Testing the development level of a group

When working with a newly formed group, like a Confirmation class, have a time early on (I like having a lock-in for this purpose) to determine what kind of group it is and where they generally stand developmentally.

• One classic developmental test is posing the conundrum “Can God create a rock too large for God to lift... but if God is all-powerful, God should be able to lift it.” Younger youth with a concrete view of God will struggle with this and try to solve it, older youth will think it is a dumb question.
  
• A game can be devised where subgroups compete for points by being the first to come forward with the correct answer to questions (possibly fun questions) that tell you what they know and how they think.
  
• I usually have an “unusual foods” snack time to see how they do with change and challenge.
  
• A formal “brainstorming” session can test for creativity.
  
• I will assign groups dividing them into different sizes and mixes of groups and then assign a leader for each group, giving as many of them as possible a leadership role. Then the sponsors and I would watch to see who works well as a leader and who doesn't.