The Parable of the pearl lends itself to hide and seek style games, but if you want something slightly different then why not check out these alternatives.
Sifting Pearls – Designed to be played with groups used to using a parachute (but could be played with a large net). The aim is to get all the pearls through the hole in the parachute apart from the specified one. For pearls use table tennis balls or tennis balls. make sure one ball is a different colour or mark it with tape to make sure it’s easy to visually distinguish it from the others.
cup and pearl – Catch your pearl in a cup. Make yours at the time or in advance. Punch a hole in the side of a disposable plastic cup, thread a large bead onto the end of a piece of string and attach together. Flip the bead and try and catch it in the cup. Good for small groups who have space or time fillers.
Pearl dominoes – This set of dominoes was really fun to make up and you can print them out to use in your classroom. Print them onto card-stock if possible and mount them on thicker card if you wish to store them for use again. Small groups need 1 set but bigger groups will need multiple copies. PDF LINK
Bouncing pearls – Grab a box of table tennis balls and something to act as a target – I used a Styrofoam packaging piece with 2 holes in it but any box or tub would work. Place the target a few feet away and bounce those pearls back into their shells. If Appropriate at the end, discuss how we didn’t value the pearls just hitting the target.
Sticky pearls – if you do want to play hide the thimble style but have a few more objects to find grab a sheet of sticky dots and go crazy round the room. Give each team a sheet of paper to stick their findings onto and send them pearl hunting!
