Board Games Sunday School Lesson
Board Games Sunday School Lesson For Kids:
BOTTOM LINE:
Don’t do things because they feel good. Choose to do things because they are right in God’s eyes.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn to make wise choices and do what pleases God.
KEY PASSAGE:
Proverbs 14:12
MEMORY VERSE:
“Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. ” - Proverbs 4:14 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
In Candy Land, we travel through a world of nothing but candy. In real life, a diet of nothing but candy can be very harmful. It feels good, but it’s not good for us. “If it feels good do it,” is a dangerous way to live. Doing what feels good only hurts us and others. Doing what is right is not always easy, but in the long run it is the best thing for us.
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Help us to make wise choices, to follow you, and not to follow the world.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE
“Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. ” - Proverbs 4:14 (NIV)
“Don’t take the path of evil people. Don’t live the way sinners do.” - Proverbs 4:14 (NIrV)
LARGE GROUP:
Divide the room in half. Pick one side to start and have them all shout the first word, then the other side shouts the second word, and so on until they finish the verse.
SMALL GROUP:
Have the kids create a picture puzzle that spells out the memory verse. Write the memory verse on a piece of paper. Give the kids 3-5 minutes to decorate the page with something that reminds them of the memory verse. Then cut the page into puzzle pieces, mix the pieces up, and let the kids put the puzzle back together.
SKIT
TAKING CANDY FROM A BABY
ITEMS NEEDED:
Baby carriage, lollipop, protest sign, baby bottle
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
1M/1F
CHARACTERS:
Karen- A mom with a baby who is protesting
Bo- A guy who will believe anything.
Karen enters, pushing a baby carriage, from stage left. She carries a protest sign that says, “If it feels good, do it!”
KAREN: Listen to me, children! Listen to me, and not to your teachers! You don't have to live by their rules! Rules are something adults made up to control you! Follow your heart! Choose what's right for you! If it feels good, do it! (chanting) If it feels good, do it! If it feels good, do it! If it feels good, do it!
Bo enters.
BO: Hi there.
KAREN: Hello.
BO: You protesting something?
KAREN: Yes I am! Do you know what they're teaching our kids today?
BO: Math?
KAREN: They're teaching them that they have to follow rules!
BO: You're kidding!
KAREN: I want these kids to know they don't have to listen to their parents.
BO: Is that a good idea? I mean, your parents can ground you and send you to bed without dessert.
KAREN: That's wrong! Kids should be able to stay up as late as they want! And if they want dessert for dinner, they should get it.
BO: Wow! So if I want a chocolate cream pie for dinner, I can have it?
KAREN: If it feels good, do it!
BO: If I want to stay up all night and watch garbage on TV, I can do that?
KAREN: If it feels good, do it!
BO: If I want candy and don't have any money, I can just take some?
KAREN: If it feels good, do it!
BO: Cool!
Bo reaches in the baby carriage and pulls out a lollipop. He pops it in his mouth. Sound effect of a baby screaming and crying.
KAREN: Hey! What did you do that for?
BO: I wanted some candy!
KAREN: You can't take candy from a baby!
BO: I just did!
KAREN: But that's wrong!
BO: You said if it feels good, I should do it! So I did it! Ha ha!
KAREN: But that's stealing!
BO: If it feels good, do it!
KAREN: It's a crime!
BO: If it feels good, do it!
KAREN: And it's not being very nice!
BO: If it feels good, do it!
KAREN: Oh yeah?
Karen rips the cowboy hat off Bo's head and stomps on it.
BO: What did you do that for?
KAREN: It felt good!
BO: Yeah? So does this!
Bo pulls a bottle from the carriage.
KAREN: So does this!
Karen stomps on Bo's foot. He hops on the other foot in pain.
BO: So does this!
He grabs her ear and twists. She screams. She grabs his nose and twists. He screams.
BO: Otay, dis is gedding us nowhere. On da count of fee, we wet go. Un, too, fee.
They both let go.
BO: You know, I'm beginning to think you're wrong. I'm beginning to think "If it feels good, do it!" is a bad idea.
KAREN: You know, I think you may be right.
OBJECT LESSON
ITEM NEEDED:
Bag of Candy
Since our theme today is Candy Land, how many of you think it would be appropriate for us to share some candy?
Before we do, let me ask you something. Would you rather all receive one piece of candy, or one big bag of candy?
It would be nice to get a big bag, wouldn't it? But my guess is if we gave all of you a 3 pound bag of candy, your parents would be upset with us. Can anyone tell me why?
Parents don't want you eating a lot of candy for a number of reasons. For one, the sugar rush from a 3 pound bag of candy is liable to make you crazy. It's also liable to make you sick to your stomach. Have any of you ever eaten enough candy to get sick from it? It's not a pleasant feeling.
Eating a lot of candy simply isn't healthy. Candy doesn't have the nutrients that you need to have a healthy body. A steady diet of candy will lead to all kinds of health problems. It's just not a wise decision to eat candy all of the time.
There are a lot of things in life that look like they'd be good for us, but they never turn out as good as we'd hoped. Sin is like that. We are tempted to take something that's not ours, or over-indulge in something like candy, or to put someone down because we think it will make us feel good. In the end, we hurt ourselves and sometimes we hurt others.
God wants us to live a different way. He wants us to choose what's right over what the world says will feel good. We need to say no to temptation, and yes to doing the right thing. If we live by God's word and we seek out his advice on the choices we make, we will make the right choice.
Pass out the candy.
There's no harm in a little candy. But there's great harm in doing only what will feel good. Following God and doing what is right will make us feel better in the end than any sin, no matter how tempting it may be!
LARGE GROUP GAME
CANDYLAND
ITEMS NEEDED:
Colored construction paper
Candyland card deck with special cards removed.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Lay out 20-30 sheets of colored construction paper on the floor in a path.
Choose two players for this game. Players will take turns drawing cards from the Candyland card deck. They will move down the construction paper path the same way they would if they were playing Candyland. First one to the end of the trail wins!
VARIATION:
Use a shorter path for younger kids.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
The road to sin doesn’t look bad to our human eyes. We need to see things through God’s eyes so we can stay on the right path.
LARGE GROUP LESSON
BOTTOM LINE:
Don’t do things because they feel good. Choose to do things because they are right in God’s eyes.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn to make wise choices and do what pleases God.
KEY PASSAGE:
Proverbs 14:12
INTRO
How many of you have seen one of the Willy Wonka movies? I don't know about you, but I think the best scene in the movie, either movie, has to be when they enter the chocolate room. The kids have just entered the factory, and Willy Wonka leads them to this magical room where everything - the grass, the waterfall, the plants, the trees, everything - is made of candy!
How wonderful would it be to live in a room like that? Imagine how cool it would be to eat cotton candy flavored grass and gummy flavored flowers and drink from a chocolate river. It would be great - for a while. But what would happen if all you ate was candy? How would you feel after a while?
Too much candy will make you sick! Candy's okay in small amounts, but if all you ate was candy, you'd gain weight, you'd deprive your body of the vitamins and nutrients that it needs, and you'd gradually waste away! Our bodies were not made for a steady diet of candy. They need fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy to have a healthy and normal life.
Today’s game you shouldn’t play is Candy Land. Candy Land the board game was probably one of the first games you ever played as a child. It’s a fun and simple game that takes you through magical, candy-themed places. But Candy Land is only a game. It’s just pretend. In real life, a trip to Candy Land would probably be a trip to obesity and bad health. Yet there are people who will do things like eat too much candy just because it feels good.
There's a popular philosophy in our world that tells us, "If it feels good, do it." People who believe in "If it feels good, do it," believe in doing whatever pleases them and makes them happy in the moment. They deny themselves nothing. If they want it, they take it. If they want to do something, they do it. They don't stop to think about whether something may be good or bad, because to them, good and bad is whatever you think it is. If you think it's bad to eat too much candy, don't eat it. But if you think it's good, eat all you want.
These people think that everyone has the right to make up his own minds about good and bad. These are the people Solomon was talking about when he said:
READ Proverbs 14:12
MAIN POINT
Whether we like it or not, there is a good and bad way to live. Candy is a perfect example of this. It doesn't matter if I think candy is good or bad, if I eat too much, it will hurt me. No matter what the world tells us, sin is always bad, and when we sin, we will get hurt.
DRIVE IT HOME
Sin is a lot like candy sometimes. We are tempted to do something that looks like a lot of fun, but that something fun could be harmful to us. We are tempted to take something that's not ours. We're tempted to sneak in some place we're not allowed to go where we might get hurt. Or we're tempted to try something dangerous - like drugs.
Sometimes we're tempted to do something that may feel good to us but hurt someone else. Has anyone here ever called someone a name? Or picked on someone? It's one of those things we do to try to fit in or make ourselves feel better, but it can be very harmful to the person you put down!
Sometimes it's hard to see the harm that can come from temptation. But God, our Creator, tells us what good and bad is in the Bible. The Bible makes it very clear what good and bad are. God want us to use that information to help us to choose good over bad. But God's not going to make that choice for us. He wants us to choose.
READ Matthew 7:24-29
If we live by God's Word, we are like the man who built his house on the rock. We are not slaves to our desires because we know good and bad and we choose to do what is good. We love others. We keep ourselves out of harmful situations. We do what is right.
The man who built his house on the sand is the man who doesn't follow God. He believes that if it feels good, he should do it. He has no foundation to his life. He chases after whatever he thinks will make him happy. In the end, his house crashes down around him, and he has no idea why!
Today, candy and name-calling may be the temptations that can harm you. Tomorrow, when you get to middle school, the temptations will be even greater. Don't wait until then to learn to start studying God's word. Start today! Ask God to teach you right and wrong. Ask him to give you the wisdom to make the right choice today and tomorrow.
Don't do something because it feels good. Do it because it's right.
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Help us to make wise choices to follow you, and not to follow the world.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)
ICEBREAKER
What is your favorite kind of candy?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
Proverbs 4:14
Have the kids create a picture puzzle that spells out the memory verse. Write the memory verse on a piece of paper. Give the kids 3-5 minutes to decorate the page with something that reminds them of the memory verse. Then cut the page into puzzle pieces, mix the pieces up, and let the kids put the puzzle back together.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Share a bag of candy with the kids. Play a game while passing candy out; distribute it by birth month, or by who goes to what school. Make sure everyone gets some.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Proverbs 14:12
What are some of the things that kids at your age do that feel good but are wrong?
Why does breaking the rules "feel good" to us some times?
Read Matthew 7:24-29
What does Jesus say about the man who built his house on a rock?
What does Jesus have to say about a man who builds his house on sand?
What foundation does Jesus want us to build our lives upon?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Thank you for candy, and for the good things you have given us in this world. Teach us to make wise choices when it comes to things that tempt us. Help us to stand strong, and not let our feelings rule our actions.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)
ICEBREAKER
What is your favorite kind of candy?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
Proverbs 4:14
Have the kids create a picture puzzle that spells out the memory verse. Write the memory verse on a piece of paper. Give the kids 3-5 minutes to decorate the page with something that reminds them of the memory verse. Then cut the page into puzzle pieces, mix the pieces up, and let the kids put the puzzle back together.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Have the kids create a skit about someone taking a wrong turn or going the wrong way. It can be completely silly and funny.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Proverbs 14:12
What are some of the things that kids at your age do that feel good but are wrong?
Why does breaking the rules "feel good" to us some times?
Read Matthew 7:24-29
Why is it important to have a solid foundation for building a house?
What foundation does Jesus want us to build our lives upon?
How can building our lives on the Word of God help us to choose to do the right thing?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Thank you for candy, and for the good things you have given us in this world. Teach us to make wise choices when it comes to things that tempt us. Help us to stand strong, and not let our feelings rule our actions.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Board Games Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link).
Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching a Board Games Sunday School Lesson:
Sunday School Board Game - DLTK-Bible
49 of the best Sunday school games, crafts, and activities - Disciplr
45 Best Board Games Children's Ministry Curriculum Ideas