Do You Know? Game Idea for learning about God

Several weeks ago, I prepared a series based on Exodus 33:18:

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory!”

I’ll cover more about teaching kids about the glory of God in future posts, but I wanted to share the game we did as an introduction.  It was definitely applicable to knowing God, but I think you could also apply it to other situations.
The name of the game was simple,

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR SIBLING

The game functions much the same way as the old Newlywed game.  I did find that explaining it that way to a teenage helper does not do you much good. 🙂  Here’s how it works.

1. Before service select two pairs of kids.  We used siblings, but the game would also work with close friends depending on the make-up of your class.  What is important is that the pairs know each other fairly well.  We purposely selected older kids (3rd through 5th grade) to make the game run smoother.
2. Have one small leader take the younger siblings and another take the older siblings.
3. Have each small group leader ask the questions (or any combination thereof) listed below to each child.
4. Answers should be recorded on one side of large white sheets of paper.  We used an oversized artists sketch pad.
5. Make sure to number the answers on the back for ease of use during the game.
6. During your service, call the kids on stage (or to the front of the room).  Have the younger siblings sit on one side and the older siblings sit on the other.
7. Starting with one group (the younger or older siblings) ask one the associated question and then have their sibling reveal their answer.  If they match, they earn one point.
8. The team with the most points (if you use five questions you would have ten possible points for each team) wins.
9. The game can be expanded or contracted based on the number of groups of siblings and questions you use.  We found that asking two sets of siblings and using five questions took about 10-15 minutes.
10. Possible questions (phrased both for before and during the service) are reflected below.

Object Lesson (the point of this game)

For our object lesson on learning about God’s glory, I drew two conclusions from this game:

1. There are two ways to get to know someone.  You can ask someone who knows them fairly well (like a sibling), or you can go ask them directly.  In the case of God, we can know about Him from reading the Bible and talking to other people about Him.  Because of the relationship Moses had with Him, Moses could ask God directly.
2. No matter how well we know people or think we know people, there is always more to learn.  Incidentally, this led really well into are lesson on the imcomprehensibility of God, but I will save that for another day.

Suggested Questions

The questions you could use are endless.  I tried to come up with a few I thought would be “easy,” some that I thought siblings who knew each other real well might know, and some that I thought would be darn near impossible.  You can ask different groups of kids different questions, or ask both groups the same questions.  Here’s what I came up with:
Before Service (answers to be written on large sheets of paper):

1. Who is your brother/sister’s best friend (first name only)?
2. What is your brother/sister’s favorite food?
3.  If your brother/sister could have one thing that they now own, what would it be?
4.  When was the last time your brother/sister was sad?
5.  If your brother/sister had to describe themselves in one word, what would it be?
6. What is your brother/sister’s favorite TV show?
7.  What is your brother/sister’s favorite color?
8.  What is your brother/sister’s favorite sport?
9.  If your brother/sister were an animal, what type of animal would they be?

During Service

1. Who is your best friend (first name only)?
2. What is your favorite food?
3.  If you could have one thing that they now own, what would it be?
4.  When was the last time you were sad?
5.  If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be?
6. What is your favorite TV show?
7.  What is your favorite color?
8.  What is your favorite sport?
9.  If you were an animal, what type of animal would you be?