Fun Bible Games for Youth

Games are an effective way to have fun and learn at the same time. Playing Bible games at Church or in religious education classes can settle a rambunctious group of kids and get them focused on their lessons. You can also use games to test Bible knowledge and award prizes to the winners.

Bible Jeopardy is based on the popular TV game show. Bible Jeopardy takes a bit of preparation. Decide how you want to set up your game board. Use a chalkboard or white board for quick and easy play, or you can create game items that can be used repeatedly by writing the categories and point amounts on index cards.

The Bible Jeopardy board consists of six categories. The categories run horizontally across the top of the game board, which will run the length of your chalk board. In columns underneath each category, write the point value of each question, ranging from 200 to 1000 in 200-point increments (200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000). This means that there will be five questions for each category, increasing in difficulty based on point value. Make up your own categories and questions or see the Resources for a website that you can refer to for ideas.

Divide your group into teams. Flip a coin to decide which team goes first. Decide how the teams will "buzz in," or signal that they want to answer. The first team selects a category and point amount. Read them the statement that corresponds to that spot on the board. The first team to "buzz in" then has a chance to answer in the form of a question. If the team is correct, they are awarded the points. If they are incorrect, the other team(s) has a chance to answer. The team who answers correctly gets the points and control of the board. If no one answers, the first team retains control of the board. Game play continues until all the questions and categories are gone. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

The 10 Plagues Activity is a quick and fun way to learn about the 10 plagues that befell Egypt during the Exodus. To prepare for this game, have children study the 10 plagues in the Book of Exodus, Chapters 7 through 12. The 10 plagues are listed below in order:

1. All of the water sources turn to blood and kill all water-dwelling wildlife
2. Frogs
3. Lice
4. Flies
5. Disease on livestock
6. Boils
7. Hail mixed with fire
8. Locusts
9. Darkness
10. Death of the first-born of all Egyptian families

Write these plagues on a piece of paper or type them into a word-processing program and print them out. Leave enough space between each plague to cut them apart. Consider how many teams you will break your group into and copy the page that number of times. Cut apart the plagues. Keep them separated into groups of the 10 plagues.

When you are ready to play, break your group into teams. Give each team a set of plagues. The first group to get them in the correct order wins.

A sword drill or Bible drill is a classic game that is fun and doesn't take much preparation to play. It's the perfect game to fill time any time, and you can assess how well your group knows their Bible.

Make sure everyone in the group has a Bible. Make a list of Scriptures or simply pick them at random. Have the group hold their Bibles above their heads. Call out a Scripture, including book, chapter and verse (for example, John 3:16). The first person to read the verse wins that round. Award simple prizes to the winners.

Bible Win, Lose or Draw is loosely based on the TV game show. Make a list of Bible stories, keeping in mind that these stories will be drawn during game play. Cut the list apart and put the pieces of paper in a bowl.

Break your group into two groups. Supply each group with a drawing surface--either a large pad of paper or a white board. Flip a coin to find out which group draws first. Have a member of that group pick a Bible story from the bowl; this is the person who will be drawing. Give the first group one minute in which the person draws and the rest of the group guesses the Bible story being depicted. If the group guesses the story within the allotted minute, they are awarded 10 points.

Once the minute is up, if the team hasn't already gotten the answer correct, the topic is then opened up to all groups, and the team that guesses the right answer is awarded 10 points. Award the team an additional five points if they can tell the place in Scripture where the story comes from. Continue the game by letting the next group pick a story and draw. The groups take turns back and forth until either time is called or the stories have all been used. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.