Worried the kids in your children’s ministry are going to think that they have multiple lives and can fly because they spend so much time playing video games? How can you engage them and keep them active? Here are a few ideas:
- Have a dodgeball tournament. Divide teams after each game or every few games. Get parents involved and have adults vs kids games, one grade vs another grade, boys vs girls, etc. Games that are not only active but encourage conversation and bonding with parents is always a win!
- Jump rope and hula hoop contests. See who can jump rope or hula hoop the longest. They are capable of doing this for longer than you think!
- Dance lessons. Find a youth who is taking dance lessons at a studio or an adult who has a background in dance and have them create a routine and teach it. This will be an activity that the girls probably like more than the boys, but if the boys know they can do the worm or that it’s something super cool and maybe hip hop, not ballet, then they may be more apt to participate.
- Treasure Hunts: this can be indoor or outside. Hide clues and have kids find their meal, candy, or next activity.
- Talent shows. When it’s really cold outside, encourage kids to join you for a night of showcasing their talents, may that be dance, song, or something else.
- Go bowling..or create a bowling alley inside with empty water bottles and a frozen orange. I’ve seen this be a camp favorite at camp when a group brought this with them to play in the dorms at night.
- Create an indoor sandbox with dry rice. You can put scoops, play trucks, or tea sets in the sandbox.
- Family relay or run days. You can have a race that families can compete in or a set of relays like tricycle races, wheelbarrow races, carrying an egg on a spoon, potato sack race, three-legged race, crabwalk competition…… the list goes on. Anything relay. Anything race.
- Ice skating or roller skating.
- Homerun derby/wiffleball games.
In the classroom, you will want to have kids constantly moving. Plan the lesson to be taught throughout the room and include games, activities, and more that keep kids active and engaged. Let every time you are in the teaching room be a journey that they go on, not just a story that they listen to.
What are events that you plan or things that you do in the classroom to keep kids active?