For this lesson I have 2 play posts. one is a specially modified game of eye spy. This one is the more usual collection of games. The games link with the themes; Vision, hiding, and sharing
Hide and seek – Traditionally it’s one of those games everyone knows, and if you have the space it’s great to play. I’d make sure you have a signal to say the game has ended. It ties in to the idea of Zacchaeus being hidden in the tree.
Boxed Limited view – you need a few cardboard boxes for this one. Punch a few small holes in the sides and then place a mystery object in the box. By shaking and peering through the holes the child has to identify the object.
Bucket logic – this is a simple logic problem great for older kids that can be found on the worksheet for Mary’s perfume. You need a large container of water and two different size containers – but not measuring jugs. You also need either scales or a measuring rod to determine the correct amount. Read the worksheet for more details. Don’t worry about being too exact with the measurements just add the capacity of the two containers together and divide by 2.
Unique 5 – this is a simple game for young children. Tell the children that they are all unique, and that that’s the way God made us. Children can be cruel about people being different and we don’t want to make that worse. The object of this game is to find 5 ways each child is unique, if you have a really large group split them in to smaller groups of it will take forever! When a child finds 5 things they don’t share with anyone else in the group then they receive a prize (a small sweet or biscuit is the usual choice)
Parachute limited view – a quiet parachute game. Sit round the parachute with your knees bent to the sky and your toes facing inwards. this should create a low canopy which a child can crawl under. place objects on the parachute and see if you can get the child to identify them. the children sitting around the edges will try and prevent this by moving the item or blocking the view from the middle hole.
