November 6, 2007

• Children’s games for Sunday School by Heather

  What a whirlwind week this has been, but oh so wonderful. I have been having the opportunity to facilitate one of the small groups at a local church in a Beth Moore Bible study – Believing God. What a wonderful study, but this week the homework kicked up a notch! I also was privileged to help out at our church’s harvest party on last Wednesday – at least 100 children were fed and allowed to play carnival games, hearing the Gospel message as well. A fun time was had by all – and I have to confess especially by me because I love doing things like this.

  This coming up Wednesday I have been preparing a presentation for the Sunday school teachers at our church on games. Having been a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, I have used games for those last few minutes of a meeting when the planned activities are completed – this keeps the kids having fun, but not running wild. Cynthia who is the head of our Sunday School also thinks games are a great idea, and asked me to share some. If you deal with Sunday School at your church I thought you might like to learn a few of the indoor games that I am going to share on Wednesday. Games can be good incentives and bargaining chips for children’s attention. If they like a particular game you can say, “We can play that game AFTER we finish our work.” Oh, and Cynthia and Pastor Don feel that for this meeting the grownups are going to PLAY the games, not just talk about them. Once they play the game then they know how fun they are.

  Balloon races (balloons, straws and string and masking or scotch tape) Run a string through a straw and tie the string between two far-spaced chairs. Blow up balloons and tape to straw. Let go and watch jet propulsion work. Two or more chairs with strings permits racing to see which balloon goes the furthest or the fastest. Make sure you have a few adults with good lung capacity to blow up balloons for the little ones – and make sure each child has one balloon of their germs are not passed.

  Hula hoop relay – people hold hands in a circle. A hula hoop is hung on the wrist of one of the participants before they grab hands with the person next to them. The people have to, through cooperation, work the hula hoop around the circle without letting go of their hands - which is kind of funny when adults are playing. To do this people have to bend over, putting one leg through, then their head, then the other leg, etc. Trust me, a lot of giggling goes on with this game.

  Find the Puzzle Pieces. A good gathering game. I will hide the individual pieces to a 24 piece children’s puzzle around the room in plain sight. The people will gather the pieces and put the puzzle together. It is a good game when you are trying to get organized for your meeting or class and teaches cooperation.

  Dice Baseball – Place four chairs around a room to represent bases. The children roll one dice – 1 is a base hit, 2 is a double, 3 a triple, 4 a home run, 5 and 6 are strike out. They play, keeping score One tosses the dice and moves to the proper base chair. The next person rolls the dice and the children move from base to base according to the roll of the dice, until one child’s rolling of the dice causes runs to come in. (For example – if one child hit a double, and the next child “hits” a triple the person on the second base will then cross home plate.) When three strike outs are rolled, the next team comes to “bat” Play keeping score. 

  Cootie Goal is to draw a bug with one head, one body, one tail, 2 eyes, 2 antennae, and six legs. I found 3/4 inch wooden cubes at a local arts and crafts store and put the letters H, E, B, T, A, and L on each side to use as dice. I figure you can make two or three teams of 3-4 people. Each person on a team will take a turn tossing dice and draw the bug part that they earn from the toss of the dice. To speed up the game, I figured that once every team has a “head” the H can become a “L” temporarily so that the six legs are formed more quickly,

  We also have a silly story sort of like Mad-Libs but one from a Boy Scout manual regarding car repairs with such silly items as rattlesnakes, two spiders, etc. 

  Applause stunts: I am going to teach the “Turkey Applause” Walk around in a little circle saying “Gobble, Gobble.” Then rub your tummy saying “Yum, Yum”. I have taught them the Alligator applause – your arms out straight in front of you and open and shut them like an alligators mouth. And a round of applause, clap your hands moving your arms in a huge circle.

  Applauses are good for fun – I have donated to the Church’s library a dictionary of various applauses. You can use a silly applause to have the children listen for a key word like “Covenant” “Ten Commandments” or any other term you want them to learn. You can use it to open up class. They like the silliness – and sometimes teach friends the silly applause.

  Ping Pong balls: Several games with them – Ping Pong Ball and spoon – relay race. Blow ping pong balls across table with straw – don’t let the ball fall to the ground.

  Simon Says

  Games do have a place in Sunday School. Our church also offers a Biblical puppet show, and once a month arts and crafts. They also have a children’s dance team, and every month that has a 5th Sunday, each Sunday School class prepares a skit, dance, or song to share in front of the whole church. Our kids are so spectacular. Our church service runs from 9 to 11:45, and then we have an afternoon one from 12 – 2:45, so we need to vary the activities that the children do – moving them from activity to activity – all God based and fun.

  Have a blessed day! Hope you find some games that you can use.

  Heather

  • 7:24 am
  • 6 Comments