Sarah and Abraham were old and so was the promise made to them, but their belief in this old promise is inspiring even today. These games link into that promise, particularly the ideas of waiting, naming and stars.
 

Glow stars – this is a memory game using glow in the dark stars, you can either buy these or buy glow in the dark paper. Make the space you are in as dark as possible filling it with artificial light only. Cover the room with glow in the stars, or cover trays with stars if you can’t get into the space in advance. Gather the children and have them close their eyes while you lower the lights. The children then have a short time to try and count the stars. Repeat making the time gap longer and longer.
 

I see in the stars! – this is a imagination game. You need a large handful of beads, rice, or something small to represent stars. gather your children round a large tray or piece of fabric and ask them what they see, then scatter the ‘stars’. If the children are reluctant start off by finding geometric shapes, then faces. It’s amazing what they will see.
 

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Nathanael seems to encompass various parallel ideas in his short passage, there is the question of identity, the invitation, and the character trait of honesty. These games explore these ideas so choose the game that best supports the idea you are trying to highlight.
 

Who am I?– This is an classic party game. The idea is that each person is assigned a character and the name is then stuck on the persons forehead or back. By only asking yes/no questions the individual must discover the identity written on the paper. Choose people that the whole group will be familiar with and with younger children choose a specific that the child agrees on – e.g. which character from SpongeBob SquarePants are you? or what Disney princess are you?
 

Guess who – if you have a small group and can access enough individual games then play this classic game. If not then make a human sized one by splitting your group into 2 and having each player pick a person from the opposing side. Get everybody to stand up and when they are excluded have them sit down. For smaller groups don’t split, rather have the leader write a name on a piece of paper and answer the questions.
 

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Do you use a screen or a computer in your classroom? If so this is for you.
 

44-Game-set

 
This Lot and Abram’s sheep sorting game is an engaging independent play task, introducing the character images for both Lot and Abram while reinforcing a key part of the story. Use as a welcome activity, station activity, a time filler at the end of a session.

Try it out below (click the post title if you can’t see it) or play full screen by using this link.

This is the first game I’ve done, please do leave me a comment to let me know what you think.
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Abram, or Abraham, Lot’s uncle, usually dominates the story but for this lesson Lot comes forward and we see the great blessing he received through Abram. With battles and Angelic rescues there is lots to work with.
 

Angel rescue – This is an old classic is reworded for the story – Choose 2 people to be angels, 2-4 people to be lot and his family, and the rest of the children are the city. The children stand arms length apart and stretch out their arms to for ‘walls’. Place lot and family in the city and the angels outside, the aim is to get lot and his family out. Lot and family can only move when touching an angel, nobody can walk through or under walls. Walls can gently spin to reposition themselves every 3-5 seconds, or when the leader indicates.
 

Where is Lot – Lot is taken prisoner and Abram needs to find him before he can free him. Place a few more pictures of Lot in your teaching room. Give the children clues as to where he may be. They must use the clue to work out where he is. finding the ‘wrong’ picture of Lot does not count. eg. one could be in the middle of the table with the clue ‘the sun in the solar system’, another could be behind a curtain with the clue ‘discovered when the sun went down’.
 

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While many like to start the biblical narrative from Adam or Noah, I have a particular love for the old man Abram, the father of faith. This introduction lesson was difficult to write games for but here a few that may be suitable for your group.
 

Six stand – The idea behind this game is following instructions just as Abram did, even when they don’t make sense. You’ll need at least one dice for this game, more if you have a large group. The children sit in a circle and take turns rolling the die, the aim of the game is to roll the numbers 2-6 in order. when an individual rolls a 2 or 3 they kneel, a 4 or 5 has one foot flat on the floor, the other leg kneeling, and a number 6 lets the child stand. If you roll a 1 you return to a sitting position. a 4 or 5 is useless if a 2 or 3 wasn’t already rolled, equally a 6 is useless unless you have rolled a successful 4 or 5.
 

Blind directions – One child is blindfolded and whispered some instructions, for example, take 3 steps, turn any direction and repeat. The other children don’t know the instructions and need to stand around the space not moving. the first person reached by the blindfolded participant swaps places and is given new instructions. Tor older kids add in star jumps, crawling, and longer strings of directions, eg, 6 steps, turn right, crawl for 5 seconds, turn left, 3 start jumps, walk backwards 2 steps, turn right, repeat.
 

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Joseph is a wonderfully underplayed character, his actions are only noted twice, both prompted by dreams, both effectively save Jesus’ life. This lesson tries to bring forward his fatherhood as a gift and a blessing and bring him out from the shadow of Mary.
 

Picture Sticks – This is a really simple game that can be adapted for a large space or played on a table, it can be used like a treasure hunt, a puzzle, or a reward for comprehension questions. For instructions follow see this post. link to idea that Joseph was a carpenter, skilled at putting wooden pieces together.
 

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Nail it – Hone you carpenter skills by recreating a picture with nails . You need a pile of small nails, a basic line drawing, and a pin-board (could use a thick piece of packing cardboard). Set up the pin boards and pins in a separate place to the drawing so that they can not be viewed at the same time. Kids can work as teams or individually to complete the challenge. Examples of pictures : very young – star, young – house, older group – bicycle, teens – horse.
 

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The woman at the well story is packed full of symbolism, many elements can be expanded in the activities you choose to do, some less suited to various age groups than others. Choose your games to reflect what you think your group most needs to concentrate on and take away from this lesson. The first 2 play on the water theme, the next 2 on the idea of worship, and the last 2 on the idea of mission.
 

Empty Water Jars – This is a silly game suited to those people who have an outdoor space they can get wet. Find two large containers, outdoor planters or jars if possible. You will also need a measuring stick. Fill both containers half full of water. Split the children into 2 teams and give each child a plastic or disposable cup. Announce that the winning team will be the one with the most water in their container. It may also be wise to include the rule : you are not allowed to block people from taking water.
 

Water Pictures – For this game you will need tiles or laminated papers and a small amount of water. Put the children in small groups and explain this is a guess the picture game. Give each group a tile and a small amount of water. Have the chosen child draw a picture on the tile with water while the other children guess what it is. For younger children add some paint or food colouring to the water. Once the group has guessed they must choose the next artist and send them to the leader to find out the next item to draw. Eg. 5 rounds could be : house, car, eye-glasses, shoe, phone.
 
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Reputation is a powerful thing, and this lesson is all about urging our children to have a positive reputation, a welcoming spirit, and be examples of love.
 

Love notes – This is a treasure hunt game where you hide envelopes. the children need to find the envelopes, read the note inside, and then deliver the note to the person they think most needs to hear the words. They can either do this immediately or by writing the persons name on the outside of the envelope for later delivery.
 

Legacy footprints – for this game you need a large sheet roll of paper, a marker and some music. The idea of this game is to get the children to walk along the paper doing a dance. The first person steps on the paper and where his foot falls a footprint is drawn, they then dance along to the end. the second person must start on the first persons footprints, and mark their second step, the third person replicates the first and second steps and marks a third. Continue until the whole page is filled with footprints and everyone is doing the same silly dance – footprints can go in any direction.

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