Church games: 15 easy ideas for every group

The most difficult part of hosting a game at church is scrambling to find the items at the last second. These 15 church games require balloons, string, paper, and other household items you're likely to have already on hand. Every card indicates the age, number of players, and time so you can choose one in a minute.

There are three old favourites that your child will be familiar with. There are twelve new ideas.

What are easy church games for kids? 

The best church games for kids take very little planning, play in around ten minutes, and require little equipment. For each game an adult must be a team coach. All ages on the card indicate the range of ages for which the game will be safe - don't get eight-year-olds and four-year-olds mixed up.

1. Balloon Guard

• Recommended: 8 and above
• Material: one balloon for each child, sweets or small prize each time
• Players: 6+
• Duration: 5 to 10 minutes

How to play:

• Create a balloon for each kid and lightly secure one to each of their ankles.

• At "go", everyone attempts to stomp on others' balloons with their feet, while protecting their own.

• A child whose balloon pops sits out.

• The last child with the balloon wins.

Think: what provides you the energy to move forward when you are being pursued?

Safe: Play responsibly on even space. No pushing or running, do not hit others.

2. Hanging Sweets Jump

• Ages: 5+ Hands, 8+ Mouth.
• Needs: A rope, string, wrapped soft sweets
• Players: Any number, one at a time
• Time: 10 minutes

How to play:

• Take a rope in between two fixed points. Suspend the wrapped candies from it on short lengths of string, slightly out of reach of the oldest child.

• Children alternate turns jumping up to snag a treat. 5-7 year olds have to use their hands.

• Ages 8 and up can place their hands behind their backs and, using only their mouths, bite the wrapped sweet off the string.

• Each child keeps the sweet they catch.

Consider: What's worth reaching for?

Safety: Only sugar free wrapped sweets. No hard or sticky sweets that children are likely to chew or choke on. Children swallow sweets before they jump again. An adult holds onto the rope.

3. Spoon and Marble Race

• Ages: 6 and up (hand), 8 and up (mouth)

• Needs: one spoon for each child, marbles, two markers

• Players: 4 or more

• Time: 10 minutes

How to play:

• Create start and turn markers.

• A marble is balanced on a spoon held in just one hand by each child.

• They run a lap and a half. If the marble jumps, they begin that lap again.

• Ages 8 and up mouth the handle of the spoon and switch the marble for a small lime.

Think about: What is more difficult: to go slowly or to sprint?

Kids under 6 can't have the marbles and don't put those in your mouth! Just the lime is to go on a mouth-held spoon.

4. Ark Pairs

• Ages: 4 and up

• Needs: Paper slips and a pen

• Players: 8 to 30, an even number

• Duration: 10 min

How to play:

• Make a pair of slips for each of your animals like two goats, two crows, etc. Fold.

• All the children then each pick a name at random.

• At "go", everyone has to make their animal sound and walk around to find their partner. No words.

• The first pair to find each other wins.

Bible link: Genesis 6:19-20

Also do check out our Sermon Ideas for Children’s Day  to pair this with a bible lesson.

What are good youth games for church?

Good youth games for church get teens moving and working together with simple instructions that can be taught in 30 seconds. Here are four to try when the youth room is out of control.

5. Fishers of Men Net

• Ages: 10 and up

• Needs: Open space

• Players: 10 or more

• Time: 10 minutes

How to play:

• The net start is made with the two players joined hand to hand.

• Everyone else gets in one line and attempts to run past the net to the other side.

• Once tagged, the player adds to the net by taking the hand of one of its members.

• Each tag adds to the net until the last man is left. That guy wins and gets to serve on the next run.

Bible link: Matthew 4:19.

Safety: This is a light-touch tag game. No pushing or grabbing clothes is allowed. Keep the running area clear.

6. Prison Break

• Ages: 10 and up

• Needs: A blindfold, a bunch of keys, and a chair

• Number of players: 8 to 20

• Estimated time: 10-15 minutes

How to play:

• Place a blindfolded guard in the middle of the chair with the keys on the ground at their feet.

• All the others begin at the sides and tiptoe to the keys.

• If the guard hears a sound, they point in the direction they think the sound is coming from. If they point correctly, that player goes back to the beginning.

• The person who grabs the keys without the assignment is the new guard.

Bible link: Acts 12:6-11.

Safety: The guard remains in her seat. Players don't run or push past each other. Players walk everywhere and keep the floor clear of chairs and bags.

7. Catch the Baton

• Age: 10+

• Needs: Cardboard tube or a rolled up newspaper (one tube per player)

• Players: 6 to 20

• Time: 10 mins

How to play:

• Put the players in a circle and give each player a tube, which they have to stand up on the floor. Balance the tube with a finger on top of each tube.

• When "go" is called, all players release and step clockwise to block their neighbour from losing the tube.

• If you drop a tube, you are eliminated, and your tube is removed.

• Keep going until two players are left.

Bible link: 2 Timothy 2:2.

Safety: Only light tubes. No sticks. Maintain good distance between players to prevent collisions.

8. Jordan Crossing

• Ages: 8 and above

• Needs: Two sheets of newspaper for each team tape / chalk

• Players: 4-6 per team

• Duration: 10 minutes

How to play:

• Mark two lines six to eight steps apart. These lines will be riverbanks.

• Each team has two of the sheets. No one may step on the floor while between the banks.

• Teams travel by bridging sheets of paper with their feet and standing on them.When all have moved forward, the last sheet may be brought to the front.

• If someone touches the floor, the entire team has to go back. The first team to make it all the way across wins.

Bible link: Joshua 3:14-17.

Safe: Wearing  flat shoes on carpet is the best. Carpets are a bit safer than rougher carpets, which can be rough on newspapers.

To get a Bible talk to follow any of these, check out our Sermon Ideas for Youth, Teens, and Twenties.

What church games work for small groups and small churches? 

Small churches are often in need of games that have minimal space requirements, lack of large teams and no special equipment. These three are easy to organise with just a few people and, for some, paper and pen.

9. Name Chain

Age: 10 and older

Needs: Nothing

Players: 4 to 20

Duration: 5 to 10 mins

How to play:

• Mention a Bible name, for instance Ruth.

• The second person says the first name of a Bible person, which begins with the last letter of the previous name: e.g. Hannah, then Hosea.

• Five seconds per turn, and no repeats.

• If a player stalls or says a duplicate name, he is out. He remains in the game until the end, and the last remaining player still with an answer wins.

Consider: Which of the following names on the list do you have the least knowledge of?

10. Count to Twelve

• Ages: 12 and over

• Needs: Nothing

• Players: 6 to 20

• Duration: 5 to 10 minutes

How to play:

• Sit in a circle and close your eyes.

• The group counts with one number at a time to 12. Each group says its number in order - they do not assign who will say the numbers, and they do not signal each other.

• In a situation where two individuals speak simultaneously, restart the sequence from 1.

• The group which reached the number 12 wins.

Bible link: Luke 6:13-16.

11. Draw and Guess Chain

• Age: 10 and over

• Needs: Pens and pieces of paper

• Players: 6-12

• Time: 15 mins

How to play:

• Each person writes a Bible story title on the top of a sheet of paper and then it gets passed left.

• Next person. Takes that story and folds the title back so only drawing shows.

• The next person records what they think the drawing depicts. They turn it over so only their writing is seen and then hand it on.

• Keep trading back and forth, writing and drawing, until each book has four entries.

• Open your sheets and read out loud each chain.

Consider: What was the biggest "twist" in the narrative, and what did we leave behind?

To listen to a short Bible talk to go with these, check out our Sermon Ideas for Small Groups.

What are fun church games for adults and ladies’ groups? 

Adults like easy conversations with the game at the end. These four work for any adult group and they are suitable for fun for ladies church groups - and most do not require anyone to run, jump or leap.

12. Mystery Bag Bible

• Age: Adult & Teen

• Needs: A cloth bag and six items, for example: a coin, a small stone, a piece of bread, a small bottle of oil, a piece of rope and some seeds.

• Players: 4-20

• Duration: 10 minutes

How to play:

• Place an item in the bag and share it around. Each person can hold it without looking.

• Every individual states what they believe it is and which Bible story they think of.

• Reveal the object and compare answers.

• Repeat with the next object.

Story ideas: Seeds (the sower, Matthew 13:1–23), bread (Jesus feeds the five thousand, Matthew 14:13–21), a small bottle of oil (the ten virgins, Matthew 25:1–13), a coin (the lost coin, Luke 15:8–10), a stone (David and Goliath, 1 Samuel 17), a cord (Rahab helps the spies escape, Joshua 2:15–21).

Think about: Which story did you not expect anyone to name?

13. Thank-You Pass

• Age: Any adult group

• Needs: A small ball or a sock rolled into a tight ball

• Players: 5 to 20

• Time: 10 minutes

How to play:

• Seating in a circle, the leader begins singing, by humming or singing a familiar hymn, passing the object around the circle.

• The leader stops without warning.

• The person receiving the item shares one thing that they are thankful to God for.

• Keep going until everyone who wishes to contribute has spoken.

Bible link: 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

14. Book Toss

• Age: Adults and teens

• Needs: Six sheets of paper numbered with the book of the Bible, one bean bag or rolled up pair of socks per player

• Players: 4 to 20

• Time: 10 to 15 minutes

How to play:

• Place the sheets on the ground and draw a throw line at approximately two metres.

• Players take a single throw. Book and story or character. If the beanbag is on a sheet, ten seconds is given for the thrower to mention a story or character from that book.

• A correct answer gives you one point. No answers being repeated.

• The highest score after three rounds wins.

Consider: Which book was the hardest for them to complete?

15. Ark Builders

• Age: 10 and up

• Materials: Two sheets of newspaper, per team, Wide waterproof tape per team, Bucket or basin of water, Large counters or other large tokens

• Teams: 3 to 4 players in each team

• Duration 15 minutes

How to play:

• Allow five minutes for each team to construct a boat using only newspaper and tape.

• Float it in the water.

• Teams take turns adding a token onto the design, representing animals only, one at a time.

• Most tokens on board when the boat sinks.

Bible link: Genesis 6:14-16.

Safety: Use large tokens over bottle caps, if other children are present, too. A shallow dish is useful and keeps a cloth close at hand for smudges.

Start with one

Choose one game for this week. Play for ten minutes, ask the reflection question, and then allow the group to decide on the next game. In order for most of these church games to become a habit, not a one-time thing, have the list handy and rotate through the four sections.