This story about the lamp lighter or the underlying passages about lamps and lamp stands are key Christian concepts for kids to grapple with. They use a very tactile and easy to demonstrate element – light. As such all these games play on the idea of light and vision and may need a darkened environment to work fully. Please check if your teaching area can have dimmed light before selecting the best activity for your group.
 

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Water the camels – the servant knew God had lead him to Rebekah when she offered to water the camels. This simple relay race has the child moving ‘water’ from the well to the animals. Use a large bucket of water and a cup to move it. If you can’t get wet in your space then use shredded blue paper.
 
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Lamp-lighter-Play

 

This story about the lamp lighter or the underlying passages about lamps and lamp stands are key Christian concepts for kids to grapple with. They use a very tactile and easy to demonstrate element – light. As such all these games play on the idea of light and vision and may need a darkened environment to work fully. Please check if your teaching area can have dimmed light before selecting the best activity for your group.
 

p-key

 

Catch the light – A beautifully simple game for little ones using multiple bright torches – have the group close their eyes while the adults or older kids shine the light into a given spot. when the kids open their eyes they must catch the light spot on their palm. this only works if the torch is placed or held stationary. talk about where light comes from and how it’s position effects how light the room is.
 
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Herod the Great really does epitomize the darker side of the Christmas story and his choices were down-right morally offensive. These games therefore look more at the elements of choice, clues and searches. The first two games here use a card set that can be found by clicking on the picture. If you are teaching Herod alongside the Magi then the games for the Magi can be found by clicking HERE

 

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Match it – This is similar to the popular ‘Dobble’ or ‘Spot it’ where cards are dealt to two players and upon turning the top card over one symbol one each card will match. the first player to identify this match wins both cards until one player runs out of cards. Link to Herod looking at clues and signs to help the Magi find Jesus.
 
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For the play post this time round there are a couple of games that requie this set of cards. There are 21 cards in total spaced over 3 pages of printout. They are designed like the popular game ‘Dobble’ or ‘Spot it’ but have only 5 images rather than the usual 8. Every card in the pack had one image in common with another card.

 
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The parable of the Rich fool has so much imagery we can use. It’s a great story for Harvest about the power of sharing rather than hoarding resources, it’s also a parable that comes from a very common question that rabbi’s would be asked. These games use both those ideas to give you a range of activities, choose the best for your space, age range and time available.
 

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Wobbly Barns – This is a building game – click on the image for the full instructions and pdf download. Older children can use the template to make simple barn structure pieces. Once they have made their towering barn get them to repeat it on a slight slope, one handed or with another ‘handicap’. For younger children find smooth building blocks and challenge them to make a tall tower.
 
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The big action the Rich fool does in this parable is to build barns, and this game / creative challenge lets your youngsters do the same. Stacking up layers using these little flimsy paper barn pieces can be a real challenge. There are lots of suggestions at the end of the post to make this a little tougher for older groups, many that may make them look like a fool-ish.

 
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The centurion teaches us the amazing power of Jesus’ word for all of us who aren’t fortunate to have seen him face to face. These games build on that theme of messengers, healing by faith not touch, the power of instructions and the identity of the healed man.

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Contact-less – This is a drama activity where one person ‘controls the actions’ of another by suggestion rather than touch. The activity works only if one person is in control and the other willing to follow. Start simply by both holding your hands up roughly 20 cm apart – remind the follower they must maintain the distance, then have the other person move their hands, the follower should echo their movements. Add in arms, torso, legs, head or try adding people. How did it feel to lead, how did it feel to follow? The centurion knew that power doesn’t always need to touch us to make us move.
 
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Like Aaron and the Israelite’s we have all experienced hunger (at least on some level) and know how grumpy it can make people. This story of divine providence gives us some real tangible props to tie into our games. Select the game that best suits your groups age range and setup.

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Gathering manna – spread popcorn kernels around the room and have the kids collect them. You can use popped or you can cook the manna and talk about how real manna may have tasted (like honey wafers). For younger groups use a clean sheet and pre-popped popcorn.
 
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