Jesus Without Language

There are so many factors of the prodigal son, the willfulness of youth, the mistakes we all see coming, the journey, the pigs and ‘unfair’ cry of the brother, the acceptance of the father with his loving forgiveness and joyful welcome home. There are so many games that could tie into these themes but here are just a few that should suit a variety of ages and group setups.

Pig food – This game is ideally played small balls, like those you’d find in a ballpit. Pigs naturally root for their food using their snouts (noses) and having kids do this to find hidden objects would imitate that action. Split the teams into 2 and have one from each team root for at object at a time. If you want to incorporate a message in this game I’d recommend laminating words to build it.
 
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This printable Prodigal son game is deliberately open. It’s pathway is surrounded with images that allude to party of the story. The only set rule is that when you land on a horse then you can gallop forward 3 spaces. Dependent on the group you could add in extra rules – land on a picture and have to explain what it could mean, roll a specific number to roll twice…etc. It has 42 squares and so 1 die is recommended but you could use 2 dice for a shorter game.

To play the game you will need some counters and a die.

The PDF can can be downloaded by clicking on the image.
 

While the parting of the red sea and the amazing escape for the people are obviously key to this story the games here also tie in to Miriam’s song. Choose the game best suited for your group and space – the key to the symbols is at the base on this page.

Parachute seas – This simple parachute game is lovely for younger groups. After you’ve established positions around the parachute use it to talk about how the seas move, big waves, small waves, controlled, random etc. Place a wooden board or line of heavy pillows down the middle of the parachute talk about how God’s powerful wind moved the waters so they couldn’t cover that part. have the children walk through the waters – using adults to create walls of waves.
 
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Abijah’s donkey played a huge part in the palm Sunday story, with very little children you may want to take the opportunity to talk about the animals that the children have at home. Palm Sunday is also often accompanied by a procession which is a lovely tactile learning opportunity. The following Palm Sunday and donkey based games will suit a variety of groups and preparation times.

Donkey treads – Lay down different textures for the kids to crawl across. Try and find something that could be similar to the worn paths, the leaves and the coats that echo the story. you can add a person leading the donkey or even a rider if you have mixed age groups.
 
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The story of the stubborn Pharaoh and the escape fro Egypt is a frequent favourite because of the vivid imagery. These games both use the ideas of many plagues, the stubbornness of the king and the characters of Moses and Aaron to compliment the story.

Plagues dominoes – these dominoes are a great review tool and suitable for the younger age group. Challenge the older ones to put the plagues in order first as a review of the different symbols. The download and full instructions can be found by clicking on the image.
 
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There is a lot of evidence the Pharaoh’s and their people enjoyed table games. Matching images is a lovely simple activity upon which many a game hangs, this classic is dominoes. Two pages of beautifully colourful symbols will give your group plenty of time to familiarize themselves with the plagues and how they must have seemed never ending for the Egyptian people. Please note : this is not a complete set as it would have been huge, I’ve strategically removed the doubles plus 20 other cards.

 
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A seven day wedding may seem crazy or completely normal, depending on your culture, but trying to work out how much drink for such an event must have been a challenge. These games look at the event as a whole, the joy of the party, the planers preparation and the way Jesus, together with the servants, stopped it being memorable for the wrong reasons.

Water Table – a play water table is something usually reserved for the preschool or infants, but playing with water is a great way into this story. If you can’t access one then use the largest flat container you can find. Add in cups, scoops funnels and various strainers, simple bath toys tubes especially. You can also extend to colour mixing with a drop of water based food colouring or cordials. Add in challenges for older kids, eg. “Can you find a way of filling the sieve?” or “how far can you get the water to travel?”
 
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The good Samaritan had every reason to keep on walking, stopping may not have been praised by either the community he came from nor that which he was going to serve, it was a costly choice too. These games focus on the practical help he gave the man.

A kind voice – This is a simple and classic game that goes by many names where you need to identify a voice. Seat one volunteer with their back facing the group, alternatively blindfold the individual. Another member of the group then says “am I your neighbor?” as they try and disguise their voice. Ideally the volunteer should respond “yes (insert name of group member), you are my neighbor”. Repeat with a different volunteer. Whose voice was easy/hard to identify? Who really was your neighbor?

 
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