New Testament Games for Kids
- Assign kids a New Testament Biblical character to research. Provide passages of scripture or other books in which they can glean information. Have them make a list of five key attributes of the character. By turn, the kids stand up and ask, "Who am I?" and proceed to give one clue at a time, allowing other kids to guess after each clue until someone guesses the character.
In a large group, have kids work together and act out a short scene about the character from the Bible. You can also make this a group competition for a larger group with the group with the most successful guesses gaining some privilege or game prize. - Teach about the negative effects of gossip from the New Testament passages I Timothy 5:13, Jude 8-10 and Revelation 12:10, which reveal that gossip comes from idleness, carelessness, maliciousness and Satan causing mischief. Reinforce a lesson on gossip by circling the kids. Provide several gossip starters that are perfectly good statements such as "Saying bad things about another person is hurtful," "Jesus doesn't like us to share secrets that hurt our friends," "Jesus wants us to be kind," and so on. The first kid starts the game by whispering the statement to the next person and so on around the circle. The last person says out loud what was whispered in her ear, and it will probably sound a lot different than the original sentence.
Talk about how distorted gossip becomes as it passes from one person to another and how hurtful such gossip can be. Encourage kids to look for the truth about someone or a situation and not pass on gossip. - Mark three columns on a chalkboard or whiteboard. In the first column, list New Testament locations such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee. In the second column, list important events, such as Jesus healing someone or doing a miracle, but do not properly line the events up with their location. In the third column, provide a list of New Testament Bible references to the events. Divide the kids into groups and play the game as units with points for first at finding and reading a reference and for successful matches.
Have the kids grab their Bibles and on your "Go!" look up the first reference. The group gets one chance to match an event with the location from the reference read. If they fail, another group gets to guess. The game continues until all matches are correctly made. - Take the New Testament verse you want the kids to memorize and print it out on card stock. Cut the sheet into a puzzle. How difficult you make the puzzle depends upon the ages of the kids for which you create the jigsaw puzzle. Have the kids reassemble the puzzle of the Bible verse as you go over it with them. Let them reassemble their puzzle several times to reinforce the verse. Provide envelopes for the kids to keep their puzzles in.