting randomly, ask one student to state his name and to state his favorite Bible story. Have the next student state her name and favorite Bible story and, in addition, state the name and favorite Bible story of the students that went before her. Because most catechism classes are fairly small (usually eight to 12 students per class), this activity works well.
  
  At the end of the activity, spend some time discussing why particular stories were chosen. The advantage of this activity is that it helps everyone get to know the class and gets everyone thinking about the Bible and about what the stories mean to them.
  
  

Games and Activities

• Some lessons in catechism are perfect for games such as memory or Jeopardy. Lessons such as learning about sins (because Catholics believe in different types of sin with different meanings) work well with vocabulary cards in the form of a memory game. Write terms' names and definitions on separate cards. Arrange the cards face down and have the students pick two cards and try to match the cards with the term and proper definition. Arrange the class into teams and keep score.
  
  A "Jeopardy" game works well with trivia and concepts. For instance, in the Easter story, many events and activities take place. Jesus has the Last Supper with his apostles. He is betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. He is crucified and rises from the dead. Each of these topics has its own trivia and facts tied to them. Arrange a board with a broad topic, such as "The Last Supper," then write questions and answers of varying difficulty. Assign the more difficult questions more points. Then arrange the students into teams and have a leader pick a topic and a point value. Read the answer and give the team a chance to figure out the question; make sure they answer in the form of a question. If they answer correctly, they keep the points. If they answer incorrectly, allow another team to try and figure out the question. (If the kids are very young and don't understand "Jeopardy" question-and-answer reversal, you can ask questions instead.)
  
  

Arts and Crafts

• Another great catechism activity is to make arts and crafts. These work best around the major holidays, such as Christmas, and when teaching about the seven sacraments, such as Baptism or First Communion. Gather art supplies, such as construction paper, markers, tape, glue, glitter and scissors, and have the students use their own creativity to make an art or a craft that goes along with the topic you are teaching about.
  
  Catechism activities come in many forms. Use your own creativity to think up some of your own. Simply think about the topic you will be teaching that week and decide which activity will be the best way to get the kids thinking about it and make thinking about it fun.