ProudGrandma Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I am looking for a few games that our church Sunday School teachers can use in their classroom. The ages would be either preschool-Kindergarten and 1st and 2nd graders. We can't spend a lot of money...but just need some good ideas. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I'd look into Sword Drills for 1st and 2nd graders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 what are sword drills? Is it a board game...a card game...??? I googled it and got all sorts of sport drills..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 what are sword drills? Is it a board game...a card game...??? I googled it and got all sorts of sport drills..... All it needs is a Bible. Everyone has their bible. Holds at ready. Teacher declares a Bible Reference and the participants race to be the first one to find it. The first one to find it reads it. Often, though, the verse is not read until all have found the Reference. http://biblehelps.net/sword_drills/sworddrill.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I think games in Sunday school should be fun and reinforce something on the children's learning level. It's important that the games not frustrate kids and that kids are on an even playing field; ie a newbie should have as much chance in the game as a kiddo whose mama homeschools her and really emphasizes the Bible. I think Sword Drills are great, but not for 1st and 2nd graders. Many kids that age cannot read well enough to decode Deuteronomy, for instance. ;) Think "basic Dr. Suess" for what that age can handle on average in reading. It's not going to be fun for most, but frustrating. I've seen people make the mistake of not wanting to "dumb down" faith instruction but what they are really doing is creating an academic barrier to learning about the faith. I would start sword drills only after extensive teaching on the books of the Bible in order, and teaching children how to use their Bibles in general. This levels the field, but because you only see the kids once a week, and not the same ones each week, it takes a long time, not a short introduction; otherwise, you are favoring the kids already getting instruction at home and leaving kids out who you might want most to learn something in Sunday school Do you need games that are played every week? Or games themed to lessons? If you want to theme games to lessons, you can google the name of the Bible story and "games." You can also DIY by making a list of every kids' game that you can think of (Tag, 7-up. Mother-May-I,etc.) Then think through the list with your Bible story in mind and give the game a new theme (but same game.) For instance, with tag, you can have "it" be either a "good guy" and then tag others who help tag the rest (for instance, "It' is a disciple. S/he tags someone and says "Jesus loves you," then both of them tag others till all have been tagged and told. Or "it" can be a bad guy, like "temptation," (Can tag someone and they freeze like freeze tag, stuck in a decision about what to do. Another kid can come tag them and unfreeze them by saying a Bible verse or something general like, "Remember God wants what is best for you!" For either age, an example of a simple game that you could play weekly might be something like tossing a beach ball in the air and seeing how long you can keep it in the air. Each time a child hits the ball, s/he can say something s/he's thankful for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 You can make Memory style games using clip art of Bible story images or stickers. You could also make another Memory set using photos of the kids in each class...each card could say "God loves" above their photos. This might be nice to make a set for each kid to take home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 An idea for when a teacher needs to fill a few minutes: Ask people to save juice or milk cartons...64 oz I think is the size I'm thinking of. Use two clean cartons to make a cube. Cut off the bottom of both cartons and squeeze one into the other to form the cube. Measure first so that it ends up a cube. For fun you can put beans or jingle bells inside. Cover the outside of the cube with contact paper or just regular paper taped on well. On each side of the cube print out and attach a different song or action rhyme. For sturdiness you can cover the whole thing with clear packing tape. To use: The teacher or a student rolls the cube like a big die. Whatever is facing up is what the class will do. If the same side is up again the teacher can change it up by doing things like "this time let's: whisper, shout, low voices, sqeaky voices, slow motion" etc. When I taught I liked not having to think about what songs or rhymes we could do and the kids liked rolling the cubes and also the silliness from repeating. I had a few different cubes. Eta: I did each side in different a color so the non-reader kids learned to identify which song/rhyme was which. Also, each song/rhyme was typed out *not* just the title because then a substitute could use the cubes without knowing the songs/rhymes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I am looking for a few games that our church Sunday School teachers can use in their classroom. The ages would be either preschool-Kindergarten and 1st and 2nd graders. We can't spend a lot of money...but just need some good ideas. thanks. It isn't something I have tried, but I was in Mardel the other day shopping for a bday gift. They are very fundamentalist and don't do many traditional toys so I was looking for something fun that would fit their guidelines. I finally went with a set of Bible Dominoes that were cute and matched Biblical Characters with stories. They are more for the preK/Kindy age though. I just googled them and found them cheaper by half here: http://www.familychristian.com/catalog/product/view/id/319199/ I also noticed that there is a Bible version of many popular games: Apples to Apples, Blurt, Blink, Monopoly, and a ton more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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