Play! Listen! Talk!

Do you find yourself choosing the same sort of activities each week in Sunday School? I do. So today I pushed myself outside my comfort zone to try one of the game activities. It’s not that I don’t think kids like games, or that I don’t like games myself. But in our class, there are some younger kids who really function best when they are on their own, rather than participating in group activities. So I usually choose blocks or art.

But today, I decided to give something new a try. Right at the end of our Play to Learn time, I said, “Finish up what you are working on, because we are going to play a game—kind of like Musical Chairs.” Immediately, kids cleaned up and quickly helped me gather chairs (enough for everyone so no one would get out) and we began our game. What fun! The youngest kids followed right along with the older ones. And it was a perfect opportunity to talk about the Bible verse “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” because for each round there was always at least one child who couldn’t find an empty chair. The rest pointed and called out, full of concern that each child find a chair to sit on. We ended up walking, marching, swinging arms, walking backwards, singing—each round was an adventure! (Even better, it was wonderful for getting wiggles out before our quieter Listen to Learn time!)

For each of us the comfort zone is different. What’s your comfort zone? And how might you be able to step outside of it so that the kids in your class can grow and learn in new ways?