You Can Make Learning Fun!
These activities are designed to help reinforce The Truths of God’s Word in a fun and exciting way.
For more games and activities, read Will They Follow? by Donna Syme
(sold on Amazon.com)
True or False Game
Age:
Elementary
Materials:
-
2 plastic spoons
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2 small balls (ping pong balls work well)
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2 shoe boxes (or plastic containers about the size of a shoe box)
Preparation:
-
Place the letter “T” on one container and the letter “F” on the other container. (See Illustration.)
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Write about 10 True/False statements from previous lessons (ie. Sarah was Abraham’s wife – T, Jesus was born in Egypt – F)
Game:
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Two children go to the starting line. Each child has a spoon with a ball on it.
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The teacher reads a statement and then says GO.
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Children take their spoons with the balls up to the containers as fast as they can without dropping the ball. The winner is the one who gets their ball in the correct container first.
Helpful Information:
-
If a student drops their ball, they must get it and put it back on their
spoon before they can proceed to the correct container. -
Number your balls. If both children get to the bins at the same time, one ball might go in and the other bounce out. Without numbers, it could be difficult to determine whose ball went in.
Books of the Bible Game
2A
2B
2A
Age:
3rd grade and up (children need to be able to read)
Materials:
-
40-50 Styrofoam cups (depending on the size of your group)
-
Fine point black magic marker
Preparation:
-
Write the names of the first 10 books of the Old Testament on the rims
of the Styrofoam cups. (See Illustration 2-A.) -
Provide 10 cups for each group. (See Illustration 2-B.)
-
Mix up the cups for each group. (See Illustration 2-C.)
Game:
-
Children work in groups of two or three to put the cups in order. (See
Illustration 2-D.) -
After the cups are in order, the group stands up and altogether says the
Books of the Bible. -
The winner is the first group who stands and says the Books all correctly.
-
When they have all finished, have each group mix up their own cups to
be passed to another group so the game can be replayed.
Helpful Information:
-
You can use more than ten cups for each group, but it might become
difficult to try to do too many. -
If you are in a gym or have a place for the children to run, they can stack
the cups, stand up and say the Books of the Bible, then run to a certain
spot and come back. The winners would be the ones who get back first.
2C
2D
Ring the Buzzer
Age:
Elementary
Materials:
Buzzers (See Illustration 3-A and 3-B.)
(These buzzers can be ordered on Amazon, Staples, and other websites.)
Preparation:
​Write 10 questions from recent Bible lessons.
Game:
-
Assign one student to each buzzer.
-
Read a question.
-
The first student to buzz in gets to answer. If they are incorrect, let
someone else who has buzzed in answer. -
When you are reading a question, a student may buzz in early. If they
do, the teacher should stop the question and let the child answer. If the
student is incorrect, that student is out, and the others get to hear the
entire question. -
After each question, let four more students come to a buzzer.
Helpful Information:
If you’d like, you can divide the group into two teams and use only two
buzzers. With each question, you would have one child from each team try
to answer.
3A
3B
Jeopardy
Age:
2nd grade and up
Materials:
-
Two buzzers (See previous game.)
-
Whiteboard
Preparation:
-
Prepare a Jeopardy board. (See the above illustration.) Write at least 12 questions from recent Bible lessons. Give a point value to each question depending on the difficulty of the question. Easy questions would be worth 100 points, harder questions would be 300, and the most difficult would be 500 points.
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On the board in the illustration, you would need to write four questions for each point value.
Game:
-
Divide the group into two teams.
-
Have one volunteer from each team come to a buzzer.
-
The players from each team should take turns deciding on the point
value of the question. Make sure they understand that the 500-point
questions will be harder than the others. -
Read a question of that point value. The first player to buzz in gets to
answer. If that player is correct, his team gets that many points. -
Players may buzz in before the question is completed. However, if they
do, the teacher stops, and that student must answer. If that player is
incorrect, the other player gets to hear the entire question before
answering.
Helpful Information:
-
After a player selects a point value, erase that one from the board. That way everyone knows how many questions are left for each point value.
-
Don’t forget to use questions from recent Bible verses as well.
Roll Four
Age:
2nd grade and up
Materials:
-
One large die
-
One cup
Preparation:
Write about ten questions from recent Bible lessons.
Game:
-
Divide the group into two teams.
-
The students will take turns answering the questions.
-
Have someone from Team 1 come up and answer a question. If they are correct, they get to roll the die. Their team gets that many points unless they roll 4. If they roll 4, their team gets no points and a player from the other side comes up to have a turn.
-
If the first player did not roll 4, they can roll the die again. However, if
they roll the same number again or a 4, they get no points at all and lose
the points they got for the first roll. -
Each player always has two chances to roll. However, if they get a big
number the first time (ie. 6), they may choose to keep that amount and
not take a chance on losing it by rolling a 6 or 4 the second time. -
The next question goes to a player from the other team.
Helpful Information:
​​
If they roll a 4 or their previous number, they lose only the points they
got from that question, not all of their points.
Memory Verse Tower
Age:
2nd grade and up
6A
6B
Materials:
Preparation:
-
Use a recent memory verse and divide it into 7 sections. (id. Be ye kind / to one another / tender-hearted / forgiving one another...)
-
Write each section of the verse on a separate card.​
-
Staple each card on a separate cup as shown in Illustration 6A. Every other cup will be upside down.
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Make as many as needed for the number of students you have.
​
-
16 oz. plastic cups (will need 7 cups for each group of about 3 students)
-
3 X5 cards (cut in half)
-
Stapler
Game:
-
Give each group a set of cups that has the complete verse. Cups should be mixed up.
-
The children in each group should work together to build a tower with the verse cards in the correct order. (See Illustration 6B.)
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If the tower falls while it is being built, the group will need to start over.
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When the tower is correctly completed, the group should read the verse out loud together.
-
The winner is the group that finishes all these steps first .
Helpful Information:
If some of the children are still learning the verse, write it on the white board. It will be a reference for the students who need it. Students who already know the verse will not need to look at the white board.​
Memory Verse Bowling
.jpg)
Age:
Elementary
Materials:
-
2 sets of plastic bowling pins
-
2 plastic bowling balls
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2x3 pieces of paper
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black marking pen
Preparation:
-
You will need to prepare both sets of bowling pins for this.
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Divide the verse into sections and place each section on a 2x3 piece of paper.
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Tape each section of the verse to a bowling pin.
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Do the same with the second set of bowling pins.
Game:
-
Divide the group into two teams. Each team will have their own set of pins.
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Place the pins of each set in random order as in the first picture.
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The children from each team will take turns rolling the ball to knock down all the pins.
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Once the pins are knocked down, the team must work together to set them up in the correct order of the verse as in the last picture.
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When all the pins are set up correctly, the team should stand and say the verse.
-
The winner is the team that has all the pins in order and quotes the verse first.
Helpful Information:
1. Have one child from each team stand on the other side of the pins to retrieve the ball when it is rolled.
2. To save money, use half gallon milk cartons for your bowling pins.
3. If some of the children are still learning the verse, write it on the white board. It will be a reference for the students who need it. Students who already know the verse will not need to look at the white board.
​
Quote the Verse
Age:
Elementary
Materials:
-
Several pieces of plain paper
-
Marker
Preparation:
-
Select a fairly short verse that the children have learned.
-
Write one or two words from the verse on each piece of paper (ie. For Ephesians 4:32, Be ye would be on the first paper, Kind would be on the second paper, to one another on the third, and so on until you finish the verse.)
Game:
-
Give each child a paper with a word or words on it from the verse.
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Have all the children stand up front in such a way that the words are all scrambled up.
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The goal is for the children to arrange themselves in such a way that from left to right, the words are in order.
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After they are standing in order, you can go right down the line with each child saying the word(s) on his/her paper so the verse is quoted correctly.
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You may have to help the children in the beginning, but after they understand, some of your older children will be able to take a leadership role here and get everyone in order.
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Time the group to see how long it takes to get everyone in order.
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Time them a second (and possibly a third time) to see if they can get faster each time.
Helpful Information:
Once the children understand what to do, let them do it themselves without help from the teachers. The older children will help the younger ones, and they will be able to do this by themselves.​