The Mat Race
A game where teams use a little skill and a mat to get the job done.
TOPICS:Caring, Healing, Kindness, Teamwork MATERIALS:Bath towels (one for each team)Stuffed Animals (one for each team) Four or more children
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WHAT YOU WILL DO:
First, divide the class into two or three teams. Have the kids in each team grab part of the bath towel, corners or sides etc., and stretch it out to make it like a trampoline. The teams will start at one end of the room, and while staying together keeping hold of the towel, race to the other end of the room. At this end, you will put a stuffed animal on the top of the outstretched towel. (Choose stuffed animals that can sit upright or stand up easily.) Then the teams will then race back to where they started while attempting to keep the stuffed animal from falling. This game will help reinforce the story about the man lowered down on a mat from the roof in Mark 2:1-12.
After getting the teams lined up, explain that they will be racing to the other side of the room, where they will be getting a sick animal placed on their mat. Then, without letting the sick animal fall off the mat, they race back to where they started. (Older children can race without letting the animal fall over.) Tell the children that if the animal falls, they must stop and count to 10 before continuing, as the teacher places the animal back up on the mat. The team that finishes first can cheer on the other teams until everyone has finished. Ready, Go!
WHAT YOU WILL SAY:
In the Bible, there is a story about a time when many people gathered around Jesus inside a small home. Because there were so many people, some had to stand outside. About this time, some men wanted to take their crippled friend in to see Jesus, so Jesus could heal him. But it was so crowded they could not reach Jesus. So instead, they took the man up to the rooftop, and cut a hole in it. Then they lowered the man down on a mat right to where Jesus was standing. Do you know what happened next? Jesus healed the man and he got up and walked away!
If we are sick or hurting, we can know that Jesus is there for us. Just as He healed this crippled man, He can help us get better when we are sick or feeling bad.