Get your creative juices flowing with these five low-prep ideas for small group games that are absolutely perfect for Sunday School.
Fun group games that kids actually enjoy playing and aren’t crazy to prep for are hard to come by. We hope this list is helpful as you work to create the best Sunday School ever!
What group games are you playing your your kids during Sunday School? We’d love to hear in the comments section below!
A Cold Wind Blows
This game is a great precursor for any lesson having to do with the Holy Spirit, a wind or storm motif, and beyond.
Similar to musical chairs or “Have you ever”, in Sunday School have the group sit on chairs in a circle. Gather one fewer chairs than there are people, leaving one person standing in the middle of the circle.
The person in the middle begins a sentence with the words “A cold wind blows…” and then describes an attribute that refers to one or more players.
For example:
“A cold wind blows for anyone who is wearing red, has blonde hair, and plays basketball.”
Anyone sitting who fits in this category has to jump up and quickly find a new vacant chair. The person who was in the middle is also looking to sit in a vacant a chair, and whomever is left standing without a chair becomes the new person in the middle.
The game continues for as long as people are enjoying playing.
Blind Draw
This is one of the group games that’s a great precursor to any Sunday School lesson that has to do with communication, language, scripture translation and beyond.
Have the children pair up. Each pair should sit back-to-back so they cannot see each other.
Give one member of the pair a picture, object or a scene. They must then describe this to their partner.
The other partner draws what they hear their partner describing to them.
Make it more challenging by not allowing them to use words that are too obvious. For example, the picture may be of a chicken but the person is not allowed to use the word “chicken, bird, hen.”
You can either give everyone the same picture or have a few different options.
Depending on the picture, you will need to allow 10-15 minutes. Once time is up, share the pictures – you will find there are some very funny interpretations!
Secret Questions
This is a great used with any lesson having to do with getting to know God, the disciples getting to know Jesus, questions about the faith, and much more.
On the back of some Post-it Notes, i.e.: the sticky side, write some good get-to-know you questions. Make sure you write at least as many questions as there are people – you can double up with the questions if there’s a lot of people in your group.
Stick them all on a whiteboard or wall so people cannot see the question on the back. Each person then has to come up, pick a post it note and answer the question on the back.
Make the questions simple enough that the kids won’t struggle too much to think of an answer or be embarrassed to answer.
Once done, they select someone else in the group to choose and answer the next question.
Human Knot
This is a great addition to a discussion about the Holy Spirit’s role as an “untangler” or what you all may be called to help untangle in your community. It’s also one of those group games about communication, patience, perseverance, etc.
Everyone stands in a close circle – puts both hands out – and randomly grabs hold of someone else’s hand, creating a massive knot!
Without letting go of hands, the group should try to untangle itself.
Toothpaste Challenge
This game is a fantastic demonstration for a Sunday School lesson on the power of our words and actions and, therefore, why we need to use them wisely.
For this game, you need a few tubes of toothpaste. Depending on the size of your group, have each student work alone or create pairs or groups.
Ask the kids to take all the toothpaste out of the tube as quick as possible into a bowl.
Then ask them to put the toothpaste back inside the tube. Obviously, this is more difficult, and probably impossible to do.
There are lots of bible verses to apply to this, e.g. James 1:26, Proverbs 15:1 or 21:23, Ephesians 4:31-32.
Group Games FTW
Group games in Sunday school help to focus and engage the kids. Additionally, they create connection to the content you’re teaching. We hope this list is helpful to you!
And don’t forget to share your ideas with us in the comments below!
Chelsea Barnes says
These games are awesome! Low prep games are a must to have in my back pocket for weeks when I’m super busy, but want to make sure the kids still have lots of fun. Thanks!