Church Based After School: Christmas Recreation Games

Rudolph Dash

Materials:  Circles cut from red construction paper, Vaseline

Rec Prep

Cut circles from red construction paper
Bowl of Vaseline for each mentoring group

The Activity

• Have each Trek Team stand in a relay line
• Each kid puts Vaseline on his/her nose and attaches a red circle to his/her nose
• When the adult yells “Go” the first player from each line runs to the opposite end, touches the mentor and returns to his/her team
• Then the second player goes
• If a red circle falls off, the kid returns to his/her line and gets more Vaseline, and goes out again

Christmas Stocking Relay

Materials:   Christmas stocking for each team, spoon for each team, bowl for     each team, wrapped candy

• Divide into your teams
• Kids line up at one end of room
• At opposite end, hang a Christmas stocking for each team
• Place a bowl of candy and a spoon in front of each team
• Each kid takes a turn taking a candy from the bowl with the spoon
• S/he then carries the candy on the spoon to the stocking and drops the candy in the stocking
• Race back to the next kid in line, give him/her the spoon
• First team to fill their stocking wins

Debriefing

1. Were today’s games, games of celebration?  How?
2. The items involved in today’s games – did they have anything to do with the Bible story
   No, they didn’t
3. How might they remind us of what Jesus did for us?
   In the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer he was different from the other reindeer, he was made fun of.  But it was his difference that Santa was able to use.  We need to celebrate how we are different.  The Christmas stocking is part of the celebration of giving as God has given to us
4. Did Jesus coming to earth have anything to do with His plan for you?
   The most important part of God’s plan for each of us is that we would give control of our lives to Him.  We give control of our lives to God by recognizing who Jesus is and what He came to earth to do for us.  Remind the kids that if they want to know more about this they can come and talk to you later.  The God and You booklet pages are at the back of this curriculum.

 Snowball Flood

Materials:   Newspapers

Designate an area of play

Rec Prep

• In the center of the play area make a line with chairs
• Gather a lot of newspapers

The Activity

• Play this in the two large teams
• Give each team a huge stack of newspapers
• The kids take the newspaper and wad it up into “snowballs”
• When the adult says, “Go” the kids begin to throw the “snowballs” over the chairs into their opponent’s court
• The winning team is the team with the least amount of “snowballs” in their court when the adult yells, “Stop”
• Play the game three times, the winner being the team that wins two of three

Debriefing

1. Do you feel like celebrating after playing this game?  Why or why not?
2. Can we celebrate even after losing a game?
   Yes, because our celebration should be due to the fun we have had – most important is not who won or lost, but the fun of participating.
3. God has a plan for each of our lives, do you make plans when you are playing a game?  How did your team plan during the playing of this game?

 Christmas Walk

Materials:   Lots of little wrapped gifts, suggestions: pencils, erasers, school      paper, school folders, Pictures of: manger, Christmas tree, a present, a wreath, a star, wrapping paper, Christmas music on tape

Rec Prep

• This is like a cake walk
• Lay the pictures out in a circle
• Have a different picture for every square
• You can have blank squares too (use blank pieces
  of paper
• Paper bag with the name of each square written on a
  piece of paper

The Activity

• Have each kid stand on a square
• When the music begins they begin to walk around the circle
• When the music stops they stop
• The adult pulls from paper bag the name of one of the squares – the kid standing on that square gets to draw one of the wrapped gifts
• Play until all the gifts are gone

Debriefing

1. What did the different squares have to do with the celebration of Jesus birthday?
2. Was this a game of celebration?  Why or why not?
3. How do you feel if you didn’t win a gift? 
4. Is there reason to celebrate even when life doesn’t seem fair?
   Yes, we do know that Jesus loves us and has our best in mind – even when it doesn’t feel like it,  we can’t compare ourselves with others, we don’t know what their pains are
5. How does knowing God has a plan for our life help us to deal with a difficult world?
   Knowing that God has a purpose and a plan for our lives keeps us looking forward even in the midst of difficulties, Jeremiah 29:11