30 Religious (and non-religious) ACTIVE ice breakers to use at church!

 

When you're gathering as a large group, opening your children's church, starting your Sunday school, or beginning your mid-week kids' group, it's nice to start with an icebreaker to warm your kids up.  It helps to get them talking - not just with you, but with one another.  There are a lot of icebreaker ideas out there, but many are "sit down".  So, I've gone on a search for ACTIVE ones.  Why?  because when they first arrive, they usually come with an abundance of energy! lol  But I did throw in a few sit down ice breakers at the end.  Some of these are secular, some are religious, and some could be both depending on how you play.  Many of the religious items need to be put together beforehand, which I've done for you if you'd like to purchase them.  There are 5 and you can get them all in my TPT store!

If you have others to add, comment below and share!

1.  Scavenger Hunt - Now, I don't mean take them outside, or through the church.  This is a hunt right there in the room.  Think about the story that you will be studying, and then print out pics or write words that have to do with the story.  Maybe 10-20.  Hide them all around the room before the kids arrive and tell them they have 5-10 minutes to find them all!  If you teach the kids a memory verse, you could hide all the words around the room.  Then, when they find them, see if they can help you put them in the correct order!  Need some help thinking of good hiding places?  Here are some...inside or under a plant, rolled up and taped on the pull cord of the curtains, under a lamp, taped to the underside of a table/chair, inside a lamp shade, taped to a picture frame.  taped to a string that is behind a frame and then attach a piece of paper that says "pull me", taped to the back of a door, on a window, or if you have a mic stand, under the stand.

2.  Speed Centers - This can be a religious activity or not - depending on your questions.  It's more of a "get-to-know-you" activity.  Divide your group into small groups of 5-8 (if your group is already small, just have one group).  Set up enough centers around the room so that each small group is at one.  I would say a minimum of 4 centers.  At each center there is a list of 5 questions that they each have to answer in 3 minutes.  They can't think about their answer - just go around the circle and say it quickly!  If you have bigger groups and need more time, then do 4 minutes.  Once their 3 minutes is up, call time and "Rotate!".  Count down from 5 and they have to hurry to the next center as the 3 minute timer will start when you get to 0!  When they've hit every center, call them together and give them a little quiz to see how well they were listening.  Can they remember their friends answers to any of the questions at each center?  If you'd like some example questions, they are included in my TPT bundle (5 questions for 5 centers - at least one religious question at each one)

3.  Line up - This is a popular game that is on everyone's list of icebreakers.  But I've seen a lot of new variations and added a few of my own.  Maybe you can think of some new ways as well!  Basically, you tell your group to line up in a specific way - by birthdate, month, year, height, etc.  But they can't talk.  We've probably all played that at some time :)  But here are some new ways to play it - 1.  blindfold a few of your kids and those kids can talk.  2.  add in some new questions - how many cousins they have, how many times they've (fill in the blank), the number of times they've moved, etc.  

4.  Bible Pairs - As everyone comes in, give them a Bible name.  You can just hand it to them, write it on a nametag, tape it to them...whatever!  Once you have everyone there, tell them to find their pair!  Take it up a notch, and have them look up their pair in the Bible and tell the group about them :)  I have included a list of Bible pairs you could use in my TPT bundle.  There are 17 pairs of people or things in my document.  In addition, I added a twist and put a 3rd word with each pair that you can write and tape up around the room.  Once everyone has successfully found their pair, then instruct the duo to find the word on the wall that fits into their Bible story!  Have some Bibles handy in case they need them :) 

5.  Write a story - This isn't as active, but sounds like fun :)  Write a prompt up on the board and tell each child as they come in, to add only FOUR words to the story.  Once everyone has arrived, read the story :)  Here are some prompts you could start with...(these are all religious ideas)          "One day, Jesus was on his way to the next city to preach, when he..."  "After David knocked down Goliath with his stones, he ..."   "A modern day parable - Love your neighbor:  I walked out of my house to get on the school bus when all of a sudden..."

6.  Get to know you BINGO - This is very popular and I'm sure everyone has used this at some point.  you can find lots of versions online to print out for free.  I have made one that is more religious if you'd like to use it.  

7.  Also, I created a Bingo game RACE where the kids have to start at the beginning of their game board and proceed in order to the end.  Whoever gets to the end first wins :)  This can be bought separately or in the bundle.

8.  This or That - this is another popular game you can find all over pinterest.  Ask your kids random questions of things they like better - this or that.  Or, use this "Would you Rather" game I made - Bible version! :) Divide the room into two parts and assign one half to "this" and "that".  I changed it up a little and created a fun, random Bible trivia game called A or B - where they have to decide what the answer is and then go to that side of the room.  The catch is, they most likely won't know the answers :)  These are weird, random, questions that I made up like:  Which is heavier?  A. the stone rolled away from Jesus' tomb or B. a hippo? :)  You can make it an elimination game and those that guess right stay in and continue.  The game goes so quickly no one is sitting out very long.

9.  Never have I ever - This has been around for a while, but it's always a group favorite!  For young children, the idea of saying something you HAVEN'T done and then answering in the affirmative may be confusing.  So, you can tell the person in the middle to say something they have done, and if those seated have also done, they get up and switch seats.

10.  Human Knot - I played this game when I was in youth group :)  If you have a large group, divide up into small groups of 7-10.  You all stand in a circle and then everyone reaches out and grabs someone else's hands (but you can't hold both hands of the same person).  Now you're all tangled up and you have to undo your knot!  It's actually possible!

11.  Hula Hoop Pass - This is another circle game.  Everyone stands in a circle and holds hands.  Two people let go of their hands and you put a hula hoop on them.  They link hands again and then you pass the hula hoop around without anyone letting go.  Have them go around the circle once and time them.  See if they can beat their record.  If you have a big group, divide into two groups and compete!

12.  Pass the gift - Wrap a small giftbox (has to fit in one hand) and have everyone stand in a circle.  Pass the gift behind your backs while someone stands in the middle with their eyes closed.  When the person says STOP, the one holding the gift tries to unwrap it very quietly.  The person in the middle has 2 guesses to name who is unwrapping the gift.  If they guess it correctly, they join the circle and the "unwrapper" goes in the middle.  You can make this relevant to your lesson by wrapping up items to introduce your Bible story!  After 3-4 rounds, see if they can guess what the story is!

13.  The Left/Right game - The way I've always seen this played is everyone sits in a circle and the leader reads the story.  Every time you hear the word "left" you move one seat to your left.  When you hear the word "right", you move one seat to your right.  Another way I've seen it played is to pass something to your right or left.  Whoever ends up with it, gets to keep it.  To make this more active, I would have them stand up in a circle on pieces of paper (or carpet squares, etc) - something to mark the spots.  Then, I would designate 2-3 of the circles/squares as "special".  If they land on one of those squares at the end, then they win!  (you can decide what they win :)   You can find lots of story ideas floating around on the internet, but I suggest that you rewrite you Bible story so that it can be introduced in this way!  I have written one as an example - Ruth!  Buy it separately or in the bundle.

14.  20 Questions - Write down the names of people or places in the Bible that your kids would know on name tags.  It's okay if some of the people have the same name.  As they enter the room, stick a name on their backs and instruct them not to tell anyone what their nametags say.  Once everyone has arrived, have them pair up (one way is to tell them to yell out their favorite disney movie and find someone yelling out the same thing).  In their pairs, they are to ask the other person up to 20 questions to try and guess who their person is.

15.  Four Corners - This is a great game to use to review a story that you've learned!  Label each corner of the room four characters from your story.  For example, if you're learning the story of Jacob and Esau, you could label one corner Jacob, one Esau, one Isaac and the last one could be Rebekah.  Then, ask review questions about your story and they have to run to the corner that is the correct answer!  If you want to use this as an icebreaker and not a story review, then label the corners, "agree, strongly agree, disagree, and strongly disagree".  Make random statements and have them either agree or disagree with you - like - Dogs are better than cats.  Math is the worst subject.  etc.

16.  Human Tic-Tac-Toe - I actually saw this played here in Peru and thought it was a really fun idea :)  Divide your group into two teams - x's and o's.  It might be easier to use colors and tie a ribbon or string to everyone's wrists so they know who is on their team.  Set up a tic tac toe board in the middle of the room - either with chairs or standing.  This can be a story review, or just random Bible trivia, or it could be a Bible exercise where the first person who finds a verse gets to enter the "board".   Call out the question and the first person who answers, gets to stand/sit on the board in whatever spot they want.  When a team gets 3 in a row - they win!  The group here loved this game and played it 3-4 times!

17.  Sheet Drop - I've seen this game used as a name game.  you divide the group up into two teams and they sit across from one another.  you hold up a sheet in the middle and call up one person from each side.  On the count of 3, you drop the sheet and the first person that names the other person wins :)  You could use this same idea but make it Biblical.  Instead of dropping a sheet, you simply reveal a word or name in the Bible.  The first person who can call out the story or scripture wins.  For example, you reveal the word "angel".  The first person that can remember a story in the Bible with an angel and call it out, wins.  The angel that visited Mary, the angel that moved the stone from the tomb, etc.  Other words you could call out - "stone" (david and goliath, resurrection, etc), "the number 3", "water", etc.

18.  Balloon burst - this is another game I played when I was in youth group, but I like the twist I found on pinterest.  First, you tie a balloon to a string and then tie it to your ankle.  Make sure the length of everyone's string is the same (shorter strings are harder to pop).  Play some music and instruct everyone to pop all the balloons!  The last one standing with a balloon wins (when yours is popped you sit out).  However, the twist I read about said to put a blessing in each balloon - making it a Blessing Balloon Burst :)  You could do something else besides blessings as well.  When their balloon gets popped, they have to find their blessing and then sit down.  At the end they could share their blessings.

19.  Circle up and draw! - This is simple but fun and can be played with any amount of people.  Give everyone a piece of paper (quarter of regular size would be good) and a pencil or crayon (no markers).  Turn sideways and face the back of the person in front of you.  Instruct them to put the paper on the person's back and draw a ____.  I did it with a pig which was fun :)  But you could instruct them to draw anything - maybe something to do with your story for the day?  The catch to this exercise is, once they start drawing, instruct them to start walking in a circle!  Let the hilarity ensue :) 

20.  Deck of Cards icebreaker - This is a no prep game!  Hand everyone a card when they come in.  If you have more than 52 kids, use two decks.  If you have less, then use just 2 suits.  Once they're all there, start calling out instructions!  Find everyone that has your number, find everyone that has your suit, find all the even numbers, etc.  Can you think of a way to make this religious??

21.  Clothespin game - As everyone enters the room, have them pin 5 clothespins on their sleeve.  Think of a "buzz word" that is a very common word and that the kids are liable to say during your opening.  example - "me", "you", "like", etc. Pair them up for different activities and have them ask each other some questions.  If they use the buzz word during their Q and A, then the other person can call them out and take one of the clothespins.  At the end of your time, see who has the most clothespins!

22.  Story Still pics - What is your Bible story for today?  Divide it up into 3-4 sections for small groups or 5-7 sections for larger groups.  Give each small group one section of the story that they have to read and then illustrate with a still pose.  Take a picture of them and then tell the whole story/lesson using their pictures!

23.  Bible Pictionary - This one may not be quite as active as the others, but you still have people getting up and moving :)  I created a new version of Bible pictionary (well, it was new to me!).  on each card is an "easy" and "hard" word.  Your kids will get 2 minutes (you can add more or take less if you feel it's necessary) to draw the "easy" word on the card.  Most likely, their team will get it pretty quickly.  When they do, they get one point.  THEN, with the time they have left, they attempt to draw the SECOND word on the card.  Yes, it is harder, BUT it has to do with the first word so that helps!  And the words all have to do with the Bible or church :) 

Here are a few ice-breaker type games that I've made that are sit down - but not quiet!

23.  Ten Dice game variations - Are you familiar with the Tenzi dice game?  I bought it for my family and we really enjoyed it.  While we were playing, I realized - I could totally make this into a Bible game!  So, here are 5 versions that I've made - Thanksgiving (not religious), Christmas (religious), Parables, Valentine's Day (not religious), Bible stories.  You will need ten dice per child OR per pair.

24.    Gibberish - You could make this more active by having kids come up one by one to read the gibberish card...and see who the first person is that can guess what they're saying!  If you aren't familiar with the game, you're given a nonsensical phrase that SOUNDS just like a real phrase.  I turned it into a religious game.  For example, "Could some hair eaten".  What do you think that is?  Say it out loud, try emphasizing different syllables, or saying it slower or faster :) Click the link to find out the answer ;) 

25.  Yell it out! - Have you ever played the board game Outburst?  This is similar - but religious.  You have one minute to yell out all 10 answers to the question - example:  Parables.  Six-seven of the 10 are pretty easy, but if you want to get all 10, you gotta think!  This is best played with upper elementary/youth.

26.  5 Second game - This is also a Bible/religious game that gives you a category and you have 5 seconds to name 3 things in that category.  Animals that may have been at the stable, parts of worship, fruits of the spirit, etc.  Some of the categories are more difficult than others.  If you're playing with younger elementary, I would go through the cards and pick the ones that you know your kids would know.

27.  Bible Zingo - I know you've all played Bingo before, but have you played Zingo?  It's a fast paced version of Bingo!  I made a Bible picture version with 50 cards so 50 kids can play at once!  Click the link for more specific instructions.

28.  Alpha to Omega - you've probably also played the popular game Apples to Apples - here is the religious version I made!

29.  I have...who has - Three Bible version of this game - books of the Bible, OT people and NT people.  Each set can be played with 20 people.

Seems I'm one short :)  lol.  Someone give me one more idea so it can be 30! ;) Hopefully you have read at least one idea that you love and can't wait to use with your group!  If you have any other ideas that I could add, please write them in the comments below so others can read it!  Thanks and God bless!

Fun ways to play the dice game with ten dice - Tenzi!

 After buying this game and playing it with my preteens, I really enjoyed it!  And I realized it could be played SOOO many different ways!  So, I've created a few on my teachers pay teachers store so I could share them with other educators.  Each costs $1.25, and if you buy all 5 you pay for 4 and get one free!  Three are religious - parable review, Bible stories, and Christmas; and two are holidays - Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving (both non religious).  

You can play a variety of different ways.  We played in our family - all four of us - with 10 dice each and competed one card at a time.  So, with 10 cards in each deck, you can have 10 winners.  Another way to play, is to print out all ten cards for each person, and race through them!  Who can finish first?

If you are playing in your class, you can form small groups and compete one on one in your small groups.  Or, you can form pairs and the pairs compete against each other (either all at once, or one pair vs another pair).  Instead of each person getting 10 dice, each person in the pair gets 5 dice to roll.  Then, you just follow the directions as normal.

Another way to play, would be to form small groups of 4 and divide up the dice so each person has 2-3.  This would make it more difficult when the directions involve different numbers being rolled.  They would need to communicate!  

If you're playing online together, have them collect their own 10 dice, or deliver to them each person in your group (or maybe they can pick them up somewhere?).  You can then read the card and it's directions and they compete one on one at their own homes.  

There are so many variations!  If you think of another way to play, comment below!  One other way to play - if you buy all of my packs (10 cards in each pack), you can combine them together and deal them out to people so that they have a variety of themes to play with and no one has the same cards.

Here are the 5 that I have created so far:

Thanksgiving (not religious) - This is purely fun and interesting facts about turkeys and Thanksgiving!

Christmas Story (religious) - These cards all have either a fact or question about the Christmas story found in Luke 2.  If there is a question, they have to answer it correctly first and then do the rolling.

Valentine's Day (not religious) - This is similar to the Thanksgiving game in that it is fun facts that you probably didn't know about Valentine's Day! :)  

Bible Stories - This version has 10 cards that reference different (random) Bible stories.  As in the Christmas story, some cards are questions that have to be answered, and others just have facts.

Parable Review - Is your class learning about the parables?  This is a fun way to review them at the end!  Each card references a parable and asks a question (or gives a direction to follow).

Can you think of other Bible stories or ways to play?  Share below!

Thanks for reading :) 

Interactive Trunks for Trunk or Treating

 Interactive Trunks!!

I have been to many trunk or treats and I have also led them for many years (want some of my pointers, tips, and other ideas?  check out an old blogpost that I've been updating over the last decade!).  I can tell you what makes a FUN one and what makes a LAME one.  I can also tell you what keeps the kids there and what doesn't.  It all boils down to two things - and they aren't that hard!  I ask ALL my decorators to do this and almost all of them comply - and it makes all the difference in the world.  The last trunk or treat we did (pre covid), I had someone come up to me and say - of ALL the trunk or treats in our city, yours is always the best.  That's awesome to hear, but I didn't do anything but ask my decorators to do ONE thing.  And that is - 

Make your trunks INTERACTIVE!!

Why?  I'll tell you.  One, your beautiful, awesome, amazing trunks are going to be completely lost on the kids unless you MAKE them stick around and actually look at it :)  Cause they have one thing on their mind - candy.  They don't care WHAT your trunk looks like :)  They just want CANDY! lol. #truth However, if they have to play a game to earn or win the candy?  Then you have them!  Not only that, the longer they hang around at each trunk, the longer they are at your church or venue - which is what you want!  And two, it's just overall a lot more fun.  Kids like to DO, not just LOOK.  So whatever you can think of for them to do at your trunk, they'll love it!  I decided to advertise my church's trunk or treat one year by participating in another one.  There were around 15 trunks there.  I was the only one who had a game at their trunk.  Guess which trunk the kids flocked to and lined up for?  Yep.  It doesn't have to be amazing or unique - just give the kiddos something to do.  Your trunk will mean much more to them, I promise :)  

One other suggestion that you may scoff at, but I promise you the parents AND the kids appreciate it.  Give out prizes - not just candy!  Included below are some trunks that got creative and gave out something OTHER than candy.  And let me tell you - there were NO complaints!

Shameless plug here:  I wrote a month long interactive Thanksgiving FAMILY devotional that I'm very excited about! Check it out here!

So, here are 25 28 really fun, incredible ways to ENGAGE the kids at your trunks!  Almost all of these are trunks that someone in one of my churches has done - or I have done.  Good luck and have fun! :) 

1.  Duck hunt - this one is not the one we had at our church, but I didn't get a pic of ours.  Basically, it was a blow up pool like this one with tons of little rubber duckies floating around.  The guy had also put a little motor in the pool so that they moved around :)  He went all out.  You don't have to do that though - just write a number underneath each duckie (1, 2 and maybe one 3) and throw them in the pool!  Tell the kids to pull one out and whatever number it says is how many pieces of candy/prizes they get.  Personally, I would also write "duck" under a few and let some of them win an actual rubber ducky!  (this is a great example of non-candy prizes!)

2.  Pumpkin patch - unfortunately I don't have a pic of our pumpkin patch either, but it was really neat!  The theme was Charlie brown and the pumpkin patch - like the pic below.  But the interactive part was a large piece of styrofoam painted green and there were pumpkins sticking out on popsicle sticks :)  The kids pulled a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and got that many pieces of candy!  

Along the same lines, you could do other kinds of "pulls" - like a Lollipop pull.  If the stem of the lollipop is colored, they get to pick out an extra prize!

3.  Toy story sandbox - This was so creative!  The whole family dressed up as the Toy Story characters and they brought in a little sandbox.  They threw little prizes/treasures in the sand that the kids had to search for :)  Once they found a treasure, they also got a piece of candy!  We got rained out a few years and had to move inside...so our "trunks" were in the gym.  It still worked though!

4.  Lego trunk - This was amazing.  He decorated his whole stand with lego paper and legos and had cups filled with different colored water.  Very attractive to the kids!  They threw in ping pong balls until they got one - and whatever color they landed in determined their prize!

5.  Go fish - We used our gaga ball pit indoors and made a huge "lake".  We filled it with fish that had paperclips on them.  With simple homemade sticks with magnets, they "fished" one out of the lake and whatever it said is what they got!  This could easily be done at a trunk outside as well.  We just had the space and were indoors, so it worked for us :)  

6.  Dr. seuss ring toss - Dr. Seuss trunks are very popular - and rightfully so!  I made ours into a "One cup, Two cup, Red Cup, Blue cup" play on words.  Whichever cup they landed in was the prize that they got!  Some cups also entitled you to win a Truffala tree!

my truffala trees are off to the side :) The little girl is getting ready to throw a ball into one of the cups.  There is a backboard to the game so pretty much every ball went in somewhere.

make your own truffala tree pencils to give out :) 

7.  Library trunk - this is simple and just like it sounds.  make your trunk into a library.  I collected books throughout the year - donations, library book sales, etc.  I put them out every year in a library trunk and the kids could pick a book to take home.  Some walked right by and didn't care...but most LOVED stopping and picking out whatever book they wanted!

This is a pic from the year we were inside, but we also did it outside.

8.  Super mario throw - a few of our youth thought this one up!  They were mario and luigi, they made coins, mushroom men, and fireballs to throw :)  Knock them over and get your candy!

I loved the added touch that the candy was in the green tubes!

9.  Escape room trunk - this was a VERY simple yet fun activity for the kids.  it did get a little backed up as each child got 30 seconds to look inside the house.  But, with everything else going on, we simply told the kids to go walk around to a few more trunks and come back :)  I found a little house prop that we had in storage (a cardboard box would work just as well).  I got a blacklight pen and some blacklight paint and painted 15 pumpkins inside.  I told them they had 30 seconds to go in the house with their blacklights and tell me how many pumpkins they saw - before they could come out and get their candy!  They loved it! 

10.  Hockey - our pastor and his wife came up with this idea!  They dressed as hockey players and set up a ramp on their pick up truck.  Hit the ball up the ramp, into the goal, and score some candy!

You could do this with other sports as well!  Basketball wouldn't be hard to set up, and someone actually made a small field goal!

11.  Fun photo op - this could be all kinds of things.  One year, we had someone bring a camera that could print out photos immediately and they gave them out!  This photo is of one of our local dentists who came out and promoted his practice :)  He is known as the "cowboy" dentist so the trunk fit his theme.  The cool thing about these photo ops, is that you can add a hashtag which helps promote your activity!

12.  Charlotte's web - spider toss - this was something we came up with at the last second.  It's very easy - spider webs from the dollar tree, a blow up spider toss game from the dollar tree, and our stuffed pig.  Charlotte's web!  Simple, but the kids enjoyed throwing the rings on the spider :) 

13.  Origami/craft table - every year, I also set up 1-2 tables in between a few trunks that had some very simple, DIY crafts on them.  No one was needed to "man" the table - it was just a fun 'stop' along the way and the kids enjoyed some arts and crafts. 

14.  I spy - Throw a lot of stuff in your trunk (keep a list of what's in there so you can call out items for them to find!), and play I Spy!  I also otok pics of stuff in the trunk so the non-readers could find stuff by matching pictures :)  

15.  Darts - this is self explanatory.  I don't have a pic, but you can get magnet darts and put any kind of theme with it!

16.  Carnival spinning wheel - spinning wheels are always fun :)  Put all kinds of prizes/candy on your wheel and let them spin away!

17.  Favorite Sports team - If you're in a town where sports is a big deal, this would be fun!  Especially if you and a friend set up rival trunks :)  Have some tattoos and quick face painting stuff available to make your trunk or treaters look sporty!  One year, we had a family set up their camper with the game playing - as a "sports" trunk.  Very creative!  

18.  Bottle flipping - this is not as big of a trend now as it used to be, but kids STILL love to do it!  Set up a board and lay down pumpkins or whatever you want all over it - whatever your theme is.  If the kids land the bottle on one of your targets, they win!  This could be IN your trunk, or outside on the ground in front of your trunk.

19.  Cornhole - This is self explanatory and could be used for pretty much any theme.

20.  Hopscotch - this was a simple yet fun idea!  It also worked outside or inside :)  Draw a hopscotch board up to your trunk and they have to hop up to the candy.

21.  Twister - one of our retired teachers thought of this idea!  She had the game Twister as her theme and laid out candy on the board.  She spun a few times and they played a few rounds, then she yelled out "right hand" or "left foot", etc.!  Whatever candy your hand/foot was touching was what you got!  Cakewalk - in the same manner as above, you could get baked good donations, prizes, etc. and do a "prizewalk" instead of a cakewalk. 

22. This family was so cute :)  The made their own bean bag throw game with 101 Dalmations!  You could do this with pretty much any theme as well.

23. Nerf guns - I didn't get a pic of the trunk, but someone had set up targets in their trunk and the kids tried to shoot the targets with nerf guns.

24.  Beanie Babies and dinosaurs - This isn't really interactive, but it goes along with the whole idea of giving out stuff besides candy.  We had a Beanie baby seller in our church and for about three years, she set up these really cool trunks with 100s of Beanie babies.  And, she let each of the kids choose one to take home with them!  They LOVED it!  

Use stuff you have at home and be creative!  One family had this really cool dinosaur at home.  When you touched its mouth, it chewed.  So, they set up a Jurassic Park trunk, had a bucket of leaves to "feed" the dinosaur, and the kids (the littles especially), loved stopping by over and over to "feed" him!

25.  The "touch table".  This family had a fun idea to lay a cover over their trunk and cut holes in it where kids would stick their hands into the holes and "feel something".  Unfortunately, they had to set it up inside - but it still worked!  The kids' faces when they reached in were priceless :)  And the last hole, of course, had candy :) 

26.  Found 3 more ideas this year so I'm including them :)  One - Cat litter box! 😂 That is hilarious!  Go hunt for a "surprise" ;) 

27.  Pirate shark attack where you have to safely "walk the plank" to get your candy!  Too cute :) 

28.  Adding this to sports ideas!  Kick a field goal to get your candy/prize :)  I would use balloons so you aren't chasing balls all night lol.  

So there ya go!  Tons of ways to make your trunks interactive!  If you need some guidelines and instructions to hand out to your decorators, feel free to download mine for free on my teachers pay teachers page.  Or, you could at least use it as a starting point. 

Also - if you aren't a registered TEAL pumpkin site, please look into being one.  There are so many kids out there with allergies or strict diets and they can't have candy.  Register, and then ask all your decorators to bring a bucket of prizes that can be given to those children.  Make sure and advertise to your community that you are TEAL pumpkin site!  There are tons of ideas out there for non-candy items - but glowsticks (and their variations), fun pencils, stickers, play doh, bubbles, flashlights, are just a few ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!  Did you know I create religious games and sell them on Etsy and Teachers pay teachers?  Including Escape Rooms!  Buy them separately or in a bundle and save!  Check them out!

In Christ,

Laurie

Intergenerational games and activities!

Intergenerational Fellowship and Activities!

Many churches have been leaning towards more intergenerational studies, classes, worship, and activities.  This is an awesome thing to see!  If you haven't already heard of Gen On and their resources, follow them on Facebook and check them out.  Curricula, classes, worship - tons of ideas!  This post is purely and simply about fun, fellowship activities.  Many of our churches like to have monthly or quarterly fellowship nights where the entire church is invited.  But what "fun" activity can you do with preschool up to elders?  Well, I did some asking and I did some digging (thanks social media and pinterest) - hopefully at least one of these will be new to you!  And hopefully you can add at least one of these to your repertoire of games and activities :)  If you have anything to add to the list, please comment below!

GAME NIGHT ideas:  

There are a lot of ideas and games that your group can play!  Infinite in fact!  Here are some ideas that other educators have come up with...but first, put some conversation starter cards on your tables to help your multi-ages interact!  I made some "Would you Rather" religious cards if you'd like to use them :)  (TPT here, Etsy here)

1.  Board game night - put one board game on each table and rotate.  Or, buy 3-4 of the same board game and have each table play the same thing.  A few that come to mind that every age can play (although they would need to be able to read for a few of these)...Apples to Apples (I made a religious version here), classics like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, Tiny Hands, Telestrations, and Beat the Parents.  I also wrote a blog with ONLY a list of board games.  I asked educators for their favorites that they use in their ministry and got almost 100 ideas!  To help you out they're organized by how many can play and then age.

This is Tiny Hands...and yes, it really is that funny :) lol

2.  Play a large group game altogether or divide into two teams and compete.  Some ideas for this are:  Jeopardy, Scattergories, Charades, Pictionary, Outburst, Family Feud, Trivia, and Wheel of Fortune.  You can find Jeopardy templates online so you can make your own - personalize it!  Have categories that only those in your church might know, make a category of current popular games/toys/music and one from the 40s or 50s, etc. You can personalize Scattergories, Charades, 5 Second Rule (or on Etsy), Pictionary,  Wheel of Fortune (12 religious versions on Etsy), Family Feud (or on Etsy), and Outburst as well, or buy the actual games online.  I also made religious versions of some of them if you'd like to keep your games Biblical :)  Just click on the game and it'll take you to the page.  Family Feud also makes a parents vs kids version.  I haven't tried it, but it sounds like it could work!  Although some of these games require you to read, I've found that teaming up the littlest ones with an older person works well!  If you have your group divided into tables, then a LEGO night would be fun!  Here are some religious Lego challenge cards (or on Etsy) you could use at each table - or have everyone in the room do the same thing!

3.  Adding to the one above, make your trivia night intergenerational by making up your own questions about different time periods!  Make sure your teams have all different ages on them.  If you do a search online or in some of the Christian Education facebook groups, you can find some intergenerational questions already made.

4.  Bingo/Zingo night!  Bingo is fun for all ages - you can even find printable picture Bingo cards online so your non-readers can play.  One church made a spin on this idea and had a Sundae Bingo night!  Fun!  If you haven't heard of Zingo, it's a fast paced way to play Bingo that's really fun!  Here's a Bible version I made that has pictures so your little ones can play.  

5.  Bunco Night!  I have not personally played this game, but I've heard it's a LOT of fun and after reading the directions, I'm all for it :)  Another fun dice game you could play is Tenzi. I made some interesting versions of Tenzi - including some holiday and religious versions.

6.  Minute to Win it Games.  Just do a search online and you'll get tons of ideas.  If you want less waste and less cost, I wrote a blog of some minute to win it games using very few supplies.

7.  I liked the idea of one church that did a Carnival Night.  Different age groups were in charge of setting up games from their time period!  

8.  "The best" game.  This is a fun game I found online during one of my searches.  It's a free printable and a really funny competition game :)  When I played it with our youth group, I put all their names in a jar and pulled out two at random to "compete".  If you are sitting at tables, this would be a really fun table game!

9.  Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament.  This obviously can't be your only game for the evening :) lol.  But it's an awesome icebreaker or filler that will take you around 10 minutes to play (more or less depending on your group size).  The great thing about this game, is that when you lose, your goal is to then cheer for the person who beat you.  So, by the end of the tournament, you have two sides (loudly!) cheering on their person!

10.  I saw a lot of churches and youth groups doing "Silly Olympics" this year since we had the summer Olympics.  There are a lot of fun and hilarious versions out there - whatever theme you'd like!  

Fellowship Ideas:

11.  Movie Night is always a popular option for an intergenerational evening.  Indoor or outdoor!  But have you ever thought of some ways to spice it up a little?  One church had a scavenger hunt before the movie that introduced what the movie was going to be.  We made up a Bingo game for one movie that had to do with people/phrases you would see/hear in our movie.  When the person won a BINGO, they got a free bag of popcorn!

12.  Talent Show - but wait, this isn't your regular talent show!  There is no preparation ahead of time (unless you want to), no practices, no planning!  This is the "Weird and silly talent show"!  What strange things can you do that others can't do?  What is your weird and wacky talent?

We chose a simple owl night painting.  The teacher gave us some guidelines and then let us get creative!  They all turned out very different :) 

13.  Art/Painting Night - Do you have an artist in the church?  For less than $5 each, get everyone a canvas and some paints, and teach them how to paint a specific picture.  Search online for "simple paintings" and you can get some really cool ideas!  Combine this with dinner (pizza and painting) or desserts as well.  Or, instead of painting, make it a "Construction night".  We made this bench one VBS and each group was in charge of decorating their one piece of wood.  Then we put it all together!

14.  Along the lines of an "art night", you could also do a "My church rocks!" night.  Have everyone go outside and collect 5 rocks.  Bring them inside to decorate and paint - use inspirational words and scripture!  Once they finish decorating their rocks, have them each leave one rock somewhere outside the church so that another member or guest can find it. Then, instruct them to stop on the way home and leave their other rocks randomly in the church neighborhood or their own neighborhood. 

15.  Scavenger Hunts - there are a variety of ways you can do these.  You can make a photo hunt where they have to take pics of certain things outside or around the church.  Selfie hunts where you and your group have to be "doing" something specific in a certain place.  Or, you have to actually go around and find certain things.  

16.  Escape Room - Search online for various ideas or templates/themes.  Keep in mind ER's are best in groups of 8-12 people.  I've also created 11 religious escape rooms - for small or large groups.  (Etsy link to bundle of 6 non-holiday escape rooms)

17.  Karaoke!  Make sure you have a variety of songs from ALL the eras :) 

18.  Make it a Service Night and find some way to serve your community.  Some ideas are...Stop Hunger, put together food baskets, stuff Christmas stockings, clean up your church, etc.

18.  RAK night!  (Random acts of Kindness)  How many different RAKS can you do around your church in one night??  5?  10?  More?  Search online for some really awesome RAKS to do around your church/church community.  Years ago, my kids and I did a variety of RAKS and I wrote a blog - maybe you can get some ideas from that :)  My 4th/5th graders made these to put around the church :) 

19.  Happy Birthday :)  I love this idea that a few churches say they have done.  They celebrate all the birthdays in one night!  Each table is a birthday month, each table has a cake decorated with their month, there are decorations, hats, birthday games, and lots of fun!

Other random ideas...

20.  A "Blessing of the ...." night - I've seen a variety of "blessings" that are a fun way to interact and worship at the same time.  Most of us have seen or done the Blessing of the animals.  I lived in a rural area and there was a church that had a Blessing of the Tractors to start the planting season!  

21.  A few Christmas themed ideas - Gingerbread house decorating (one per table and then display them in your church?!) and Christmas cookie baking.  We did the cookies once in our girl scout troop.  Each table had all the ingredients needed to make a certain type of cookie.  That table was in charge of that one cookie and then they shared them!  (of course, you would need large ovens to pull this off).  Lastly, you could do "advent angels" which is something one of the churches I worked for made up.  It's a lovely service idea - that is fun for ALL ages!

22.  Spring themed idea - "Spice it up!" night :)  Buy each person a small flower pot and let them paint/decorate it (pinterest has some really fun ideas).  Once they finish, let them plant some kind of "spice" in it to take home.

23.  If you're going to have a dinner, you can add a little twist to the appetizer or dessert.  "Taste Testing".  I've done this with oreos (there are soooo many kinds!), pringles (hilarious), and different candies.  Walk around the supermarket and think of some other ideas :)  Give them a piece of paper with 5-10 numbered down the side and they have to guess the flavor of each one. 

24.  Have special 4 legged visitors!  If you have the budget for it (or perhaps you could ask for $5 donations to cover the cost), invite a petting zoo to come one night.  Every age loves animals.  OR, you could invite your local pet shelter to come and visit.  They normally bring some of their animals, talk to you about what they do, and let you pet them.  To add to that event, bring in some supplies so that each table can make some homemade animal toys or treats that the shelter can take back with them :) 

25.  Other special guest ideas?  Concert with music for all ages or a magic show!

If you would like to purchase ALL the religious games that I mentioned above(minus the escape rooms), the entire bundle is for sale in my TPT store for $60.  You get 38 religious games/activities and save $13 by buying them all together :)  

Any other ideas?  Add them below!  Thanks for all you do for your church and The Church.  Intergenerational activities and worship are so important 💙 Your creativity and efforts are appreciated more than you know!