Bible games and activities for children

Mix it up with these egg carton whales. One last Jonah and the whale craft idea this might be my favorite : an adorable clothespin whale with Jonah inside! Make a connection Make paper chains—kids love seeing how long they can get!

Bible connection: Paul and Silas in jail, or any other story of someone imprisoned. You can also make a paper chain Christmas Tree. At Easter, break out those clothespins to make a tomb that opens to reveal He is Risen! Bible connection: The Resurrection. Make your own musical instruments!

Create harps out of shoeboxes and paper bands tutorial here. Bible connections: David and Saul, Psalm , or any verse about making music to praise God. For more musical creativity, try out these ocean drums. The sound is very soothing, and you can make them with materials you already have at home. Bible connection: Creation of ocean, Jesus calming the storm.

Encourage kids to express their creativity while building up others. Go on a Service Scavenger Hunt. This works great as a team activity, or kids can complete throughout the week and share what happened next time you meet. Create gift bags for nursing home residents. Bible connections: the walls of Jericho, building the temple, the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

Is building with sand out of the question? Check out kinetic sand before you answer! Bible connections: wandering in the desert, Psalm , the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Anytime you want to teach about the importance of a good foundation or if you need a Bible connection to the Tower of Babel , the Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower is your go-to for a hilarious and relatable object lesson.

Bible connections: the Passover, the Last Supper. On Easter itself, enjoy traditional Hot Cross Buns. Bring the buns, and let kids decorate them with a cross. Use this game to talk about staying connected to God. Form teams of about five, and designate a start and finish line. There are two ways you can do that. The Handy Dandy will help only one person at a time and can run back and forth to get new players after he or she has helped one child to the finish line.

Have each team choose a Handy Dandy. Then have teams start the game. Say: God is like the Handy Dandies in our game. His help is way better than trying to go it alone. Read aloud Isaiah Say: God promises to help us, but staying connected to him is the best way to face any problem that comes our way.

Read aloud James Have kids get in pairs and stand back to back. After kids have arranged themselves, have them form groups of three. Also, name new ways to line up each time such as by hair length, age by birthday, shirt colors in rainbow order, or sitting with shortest to longest hair. Have 12 kids stand in a large circle to form the numbers on a clock.

Have them use their hands to show their numbers. Call a time, and immediately after, name the two numbers that will be switching places. This will help kids who struggle to read a clock. The kids who are switching go to the end of the line. Start slow, and pick up speed until kids are changing at a frantic pace. Read aloud Psalm and 7. Say: Time can move quickly, like in our game. And the psalmist reminds us to cherish our time.

Count aloud to 30; then say: Stop. Begin counting again, but choose a different number to count to this time. When you stop, again have the end person break free from the line and freeze. Continue this process until all of the kids have been frozen except for the leaders.

Then reverse the process, having the line leader tag all teammates to rejoin the line again, but in the reverse order of how they broke free. Play several times, letting new kids be the leaders. Use this game to talk about Acts 13 and the spread of the early church. Say: After Jesus came back to life, his followers kept telling people about him. You might say the message spread like wildfire because it spread so quickly!

Form a standing circle. Start a slow four-count rhythm. For example: stomp left foot, stomp right foot, clap, snap. Encourage all the kids to sway left and right. Continue until all kids have joined the rhythm, going faster and faster. Try the game several times, each time letting a new person designate the four-count rhythm and start the game. Learning all 66 book names can be hard, especially for younger kids.

These work well inside, but can be take outdoors if the weather is nice. We wrote this very long list quiz questions for to play a review quiz whenever you need some extra activity in your class. Take the fun to another level when you take the kids outside. When you have a mixed age group in kids church, these are the perfect way to build relationships and fun into your program.

Try these fun ideas to help kids repeat their Scripture verses through play. Not sure where to start — check out our 52 Short Verses to Memorize. You can always browse our latest worksheets.

Just be sure to choose which pages you want to print because the document is 59 pages long! Here are a few of our favorite Sunday School games for younger kids. Almost all the ideas listed above can be lots of fun for older students, they love revisiting their childhood favorites.

Here are a few options we suggest if you need something special. You can teach children how to encourage others. Kids need to be encouraged and encourage others! Kids need to see how God has given them talents and skills — to glorify Him. But in the process I thought it would be cool to have them do this by focusing on others.

Perfect for a icebreaker of sorts for your next ministry event? Try these ideas to get the students engaged and excited. These are guaranteed to ramp up excitement. The only supplies are accessible household items, so they are easy to prepare and of no cost to your ministry. You also want the crowd to heap encouragement on the player, so lead the students likewise.

If you sense a child is not going to make it in the designated time period, help them out. More challenging matches can be interspersed for adults to win or lose the sillier the better. Have fun! Make the most of your summer ministry opportunities. Send some advanced notice for parents to bring clothes that can get wet. These are the special events the kids will be talking about for years to come.

Print this list for VBS, church camp, or school field days. Most are easy to plan with only a few supplies from the dollar store and of course water.