We play a lot of Children’s Church games. We always have one or two games at the beginning of the class, and a few at the end. Why so many? We strategically do them at the beginning to help get some of the wiggles out, and to make our Children’s Church more high energy.

We recently restructured our Children’s Church to include more volunteers and make it feel separate from Sunday School. Having church games allows the students to have a concentration break between Sunday School and Children’s Church—and helps them learn more! At the end of service, we play games because I am honestly never sure when the parents will show up. Church could end at 12, or the first parent could come at 12:30. You just never know.

There was one time that I was still giving a lesson and church got over early. After that, I decided that we would plan to be done with the lesson at 11:55, so that when parents come, we will be done with the important part.

So we play games at the end.

Read all about how I structure Children’s Church here.

Here are some of our favorites. Some of these church games are actually church-related (or could be) and some are not. Granted, if you think hard enough, you could probably make any of them relate to a Bible story.

Church games that are church related

Resurrector

Students sit in a circle. Everyone receives a paper with a “d”, an “r”, or a number on it. The d is the detective, the r is the resurrector, and numbers are people. Detective stands in the middle. The resurrector winks (or points, depending on how old your kids are) at people. When someone is winked at, the stand up and say “I’m alive!”. The detective has to decide who the resurrector is. I found this game on Ministry-to-Children. They call is Wink, Alive! Click here for the full instructions. Goes with: Jesus’ resurrection, Lazarus raised from the dead, Dorcas raised from the dead, talking about being spiritually awakened from the dead, etc.

You can see this game in action here.

Four Gospels

This is really four corners but with the names of the four Gospels instead of numbers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One student stands in the middle and closes their eyes. They count to ten. All of the other students go into a corner. Once after counting to ten, the student who is it calls out a corner name. Students in that corner have to go sit down. Goes with: Learning the books of the Bible

Lazarus wrap up

This is really a bridal shower game. Students get into groups and wrap up a student in toilet paper to look like a mummy. You can judge how good they look, or see who can use the most toilet paper in a set amount of time. Goes with: Lazarus, Jesus being raised form the dead, or Dorcas raised from the dead.

Also read: The Beginner’s Guide to Children’s Church

Church games not church related

Obstacle course

This can be related, depending on how you do it. One of my favorites has been to draw on the sidewalk with chalk that says things like “spin 3 times” or “hop on one foot”, etc. one student does it all ant then comes back and tags the next. You could also like set out hula hoops and have them hop though them. These will help with the obstacle course:

Relay race

This is similar. Basically, a whole group of students has to go through the race, come back and tag the next person. You can do this in any way—walking like a crab, carrying something on a spoon, hooked onto someone else, with a balloon between the legs, etc. this is my go to for when I am not sure what to do, because there are so many options!

Riverbank

This one sounds so simple that when a student explained it to me, I thought it was going to be a dud. Boy was I wrong. You put a line on the floor with tape or chalk outside (my room has a line in the carpet anyway, so I don’t have to worry about it). Designate one side as “river” and one side as “bank”. One person stands at the front and says either river or bank. Students jump to that side of the line. If they are on the wrong side, they sit down. As they get it, you can start saying more than one thing at a time, like “river, bank, river” to make it more difficult. Super simple and surprisingly fun.

Freeze dance

This is always a hit. Students dance when the music is on and freeze when it is off. You can use pretty much whatever music you want. Not sure what to use? Toby Mac is usually a big hit and he has enough songs that it will entertain them for a while.

Also: How to Structure Children’s Church in 6 Easy Steps

Museum

AKA my kids’ favorite church game ever. One person is the museum guard. The close their eyes and count to ten. When they come out, all of the students are “statues”. The kids must freeze when the guard is looking at them—but only if he is looking. They are able to move as long as they are not caught. This is particularly great because it keeps them quiet. And if you wanted to, you could tie it into a lesson if you were talking about Lot’s wife turned to salt.

Cat and Mouse

This one is super fun, and you can see exactly how it is played here!

Since it is this time of year, read: Church Christmas Program: What do I Choose?

So there you have it! My kids’ favorite church games. What are your kids’ favorite church games? Let us know and add a link to instructions in the comments!