7. Outdoor Game: The Four Bases
Jesus’ Resurrection: Luke 24:1-12
Use this game to review the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- a rubber ball
- 4 bases
Say: Jesus made it so we can be forgiven for the things we say and do that disobey God. Let’s play a game of kickball that reminds us of what the women experienced at Jesus’ resurrection.
Form two teams and play a traditional game of kickball, except when runners reach the following bases, they’ll do these actions before moving to the next base.
- First: Run in place for 10 steps and pretend to carry a bundle of spices. (Luke 24:1)
- Second: Turn in a circle three times to show the women looked around for Jesus’ body. (Luke 24:2-3)
- Third: Fall to the ground and then jump up and cheer that Jesus is alive. (Luke 24:4-6a)
- Home: Count aloud to 11 to symbolize the disciples they told. (Luke 24:9)
Ask:
- How hard was it to remember all the steps?
Read aloud Luke 24:6b-7.
Ask:
- The women had also forgotten what would happen and had to be reminded. What’s something you forget about Jesus sometimes?
- What’s something that’s easy for you to remember about Jesus?
8. Indoor Game: He Drew, She Drew
Jesus’ Resurrection: John 20:1-10
Use this game to explore the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
You’ll need:
- Bibles
- 1 set of notecards stapled into a pack of eight for each child
- pencils
Say: We’re going to play a game to find out what happened after Mary found an empty tomb on Sunday morning.
Lead kids in playing a blend of the classic games Telephone and Pictionary. This game covers each of the verses in John 20:2-10.
- Have kids form groups of eight, and give each person a notecard stack and a pencil.
- Assign each child in each group a different verse from John 20:2-10. If you don’t have even groups of eight, some kids can double up on verses.
- Have all the kids look up their verses. They’ll write the verse address (the Bible reference, such as John 20:2) on a notecard and draw a picture to represent what happened in the verse. (Have kids who are doubling up draw a picture for two adjacent verses on one card.)
- Once kids finish drawing, they’ll pass their stacks to the left in their groups.
- With the new stack, they’ll look at the picture and bend it over so it’s at the bottom of the stack. On the new top card, they’ll write about what they think was happening in the picture.
- Next, kids pass their stacks to the left, and this time they’ll read what was written and then bend the card so it’s at the bottom of the stack.
- On the new top card, they’ll draw a picture to represent the sentence they just read. Continue this until the stacks get back to where they originated.
- In their groups, have each child share the progression of drawings and sentences before reading the actual verse.
9. Outdoor Game: Freed By Jesus
Jesus Appears on a Walk to Emmaus: Luke 24:13-34. Use this game as a companion to “The Walk to Emmaus” in Luke 24.
You’ll need:
- Bible
- foam balls
Play:
- Establish a large playing area.
- Select one child to be a Pharisee. This player will tag other players.
- When tagged, a player will sit and pretend to be sad like Jesus’ friends were when Jesus died.
- Select a different child to be Jesus. This player will stay outside the boundaries of the game and toss foam balls at “sad” players, who must catch the balls and then hold them up to be freed.
- Once freed, they move outside the boundaries and join Jesus’ team.
- Play for several minutes; then switch roles.
Ask:
- What was it like to be “sad” in our game?
- What was it like when you were freed?
Say: This game reminds me of when two of Jesus’ friends were walking to Emmaus and they were sad because Jesus had died, but then Jesus showed up!
Read aloud Luke 24:13-17.
