Shine Your Light in the darkness of Halloween!

Halloween is about celebrating darkness and death, but as Christ followers, we are about light and life.  For a number of years my family's way of shining our lights in the darkness during this time of year is to attach scriptures about light and life to the candy we pass out to trick or treaters.  This year we decided to get our church family involved.  We asked the children to bring in bags of candy and they taped verses to the candy to pass out to those who ring their doorbells Halloween night.  We weren't sure how long this would keep their attention, but surprisingly they all got really into it!  I guess there's just something fun about doing an activity with their friends.  Either print out the verses using clip art or have kids put cute fall stickers on them, or have them draw cute fall pictures.  Another option would be to put candy and scripture cards in small snack size zipper baggies.

How does your children's ministry shine your lights during Halloween?

Freedom From Fear Scripture Boxes

Supplies Needed:

index card holders (1 per child)

index cards (depends on how many verses each child will write)

stickers 

markers, pens, pencils

Prepare ahead:

Select several scriptures that combat fear (or whatever theme you are doing).  Older students will copy these verses from their Bibles.  For younger students, you will write out the verses on the lined side of the cards, leaving a blank every now and then for them to write the word in or draw a picture representing the word.  

Decorate “Freedom From Fear” scripture boxes using markers and stickers.  

Say, “These boxes are for you to keep beside your bed.  Throughout this series, we will add cards with scripture prayers that help us battle fear.”  

Read Eph. 6:10-17.  “What did it say the sword of the spirit is?  The Word of God.  Out of all our armor, that is the only offensive weapon we have.  When we pray God’s Word out loud, it is like taking our sword and thrusting it at the enemy. Fear must leave when we tell it to leave in Jesus’ Name!  No matter how small or gentle a person is, we are all warriors who carry a mighty sword!  Don’t be shy about using that sword!”  

Older students will write out  scriptures on the lined side of their cards.  Younger students will either fill in the blank with the appropriate word or with a picture.  Students may also draw pictures on unlined side of card to represent verses if desired.

Variation:  We made these when in a series on gaining freedom from fear, but they would be appropriate for other topics as well, such as The Word, the armor of God, authority over the enemy, etc.  Another option is to use dividers to categorize areas of struggle, such as fear, disobedience, sadness, etc. and make scripture cards relevant to each.  

What are your ideas for using the sword of the spirit?

Guards & Prisoners

When learning about Bible characters who spent time in jail (Joseph or Paul for example) or the topic of Freedom, play “Guards and Prisoners”, a version of “Sharks and Minnows”.  If it’s a nice day, this will be best played outdoors.  Choose one person to be the prison guard and all other students will be the prisoners.  Establish two boundary lines, one at either end of play area.  Guard stands near one end and prisoners stand near other end.  Object is for prisoners to  “break out of jail” and make it to the other end.  While they are running across area, the guard tries to tag them.  Whoever gets tagged must return to jail, then try again.  Last prisoner to make it to freedom becomes the new guard.

What variations of this game do you know of?

The Artist, the Model, and the Clay

Supplies Needed:

modeling clay

various objects that would be simple for the kids to use as models 

What to do:

Place various objects on the table and instruct students to use them as models for shaping clay to look the same.  Say, “You tried to make your clay look just like the model.  The Holy Spirit does the same thing.  He is like the artist.  You are like the clay.  Jesus is the model.  The Holy Spirit molds us to look like Jesus.”

Scripture References:  1 John 4:17,  Ephesians 5:1-2, 8-10

Signs Point to God

Prepare Ahead:

Make a concentration game using index cards and pictures from the internet or if you're better at drawing than I am, you can draw pictures of signs and something to represent what the sign is for.  Choose places the children are likely to be familiar with.  For example, you could draw the "golden arches" on one card and a hamburger on another, a  pizza place sign on one card and a pizza on another, a toy store sign on one card and some toys on another, etc.  If you want to re-use these cards, laminate them.  

To Play:

Students turn over two cards at a time to match up the sign of a restaurant or store with what you would find inside the place.

Say to students, “The sign shows us where to go, but the sign itself isn’t where we stop.  The sign leads us to the good stuff inside.  That’s the way God’s signs, wonders, and miracles are.  They are the signs that lead us to the good stuff, which is God Himself!”


Scripture References:  Acts 22:15, Luke 5:1-9, Acts 12:1-16, John 2:1-11, Matthew 9:8, John 10:38, Acts 8:6, and others


What fun & creative ideas do you have for teaching the purpose of signs, wonders, and miracles?

My Father's Business

Supplies Needed:                                                                   

magnets

metal items

Read story of the boy Jesus teaching in the temple from Luke 2: 41-52.

Ask, "What was Jesus’ response to His mother’s question once they found Him?”  I MUST be where My Father’s work is. “Some Bibles say, ‘My Father’s house or My Father’s business, but the actual Greek translation is this:  ‘Didn’t you know that I had to be about My Father?’  (Hold up magnet and demonstrate the following illustration while explaining) “Just like metal cannot resist a magnet, Jesus could not resist being in His Father’s presence.  He was drawn to Him just like the metal is drawn to the magnet.  Our Father longs for us to be about Him too.  He longs to spend time with us, to tell us His secrets, to show us His will, to open our faith eyes to see the Kingdom...He longs for us to hear Him, trust Him, and obey Him.  Let’s see what He wants to tell us or show us right now, then let’s trust whatever He says or shows, then follow through by obeying whatever He tells us or shows us.”  

Spend some quiet time just seeking The Father's heart and listening to what He says.


What are your suggestions for this story?

Mirror Game

Play similarly to Follow the Leader, except instead of following one another around the room, stay in one place and strike various poses, which the students must copy or mirror.  After awhile, choose a student to be the one the other students copy.  Continue until everyone who wants a turn leading has had one.  

Say to students, “You know, playing this game reminds me of what today’s lesson is about.  Just like we only did what we saw the leader doing, Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing.”

Scripture References:  John 5, 8, 14, 20


Your ideas???

Show and Tell

Send a note home or email parents ahead of time to inform them that you will be having show and tell at church.

Give students a chance to show and tell about whatever they brought with them, then say to them,

“Did you know that Jesus liked Show & Tell too?  He taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, then He showed everyone what it was like by bringing Heaven to earth with miracles.  He has given us the keys to do the same!”

Teach about some of Jesus' miracles and/or what He has given us the authority to do in His Name.

Scripture References:  Matthew 9, 10


Your suggestions???

Soaking Up His Presence

Supplies Needed:

container of water

dry sponge

Ask students, “Where does prayer power come from?  The Holy Spirit.  

It is the power of the Holy Spirit that brings LIGHT to the darkness, HEALING to the sick, JOY to the sad, PEACE to the scared, LOVE to the lonely.  When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will know where to go, what to say, what to do. 

Being with the Holy Spirit is kind of like being this sponge. Hold up dry sponge. We soak in His presence, soak sponge in water  then when we pray for someone, or speak a word given by Him to us for someone else, or do something to help someone in His Name, in other words - bring Heaven to earth, it is like the Holy Spirit leaking out of us and onto other people squeeze water out of sponge.  If it is a warm day, you may want to do this activity outdoors and squeeze a bit of water on the students! What happens to the sponge after all the water has been squeezed out?  It will eventually become dry, but the good news is that just because it’s dry, that doesn’t mean we have to throw it out and never use it again.  We can go back and soak it some more. soak sponge in water again. That’s what the Holy Spirit wants us to do - go back to Him again and again and get refilled and refilled with His presence, then take what we've been given and splash it out on others."


Soaking in His glorious presence...there's no place I'd rather be!  What ideas do you have for teaching on this topic?

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Supplies Needed:

Dry erase board, chalkboard, or large poster board

several pipe cleaners

Prepare Ahead:

Bend pipe cleaners so they look like lightning bolts.

Draw a bulls-eye on the board and write the following words and phrases all over it:

Sickness

Starvation

Poverty

Anger

Fighting

Unforgiveness

Temptation

Sin

Evil

Students will take turns throwing their “lightning bolts” of prayer at the words.

Say to students, “If the answer to the problem is in Heaven, then it should be let loose to come here on earth.  God shows you His heart and makes you READY.  Your faith eyes see the target, such as sickness being healed.  Your AIM of faith is steady on the target.  When you pray, you FIRE lightning bolts from Heaven at the problem and bring Heaven to earth.”

Scripture references:  Matthew 16, 18

Good activity for Lord's Prayer and/or keys to the Kingdom.


I'd love to hear your ideas for praying "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"...

Keys to the Kingdom 2

Supplies Needed:

"Magic Scratch" paper bracelets ordered from Oriental Trading Company www.OrientalTrading.com or you can purchase this special paper at a craft store and cut it into strips for bracelets.

Say to students, “When we look at these bracelets, they look plain and black, but when we use the stick to scratch a design, the beautiful colors show through.  This reminds us of seeing things here on earth.  If we look with our ‘earth eyes’, we see sickness, sadness, and fear.  The stick is like our key to the kingdom.  When we scratch the design, it reveals the greater reality underneath the black.  When we see things with our ‘faith eyes’, we see what’s going on in heaven and we bring Heaven to earth by praying for healing, joy, and peace.  As you wear these bracelets, let them remind you to use your ‘faith eyes’."


Any more suggestions?

Backward Treasure Hunt

Supplies Needed:

small object to hide, preferably something related to lesson

When students are not looking, hide the object.  On your signal, students will hunt for the object - while walking backward!  After object is found, ask students if they think it would have been easier to find if they had been allowed to turn around and face forward while searching.  Say to students, “God’s Kingdom is right here with us.  In Matthew 4:17, Jesus said to repent (stop walking backward and turn around), because the Kingdom of Heaven is right here.  It’s right by your hand. We can’t always see it with our ‘earth eyes’, but when we open our ‘faith eyes’, He will show it to us.”


How have you demonstrated this truth with your students?

Keys to the Kingdom 1

Supplies Needed:

Perfection Game

Large Key

Play a few rounds of Perfection.  Students try to get all the shape pieces in their correct places before the timer runs out and they all pop out of place!  Say to children, “These pieces remind me of how a key works.  Each piece would only fit into its correct place.  A key will only fit into the lock it was designed to fit into.” Show students the large key.  “Jesus gave us some keys that will fit into a most special place.  Does anyone know where that place is?”  Heaven!

 “Today we will learn about the Keys to the Kingdom and how we can use them to bring Heaven to earth.  Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me.  Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of Heaven belongs to people who are like these children.’  As children, you hold a special place in Jesus’ heart and He has some special keys for you.”  Scripture references:  Matthew 16, 19, Mark 10, Luke 18 


Jesus blessing the children is one of my favorite Bible stories!  I'd love to hear your suggestions for this story.

Ring Relay

Play this game to demonstrate the truth that God always keeps His promises.

Supplies Needed:

2 ring pops (you may want to have one for each child to give them as a treat at the end of class)

Say to children, “When a man and woman get married, they promise to love one another and stay together even when they go through difficult times.  As a symbol of this promise, they give each other wedding rings.”  Show wedding ring.  “What shape is a ring?”  A circle.  “Does a circle have an end?”  No.  “A circle keeps going around and around, which symbolizes the wedding promise that lasts forever.  Now unfortunately sometimes people change their minds and don’t keep their marriage promises, but there is One Who will always keep His promises to us.  That One is Jesus.”  Play “Wedding Ring Relay”.  If you have enough students to do so, divide into two teams, forming two lines.  Give first person in each line a ring pop, which they place on their finger.  When you say “Go”, they must take the ring off their finger and put it on the next person’s finger, then that person takes it off and puts it on the next person’s finger, etc., then pass ring back through the line in the same manner until it ends up back on the first person’s finger.  First team to get ring back to beginning of line wins!  If you don’t have enough students to form teams, just have whole class line up and pass ring as directed above, only instead of competing against another team, time them.  Have them play again, trying to beat their previous time.


Any other suggestions?

In Remembrance of Me

Supplies Needed:

photo albums or church directory

Say to children, "It’s fun to look back through photo albums and remember people we love and places we’ve been.  Jesus left a 'picture' for us to remember Him by.  It isn't a picture in an album that we can look at and remember what Jesus looked like, but it is a picture to help us remember what Jesus did for us.  We call it The Lord's Supper or Communion.”  Spend some time looking through photo albums together and remembering fun times before teaching about the Lord's Supper.


How do you teach about the Lord's Supper?

10 Commandment Relay

Supplies Needed: 

large poster boards (2)

card stock or construction paper if laminating

adhesive magnetic strips or double-sided tape

marker

Prepare Ahead:

Using large poster boards, cut two tablets. On the tablets write the commandments leaving a blank space for the correct answers. Cut card stock or construction paper into strips the same size as the blanks on the tablets. Write the following answers on the strips: gods, idols, Lord your God, Sabbath Day, Father and Mother,  murder, adultery, steal, lies, covet. Attach magnet strips or double-sided tape onto the blank spaces and onto the back of the answer strips. You can laminate over the magnet strips. Option: Make two identical sets for team play.

The Ten Commandments -- Exodus 20:3-17

I. You shall have no other ______ before me. 
(the answer for this command is "gods")
II. You shall not make or worship ______.  (idols)
III. You shall not misuse the name of the _____ ______ _____.  (Lord your God)
IV. Remember the _________ ____ and keep it holy.  (Sabbath Day)
V. Honor your ______ ___ _______.  (father and mother)
VI. You shall not ________. (murder)
VII. You shall not commit _________.  (adultery)
VIII. You shall not _______. (steal)
IX. You shall not tell ______.  (lies)
X. You shall not _______. (covet)

 How To Play: 

Mix up answer strips in the wrong order.  Line the kids up and give the first child in line a random answer. He or she places the answer in the correct place. Player returns to the start line and tags the next player, who places answer in correct spot.  If a player thinks a previously placed answer is incorrect, he or she may change it. Play continues until all the answers are placed correctly. Playing in teams and racing to be the first team to place all the answers correctly increases the fun!

When teaching about the 10 commandments, be sure to emphasize that they were given as protection for the Israelites, but more importantly to show them their inability to keep them and their desperate need for a Savior.

What 10 Commandment activities have you done?

Manic Manna!

Supplies Needed:

 large bowl 

large spoon

cotton balls

blindfold

Instructions:

Tell students that they are going to pretend to be Israelites, but they are blind. Place the large bowl out in front of one of the students, and place the cotton balls "manna" around the bowl. Hand the spoon to the child and put a blindfold over his eyes. On the word "go" he should try to pick up as many cotton balls with the spoon as he can and place them in the bowl. He may not feel for the cotton balls with his hands. Give each child a turn and see who can pick up the most cotton balls in a certain amount of time.  This game is really funny, because the cotton balls are so light, you can’t tell whether there are any in the spoon or not when you’re blindfolded!

Do you have suggestions for fun activities to use when teaching about the Israelites and how God provided for them?

Jesus Concealed & Revealed

This is a good object lesson to use when teaching about Jesus and His followers on the road to Emmaus.

Play a game where you have several objects covered with cloths.  Give the students clues about one of the objects and have them try to guess what the object is.  For example if you have a pencil under the cloth, you might use clues such as:  It is long and skinny...It is yellow...It is pointy on one end...It is a school supply...

Whichever student guesses correctly first gets to peek at the next object and offer clues for the other students to guess the object.  

Explain to the students that first the objects were hidden or concealed under the cloths, but the clues given helped them figure out what was under the cloth.  When you lifted the cloth, you revealed what was underneath.

Read the story of the road to Emmaus from Luke 24 to students.  Emphasize that verse 27 says that Jesus taught them all about HIMSELF starting with Moses and going all the way through the Old Testament.  That means the books Moses wrote (Genesis through Deuteronomy) and all the rest of the Old Testament all point to Jesus. He was in the Old Testament concealed and in the New Testament revealed. Ask students if they have you ever watched the TV show  Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  They send the family on vacation while they build them a new house, then when the family comes home, they park the giant bus in front of the new house, so the family can’t see it.  When the family gets out of the car, everyone yells, “Move that bus!” then their new house, which was concealed before is now revealed for them to see. 

This is a good way to introduce various ways the Old Testament points to Jesus and the new covenant of Grace.

What activities do you have that teach how the whole Bible points to Jesus?

Joyfully Praise!

When teaching on Psalm 150 or any lesson involving praising the Lord, here is a fun (& noisy!) craft activity:

Praise cymbals 

Supplies Needed:

Aluminum pie pans (2 per child)

Fun Foam cut into 6X2" strips (2 per child)

Brads (2 per child)

I don't know what they're called, but those little circles you put on paper to reinforce the holes (4 per child)

Prepare Ahead:

Using a screwdriver or other sharp instrument, carefully poke holes in the center of the pie plates about 4 inches apart.  Flatten out any aluminum sticking up around the holes.  Cover both front and back of these holes with those little reinforcer thingy's (!), to protect fingers from being cut by the sharp aluminum.  Measure about 1 inch from either end of foam strips and mark with small x's.

In Class:

Students line up x's on foam strips with holes in pie plates and gently push brads through both, then bend in back to secure in place.  They may then put hands through these "handles" to where their palms are flat against the pie plates and the foam strips are over the back of their hands, and clang the plates together like cymbals.

Suggestion for use:

Guide the students in joyfully praising the Lord for all that He is and all that He does.  Spend some quiet time allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal to each student one thing for which they can praise Him, then go around the circle and have each student complete this statement:  “I praise You, God, because...”  Remind them to praise Him joyfully!  They may clang their cymbals 3 times after sharing their praise.  In addition you may want to play some upbeat praise music and allow the children to march around the room crashing their cymbals to the beat.


What fun craft ideas do you have to use in praising the Lord?

Bible Book Bonanza!

When teaching children the names of the Bible books in order, repetition is the name of the game!  Remember to incorporate different activities for different learning styles.  Having the Bible books posted in the classroom helps visual learners, putting them to music helps audio learners, and games help kinesthetic learners.

There are Bible book songs available or if you are musical, make up your own and record it.  Play the song over and over until they are familiar with it, then play the song, pausing occasionally and having students sing the next book.

Supplies as simple as index cards and markers can create an endless possibility for games.  Write a Bible book name on each card.  Line them up on the floor, leaving one out every few cards.  Students then put the remaining cards in their correct locations.  Once they are familiar with the order, give them all the cards and time them to see how quickly they can put them in order.  Make a second set of cards and have teams compete against each other to see who can put them in order the fastest!

Have students sit in a circle and pass around a beanbag or other small object (perhaps something related to the lesson, such as an apple when learning about the fruit of the spirit or a key when learning about the keys to the Kingdom).  First child holds the object and says "Genesis" then passes it to the next child who says "Exodus", etc.  Try to get faster each time.

Remind children of the purpose of memorizing the books of the Bible.  It's not to earn a material reward, but as a tool for helping them study God's Word.

What fun activities do you have for teaching the books of the Bible?

Welcome!

Welcome to SWAP!  That's "Silly With A Purpose"!

If you serve in children's ministry, you know kids love to be silly!  They love it even more when their leaders are a little silly too!  I believe in having tons of fun when teaching kids, not just for the sake of being silly, but for the purpose of reinforcing biblical truths.

When planning lessons, I often run across ideas that are either too boring or might be fun and silly, but don't have much depth to them.  Some children's ministries think the silly stuff is - well - silly and that we need to be more serious about The Word, while other children's ministries focus so much on the silly that when Mom & Dad ask their kids what they learned about in Sunday School, all the kids remember is the goofy game they played.   Why can't both silly and serious live harmoniously?  I believe they can and that's what this blog is all about.

The intention of this blog is for those of us in the wonderful world of children's ministry to SWAP ideas for incorporating fun and silly activities into our lessons without sacrificing the integrity of The Word.

Regardless of the area of children's ministry in which you serve, feel free to share your ideas...what's worked for you...what hasn't...offer suggestions...ask questions...in other words SWAP with others who love Jesus and love children as much as you do!  Just leave a comment with your suggestions and ideas and feel free to use my ideas in your ministry as well.

 May the Lord richly bless you as you do your part in training up the next generation of Christ followers.

To God be the glory!