The new year is underway and a new President has been inaugurated. Junior highers may not understand all the implications of the new year and new leaders, but they do like trivia! So, here’s a game that tests their ability to guess which state has the strange, but true, American law on the books. It's called: Strange
The best starter list of large group games that are fun to play and allow everyone to join in! These are perfect for summer camp, youth, kids, etc.
Do you work with children at a church? Are you a Christian Educator? check out some of the other blogs I've written specifically for Chri...
Welcome to the largest collection of Camp Games on the planet! Ultimate Camp Resource is for camp people, by camp people. Enjoy!
The following is an object lesson I've used in children's church to teach about tithing. Since it even caught the attention of my teenage son, I figured perhaps it was worth sharing. Tithing is a tough concept for kids. Let's be honest, it's tough for ANYONE! I haven't always been a tither. Money got tight and I figured "God would understand" if I didn't give sometimes. However, as money has gotten tighter over the past few years, I figure I can't afford NOT to tithe! At any rate, I decided perhaps the children in our children's church needed a little "instruction" or explanation each week as we gave our offering...this example came from one unplanned Sunday lesson, and it stuck! That Sunday, as we prepared to take the offering - usually a few pennies or whatever Mom and Dad had given the child to put into the bucket - I decided to make sure the children understood what the word "tithe" meant. Not some deep theological explanation, but simply that it meant a tenth. If God provided them with a dime, a tithe would be a penny. If they got a dollar, it would be a dime. We went all the way to a million dollars - I'd love to be able to give a tithe on that! They understood the numbers, but I could tell we needed a little more. That's when the idea of French fries came to mind. I asked the kids if their dad took them out to McDonalds and bought them some fries, what would they do if he then asked them for one or two of the fries. Of course, they all said they'd let him have some. He had, of course, bought them in the first place! We then made the connection that our tithe is like those fries. Our Father God provides for our needs - often with money - and He then asks us for "some of our fries". Then I asked the children, "What if you're still hungry after you give Dad some fries and you eat the rest?" One of the children piped up, "Dad will probably buy you some more." That's it! While we may not have the money to buy those fries, the cost of a bag of fries is nothing for our father...usually pocket change! How much more will our Heavenly Father, who walks on streets of gold, provide for our needs? When we show our trust in Him by giving the tithe, we also show our trust that if we need more, He will provide. It's not a big deal for Him - He's got this! We can also trust, that when Dad asks us to share our fries with others, He will make sure we still have all that we need. So there you have it, a simple lesson on tithing and French fries....and on trusting that our Father loves us and will take care of what we need. Enjoy "sharing your fries" my friends. Matthew 7:11 (NIV) 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Luke 6:38 (NIV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Malachi 3:8-10 (NIV) 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Psalm 4:5 (NIV) 5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. There are a LOT more references. Here's a site that lists more: Tithes and offerings
Looking for some fun indoor games for large groups but you are restricted on space? Don't worry! These large group games are specificly for indoor play.
Want to help your kids learn about gratitude? Play the gratitude game with them. It's a fun game that the whole family will enjoy!
Use mail in this Letter to the Romans through Revelation Object Lesson to teach children about the purpose of the Epistles.
Hi KidMin friends! Today I’m wrapping up the Grow Series with a lesson on prayer. This lesson is especially interactive as we used prayer stations to help kids experience prayer with a hands-on approach. My notes on this lesson: be […]
Here’s an easy game, for a medium to large group, involving little setup or supplies. Scatterball is basically dodgeball with a twist. The twist being that no one is ever really out. I read several different versions of the game, and we altered them a bit to fit our group. Here’s how we did it:...
'Change Places If...' is a very simple game that requires absolutely no materials or preparation, and can be played with groups both large and small. Additionally, you'll undoubtedly find a lot of uses for this game, because it requires no materials or prep. You can play 'Change Places If...' as a main youth group game, or utilize it as a short icebreaker. It's also the kind of game that you can play on a trip or during periods of waiting to fill the time.
Each week in our Kid’s Church we play games. We have a big game spreadsheet (I highly suggest making an inventory if you haven’t already) that we pull games from. These games are mostly 2-4 players games, but I always […]
Here is where my Cub Scout days pay off. I adapted the "Paper Plate Relay" for a Seminary activity. Yesterday, I had the students name t...
A two-part color and cut out Advent wreath base with candles.
Teaching a meaningful message to kids doesn't require an expensive prop; often you can use items children are already familiar with to relay a Bible Bible Object Lessons for Kids Blanket Object Lesson
If you're stuck inside the classroom due to bad weather, this collection of indoor recess activities has heaps of ideas to help students blow off steam!
The best youth group games and this particular activity included a flour fight battle for teens! The foodfight teenagers will never forget!
The Wesleyan Church is partnering with Awana to provide mid-week programs that introduce children to Jesus Christ and root them in biblical faith. Large group lessons free to download!
Sunday, October 6, 2013, was the first time I ever delivered a Sunday School sermon for all children belonging in the intermediate department. Below is my sermon’s rough draft. Of course, it was not the actual words I used during actual delivery; I was mostly speaking in Tagalog (so that the children can understand it better). Also, I didn’t use this as guide at all during my actual sermon (forgot to bring it), but the flow and content of the sermon has been parallel to this rough draft below. Additional note: in the draft, I put the expected responses of the children on my questions (these are the italized words in parentheses). And, essentially, during the actual, the expected responses have been spot on). Can you name who is this? (Wolveriiiiiiiiine!) Right. That’s Wolverine. How about this next one, can you name him? (Huuuuulk!) Right again! That’s the Hulk. Next… (Captain America!) Yes. Captain America. And the last one… (Spider-Man!!!) Correct! Spider-Man. Now, what is the common thing about Wolverine, Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man? (They are superheroes!) Yes. They are all superheroes. They have superpowers, and they use them to save other people’s lives and fight evil. Pretty cool of them, right? However, these superheroes – Wolverine, Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man – are fictional. They do not exist in real life. Moreover, even IF they are real, they are only merely Men. And though they have used their superpowers to save lives, those same superpowers can’t save them from the greatest danger that all of humanity faces: the curse of sin and death. They will need a Superhero themselves to save them from this. In real life, there is only one true Superhero. Do you know who he is? (JESUS!) You are right, the ONLY real-life Superhero is Jesus! And unlike Spider-Man and Captain America, Jesus actually exists in real life. And best of all? He can save us from sin and death! Wow. Hulk, incredibly super-strong as he may be, can’t do that. Only Jesus can. JESUS IS THE ONLY SAVIOR According to 1 John 4:14: “…the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” Superheroes have saved the world, but only in fiction. Moreover, the extent of their “saving of the world” is so miniscule compared to the magnitude of Jesus’ “saving the world.” Jesus is the only one who has literally saved the world from Hell. Jesus is the only Savior of the world. Salvation from death and sin can be found in no one else but in him alone (John 14:6). THE LORD PROTECTS ME ALWAYS In fiction, superheroes use their superpowers to protect people and fight evil. In real life, only the Lord has true superpowers and the only one that can protect us from evil. Once you make Jesus your personal Superhero and Savior, he promises to protect you from the evils and dangers that surround you. He promises to fight for you. It is said in Exodus 14:14: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Moreover, Romans 8:31b states, “If God is with us, who can be against us.” Jesus is the only real-life Superhero. He is more powerful than Superman. He is bigger than all of the “supervillains” – fear, temptation, bullies, tests, etc. – you face in your life. And if he’s your Superhero, then you have nothing to fear. THE LORD IS MY AVENGER Who here knows of the superhero team, Avengers? Who here have seen the movie? Now, do you know what is the meaning of “avenger”? It means someone who takes vengeance or the one committing revenge. Take note of this: the Lord said in Deuteronomy 32:35: “Vengeance is Mine.” What does that mean? It means only the Lord has the right to take vengeance on someone! Remember that the Lord will fight for you. Thus, He will surely be the one who will avenge you from those who have done evil to you. If we take vengeance on our own, instead of letting God, then it means we do not trust Him. Not only that, but we insult Him. It means we don’t think of him as a just and powerful Superhero, that he is incapable of giving us justice. So if we truly trust Him as our Superhero, we will not be vengeful – doing revenge on our own – but will rather surrender to God the offense on us and let him be our Avenger. Jesus will surely be happy if we let him be our Avenger. So always remember: 1.) JESUS IS THE ONLY SAVIOR 2.) THE LORD PROTECTS ME ALWAYS 3.) THE LORD IS MY AVENGER Let us be thankful for these truths. And let us be thankful that Jesus is our Superhero!
Are you looking for insanely fun group games? Here is a huge list of the best team building activities. These include 100s of entertaining large group games for adults, youth, and kids alike.
Title: Jericho Falls Scripture: Joshua 3-6 Target Age Group: 3rd-5th grade Main Point: God’s power brings victory Supplies: 24 stones or blocks Lesson Bible Lesson Plans for Kids Jericho Falls Sunday School Lesson (Joshua 3-6)
I have a new Minute To Win It game. It's a New Testament version. Just click on the picture to check it out. In Seminary this year we are studying the Old Testament. For our Christmas party I thought that it would be fun to have a review of the year so far with Minute to Win it games. Here is what I came up with. I gave each team 5 apples and had them do their best to stack them. The team who had the most apples stacked at one minute won. You could also have a person from each team eat an apple and the person who eats most of the apple wins. For this one you will need 2 jars and a bunch of plastic animals. I taped a picture of Noah's Ark to the outside. Each person puts the jar by their feet. While standing straight each person tries to drop an animal into the jar from their nose. The teams that has the most animals is the jar at one minute wins. Each team is given a stack of cups. The team who has the tallest tower at one minute wins. For this one you will need 2 empty tissue boxes, 2 belts and 16 ping pong balls. Put slits on the two sides of the tissue box to slip the belt through. Fill each tissue box with 8 ping pong balls. Each person playing ties the belt around his waist with the box in the back. They both have one minute to dance around until all of the ping pong balls (seeds) have been bounced out of the tissue box. For this you will need 2 straws, 40 marshmallows, and two plates. Each person will have one minutes to get 20 marshmallows (sheep) into the plate (the pen) with the straw. For this challenge you will need 10 3"x 14" pieces of poster board and about 40 cups. Give each player 5 pieces of poster board and a stack of cups. Each player builds a ladder with the poster board for rungs. The team with the tallest ladder wins. Each team gets a copy of Joseph's coat to color. They have one minute to color it on their head. Each player must use at least five colors. The team is allowed to give advice on how to color in the lines. The team that does the best job wins. This one I did not end up doing. Here's how it could be done. You will need 20 old Bibles. Each team will have one member help another team member stack 5 Bibles in each hand. Then they will have to walk across the room with all 10 Bibles without dropping them. The team that gets all 10 Bibles across the room first wins. This challenge is in reference to Deuteronomy 33:17. Give each team a bag of Honeycomb cereal. Each team will have one member lie down on the ground while another team member stacks the honeycomb cereal, one on top of the other, to look like a unicorn horn. The team that has the tallest horn wins (without cheating). For this challenge you will need to print out two pictures of the brick wall below onto cardstock. Fold the cardstock in half like a card. Place the cards at one end of the table. Both teams have a member blow the card across the table and then try to get the card to hang off the edge without falling off. If the card falls off then they have to start all over. Bounce a ping pong ball at least twice to knock over Goliath. The first person to do it in under a minute wins. Here's a printout for you to use. For the Champions I made these trophies out of Toblerone. Just print out the picture below. Cut it out and glue it to the top of a Toblerone. The students loved it. This is all the further we have studied this year. If we come up with more games I will be sure to post them on here. Good Luck! Check out my other New Testament Minute to Win it game. Here's another fun game to play with scriptures. I also have Grinch Minute to Win it Games And Alice in Wonderland Minute to Win it Games And Frozen themed Minute to Win it Ideas
I’m happy to share the second lesson in the Armor of God series today. Like last week, you’ll find five parts to each lesson: Welcome question: This is a question asked before large group begins. It can be written and […]
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Our continuing Exploration through the Life of Jesus Has brought us to the time when Jesus is Teaching in Parables. The Parable we are learning about is the Parable of the four soils. We added NEW CARDS to our DO You Know? Wall. My Expectation is for the KIDDOS to be able to answer each of these by the end of the lesson. Our VISUAL Aid for this lesson was fun to make. I have a dear friend, who gave me this wooden box with the four compartments, several years ago. I believe it used to hold children's puzzles. I used clay to make the "WAYSIDE." I used pebbles for the "STONY" ground. I used sand and dirt with a mixture of wooden skewers (cut to small pieces) for the "THORNY" ground. For the "GOOD GROUND" I used potting soil. We used sunflower seeds for our seeds. And my FARMER goes with a DOLLHOUSE set. I added a bird, I purchased at Dollar Tree, to the "WAYSIDE." I added the SUN and scorched plant to the "STONY" ground. I added a bit of strange greenery to the "THORNY" ground. I added sunflowers to the "GOOD GROUND." The KIDDOS were in LOVE with this VISUAL!!!! They loved seeing all the grounds and items that went with the grounds!! It was a great touch and see VISUAL!!!!! We also added a secondary VISUAL to our white board. Each of the pictures show the different types of soils. The bottom sign is our definition for Parable. The KIDDOS need to understand that a PARABLE is and EARTHLY STORY with a HEAVENLY MEANING. We had three new words to add to our WORD WALL. I chose SOIL, SOWER & PARABLE. Those are important words for the KIDDOS to understand for this lesson to make more sense to them. We Added a NEW Card to our GOD'S AWESOME PLAN FOR MAN Timeline!! This is the SONG we learned with this lesson. This song is a little longer than most, but the KIDDOS all learned it and sang it very well!! The song can be heard by clicking the following link. The SOWER song by Ronda Duvall Our MEMORY VERSE was Mark 4:20! To hear the MEMORY VERSE song click on this link. Memory Verse Song Mark 4:20 The Kiddo's TAKE-HOME project was a fun one!! I premade all the little trays of the various soils...the project is made from cardstock...I printed the back picture on the cardstock, before assembling. The KIDDOS added each SOIL, SEEDS and the LABELS to their project. There is double sided foam tape on the back of each of the the soil trays and glue dots on the back of soil labels. The little trays came from the very bottom of Gerber Baby Food Containers. I just cut them down to make them very shallow. The WAYSIDE, is air dried clay, I shaped it in the bottom of one of the baby food containers. By premaking most of the activity it did not take very long to assemble them during Bible Class....I NEVER want our craft/activity to take up a lot of Bible Class time. This KIDDOS loved the weeks REVIEW Game!! The KIDDOS answered a question from the lesson for the opportunity to toss the bean bag.....then the KIDDOS had to tell me what SOIL they landed on and WHAT happened in that SOIL. It was a wonderful way to review all four soils and the outcome of the seeds that fell upon those soils. As you know, the second week of the LESSON is when we REVIEW. It gives me opportunity to correct any misunderstandings. It also, gives opportunities for the KIDDOS who missed class the first week to "CATCH UP." This is the Week we SAY our MEMORY VERSE from MEMORY and We do an ACTIVITY we add to our EXPLORER JOURNAL. This LESSON'S EXPLORER JOURNAL ACTIVITY was a fun one...the KIDDOS added stickers and glued on seeds to this activity. I make the stickers from clipart using a sticker maker machine. The KIDDOS always LOVE stickers and anything they get to glue. We used sunflower seed for our seeds...they are easy for little hands to pick up and glue. I am thoroughly enjoying teaching through the Life of Christ. The KIDDOS are learning so much about JESUS our LORD. Blessings, Ronda
Use this Christmas Superhero Object lesson to discuss the Christmas story, different types of heroes, and how Jesus is the One True Hero.
To keep things safe, divide boys and girls – creating two different games. Individuals will link arms, forming a large circle. Place a trash can into the center of the circle. The goal is to pull each other round and round, forcing anyone (but yourself) into the trash can. Not literally inside the trash can. Just bump them into it. This will force them out of the game. You can also get people out of the game by breaking their link. Play until the last young man or young woman stands.
Try these fun (and only slightly messy) game ideas for large groups of children. Perfect for AWANA clubs, Vacation Bible School, or other fun settings.
Use a few simple materials to have some sticky learning time! Adding the element of a vertical surface can completely transform patterning and sorting!
If you've ever wondered how did we get the Bible, then this post is for you, and it's written to easily share with kids.
27 awesome outdoor games your kids will love playing at youth group. Most games have no prep and no supplies. Also, all of these games can be for small to large youth groups. I curated this list so that youth leaders can have a quick reference to great outdoor games with links for instructions.
This Armor of God object lesson using oranges and water is so simple, yet very effective at helping children understand its importance.
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I am a big fan of having the kids know who does what in the Bible. Or, for this post, are the people Old Testament or New Testament?
I am gearing up for a new CCD year, and planning activities for this years' theme. Last year's theme of "My Soul Magnifies the Lord" was lots of fun, but although Mary is all of our Mother, it definitely felt like some (most) of our decorations and activities were more girl friendly than boy friendly. So, I may be over compensating a little in the opposite direction, but the theme this year is "Put on the Whole Armor of God" and our patron Saint is St. Michael the Archangel. I am planning decorations and ways to incorporate the theme into our year long activities, but I am also working on a Boys' Retreat to go along with the same theme. I'll be sharing some of the games and activities that we use for that event. First up: Draw Your Sword. Every now and then in one of my college Bible Studies, we would play a "lame" game called Draw Your Sword. The idea was to improve memorization of where to find things in the Bible and speed in looking things up. Someone in the group would call out a book, chapter, and verse, and the first to find it and start reading was the winner and would get to call out the next verse. A little friendly competition made it entertaining. The name "Draw Your Sword" comes from Hebrews 4:12- "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword." Knowing the Word of God is the best weapon we can arm ourselves with against the world. To make the idea of familiarizing them with the Bible and looking up references a little more fun, I made this game. Starting with an empty small coffee can, I colored and attached the Draw Your Sword printable, (link below). Then buy different colors of plastic knives (swords) and write a Book, Chapter, and Verse on the end of the knife with a Sharpie. (Note- if you are working with really little kids, or kids prone to violence :) I don't recommend plastic knives- those suckers can still hurt. I have a knife-free option below. I went ahead and used knives because I knew that my older students could handle it.) There is a list below of verses, at least one from each book of the Bible, and a lot of them connect to the theme of the Armor of God. Here is the finished jar. Now, arm each kid with a Bible, have one draw out a sword, and race to see who can find it first. The first one to read the verse gets to pull the next sword. I made plenty of swords so they could even be split into cups for use with smaller groups. Click here for a printable label to wrap around a jar or container: Click here for a two page printable with Scripture verses from the entire Bible if you would rather use paper instead of plastic knives. You could cut these out and put them in a jar or envelope for the same kind of game.
Tonight we played the OMC game to mark the end of our Spring session of kids ministry programs. It was a blast, even with only 30 children playing. OMC Bible Games for Kids OMC Game: Bring Camp Fun to Your Church
