Lessons & Classroom Games for Teachers
Christmas is a time of celebration for many people, and for those of Christian faiths, the holiday's celebrations can extend into the Sunday school curriculum. In a Sunday school class, kids can have a chance to learn about the Christmas story and have fun at the same time with lively Christmas games.
SundaySchoolNetwork.com suggests having your students play the Shepherd Game to help them learn the role of the shepherds in the story of Christmas. Divide your class into two teams. With chalk or masking tape, make a path on the floor for "sheep" to be herded through. Make tunnels along the path with boxes that have their ends removed. The object of the game is to "herd" a group of cotton balls or small rubber balls down the path and through the tunnels with a broom. Each student must herd the balls down the path and then back again, where the next student works through the same course. The first team to have all its students finish the course wins.
You can use the game of Bingo as the basis for this Christmas church game, and both kids and adults will have fun playing. Make Bingo cards using Christmas symbols instead of numbers and letters. For example, you could use pictures of an angel, a candy cane, and Baby Jesus. Any Christmas symbols, and especially those that represent the Nativity, will do.
Play Bingo as you normally would, but instead of yelling "Bingo!" when someone has a winning card, have him yell "Fear not!"; this is what the angel in the Christmas story said to the shepherds.
According to Family Games Treasurehouse, this Christmas memory game is popular for all ages and works for holiday get-togethers of all kinds. To create a neat holiday game for Sunday school, start with a tray or cookie sheet and cover it with a white, red or green cloth. Place several Christmas-related objects on the tray. For a group of young children, use fewer objects than for a group of older students. Examples of what you can use include a Christmas cookie, star, tiny nativity scene, donkey figurine, candy cane, tree ornament, cross and candle.
Cover the items on the tray with another cloth, and give each player a pencil and paper. Uncover the tray, allowing each player to look closely for several seconds. Then recover the objects and have players write down as many Christmas items as they can remember. The player who has the most correct items wins.