Make a big batch of unflavored oatmeal and allow it to cool. Place some of the oatmeal into two bowls, and mix in several raisins. Mix it well, and then add a layer of oatmeal over the top to hide all of the raisins.

Divide the class into two teams, and have them run, one at a time, to their designated oatmeal bowl. Each player must dig in the bowl to retrieve one raisin (make sure there are plenty so that if one or two is dropped there are still enough for all players), then run back to the starting line and place the raisin in a small container, tagging the next player. The winning team is the first one to successfully have each player retrieve a raisin.

Do not have the players eat the raisins, as this is not a very sanitary game. Should be played in a gym or outdoors, as it will be messy. Avoid playing this game on carpet.

This game is completely for fun and has no spiritual meaning or lesson to learn.

Idea from Fun Attic

Materials for each child:

• Glue
• Cotton balls
• Scissors
• Markers
• Styrofoam coffee-sized cup
• Google eyes

Assist the children in cutting two holes in the side of the coffee cup near the bottom. These will be the finger holes when the craft becomes a puppet. The holes should be fairly close together so the children can put one finger in each to be the sheep’s legs.

Have the children draw a face on the bottom of the cup. Have them glue google eyes in place.

Allow the children to glue cotton balls all over their sheep.

Leave the crafts in the classroom during the church service so they can dry, and instruct the children to pick them up when church is over.

Materials

• Mini and regular size craft sticks
• Wood star cutouts
• Yellow paper
• Red string
• Glitter paints/glitter glue
• Washable paints
• Paint brushes
• Wood or school glue

Find a printer pattern that is a silhouette of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Print it, then cut it out. Cut the yellow paper into a house shape, with two square corners on the bottom and a “roof” on the top. Do the cutting ahead of time, because it will be challenging for the children.

Have the children glue the silhouette on to the yellow paper. Glue a long craft stick to the bottom, and paint it green. Glue mini craft sticks to the side and the roof, painting them red. Glue the star to the top, painting it yellow. Allow the children to decorate the design with glitter paints. Glue a ribbon loop to the top to make a Christmas ornament.

Balloon volleyball is an ideal game for those lesson that are a little deep or those days when the kids seem a little more active than normal. Line up chairs in a line through the center of the room. These will serve as the “net.” Divide the children into two teams, one on either side of the “net.” Instruct the children to kneel to play the game. Blow up a balloon and launch it into play. The children will hit it back and forth. The only rule is that it cannot touch the ground. If it touches the ground on Team A’s side, Team B will get a point. Play to 10 points.

If you have a large classroom or a particularly small group of kids, take the time to set up boundary lines with masking tape on the floor. Otherwise, keep the game interesting by not having an “out of bounds.” When the kids seem to have the hang of it, launch a second balloon into play.

Help the children reinforce their understanding of the Beatitudes by making Beatitudes posters. These can be displayed in the classroom for others to see what the children have done.

Start with a piece of poster board, cutting it in half lengthwise and top to bottom to make four rectangular quarters. Give each child one of these quarters.

Instruct the children to fold them in half to make a card. On the front of the card, have them draw, write, or otherwise depict the first half of their favorite beatitude. If the children cannot yet write, help them write the words to the beatitude.

On the inside, let the children do the same thing, but this time illustrating the last half of the beatitude. Encourage creativity, and offer help as needed.

Give the children plenty of time to make their posters personalized. Make sure the words are clearly seen, however. Post the finished products in a hallway or on the classroom bulletin board.

Coloring with your children is something that engages the mind and also fills time. Most children enjoy coloring, particularly younger ones, and spending time coloring an image that relates to the lesson plan helps reinforce the teaching. To make the most of coloring sheets, walk among the children while they are coloring, noticing their hard work and pointing out parts of the picture that relate to the lesson. Use coloring time to ask questions about the lesson. You can also use it to get to know your children better.

Some teachers find it helpful to give each child their own container of crayons, particularly if you are working with very small children. This way if a child breaks a crayon, it is his own container that is damaged, not everyone else’s crayons. Consider buying a box for each student and labeling it with his or her name. Remember to have several spare boxes for the occasional visitor. Stock up on crayon boxes during back-to-school sales when you can buy them for less than a dollar.

Here are some links to coloring pages you can print if you need extras for your Sunday School classroom:

Free Sunday School Printables
First School
DLTK Bible
Teacher Help

Materials:

• Card stock
• Markers or crayons
• Stickers
• Blue Rick Rack
• Blue and purple ribbon (7/8 inch)
• Tape
• Staples
• Glue
• Laminator or clear contact paper

Give each child a piece of cardstock. Have them draw what they want to from the story. For small children, this could be simply water and waves. For older children, encourage them to draw the boat. Have them write the memory verse on the paper. Laminate the paper.

Cut the Rick Rack and ribbons into 1-foot lengths. Glue a piece of Rick Rack to the top and bottom edge of the paper. Then, glue or staple Rick Rack and ribbons to the bottom of the paper so that they hang down. Roll the paper into a tube and tape or staple it so it stays. Staple a small piece of ribbon in a loop to the top so that you can hang the windsock.

This game does not have any spiritual connection, but it is a lot of fun and works well to get the wiggles out at the beginning or end of a lesson.

First, divide the boys and girls into two groups, and have each group hold hands in a circle (if the children are very young, you may not need to separate the genders).

Have the children walk forward until they are very close together making a small circle. At this point have them drop hands. Then, instruct them to grab hands with two other people, but not the people directly beside them. They will be tangled up in a giant “web.”

The goal now is to have them untangle themselves, but they CANNOT let go of any hands. The first group to successfully untangle is the winner. Remind them to duck under arms, step over others, and such. It is possible, but will take a lot of teamwork! Keep in mind that this will only work with a fairly large group of kids.

Idea from www.childrens-church-ministry.com

Draw a line on the floor with masking tape. One side of the line is “in the tomb” and one side is “out of the tomb.” The game’s leader will call out “into the tomb” or “out of the tomb.” The children are to jump onto the correct side.

The game continues like this, but any time a child does not jump or jumps the wrong direction, he is eliminated. The last child left in the game is the winner.

This game works well when children are particularly energetic. It also goes along nicely with stories about rising from the dead. Adapt the game as needed to make it work well for your group.

Idea from Kids Sunday School.

Have fun drawing water out of a homemade well in this activity.

Materials:

• Styrofoam cups
• Wire
• Poster board
• Markers
• Tape/Glue
• Cooler
• Bucket

Allow the children to practice drawing water from a well. Decorate a large cooler so it looks like a well using poster board to create the appearance of a stone wall. Fill it with water, and then allow the children to draw using “buckets” made from Styrofoam cups. Attach two wires to the rim of each cup to be the “rope” that he children use to dip them into the cooler and draw out the water. Have another container that they poor the water into. Continue the activity until all water that can be drawn is drawn. This will give the children the feel for how difficult drawing water was.

As a variation, set this up two times and do a relay race between two teams. The first team to fill the new bucket to a set line is the winner.

This activity can be used for any story dealing with a well, such as The Woman at the Well or Rebecca and Isaac’s Servant.