Young Jesus Gets Left Behind Game

Luke 2: 41-52

Today's lesson is about when Mary and Joseph accidentally left a twelve-year-old Jesus behind in Jerusalem after a festival. When they returned to Jerusalem and found him in the temple, he asked them, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

Maybe it's the approaching winter weather that has me aching to get active, or maybe it's the fact that I've just spent several weeks being incredibly lazy and eating too many holiday treats, but whatever the motivating factor was, I decided to make today's lesson memorable by giving the kids a hands-on experience with searching for Jesus.  

Before class, I dressed a Ken doll as a twelve-year-old Jesus and hid him in the sanctuary. During our lesson, we talked about how panicky Mary and Joseph must have been when they realized Jesus was not with them on their journey home. In telling the story, I explained how Mary and Joseph probably went to each family member asking, "Is Jesus with you? Have you seen him?" I looked at each child and asked these questions, as if I were Mary, and each child stared back at me, instinctively playing along, replying "No," and shaking their heads. When everyone was sufficiently hyped up, I led them into the sanctuary and told them to go find Jesus. They frantically raced about the pews, the podium, the choir area, and the baptismal font until someone found him in the transept sitting beside a plant.

"Again, again!" they shouted. Of course everyone wanted to be the hider, so the kids took turns hiding the doll for several more rounds. 

Things to consider: 
--Make sure the rector/pastor doesn't mind the sanctuary becoming a temporary play ground.
--Remind the children the sacraments are holy and should not be disturbed if they are present.
--Do not hide Jesus inside anything (he must be visible without moving other objects).
--No screaming (This is still a place of worship).



NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Create a board game in minutes!

Mark 10: 13-16
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me...."

In today's lesson the disciples try to turn the children away when they come to see Jesus. Jesus becomes agitated with them saying, "Let the children come to me...."

Even though this story is only three verses long without many details, it can still be turned into a fun board game. And with the help from a few online sources, it can be done in a matter of minutes!

Materials:

Card stock (for the board)
Printer
Blank board game printable from Lovetoknow 
Clip art of Jesus 
     Two of my favorite bible clip art sources:
        Bible People from The Activity Mom
        Free Bible Clip Art from Phillip Martin Clip Art
Small items for game pieces
A spinner or die

Instructions:

This is so easy! 

1. Follow the above link to the blank board game selections from Lovetoknow. Choose the game board desired and download. 

2. Go to one of the clip art sources above. Download a clip art of Jesus.

3. Open the game board in Photoshop or similar program.

4. Open the clip art of Jesus file and drag to the game board, placing it in the last game space.

5. Add items to the game board to make players lose a turn, go back, go ahead, etc.

It may be difficult to read the ones I used in the picture above. They are listed below in the order they appear on the game board:
            
             Your mother guides you to Jesus. Slide ahead
              3 spaces.

             There are so many people in the crowd that you
              trip, losing your place in line. Go this way.

             One of the disciples tells you to go away. Go
              around.

              A kind old man steps aside to let you through.
              Go ahead 5 spaces.

              Jesus calls you forward. Move ahead.

              One of the disciples chases you. Go back, but 
              do NOT take the detour.

               A disciple returns you to your mother. Go back.

               You can almost see Jesus. Slide through the 
               crowd, advancing 4 spaces.

               Jesus tells the disciples to let you come to Him.
               Move ahead 3 spaces.

6. Print your newly created game on the card stock.

Playing The Game:
Each player takes turns spinning the spinner, or rolling the die, to determine the number of spaces to advance. The first player to reach Jesus wins.

We used peg people I painted a few years ago for another game as our player pieces, but anything could work. Our Bingo Buttons would work just as well.







NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-31

Here's a super easy game to make! And it's even easier to play! The Doubting Thomas Game is basically as True or False game. 

How To Play:

-- Give each child an "I Doubt It" sign.

-- Read aloud one item from the list of unusual facts about the bible. Be sure to read the facts so the answers will sometimes be true, and sometimes be false.

-- Anyone who doubts the statement is true should hold up their sign showing the "I Doubt It" side toward the teacher. 

-- Anyone who believes the statement is true does nothing.

-- Give the players with the correct answers a point for each correct answer. Remember our Bingo Buttons? To make score keeping easier, I gave each player a button for each correct answer. At the end of the game, we simply counted the buttons to see who won. 

--The player with the most points (or buttons) at the end wins the game.

Materials:

This only takes a few things.

1. Front and Back pics. One set for each child/sign.

     Color download here: 
Front and Back.

     B&W download here: 
Front and Back.

2. Cardstock

3. Paint stir sticks
     (or craft sticks,
       or strips of balsa wood). One for each child.

4. Questions. More about this at #6 below.

5. A stapler.

Construction Instructions:

Realizing some may want to use this, when time allows, for a craft AND a game, and others will only have time for the game, I have included the graphic as a coloring page and as a full color image. If using it as a craft, I would suggest that you put the sign together yourself at home before class and just have the kids color it already made up.

1. Print the images onto the cardstock (one front and one back for each sign).

2. Cut out the images.

3. Staple the front and back together at the top and sides. No need to overdo it. I found one staple at the center-top, and one at the center-side of each side was sufficient. 

4. Insert the paint stick between the two pieces. Push it all the way to the top until it touches the top staple.

5. Place a staple on each side of the stick at the bottom. Do not try to staple through the stick. I considered placing a small line of glue on each side of the stick, but decided I wanted to have the option of re-using the stick for something else in the future if I wanted. I never know how many kids will be in Sunday school each week, so this prevented me from making fifteen, and then only using four, thereby waisting eleven perfectly good paint sticks. The sticks stayed in place just fine without the glue anyway.

6. Collect a list of bible facts. I found a website, JesusAlive, that gives a great list of little-known facts about the bible. Some of them are too advanced for third and fourth graders, but I found plenty for my game that was appropriate for my class. What I really appreciated was the way the author, Steve Shirley, gave the corresponding verse and a pop-up window with the quoted scripture. Seriously, it only took ten minutes to gather my list of questions. I opted not to give you my list of questions in a download. Mr. Shirley has done a great job with his list and it is well worth a visit to his site. He has obviously put a lot of work into it, and I don't want to get into any questionable infringements, so click on over to his list for help. 

Food for thought:
As I was preparing my lesson for today, I kept thinking about Jesus' response to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29 NKJV

Our whole lesson today revolves around the fact that Thomas was hesitant to believe what others told him. I felt it was important to distinguish between doubting Jesus' power verses doubting what others may tell us. In dealing with children, especially in today's dangerous world, I wanted to be very careful not to give them the impression we should not doubt anything, so we spent about five minutes talking about why it is good to question things we hear that may sound suspicious, and why we should trust in God completely and never doubt His power. 


NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Easter Egg Toss Game

(Matthew 21-28) Holy Week events &
(Matthew 28:6) He is risen!

Here's another idea that bloomed from Pinterest! The original idea came from Mammabeefromthehive.blogspot.com.au , but I made a change or two to make it into an educational game.

How To Play:

I added an element to the traditional toss game to make it educational by filling sixteen easter eggs with one question each. 


Each child, in turn, will pick an egg from the basket, open it, read the question aloud, then answer the question. If they get the answer correct, they get to toss their egg into the cups. If it lands in a purple cup, they get a treat (jelly bean, piece of chocolate, etc.) If it misses the cups or lands in a clear cup, no treat. If they get the answer wrong, they return the egg (with the question still inside) to the basket for someone else to pick. [Note: they do not get to toss the egg if they get the answer wrong. This sounds a little harsh, right? Well, not really, because we will have just reviewed all the answers in detail while making our Holy Week Bookmarks (see post below). When we are going to play a game, I always tell the kids to pay close attention to the lesson because they will have to answer questions during the game. This makes them extra alert! :) I make it very clear what questions may be asked during game play, so the kids are well prepared by the time we get to the game.] After all the questions have been answered, everyone gets to toss empty eggs until they tire of it.

Materials:

I am sure lots of different materials would work for this. I scouted around my house and used what I already had on hand. Feel free to do the same. I love it when I can recycle items AND I don't have to go to the store!

1 Foam core board
34 Clear plastic cups
X-acto knife
Scissors (or paper cutter)
Ruler
Cylinder (soup cans, empty Pringles can, wrapping paper roll, 2 more of the clear plastic cups, or anything that can serve as legs)
Basket
Plastic Easter eggs
Questions & Answers (download here) 
Approximately 6 pieces of purple construction paper (purple because that is the liturgical color of Easter)
Optional: circle cutter

How to build:

1) Line up the cups 5 columns by 7 rows. 

2) Measure the area at the bottom of the cups. 

3) Cut the foam core big enough for all the cups to fit on.

4) Hot glue the cups to the foam core. I wasn't sure if the hot glue would make the cups melt or not. I'm happy to report, it didn't. The hot glue worked beautifully.

5) Cut the cylinder to the desired height. 

6) If using a cardboard cylinder, cut one end at an angle to hold the core at an angle. If using something like cans that cannot be cut, just hot glue the edge that touches the board. There is no need to make this thing super strong. The cups weigh next to nothing and there will not be any pressure put on the board. The only purpose of the legs is to tilt the board at an angle.

7) Hot glue the legs to the underside at the top end only. The bottom end will rest directly on the floor. Exact placement doesn't matter as long as it isn't wobbly. 

8) Cut eleven strips of purple construction paper to fit inside the eleven cups that form a cross. I also added circles to the bottom of the cups because I like the way it looks better. The circles are completely optional, though. It would be fine either way.

9) Print and cut out each question. Place one question in each egg. Place eggs in the basket. NOTE: My questions are about the days of Holy Week. Of course, any questions would work just as well. I typically have 7 to 10 children in my class any given week, so 16 questions were plenty. If your class is larger, you may want more. If you need question ideas, send me an email, and I'll be happy to help.

That's it. Very easy. Very fast. Once I decided on the materials, it only took about 30 minutes to build the game board and another 5 or 10 to prepare the eggs.


Happy Easter! 


~~~~~Update: 
Oh, what fun we had today! The kids loved this game! And I have to say, making the bookmarks before playing the game worked out perfectly. By the end of the game, everyone had a great understanding of the order the Holy Week events and were excited to take their bookmarks home so they could refer to it each day during the upcoming Holy Week. 


The kids were not ready to go home when their parents came to pick them up. Don't you just love it when that happens?!

I am very careful to not take pictures of children for the blog for privacy & safety issues, so sometimes my pictures do not adequately reflect the excitement we experience in class. This is definitely one of those times.



NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Buzzer Trivia Game: Liturgical Calendar and The Gospels

The kids have requested another game using the buzzers. They were a big hit last year when we used them with our Noah's Ark lesson. So much so, that the kids still remember exactly how to play that game! 

As you may have noticed, we have been primarily studying lessons in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John this year. The kids are now able to locate The Gospels in their bibles without help, but they are having some difficulty remembering all four names on their own, so I decided to build a trivia game to reinforce some of the general gospels info. 

Another weak area for the kids is the liturgical calendar. We move the calendar marker every Sunday, and we talk about the church seasons frequently, but most of the kids tend to stare at me with glassy eyes during these conversations, so I thought adding in some calendar questions would also be good review.

The beauty of Buzzer Trivia is that any questions can be used and additional elements can be added into the game. The additional element we used today is the calendar. Read on for specifics.

Materials:

Printer Magnetic Sheets
Buzzers
Liturgical Calendar Puzzle
Trivia Questions
Scissors
Sharpie

Pre-Class Instructions:

1. Download the Liturgical Calendar Puzzle and print it on the magnetic sheets. If you do not want to use this puzzle, use any image that will compliment your lesson, and that can be made into a puzzle. One magnetic puzzle image will be needed for each team.

2. Download and print the trivia questions (on regular printer paper). Alternatively, any biblical questions may be used.

3. Cut the calendar (or other image) out - piece by piece.

4. If using the calendar, notice the words "Christmas" and "Day of Pentecost" are not actually written on the puzzle pieces. Take the sharpie and handwrite them on the correct piece since once they are cut out, they will not be labeled otherwise. 

Game Play:

 1. The kids wanted to divide up into Girls vs. Boys. Draw a space on the board for each team and randomly place the puzzle pieces in their area.

2. Set up a place with two buzzers. Have one player from each team stand/sit in front of their buzzer, one hand behind their back, and one hand (completely) palm down on the table.

3. Read a question aloud. The first buzzer to sound gets to answer the question. If the question is answered correctly, the team gets to jointly decide where to place the first puzzle piece. If the answer is incorrect, the other player gets to answer. If they get it right, their team places a puzzle piece. If their answer is incorrect, both players return to their seats and two more players get into position (for a new question). Be sure to tell the group the correct answer, but do not ask that question again until all the other questions have been asked.

4. The first team to correctly complete their puzzle wins. If possible use a puzzle that is easy to put together incorrectly. Since our calendar is a circle, it could be put together in a number of ways, but only one way is correct. This adds a level of difficulty to the game. If a team completes the puzzle incorrectly, the game continues until they get it right.

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Fishers of Men

(Mark 1:14-22)

At first glance, today's scripture appeared very simple... too simple for a game. There are a plethora of fish crafts but, we haven't played a game in a while, and I had my heart set on having an active activity this week. I read the scripture over and over trying to pick out enough details to support a game. As the week waned, I tried to talk myself into a craft anyway. But I couldn't do it. Thankfully, I awoke Saturday morning with this game idea:

Supplies:

Colored cardstock

Scissors

Sharpie

Any fish drawing

Bean bags (hacky sacks would work well, too)

Questions (click to download)

Optional: Blue plastic disposable table cloth

If you do not want to draw your own fish, or have a picture you can use, you are welcome to download mine here. (Of course, this is for your private use only, and you may not sell the image or anything made from it.)

Pre-class Instructions:

1. Using a copy machine or printer, copy the fish image onto 18 pieces of colored cardstock.

2. Cut out the fish.

3. Write one question on the back of each fish. Notice there are only 9 questions, but I have instructed you to cut out 18 fish. Each question will appear on two fish. This allows the game to be played in teams (each team getting their own set of questions/fish, or when there are only a few kids playing, the repetition will help them learn the correct answers.)

4. Print out the question & answer sheet in case it is needed during game play.

How to play:

1. If using a blue tablecloth to mimic water, spread it on floor.

2. Spread the fish, face up, on top of the water. If not using the tablecloth, just spread the fish in a smallish area on the floor.

3. Pick a spot on the floor where the kids will stand when it is their turn. I used a rug we have in our room. I simply told them they could not step off the rug during their throw.

4. Each child gets one throw at a time. They are to toss the bean bag in an attempt to land on a fish. 

5. When they land on a fish, they get to turn it over and read the question aloud. If they get the answer right, they get to keep the fish. If they do not know the answer, the fish must be returned to the sea, face up. Be sure to tell everyone the correct answer so the next time someone lands on that fish, they will know the answer.

6. The team or child with the most fish at the end of the game wins. 

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

First Day of Class 2014

Welcome Back! This Sunday is our first day back after the summer break.

As I look down my class roster, I see we have quite a few new students this year, so we are going to spend time getting to know each other during this first gathering. I decorated the door with sunflowers, so to continue the theme, I decided to combine a simple craft and a getting-to-know-you game.

We are going to make sunflowers to hang on our class banner. But first, we will write one personal detail on each flower petal. I'll explain in more detail below, but after everyone has finished writing on their petals, we will collect them all in a pile. Then one by one we will pull a petal from the pile, read it aloud, and try to guess who wrote it. When that person reveals their identity, they get to glue the petal onto their flower center. After all petals are accounted for, we will add stems, and hang them on the banner.

Suggestions for personal descriptions:

1. Start each statement with "I".

2. Try to make each statement reflect something unusual or funny. For example: I was once bitten by a monkey. (Yep, it's true.)

3. Each statement must be true.

  

Materials:

Brown, yellow and green construction paper
Circle cutter
Scissors
Pencil 
Puffy paint or sharpies (I used 3D fabric paint because that's what I had on hand. I'm hoping it is not too messy for the kids.)
Any other desired decorations

Beforehand Preparation:

1. Draw petals on the yellow construction paper. Just free hand it. It doesn't need to be perfect.

2. Cut out the petals. Six to eight per child. The size of the sunflower center will determine how many petals are needed. Test it to make sure you cut enough petals before hand. 

3. Cut out circles for the center of the sunflowers using the brown paper. One per child.

4. Optional stems: Cut strips of green paper for stems.

Instructions:

1. Give each child at least four flower petals. Ask them to write one true statement about themselves on each petal. For example: "I have 6 brothers", "I am named after a famous baseball player", "I am allergic to cats", or "I like to play soccer". Encourage the kids to write things that will help people remember them—the more unusual, the better.

2. When they have finished writing, place all petals in the center of the table and shuffle.

3. Take turns retrieving a petal and reading it aloud. Let everyone take a guess as to who they think the statement is about. After everyone has made a guess, ask the author to identify him/herself. That person can then glue the petal onto their flower center. They may also glue blank petals onto their flower to create a more full flower. I would suggest keeping the personal statements down to four per child because many discussions will arise during the game (a good thing!) and it can take a long time to get through them all. 

Just a side note: The purpose of the game is to get to know each other. This includes learning each other's names. Discourage the "guessers" from language such as, "I think it's her," followed by a pointing finger. Instead, encourage the children to say, "I think it is Abbie." It may help to use name tags.

4. When all petals have been claimed and the sunflowers completed, add a green stem if desired. 

5. Next, ask each child to write their name in the center of the circle using a pencil. Trace the name using the puffy paint or sharpies. If time allows, they may want to add more decorations. This is the one I made while testing this craft at home:

We have a banner in our classroom. Each year we make something representative of the class members to post on the banner. This year I thought the sunflowers would be a good selection.

We had so much fun guessing who each statement belonged to that we ran out of time and did not get to decorate the center of the flowers. The children wrote their names in the centers with magic markers instead.

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!