Indoor church games and Sunday school games are active and fun. Plus, they help kids grow their faith and work out the squirm! Not going outside can make kids stir-crazy. Stuck inside, they dream of warmer seasons when they can run and play outdoors.
Then they enter your Sunday school classroom or children’s church area. After a week of being cooped up at school and home, they have a God-given case of the fidgets.
So tap into kids’ natural energy and exuberance with active indoor church games and Sunday school games. These ideas are designed to let students move while learning more about their faith. Enjoy all these indoor church games with your children!
14 Indoor Church Games for Children’s Ministry
1. Angry Ping-Pong
Use this game to talk about the effects of anger.
Bible Connect: Ephesians 4:26-27
Stuff: You’ll need a Bible, ping-pong balls, fine-tipped permanent markers, slingshots, and a supply of cardboard building blocks.
Play: Put kids in groups of 10, and give them a few minutes to build towers with their blocks. Then give each group four or five ping-pong balls. Have each person write at least one thing on each ball that makes him or her angry.
Say: Let’s play a game. Your team’s goal is to knock down any other team’s towers. Use the slingshots and the ping-pong balls to do this, but stand at least 15 feet from any tower you’re aiming at.
Show kids this distance. Then say: Think about the things you wrote on your ping-pong balls. What things has that anger “knocked over” in your life or in others’ lives?
Read aloud Ephesians 4:26-27.
Cool Down: Ask:
- What does it mean to you that anger can be a foothold for the devil?
- What can you do to deal with your anger in a God-honoring way?
2. Elephant Stampede
Indoor church games are ideal for discussing the benefits of teamwork.
Bible Connect: 1 Corinthians 12:20-25
Stuff: You’ll need a Bible and one pool noodle that’s been cut in half.
outdoors Choose two kids to be the Elephant, and give them each one of the noodle pieces.
Say: We’ll work as a team in this game. Our Elephant will chase everyone else and try to tag you with a noodle. If you’re tagged, you become part of the Elephant by holding hands with the person who just tagged you with a noodle. The person who tagged you will hand you the noodle piece, and you’ll work with the rest of the Elephant to tag others, handing off the noodle piece to the person you tag. The object is to be the last person tagged.
Check for understanding; then let kids play.
Cool Down: Afterward, ask:
- Explain what you enjoyed more—trying to escape being tagged or being part of the Elephant.
- What did you do to work as a team in this game?
- What do you like or not like about working with a team?
Read aloud 1 Corinthians 12:20-25. Ask:
- What are the benefits of working as a team?
- What adjustments can you make to be a team player?
3. Cotton Nose
Use this game to practice encouraging others.
Bible Connect: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Stuff: You’ll need a Bible, masking tape, petroleum jelly, cotton balls, a table, and paper plates.
Play: Have kids get in groups of five to eight, and put a dab of petroleum jelly on the end of each person’s nose. For each group, set a plate of cotton balls on one end of the table, and set a second empty plate on the opposite end of the table for each group. Then use the masking tape to designate a start line. Have each group form a line behind it.
Read aloud 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Say: Let’s use this game to practice encouraging others. This is a relay race, and your team’s goal is to get all the cotton balls on your plate to your team’s empty plate at the other end of the table. Only one person can go at a time, and you must use only your nose to pick up the cotton balls. Got it? Check for understanding.
Say: This will be tough, so cheer on your teammates as much as you can. Shout encouraging words, clap, and chant for your teammates.
Begin the race.
Cool Down: Afterward, ask:
- When it was your turn to race, what encouraged you to do your best?
- What ways did you notice others encouraging their teammates?
- How can you apply this kind of encouragement to your life?
