Loveland, Colorado

Grapple Guide
Volume 1 Fall
Copyright 2013 Group Publishing, Inc.

Permission to photocopy these lessons from Grapple granted for local church use.
Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Avenue, Loveland, CO 80538. For
information, visit group.com/permissions.
Visit our website: group.com
Thanks to our talented Grapple curriculum team!
Jeff Brunacci, Jean Bruns, Sharon Carey, Pam Clifford, Kate Elvin, Deborah Helmers,
Peggy Naylor, Rebecca Swain, Pamela Poll Design, Jessica Sausto, Joani Schultz,
Rodney Stewart, Ali Thompson, Joey Vining, Amy Weaver, Roxanne Wieman, Christine
Yount Jones
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Item # 124025
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 14 13
Printed in the United States of America.

Introduction to Grapple......................................................................................... 4

Why Cant We All Just Get Along?

Key Verse: Exodus 20:12

Lesson 1: Why Do My Parents Always Say No?

Exodus 20:1-17; Jeremiah 5:22; Ephesians 6:1-4.................................................. 7

Lesson 2: Why Cant We All Just Get Along?

Genesis 4:1-12; Psalm 133; Colossians 3:12-15.................................................. 15

Lesson 3: Why Cant I Be an Only Child?

Matthew 10:16-22; John 21:15-19; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7..................................... 23

Lesson 4: Why Do I Have to Sit in the Back Seat?

Luke 6:37-38; John 15:12-13; Philippians 2:3-11................................................. 31

Who Is Jesus?

Key Verse: Luke 9:20

Lesson 1: What if Jesus Is a Liar?

Numbers 23:19; Mark 10:32-34; John 8:12-18, 44; Acts 5:26-42........................ 39

Lesson 2: What if Jesus Is a Lunatic?

Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:9-13; 12:1-13.................................................................... 47

Lesson 3: What if Jesus Is a Loser?

John 16:28-33; Colossians 2:13-15...................................................................... 55

Lesson 4: What if Jesus Is Lord?

Psalm 110; Acts 2:34-36....................................................................................... 63

Kids Just Wanna Have Fun

Key Verse: Jeremiah 29:11

Lesson 1: Why Cant I Go to PG-13 Movies?

Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8............................................................................... 71

Lesson 2: What Would Jesus Play on His iPod?

1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:16-17.......................... 79

Lesson 3: Is God a Party Pooper?

Leviticus 23:6-8, 23-25, 33-36; Psalms 16:8-11; 21:1-6; Romans 13:13.............. 87

Lesson 4: Can Being a Christian Ever Be Fun?

John 10:10; 15:15; Philippians 3:4-9.................................................................... 95
Grapple Games .................................................................................................. 103

our preteens need more than the same old Bible lessons; they need Bible
depth. Grapple is specifically designed to get preteens grappling with tough
questions in meaningful ways so they understand and own their faith. Grapple
gets kids into the Biblelike no other curriculum can!

Introduction

During small group kids follow the same schedule each week.

grapple schedule
5 minutes
10 -15 minutes
10 minutes
15 minutes
10 minutes
5 minutes

grapple community
grapple games
grapple time
grapple team time
grapple team reports
grapple prayer and dare

Please note that times are approximate and should be flexible to fit your small
groups needs.

Grapple Community: Kids enjoy snacks and friendship as they spend time getting to know each other. Have your kids choose the music to play during this
time. Then play a three-minute countdown, included on your Grapple DVD,
to let kids know how much time they have until Grapple Community is over.
You can also use the countdowns to wrap up an activity in the lesson.

Grapple Games: Kids choose the games theyll play during group. Read the
text aloud in the grapple games section, briefly describing each game, then
let kids vote. Find the game instructions on pages 103-105 of this guide.

Grapple Time: Grapple Time is the leader-led experience for your entire
group. Grapple Time involves everyone in making discoveries; the experience gives kids the desire to dig into the Bible for answers.
Grapple Team Time: Kids get into their Grapple Teams of six or fewer to dig
into the Bible with the reproducible Grapple Team Guide, available on the
DVD.

Grapple Team Reports: Teams vote on how they want to report what they
discovered during Grapple Team Time. Once teams are ready to report,
they get with other teams that chose the other style of reporting. They
then take turns reporting what they learned.

Introduction

Who leads a Grapple Team? If you have six or fewer kids, stay together
with you as the leader. If you have several Grapple Teams, try these
ideas: Facilitate all the teams by moving around from team to team,
assign a preteen to be the team leader, or recruit adults or teenagers to
be team leaders.

Grapple Prayer and Dare: Kids choose, as a group, which prayer option
they would like to do. After the group closes in prayer, give preteens the
weekly Grapple Dare to live out their faith during the coming week.

ALLERGY ALERT
This guide may contain activities that include
food. Be aware that some kids have food allergies that can be dangerous. Know the kids in
your group, and consult with parents about
allergies their kids may have. Also be sure to
carefully read food labels, as hidden ingredients
can cause allergy-related problems.
5

blind bump
Ask one person to be It and blindfold this
person. Have everyone else scatter across
the room and stand, sit, or squat. Tell
children that once theyre in place, they
cant move from their locations or positions. The goal is for It to walk safely back
and forth across the room, bumping as
few people as possible. Select two people
to be Guides to help lead It back and
forth across the room. One Guide will give
clear and precise directions, and the other
Guide will give directions that will make It
bump into kids all along the way. It has to
decide which Guide is telling him or her the
truth as they try to trick It by using different
voices. Once It has returned to the start,
remove the blindfold and repeat the game
with a new It and two new Guides. Have
the other kids change positions.

body clumps
Yell out a body part and a number. Kids
will run as quickly as possible to connect
that part of their body (hands, feet, or
elbows) in a group with that number of
people (fives, threes, eights).

bodyguard
Have kids form groups of three. Each
group will choose one player to be the
Star. The other two players will be the
Bodyguards. Choose one group to go first,
and have that group move to one end of
your playing area. While one group is performing, everyone else will be a Fan and
go to the other end of the room. Explain
that the object of the game is for the Fans
to tag the Star without being tagged by the
Bodyguards.

Grapple Games

back-to-back
Have kids form pairs and sit on the floor,
back-to-back. (This works best when the
partners are of similar size.) Have kids pull
their knees up to their chests with their feet
flat on the floor and their arms linked with
their partners arms. Then tell pairs to stand
up. With a little timing and cooperation, it
shouldnt be too hard. Then combine pairs
into foursomes. Have the foursomes sit on
the floor back-to-back with arms linked.
Tell foursomes to stand up. It is a little
harder with four. Keep adding more people
to the group until the giant group of kids
cant stand up anymore.

The Star and Bodyguards will try to travel

from one end of the room to the other
without being tagged. If a Bodyguard tags
a Fan, the Fan is out of the game and sits
down. If a Fan tags the Star, they change
placesincluding Bodyguardsand play
begins again.

103

Grapple Games

chase the tail

heads or tails

Have kids form groups of 8 to 10, if possible, and line them up, one behind the
other. Kids should put their arms on the
waist or on the shoulders of the person in
front of them. The last person in line tucks
a handkerchief in a pants pocket or waistband with part of the handkerchief hanging
out. At the signal, the Head of the dragon
(the front of the line) begins chasing its
own Tail (the end of the line), trying to
snatch the handkerchief. The tricky part of
this is that the people at the front and the
people at the end are clearly competing
but the kids in the middle arent sure which
way to go. The game ends when the Head
finally gets the handkerchief. Then the
Head takes the handkerchief and becomes
the new Tail, while the second person from
the front becomes the new Head.

Have kids choose individually whether they

want to be heads or tails. Kids who choose
heads will put both hands on their heads.
Kids who choose tails will put both hands
on their backsides.

gimme five
Have kids form groups of three. Explain
that the object of this game is for each
group to name five items in a category.
When a group can name five items, group
members need to jump up, high five each
other, and yell, Gimme five! Then group
members will share the items they came
up with so that the rest of the group can
verify them. When a group has five verified
items in a category, that group has won the
category! Have everyone else celebrate its
victory with applause!
Categories:
Jobs, rodents, kinds of rooms in your
home, sports that dont use a ball, animals
bigger than dogs, old wives tales, things in
a classroom, famous sayings, fruits, cars,
candy bars, cereals, or insects.

104

Then youll flip the coin. If it lands on heads,

people who chose heads must tag people
who chose tails. The trick is, they must tag
the Tails while keeping their hands on their
heads. When a Tail is tagged, that person
works to tag other Tails as well. You can
decide whether to flip the coin again to
keep the game moving or wait until everyone is either Heads or Tails.

human knot
Have kids stand in a tight circle. Ask kids to
stretch their right hands into the circle and
grab someone elses hand. They should
not grab the hand of the person standing next to them. Then have kids repeat
the process with their left hands, making
sure not to hold both hands of the same
person. Once kids are linked, explain that
they must untangle themselves without
letting go of each others hands. They can
step over, crawl under, or slide between
each other to get untangled. Kids may
even readjust their grips to avoid twisting
anyones arms, but they must not let go of
the hands theyre holding.

musical mania

shoe sort

Have kids form two circles of equal numbers, with one circle inside the other. One
circle walks clockwise and the other walks
counterclockwise while you play music.
When you stop the music, have kids turn to
face the person opposite them and share
their answers to each question you ask.
If you have an uneven number of kids,
the one without a partner should share
answers with you. When theyve finished
sharing, start the music again.

Have kids stand in a line, shoulder to

shoulder, and close their eyes. Their job is
to rearrange themselves by shoe size, from
smallest to largest, without opening their
eyes or talking. You may want to spot while
kids do this to help avoid bumped heads.
After kids think theyve lined up correctly,
have them open their eyes and check the
results.

Here are some sample questions:

Set up an obstacle course using classroom

supplies. Have kids get in groups of three.
Each group will choose a volunteer to be
the Wheelbarrow while the other two group
members each hold one of the volunteers
legs. Kids will go through the obstacle
course once and then trade places with
other kids in their group.

Grapple Games

Whats your biggest pet peeve?

Whats your favorite movie?
Whats your favorite color?
How many brothers and sisters do you
have?
Whats your favorite Bible verse?

wheelbarrow racing

mystery identity
Ask one volunteer to leave the room for a
few minutes. Explain to the rest of the class
that they will choose the volunteers new
identity. For example, they may decide that
the volunteer is a certain celebrity or a type
of service worker such as a firefighter.
Ask the volunteer to return to the room
and try to guess the new identity the group
has chosen. The volunteer will do this
by asking group members, one at time,
specific questions about the new identity.
The group members will then act out the
answer to help the volunteer guess.

105