Sunday School Games for Preschoolers

A "chair for a crown" is similar to the popular game "musical chairs," only it has a religious spin, and there are no winners or losers. Place chairs in a circle, with one fewer chair than the number of children playing. Instruct kids to march around the chair and sing the song "Jesus Loves Me." When the music stops, yell, "Sit!" All of the children must grab a chair to sit. The child who does not find a chair gets to wear a crown, and the teacher will tell the entire class why she thinks Jesus loves him. This will not only teach students that Jesus loves everyone but will help boost self-esteem. Give the child with the crown a treat or a sticker that says "Jesus Loves Me" and have him sit and watch the rest of the class. Remove one chair and continue playing the game until each child gets to hear why he is special and why Jesus loves him.

After telling the story of Noah's Ark, and Noah's task from God to collect two of each kind of animal, let the children pretend to be Noah in this find the animals game. Tell the kids that all the animals got mixed together and need to be paired together and put back on the ark. Take a variety of stuffed animals, animal figurines or even printed-out pictures of animals and mix them up on the floor or a table in a big pile. Have the kids dig through the animals and find a pair for each animal in the pile. Once they find the pair, they should put it in an area of the room you've designated as "The Ark." Once the game is over, talk to the kids about how hard it must have been for Noah to get all the animals together and on the ark.

After teaching students the story of Paul in the Bible, play a game of "Give the Cross to Paul," a version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Instead of putting the tail on a donkey, the children will have a small cross with some double-stick tape on it that they must give to Paul so he can become stronger in his faith and with his relationship with God. Blindfold each child and give them the sticky cross, then see how close they can pin the cross to Paul's hands. When you're done with the game, give each child his own cut-out cross and show how it can remind him of how close he is with God, just like the cross the kids gave Paul helped him realize his faith.

After teaching preschool students about the parable of the lost lamb, organize the lost lambs game for them to play in the classroom. Have the kids all close their eyes or send them outside of the room with an aide or other supervisor. When they cannot see, hide several paper cut-out lambs around the room, or purchase stuffed animal lambs from a toy shop. Have the kids walk around on their hands and knees, just like lambs, looking for the other lost lambs in the room. Once they find one, they can bring the lambs back to a safe place by the teacher until all of the lambs have been found.