Christian Crafts, Activities & Games for Kids
- Play a game of Bible character bingo. Make cards with 25 squares in rows of five. Each square should contain the name of a different Bible character. Write all of the character names on folded slips of paper and place them in a bowl. Open the slips and call out the names one at a time. Children should cover each square as it is called, and the first child to cover five in a row is the winner.
Test children's knowledge of Bible characters with a guessing activity. Children should choose a slip of paper. Each paper contains the name and details of a biblical character that the child will pretend to be. The children then go around the room, asking each other questions to try and identify the characters.
Provide children with a selection of cardstock people, clothes, accessories, hair and wiggly eyes to mix and match for a take-home Bible character craft. - Divide the children into two teams to play a creation relay game. Place a selection of items or pictures -- one to represent each day of creation -- on one side of the room. Children must race across the room, select an item in the correct order and race back to their team. The first team to finish wins.
Give children a coded message activity to solve. Each letter is represented by a symbol, and children must look up each symbol in the answer key to translate the message. This activity can be customized for any lesson plan, but a good message for creation might be "God created everything from nothing."
Make a creation pinwheel craft by coloring a square with water and clouds to represent the first day of creation. Cut a diagonal line from each corner of the square to the center. Fold alternating points to the center and pin them to a pencil, allowing enough space for the pinwheel to turn freely when blown upon. - Fold a tent card in two and write four or five prayer verses -- such as "pray with others" (Matthew 18:20) or "pray about feelings" (Isiah 53:3) -- along the card. Under each verse, cut a triangular hole big enough for a marble to fit through easily. Children must call out the verse they are aiming for and then roll a marble through the corresponding hole. Whoever is first to roll a marble through all the holes wins the game.
Give each child a "prayer passport" or have the children make their own passport. Then pray for people experiencing catastrophic events in various places of the world. Give children a stamp in the passport for each country you pray for during the activity.
Make a simple prayer chain craft. Each child writes one item he would like to pray for on a strip of colored construction paper. Then fold the strips into rings to form a paper chain. - Give children a selection of cards. Each card has either a colored banana or a monkey. Children must ask each other for a particular color banana. The object of the game is for each child to collect three of the same color bananas. Children can choose to give the other player the banana they ask for, or a monkey. Once several children have collected three bananas, discuss kindness in the context of the game. Ask the children how they felt if they were given a monkey. Check if there were any children who did not give out a monkey and ask why they made that decision.
Encourage children to think of and participate in a kindness activity inspired by the good samaritan. This could involve giving away a toy to charity or volunteering at a hospital or homeless shelter.
Make a "kindness flower" craft. Draw a stem on plain paper, then cut out several colored petals from construction paper and write an act of kindness -- such as "share nicely with my brother" -- on each petal. Over the course of a week, stick the corresponding petal to the flower each time a kind act is completed.