Materials
You’ll need a Bible and enough canned goods for each person to have two cans. You can also use barbells, bricks, stones or other heavy objects. 1 liter water bottles willed with water are also effective.

Activity
Give every person two cans, and have them hold the cans with their arms straight out from their bodies. Challenge the youth to hold their arms this way for one minute. At the end of a minute, note how many students still have their arms out.

Debrief
· Was that easier or more difficult than you thought it would be? Why?
· What would make the task easier-aside from setting the cans down?
· In what ways does God give us strength?
· How does this apply to us when issues or circumstances weigh us down or overwhelm us?

Continue
Have students form pairs, and have one partner hold his or her arms out again, holding the cans This time, ask the other partner to help by holding up his or her partner’s arms under the biceps. How much longer can they last now?

Application
We may not have the strength to do things on our own, but with God’s strength we can do anything. Sometimes God’s way of giving strength to us is through members of the body of Christ supporting and giving help to each other.

Variation
Use a stopwatch and hold a competition to see which class representatives can hold an object out to the side the longest.

This test of strength reminds us that our strength is limited, but God and other Christians can give us the strength to do the things we cannot do ourselves.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
Make a list of actions. These actions will include:
1. Things that will bring us or others closer to God / each other.
2. Things that will create barriers or move us away from God or away from others.

Examples

• Move one step closer if you’ve ever prayed for a friend.
• Move one step closer if you’ve ever prayed for a parent.
• Move one step back if you’ve ever broken one of the Ten Commandments.
• Move one step closer if you’ve ever told someone about God’s love.
• Move one step back if you’ve ever made fun of a classmate at school.
• Move one step closer if you’ve ever fed or helped a stranger.
• Move one step closer if you’ve ever believed in someone when nobody else would.
• Move one step back if you’ve ever pretended not to see someone in need.
• Move one step closer if you’ve ever been honest when it would have been easier to tell a lie.

Activity
Stand in the center of a circle of participants, with the youth all positioned an equal distance from you. As you call out the items on the list, if a child/youth has ever done that he must either take one step forward or one step backward depending on if it was a good thing or a bad thing. The objective is to be the first person to reach you. Ask kids to be honest.

Variation
Have some volunteers stand as obstacles… Their objective is to stand in the way of participants trying to move forward. Anything that is an obstacle between us and God needs to be removed.

Discussion
Have kids form pairs and discuss the following questions:

• How did you feel as you moved closer to the center of the circle?
• What did you notice about the group as the activity went on?

Have a volunteer pick up the Bible from the center of the circle and Read James 4:7-8a. Ask:

• How do your actions affect your relationship with God?
• What do you think it means to submit to God?

Application
Reconciliation is removing the distance between people and God similar to the way you moved in this game to get closer to the teacher. Some things we do like lying, hurting others move people away from God. Other actions like encouraging others and helping them do their chores make people closer. When we forgive, confess our sins, read our Bible, tell others about Jesus, etc we help them move closer to God. That’s what reconciliation is all about.

This game / creative teaching idea reminds youth and children that our actions serve to either draw us nearer to God or take us farther away from him.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
None

Activity
In this game for youth, children or adults, you will call out a number and one of the following body parts (knees, hands, eyes, or body) The participants must then get into clumps (groups) of the number you called with the touching his/her body part you named. For example: if I called 3 knees, then everyone must form groups of three persons all touching their knees. (For body you might have them stand in a specific pose or have them turn their body in a circle – repent means to turn around and go in the opposite direction) Because of odd numbers, some of the kids may be unable to form a group of three. The objective is to not be left out of a group. Repeat calling out a different number and different body part.

Variation 1
Once kids have gotten used to the activity make it a little more complicated by having them touch the body parts together in their group. (i.e. 5 – hands – must form groups of five with everyone touching everyone else’s hands.)

Variation 2
Once kids have mastered this, call out two body parts along with a number. (i.e. 3 hands-knees – the group must form groups of three touching boths hands TO knees) Knees to eyes is quite difficult – grins

Application
When a body part was called out, your entire body must move to accomplish the task. Scripture describes us as part of the body of Christ -the church and Christ is the head. Our goals is the goal of Christ – to bring reconciliation and peace with God to the world. 1 Corinthians 12

This game / creative teaching activity illustrates the connection between all believers with one another and with Christ.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Objective
To help students learn to differentiate between the wisdom of the Bible and the wisdom of men.

Activity
Listed below are common sayings. Many are from the Bible. Others are not. There are several possible activities that can be done with these saying. One option is to split each saying in half and put each part on a separate card. Make several sets for more than one team. You could also split them in half and put the entire list (scrambled) on a piece of paper for youth to match.

Have a competition to see who can correctly match the different halves of the sayings together first. After they have matched all the sayings have them identify which ones are from scripture and which are from the saying of men. You might be surprised yourself that some of our common expressions come from the Bible.

A gentle answer / turns away wrath (prov 15:1)
Too close / for comfort (not in Bible)
Pride goes / before destruction (prov16:18)
Too big / for your britches (not in Bible)
A good name / is more desirable than great riches (pr. 22:1)
Sticks and stones / may break my bones, but words will never hurt me (not in Bible)
As iron sharpens iron / so one man sharpens another (prov 27:17)
If you play with fire / you will get burnt (not in Bible)
Saved by the skin / of your teeth (job 19:20)
Better safe / than sorry (not in Bible)
Do to others / as you would have them do to you (Mt 7:12)
Innocent / until proven guilty (not in Bible)
It is not good / that man should be alone (Gen 2:18)
A land flowing / with milk and honey (ex 3:8)
Man does not live / by bread alone (Deut. 8:3)
A still small / voice (I Kings19:12)
Two heads / are better than one (ecclesastes 4:9)
You are / what you eat (not in Bible)
As he think in his heart, / so is he (Prov 23:7)
Whoever digs a hole / will fall into it (Eccl 10:8)
They have sown the wind and / will reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7)
Where your treasure is, / there you heart will be also (Mt 6:21)
No man can serve / two masters (Mat 6:24)
A wolf / in sheep’s clothing (mat 7:15)
A pearl / of great price (13:46)
The blind / leading the Blind (Matt 15:14)
You can lead a horse to water / but you can’t make him drink. (not in Bible)
A rolling stone / gathers no moss (not in Bible)
Oil and water / don’t mix (not in Bible)
A stitch in time / saves nine. (not in Bible)
A watched pot / never boils (not in Bible)
If at first you don’t succeed, / try, try, again. (not in Bible)
The squeeky wheel / gets the oil.(not in Bible)
Seek / and you will find (Mt 7:7)
He who hesitates / is lost. (not in Bible)
Beauty / is only skin deep (not in Bible)
A city set on a hill / cannot be hidden. (Mt 5:14)
Necessity /is the mother of invention. (not in Bible)
A friend in need / is a friend in deed. (not in Bible)
A bird in hand / is worth two in the bush. (not in Bible)
Silence / is golden. (not in Bible)
Children / should be seen and not heard. (not in Bible)
Don’t cast your pearls / before swine. (Mt 7:6)
What is good for the goose / is good for the gander. (not in Bible)
You can’t judge a book / by its cover. (not in Bible)
Don’t count your chicens / before they hatch. (not in Bible)
Cleanliness / is next to godliness. (not in Bible)
Where there’s smoke / there’s fire. (not in Bible)
Don’t cry over / spilt milk. (not in Bible)
People who live in glass houses / shouldn’t throw stones. (not in Bible)
The early bird / gets the worm. (not in Bible)
An apple a day / keeps the doctor away. (not in Bible)
All’s fair / in love and war. (not in Bible)
Look / before you leap. (not in Bible)
All work and no play / makes Jack a dull boy. (not in Bible)

Application
In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon collected the sayings of the world and then compared them with the Word of God. It is important in our life to be able to distinguish what is from the world and what is from God. The Word of God is our guide for living our life.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
A compass

Activity
1. As a small game stand in the center of the room as the target. Students must arrange themselves in lines next to you to form a cross “+”.
2. Designate each direction of the cross as according to the directions of the compass (North, South, East, West).
3. Using the compass, let youth rotate themselves so that the correct line is facing north. Ask them to freeze and take note of their orientation in the room.
4. As the target you must now move to another place in the room.
5. On your signal participants are to reform the compass at the new location, aligning themselves in the correct directions.
6. First line of the cross to get in the correct position wins, making sure they are all facing their respective directions of the compass.
7. To make it more difficult, stand in a doorway, next to a wall, squat under a table, etc.

Debrief
After the game, ask youth/ children to point to north at a given signal. Check their alignment with the compass. Then try to confuse the youth / children by turning round, going to a corner or standing on a chair and asking where north is from those positions.
1. Whatever position we are in, a compass will direct us accurately to north.
2. What are some things that people use to find direction in life?
3. How accurate are these guides?
4. What directions are you aligning your life to?
5. How does a sense of direction help us in the twists and turns of life?

Application
The Holy Spirit is our inner ‘guide’. (John 16:13-14) The Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path in life by always pointing us to Jesus.

Finding Direction in life helps us to navigate its twists and turns.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
Obtain a ball of string or yarn and a cross of image of Jesus.

Activity
Sit the group on the floor in a circle. Holding firmly to the string, toss it to a person in the circle. The person then, holding firmly onto the string, tosses the ball on to another person. The string should be held above the ground. Continue until everyone has received the string at least once. You will have a spiderweb of string representing how we are all connected to each other. Then attach the end of the string to a cross or to a picture of Jesus.

Application
Scripture tells us that like this string, Jesus connects us all together. He is the head of the body and we are all connected though him. Colossians 1:15-20

This activity illustrates the connection between all believers with one another and with Christ.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
A Bible and a soft object to throw, such as afoam ball or a wadded-up pair of clean socks.

Activity
Have everyone stand or sit in a circle. Say: “Let’s play a game called All You Need.” I’ll begin with a statement and will throw the ball to someone in the circle. Whoever catches the ball will finish the statement. For example, if I say, “All you need to make spaghetti is…” and then throw the ball to you, you might say, “boiling water.” And then you throw the ball to someone else, who might say “meatballs.” Then that person throws the ball to someone else, and so on. I’ll interrupt with new statements, so don’t be concerned if you don’t get to answer every statement. Let’s make sure everyone gets a chance to throw the ball.

Begin the game by saying: All you need for a good party is… Then have each person finish the statement as he or she catches the ball. As the game continues, interject the following statements:
· All you need to fix a flat tire is…
· All you need for a great concert is…
· All you need for a perfect weekend is…
· All you need to be popular is…
· All you need to make mee siam is…
· All you need to make friends is…
· All you need for peace is…
· All you need to recieve blessings from God is to … (PRAY)
ADD YOUR OWN IDEAS

Debrief
· What was easy about this game? What was difficult?
· Which statements took more thought? Why?
· Was everything mentioned really needed?
· Were some things needed that were not mentioned?
· Is prayer all we need? Why or why not?

Application
There are times when we think we need something, but it is not really a need. It is merely a desire, a wish. Sometimes there are things we need but we don’t realize it. Fortunately God promises to provide all our needs – Philippians 4:19. God is all we need and he blesses us with even more than we ask in our prayers.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Activity
Form trios and have kids introduce themselves. Then tell trio members to alphabetize their first names and make the person with the name closest to A “get lost.” These people must quickly join different pairs. The last person to reach a different pair and the kids in that pair are eliminated from the game. Then instruct the new trio members to introduce themselves and tell each other when they were born. Direct the oldest and the youngest trio members to tell the other member to “get lost.” As before, new trios are formed and three players are eliminated.

Continue to play with new criteria for getting lost until only one trio survives. For example, tell each trio to send away the person who
* has the most colorful socks,
* has the oldest living grandparent,
* has the most cousins,
* has the least pets, or
* owns the largest pet.

Debrief
* How did it feel to be left out?
* What can we learn from this in our relationships with others in the church?
* What are some ways we tell others to get lost?
* What are some of the reasons we tell others to get lost?
* How can we be more united as a church or youth group?

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
Puzzles – You can use large wooden children’s puzzle pieces for both and youth or children. Cardboard puzzles with a limited number of pieces can also be used. You will need more than one puzzle – one for each participant in a small group or divide the class into multiple groups and have a puzzle for each group.

Activity
Mix up the peices so that the pieces that go to each puzzle are with the wrong frame or in the wrong box. To make it more difficult completely mix up the pieces. Of course students won’t be able to fit the peices into the wooden puzzle frames because they are the wrong peices. And the others will have more difficulty because they are in the wrong box. Let the participants trade pieces and correctly put together the puzzles.

Debrief
King Solomon also tried to fill in the holes in his life with peices that didn’t fit. The book of Ecclesiastes is the record of the results. Only God can fill the puzzle of the life He has planned for each of us.

Makes a great Children’s sermon, object lesson or learning activity for youth to introduce a lesson on God’s plan for our lives.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Bible Text
John 16:13-14

Materials
A compass

Central Truth
The Holy Spirit guides us

Activity
Set the Stage: As a small game stand in the center of the room and let students arrange themselves in lines next to you to form a cross “+”. Designate one line of the cross as “North.” Designate the remaining three lines the other directions of the compass (East, etc) Then using the compass, let youth rotate themselves so that the correct line is facing north. Ask them to freeze in position. They must remember this position. Their line must always be arranged in the position it is now arrange in and correctly aligned to the compass.

Game Play:Move to another place in the room. On your signal the four teams are to reform the compass at the new location, pointing themselves in the correct directions. (To make it more difficult, stand in a doorway, next to a wall, squat under a table, etc.) First line of the cross to get in the correct position wins. Make sure all four teams are facing their respective directions of the compass before you freeze them and move to a new location.

Debrief
Ask the youth to point to north. Check to see who is correct with the compass. Then try to confuse the youngsters by turning round, going to a corner or standing on a chair and asking where north is from those positions.

Whatever position we are in, a compass will direct us accurately to north.

Application
The Holy Spirit is our inner ‘guide’. Look up John 16:13-14. The Holy Spirit will keep us on the right path, always pointing us to Jesus. It is our responsibility to align ourselves with his direction.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
A compass

Activity
1. As a small game stand in the center of the room as the target. Students must arrange themselves in lines next to you to form a cross “+”.
2. Designate each direction of the cross as according to the directions of the compass (North, South, East, West).
3. Using the compass, let youth rotate themselves so that the correct line is facing north. Ask them to freeze and take note of their orientation in the room.
4. As the target you must now move to another place in the room.
5. On your signal participants are to reform the compass at the new location, aligning themselves in the correct directions.
6. First line of the cross to get in the correct position wins, making sure they are all facing their respective directions of the compass.
7. To make it more difficult, stand in a doorway, next to a wall, squat under a table, etc.

Debrief
After the game, ask youth/ children to point to north at a given signal. Check their alignment with the compass. Then try to confuse the youth / children by turning round, going to a corner or standing on a chair and asking where north is from those positions.
1. Whatever position we are in, a compass will direct us accurately to north.
2. What are some things that people use to find direction in life?
3. How accurate are these guides?
4. What directions are you aligning your life to?
5. How does a sense of direction help us in the twists and turns of life?

Application
The Holy Spirit is our inner ‘guide’. (John 16:13-14) The Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path in life by always pointing us to Jesus.

Finding Direction in life helps us to navigate its twists and turns.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Matthew 8:19, John 12:26

Activity
Play a game of “Simon Says”? It’s an easy game. You do all the things Simon says you may do, but if Simon does not say that you can do something and you do it, then you are out.

Debrief
“Simon says” is an easy game as long as you follow. Following is the key to success. If you don’t follow then you are out. It is like that with Jesus too. We need to follow him. If we want to know if something is OK or not we can ask ourself what Jesus would do. If Jesus would do it then we can do it.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Objective
Making wise decisions involves knowing scripture.

Preparation
Draw a grid representing floor tiles on a piece of paper. You may choose to have a 15 by 15 square grid or larger. Mark a path through the grid of squares with each successive step touching the one before it either adjacent or diagonally. Count the number of squares for the correct path and make a piece of paper with a Bible scripture written on it for each square. For the rest, rewrite some of the scriptures so that they are not correct. Use scriptures that are well known and provide wisdom in making decisions. Proverbs has a lot of good choices. When in the classroom, lay out the peices of paper on floor tiles according to your grid.

Game Play
Divide the class into teams. The object is for each team to get its members through the mind-field without losing people. The group to get the largest number of students through the mind-field wins.

Kids decide whether a square is a mine by reading the scripture verses and deciding if it is correct or not. If it is correct it is a safe square to step on. If it is not correct it is a mine. If they step on a mine, they lose one member and another kid can try.

The first team to get across with least casualties wins.

Debrief
Scripture is our guide through life’s minefields. Wrong choices injure us. Correct choices lead us closer to God! Discuss how the scriptures you used help guide us down the right paths in life.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
Stamp ink pad, small pieces of paper for each youth’s thumbprint.

Preparation
If your youth are not skittish about having their thumbprints taken, have each youth create a thumbprint on a piece of paper. Photocopy these into a grid and have a contest to see who can identify which thumbprint belongs to who. Whoever correctly identifies the most thumbprints wins a prize.

Variation – Thumbprint Bingo
Take the thumprints on onion skin paper, tracing paper, or tissue paper. Photocopy 5 rows of thumbprints in 5 columns on pieces of paper to create bingo grids. Then put all the thumbprints in a sack and pull them out and project them onto an OHP. First youth to form 5 in a row in any direction wins. (If you want to make it easier, place a number on each thumbprint as they can be difficult to identify.

Debrief
Each one of our fingerprints is different. Psalm 119:73 tells us God made us special so we could serve him in different ways. Just as there are many different fingerprints there are many different ways for us to serve God. Each of us must try to discover how God uniquely want’s us to serve him.

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Materials
Obtain some flexible rulers or make them from cardboard. As an added variation, make a couple of the rulers with incorrect measurement markings.

Preparation
Make a list of measurements of various items found in the youth room or throughout the church.

Activity
Participants must scour the room and find the objects that match the measurements… first to get them all correct gets a prize.

Debrief
Have youth write the standards of measurement for our lives from God’s Word and scriptures we can use to measure our lives against God’s standards. You might give them some helpful scriptures to write on their rulers. Talk about how those standards are corrupted when the rules (rulers) are wrong. Then everything gets measured incorrectly. Those that had rulers with the wrong measurements will find it difficult to find any of the objects.

Application
When our measurements of obedience, ourselves (pride), expectations (jealousy), comparisons with others, and timing (patience) are wrong it messes up our results. Our standards for measurement must be exact and based on God’s Word or every measurement we make will be wrong. God’s Word is to be the ruler for our life. When we use other things as rulers our measurements come out wrong.

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Central Truth
God wants us to help when we see others in trouble

Materials
1. Large open area…
2. Identifiers for participants as follows:
white armband – sheep
Black armband – wolf
Large Doggie bone on a string – Sheep Dog

Scripture
Read the 23rd psalm or have a participant quote it. Sometimes we call the 23rd Psalm “the Good Shepherd Psalm” because it teaches us that God is like a shepherd and we’re like sheep. We aren’t told if sheep dogs were used in Bible times, but today it’s very common for shepherds to have sheep dogs.

Teaching Activity
Play a game of tag with the following rules:

Setup
1. All sheep must wear a white armband. The only sound they can make is a “baa”
2. Wolves must wear a black armband – there should be two or more wolves depending on the size of the group. The only sounds they can make are a growl and snarl!
3. Sheepdogs wear a big bone around their neck. Get a large rawhide bone from your pet store or make a large bone from a piece of posterboard. There should be two or more sheep dogs depending on the size of the group. The only sounds they can make is to “bark” like a dog.
4. Designate an out of bounds area for those that are eliminated.

Game Play
1. Wolves may tag sheep. If tagged they are out of the game.
2. Only Sheep dogs may tag a wolf. If tagged they are out of the game.
3. If two or more wolves tag a sheepdog at the same time the sheep dog is out of the game.
3. If the wolves are eliminated the sheep win the game.
4. If the sheep are eliminated the wolves win the game.
5. Vary the number of sheepdogs and wolves to change the game play. 6. You might give sheepdogs some time to develop strategies to protect the sheep while the wolves develop their strategies to attack the sheep.

Debrief
1. What strategies did the wolves have to eliminate the sheep? How are these similar/ different from Satan’s strategies? (See also Matthew 7:15, Matthew 10:16, Acts 20:29, 1 peter 5:8)

2. What does a shepherd do? How do sheepdogs help a shepherd? What function did the sheep dogs serve? How are sheep dogs similar/ different from spiritual leaders and mentors in the church?

Key Points
A. We’re all God’s sheep, and Jesus is our Good Shepherd. But sometimes God needs us to be sheep dogs.
B. Sometimes sheep wander away or are separated from the flock and become more vulnerable.
C. Shepherds and sheepdogs help keep the flock together and protect the sheep, but they can also be attacked.

Twas a sheep that strayed away

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

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Materials
Nails, wood.

Activity
Ask kids what can be done with nails and wood. Ask them to give some examples of what you could build.

Debrief
Explain that nails and wood are very important to easter too.
– Does anyone know why?

Tell the story of Christ’s crucifixion. Then teach children the sign language for “I Love You.” Explain that “I love you” was what Jesus was saying when he died on the cross.

Easter Collection
Games and Activities in celebration of Easter.

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Materials
Two large signs, one reading ‘possible’ and the other ‘impossible’

Your plan is to ask a number of questions to which the answer will be either ‘impossible’ or ‘possible’. Show the two cards and get two volunteers to come and hold up whichever the audience calls out. Be prepared with a list of questions. Here are some examples:

Can a fish live out of water?
Can a person get younger instead of older?
Can a person make a million dollars starting from just one dollar? Can a person turn his or her head 360 degrees?

You might like to look in the Guiness Book of Records for some unlikely stories which are actually true. Your final question will be: Can a dead person live again?

Debrief
God did the impossible by raising his Son Jesus from the dead. All who believe this to raise their hands.

Easter Collection
Games and Activities in celebration of Easter.

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Under the cover of darkness, this truly becomes a “hunt.”
Afterward, the eggs’ contents offer an opportunity for enlightening discussion.

Materials
Give the traditional Easter egg hunt a twist by staging it at night with flashlights. Set up a maze-type area outside, and then hide the plastic eggs. Put candy inside some of the eggs, and in others, flathead nails, a strip of leather, coins, a communion cup, a communion wafer, and thorns from roses (available from a florist). Also leave some of the eggs empty (signifying the empty tomb).

Debrief
Once the hunt is over, gather kids and have them open their eggs. This becomes your Bible study as you discuss each item and the role it played in Christ’s death and resurrection.

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

Creative Scavenger Hunts: Once Lost, Now Found

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Easter Collection
Games and Activities in celebration of Easter.

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Materials
Collect plastic eggs of a single color for each team of youth. If you want to have three teams you will need three colors of eggs. Take your favorite Easter Scripture Verse and cut it into the same number of pieces as you have eggs of a single color.

Activity
Have teams collect the easter eggs of their own color only. First team to find all the eggs and piece together the words of the scripture verse in the correct order win a prize.

Variation
Instead of plastic eggs, dye real eggs. Write the words from the scripture on each egg in wax before you dye them. You can also use a permanent marker to write the words.

Variation
Instead of scripture verses make a list of events.
Easter Events

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.

Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!

Easter Collection

Games and Activities in celebration of Easter.

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Needed
A large open area. An empty field works best, but a large room can also be used.

Set the stage
Remind the youth that when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, the disciples were frightened for their lives. The disciples were afraid they might be arrested if they were identified as followers of Jesus.

Activity
Form two teams of disciples. Appoint one “soldier” per team. Divide your playing area in half and designate opposite corners as “jail cells.” Set a timer for 2-5 minutes. Place one team on each side of the playing area. They may not leave their side of the area. Tagged disciples must go to the jail cell on their side and remain there until the timer goes off.

The two soldiers must turn away from the disciples, count to 20, and then must attempt to tag the disciples. After playing, the soldier on each team can pick someone else to be the soldier and play again. You can award the team of disciples which lasts the longest or has the most disciples outside jail at the end of the game time.

Debrief
1. How did it feel to be caught by a soldier and thrown into jail for being a disciple?
2. What feelings did you have while playing this game?
3. How do you think the disciples felt after Jesus was arrested?
4. What do you think you would you have done if you had been with Jesus when he was betrayed?
5. Has there been a time in your life when you denied you were a Christian? Denied Christ? Didn’t stand up to the pressure when you were persecuted for your faith?
6. Why is it sometimes difficult today to let people know that we are Jesus’ disciples?
7. What can we learn from this event in the life of Jesus and the disciples? Remind youth of the events after the resurrection and the changed Disciples boldly standing up for Christ.

Easter Collection
Games and Activities in celebration of Easter.

Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party. You can immediately download my best Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection

Needed
For each group you will need forks, knives, spoons, and a silverware tray with compartments molded to the shape of each utensil. Add extra miscellaneous tools that don’t fit in the silverware tray. Alternatively, you can use a tool box that has plastic molds conforming to the shapes of the tools.

Activity
Let the groups or individuals compete to be the first to place all the items in the correct compartments. You might choose to have more than one attempt to see if they can speed up their times. Award the group with the fastest time.

Linking ideas
1. Ecclesiastes 2:1-24; The silverware fits right into the spaces provided in this tray, but if we try to put a hammer or screwdriver in the compartments they don’t fit. Discuss how King Solomon also tried to fill in the holes in his life with pieces that didn’t fit. That’s because only God can fill the voids in our lives.
2. Blaise Pascal said that inside every man there is a god shaped vaccuum that only God can fill. We can try to fill that void in our lives with many things, but only God will bring us contentment and happiness. Only those things of God will truly fit and make us complete.
3. We are each created with different tools and spiritual gifts. Our goal in life is not to try to fit ourselves into another person’s mold, but discover our own place.

 

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…