4th of July Minute-to-Win-It Games for Kids' Church Fun

It's time for some fun Fourth of July Minute-to-Win-It games! Games that will get your kids excited about being patriotic and celebrating their country's birth while doing it in a faith-filled environment.

Each Minute-to-Win-It game can be played inside or outside and is suitable for any age group. We will also give tips to help you organize these games, incorporate Bible verses, and encourage teamwork and good sportsmanship!

Independence Day marks the beginning of our nation's history when we became free from a king who wanted to dictate to his subjects which gods they had to worship and how. An independent nation does not mean independence from God but rather independence from a country that seeks to rule over us.

So, why celebrate the 4th of July in the Children's Ministry? It creates an opportunity to show kids how blessed we are to be free from the rule of a dictator or king and be able to decide who we will worship. Our free nation also allows us to worship God without being put in jail or worse. Not every country is free. Many are not allowed to worship Jesus freely the way we are.

As Children's Ministry leaders, we have the opportunity to make children aware of the wonderful blessing of living in the United States of America and discuss how many have fought bravely in wars to give us that freedom and maintain our independence. When children are ignorant of their blessings, it is difficult for them to be thankful. Using these fun Minute-to-Win-It games, we can show them how fortunate they are, and hopefully, it will lead to gratitude and thanksgiving for this freedom.

Get organized by preparing small plastic paint palettes with red, white, and blue face paint, one for each set of partners with at least one paintbrush. 

Read the Bible verse  Psalm 119:45, "I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." Share how the people who formed our country wanted to be free from being ruled by a king. When we seek God with all of our hearts, He gives us freedom. Talk about the American flag and how it symbolizes the freedom we have in our country.

Give kids three face paint colors: red, white, and blue. Ask them to partner up and start a timer for one minute. Kids will have to paint an American flag on their partner's hand or cheek as quickly as possible. They will not have to paint all 50 stars, nor will there be enough space to do that. But they will have to paint 13 red and white stripes to represent the 13 original colonies before the minute is up. Be sure to hang up a flag for reference and ask kids to paint it as close as they can to the real American flag in just one minute!

When the timer goes off, have everyone freeze in place. Whoever can paint 13 stripes and a blue section for the stars wins. Then, the kids will switch places and paint their partner's flag, with just a minute to complete it. This is a great way to give both teammates a turn and get everyone to get face paint!

In this Minute-to-Win-It, everyone will work independently. Gather supplies ahead of time. You will need small plastic Dixie cups, red, white, and blue M&M's, or another candy commonly sold around patriotic holidays. If you can't find those colors, standard colors will do just fine. 

Read the Bible verse  2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Share how independence means freedom for our country. God has allowed us to be free as well - not from the ruling of an earthly king or dictator but from our sins. Sin has a way of trapping us and making us stuck, but we can live independently and free from sin by following Jesus. Having a relationship with Jesus will give us the Holy Spirit, which will help us overcome our sins and experience freedom.

The object of Minute-to-Win-It: Independence! is for the kids to separate the candy by color before the time is up, placing each color independently from the other colors, just like Jesus has separated us from our sins.

Fill each kid's cup with M&M's. The kids will have to lay them out on a table or the floor and divide them into groups by color as quickly as possible. If this task is too easy, make it a little challenging in the second round by having kids create a pattern with their candy: red, white, blue, red, white, etc. Once the minute is up, they will get to eat their candy as a treat. 

To prepare for the Minute-to-Win-It Fireworks Explosion!, gather cold soda cans and rubber bands, and find a table or stool for each team to work on. Split the kids into four or five teams and line them up in a row. For each team, create a pyramid of 6 stacked cans. 

Read Jeremiah 22:3: "Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor, the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place." Explain how sometimes doing what is just and right is to rescue those who are being oppressed and enslaved by others. This sometimes requires war. 

The United States fought a war against their oppressor and won. We often celebrate by setting off fireworks, which can remind us of the explosions and the dangers of times of war.

For Minute-to-Win-It: Fireworks Explosion!, kids will work as a team to knock down the cans. When you start the timer, the person in the front of each team line will have one chance to create a "firework explosion" by knocking down the cans by flinging a rubber band. Be sure kids are close enough to reach the cans with their rubber bands! 

After they have flung their rubber band, the kids must go to the back of the line and give the next kid in line a turn to knock over the cans with a rubber band. Ensure all the kids have a rubber band before you begin so that things can proceed quickly.

Any team that knocks down all their cans before the minute is up wins that round. Play several rounds so that all the kids can try at least once. For younger kids, be sure to have the kids a little closer for flinging rubber bands. Encourage kids to cheer one another on and exhibit good sportsmanship with their teammates and against the other teams they are competing against.

Create 10 rows, each with 10 cones that kids can weave around and five hula hoops kids can hop through.

Read the Bible verse, Galatians 5:13: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." This game is all about teamwork and good sportsmanship. Encourage kids to work together as a team to accomplish the goal. God has given us the privilege of living in a free country, and with freedom comes great responsibility to live well, and God honors lives. 

Our country has leveraged its freedom to help liberate other countries and to enact laws that ensure equal rights for all people. In the same way, in our relationship with Jesus, once we have been forgiven for our sins, we can take that freedom and joy and spread it to those around us, serving them in Jesus' name.

The object of this game is for kids to "rescue" other kids by using their freedom to run and jump to help someone in trouble. Have half of the kids line up behind any set of cones. The other half will line up on the opposite side behind any set of hula hoops. Be sure to divide the kids evenly in each row. 

Next, give the instructions to the kids behind the cones one at a time by weaving between the cones, hopping into each hula hoop, and then grabbing the hand of the person in front of them on the opposite side of the line. While holding hands, hop through the hoops with them and run together, guiding them between the cones back to the starting point. If they make it before the minute is up, they have won the challenge!

Those kids who complete the challenge can sit down, and it will be the next kids in the rows' turn. Ask kids who have completed the challenge to show good sportsmanship and encourage the other kids as they participate in the race. Give friendly reminders for the kids being helped to do their best and work as a team with the one guiding them. Encourage the children to guide that it's not just about racing through; it's about helping the person get to the other side safely.

This final Minute-to-Win-It is all about celebrating the 4th of July and the freedom that God has given us! Create a large felt board with an American flag, excluding the stars. Create stars for the kids to use to play the Pin the Star on the American Flag party game.

Read the Bible verse  Psalm 107:1 , "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Share how the 4th of July is a day to celebrate our nation's freedom, like we thank God for our freedom from sin and death because of Jesus. Since it's a holiday, it's a great day to play a party game.

To play Pin the Star on the American Flag, kids will all work as one giant team to fill the flag with all 50 stars to represent the 50 states in the United States before the minute is up. Have all the kids line up behind a line a few feet away from the felt board. One by one, in order, kids will run with their star, put in on the blue section of the flag, and run back to the line. As soon as they are back behind the flag, the next kid can go.

Move the line further back to make it more challenging for older kids. If you have a small group of kids, they can each have 2 or 3 stars to put up. For a large group of kids, play a few rounds to ensure everyone gets a turn to run up with a star.

If all 50 stars are on the flag before the time runs out, they win! Since this Minute-to-Win-It is one big team effort, remind kids to encourage one another and cheer each other on once they've finished their turns.

We hope you enjoy these fun Minute-to-Win-It challenges during your 4th of July children's church services. One great way to encourage teamwork and good sportsmanship is to give a special award at the end of each challenge to 2 or 3 kids who you noticed showing great teamwork and encouraging their friends. Some great ideas for these prizes could be a good sportsmanship certificate or $5-$10 gift cards for Italian ice cream.

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