Sunday School Games for Older Teens

The Colors of Life

• The Colors of Life gives teens an opportunity to learn more about one another. All participants receive a handful of candies of different colors. Each different color candy represents its own category. For example, green equals family, blue equals school, red equals God and yellow equals friends. However many candies are in a player's hand dictates how many turns he gets. Every time a round comes back to him, he must say a fact relating to one of his color candies. The game ends when all players run out of candies. For a specific religious twist, teens can adapt the candy colors to different Bible books and recite verses.

The Body Parts Game

• The Body Parts Game encourages kids to build communication skills and work together as a team. The idea is that the "Body of Christ" comprises many parts, and only when the pieces come together does it take a single form and accomplish one purpose. Before class, write body part names on sticky notes. Divide the parts between major and minor, since you won't know at this point how many teens will show up to class. For five to seven players use only major parts, for 15 or less include secondary parts, and for 16 and more add tertiary parts like fingers, fingernails, toes and toenails. Distribute the body parts to players starting with the main ones first. Players circulate the room, seeking out one another and announcing their names and parts. Once they find a part that physically connects with their parts, they link arms in representation of one complete body. The game ends when all parts are in their place.

Icebreaker Bingo

• Icebreaker Bingo works best with a larger group of people. Each participant gets a 5"x5" homemade bingo card. Instead of numbers, squares on the cards have a few words or phrases reflecting a different experience or a description. Some examples would be "was born outside the U.S.," "is wearing a blue shirt" or "has more than two siblings." Each player has to find people who match the descriptions and mark off their squares accordingly. The first player to complete a row shouts "Bingo" and wins.