My kids hate Bible time. Like really hate it. Last week Emma asked if we could skip it and do math homework instead. When a kid prefers math over Bible stories you know you're doing something wrong.
So I started trying games. Some work. Most don't.
Acting Out Bible Stories
Kids love acting things out even when they're terrible at it. Which they are.
Had Jacob try being Noah collecting animals. He spent ten minutes making animal noises and forgot the actual story completely. Other kids just watched him bark and moo until I reminded them to guess.
Emma's version of David and Goliath involved her lying on the floor for five minutes pretending to be dead. When I asked why she said "that's what happens when you get hit with a rock."
Fair point actually.
Musical Chairs With Bible Characters
When music stops I yell out a Bible person and kids have to pose like them.
"Moses!" gets everyone standing with arms stretched out like they're parting water. "Mary!" makes them all look surprised with hands on their faces.
Problem is half the kids don't know who these people are so they just copy whoever looks confident. Usually results in everyone doing the same random pose.
Had one kid ask who Zacchaeus was. When I explained he climbed a tree, kid spent rest of game climbing on furniture every time I said any name.
Memory Verse Scramble
Write memory verses on cards and mix them up. Teams race to put them in order.
Kids love racing. Don't love memorizing. But will memorize if racing is involved.
Had team argue about whether "the" came before "Lord" or after "Lord" in verse. Took longer to argue than to actually do the activity.
Jacob tries to cheat by looking at other team's cards. When caught he says "Jesus forgives cheating right?" Kid's got theology down.
Telephone With Bible Stories
Whisper Bible story to first kid who whispers to next kid and see what happens.
Started with "Jesus fed five thousand people with fish and bread." Ended with "Jesus ordered pizza for a really big party."
Kids think it's hilarious when stories get completely wrong. I'm not sure they're learning anything but they're laughing.
Emma's version of Noah's ark became "Old man collected pets and put them on a boat because it was raining really hard." Close enough I guess.
Bible Bingo
Made bingo cards with Bible words. Read a story and kids mark off words they hear.
Only works if you remember to actually say the words on their cards. Read entire story of Moses without saying "Egypt" once. Kids very disappointed.
Used stickers as prizes which was mistake. Kids suddenly knew every Bible story ever written when stickers were involved.
Jacob got bingo three times in one game. Pretty sure he was making up hearing words but couldn't prove it.
Drawing Bible Stories
Kids draw while I tell story. Then they show pictures and explain what they drew.
Emma's drawing of creation looked like scribbles in crayon. She explained it was "God making colors happen everywhere." Actually made sense.
Jacob drew stick figures for every Bible story. Didn't matter if it was Noah or Moses or Jesus. All stick figures all the time.
My drawing of burning bush looked like green blob with red scribbles. Kids guessed "angry salad." Not wrong technically.
Hide and Seek Bible Objects
Hide plastic animals for Noah's ark or fake coins for parables about money. Kids find them while I tell related stories.
Problem is kids more interested in finding things than listening to stories. Spent entire lesson hunting for plastic sheep while I talked to myself.
Also kids find things that aren't supposed to be hidden. Like my car keys and Emma's missing sock and Jacob's homework from last week.
Building Bible Scenes
Give kids blocks or Legos to build Bible story scenes while I tell story.
Noah's ark always looks like random pile of blocks. Tower of Babel actually supposed to fall down so those work great.
Kids argue about whether Bible people had cars. Jacob insisted Moses needed vehicle to get around desert. Built elaborate Lego car for Moses.
Emma built house for Jesus that had swimming pool and hot tub. When I said Jesus probably didn't have those she asked how I knew for sure.
Bible Character Guessing Game
Describe Bible person without saying name. Kids guess who it is.
"This person lived in big fish." Easy one gets everyone shouting "Jonah!"
"This person was really strong until someone cut his hair." Harder one. Kids guess "my dad" and "The Rock" and "Superman" before getting Samson.
Jacob always guesses "Jesus" for every single person no matter what clues I give. Even when I say "this person was a woman" he still guesses Jesus.
Bible Story Racing
Teams race to act out or build or draw Bible story I call out. First team to finish wins.
Results in complete chaos with kids running around yelling random Bible words.
Called out "David and Goliath" and one team just had biggest kid lie down while smallest kid stood on him. Technically correct.
"Creation" resulted in one kid making explosion noises while others threw paper everywhere. Also technically correct.
What Actually Works
Kids remember the games way better than the lessons. That's probably okay.
Moving around keeps them interested longer than sitting and listening.
Competition makes them try harder even when they don't care about the content.
Laughing together makes everything more fun including Bible stuff.
What Doesn't Work
Games that require them to already know Bible stories they haven't learned yet.
Anything too complicated with rules I have to explain seventeen times.
Activities where some kids just watch while others participate.
Games that feel too much like school work disguised as fun.
Why I Keep Trying
Bible stories are actually interesting if you can get kids to pay attention to them.
Games make Bible feel approachable instead of scary or boring.
Kids need to know these stories somehow and games work better than lectures.
When they're laughing and engaged they might actually remember that God loves them.
Random Things
Some kids who hate everything else love Bible games. Different activities reach different kids.
Competitive kids forget to be nice during Bible games. Irony not lost on me.
Shy kids participate in games when they won't talk during discussions.
Kids ask better questions during games than during formal lesson time.
The Truth
Half my game ideas fail completely. Kids see through educational tricks pretty fast.
But when games work kids connect fun feelings with Bible stories.
Not sure they're learning deep theology but they're learning Bible characters exist and God cares about them.
That's probably enough for now. Fun first, education sneaks in behind.
